Welcome to a new year of IEEE activities in Vancouver. I am Rama Vinnakota, your chair for the year 2017. I look forward to working with many of our volunteers who collectively work to provide you with events that help you advance your career and professional objectives. These dedicated volunteers support 1900 plus local members and many non-members. I sincerely request any of the members thinking of volunteering to come forward right away. Volunteering is not only self-fulfilling but you also develop skills at a very low risk to your professional career.  Your Section reported 114 events during 2016 organized by volunteers.

Get involved – learn, network and give back to the profession

The backbone of the Vancouver organization is our many Technical Chapters who provide technical lectures and seminars in emerging areas that are industry specific. Attending these technical presentations is an easy way to keep your professional skills up to date and deepens your ties to others who work in your area. This networking opportunity can prove invaluable when later recruiting or looking for a new job. Experienced members are encouraged to give back to the profession by sharing their technical expertise with other young professionals on their own or when approached by the Technical Chapter and affinity groups.  If you have any specific topic of interest feel free to contact me or your society local representative, I will ensure necessary arrangements are made to organize such events. Encourage non-members to attend the technical presentations and circulate contact magazine to perceive value provided by IEEE to your profession.

Some of you may be aware of our affinity groups: Young Professionals, Women in Engineering, and the Consultants Network which focus on the professional development side of our careers. Our current leaders in each area are very enthusiastic and actively planning an exciting year for our members. I encourage you to check these groups they may interest you. The Vancouver Section has increased its number of student branches and we expect further growth in this area this year.

Advance your career – upcoming conferences and tutorials in Vancouver

The IEEE Technical Societies sponsor a huge number of conferences and events globally each year (1800). For 2017 there are currently three IEEE conferences planned for Vancouver. Stay tuned for more news.

• 2017 IEEE International Conference on Cloud Engineering (IC2E)
• 2017 26th IEEE International Conference on Computer Communication and Networks (ICCCN)
• 2017 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)

In our rapidly changing industry staying current is an important part of career planning. Typically during these conferences several tutorials will be organized. By attending these in your technical area, your organization would potentially save several dollars instead of sending you away for training to far off places.

I look forward to see you at one of our events including the Annual General Meeting on 25th March 2017. If you have ideas and suggestions to make IEEE Vancouver Section more valuable to the professional community please send a note to vvramkri@IEEE.org. I wish you a successful 2017.

Best regards,
Rama Vinnakota M.Tech, MAM, P.Eng
Chair-IEEE Vancouver Section