The first IEEE Region 10 Young Professionals (YP) meetup for 2016 was held successfully in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 26 January 2016. It was organised by IEEE Malaysia Section Young Professionals and hosted by University Putra Malaysia (UPM).
Held in conjunction with a Region 10 Students Meetup, the event drew a crowd of around 50 Young Professionals and Students from various universities in Malaysia, as well as Indonesia.
Officiating the event was Dr Aduwati Sali, the immediate past IEEE YP chair for Malaysia Section. Also present was Dr Anang Hudaya, the newly elected IEEE YP Malaysia chair, and Dr Zuhaina Zakaria, 2015-2016 Malaysia Section chair.
Present from IEEE Region 10 was Nivas Ravichandran(IEEE Region 10 Young Professionals Coordinator), Mehvish Zahoor (IEEE Region 10 Student Representative), Nitin Keshav(IEEE Region 10 ECIM Coordinator) and Prasanth Mohan(IEEE Xtreme Publicity Coordinator).
The sessions kicked off with Nivas Ravichandran sharing on IEEE Young Professionals and why to continue in IEEE after graduation. This was followed by a talk by Nitin Keshav on evolving with IEEE, who gave personal references to his IEEE journey. The session ended with brainstorming scenarios done in groups of 5-6, where delegates discussed various problems faced as young professionals.
This was a fruitful discussion which generated a list as captured below. Comments on possible solutions from the R10 YP team have been added as well.
- How to volunteer in IEEE beyond university level?
- Network, network, network! Join local congresses, section activities, and regional events. Be visible. And be helpful. You never know when an opportunity will arise.
- Transitioning into work post-graduation
- Get to know other YPs from similar age groups. It helps having a network to discuss about the challenges faced by transitioning into the new stage.
- Need for organizing more YP relevant activities
- If you have ideas for YP activities, reach out to the local YP chairs.
- Peer-sharing support for VISA application when attending international conferences
- Most conferences will provide a VISA letter upon request. And it helps to be prepared early. You can also feedback to the conference organizers for a peer-sharing platform for VISA related issues for delegates.
- How to increase collaboration with affinity groups – SIGHT, WIE etc
- Student/YP/WIE Congresses are great for bringing these three groups together as well as other affinity groups.
- Collaboration between industry and academia
- You can start by identifying local industry that are interested in the IEEE student member talent pool. Then, organize win-win tailored events.
- Exposure to activities and publications
- Most YP sections will publicise their events. Make sure you are included in their mailing list.
- Publication and writing skills
- These can be requested in your local networks.
