The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has come a long way from being an organization of a small group of professionals to the world’s leading professional association for the advancement of technology. It is now 125 years since IEEE started to make positive impacts in the engineering society. IEEE also serves student members in colleges and universities around the world to foster an interest in the engineering profession. The “IEEE 125th Anniversary R10 Student Congress 2009” was held in Singapore at National University of Singapore from July 16 to 19, 2009. It was one of those events which enable students of all over the world, especially of Asia Pacific Region, to celebrate 125th anniversary of IEEE, interact with and learn from the leaders who have established IEEE as a prominent name in the world of technology. Out of 5 student delegates selected from Bangladesh Section 3 were from BRAC University and 1 each from Ahsanullah University of Science & Technology and Khulna University of Engineering & Technology. Among them are 3 executive body members of IEEE BRAC University Student Branch: Nabila Naushin, Rasel Chowdhury and Shiblee Imtiaz Hasan. Along with experience, Bangladesh Section brought home the award for the Most Vibrant Student Section from the congress.

“Sculpturing Student Leaders to Pioneer Sustainable Development” – This was the theme for the IEEE Region 10 Student Congress. For the first time ever, the best of IEEE student volunteers from Region 10 and across the world met, innovated, integrated, interacted and shared ground breaking ideas. The most esteemed dignitaries of IEEE graced the Student Congress and awaken the thinking process. Among the sponsors were IEEE Students Activities Committee, Singapore Exhibition and Convention Bureau, IEEE Power Engineering Society, IEEE Singapore Section Chapter, Microsoft Corporation and many more.

BRACU student Shiblee Imtiaz Hasan took part in the poster design competition, which was part of the Green technology and power for future sustainable development. The other core activities in the congress were presentations on innovations in student activities, a talk on Mechatronics in conjunction with Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics, the vibrant student branch exhibition, the Humanitarian Technology Hour, multicultural night. A discussion on World @ 2020 was facilitated by the 2008 IEEE President, Lewis Terman and three panelists from A*STAR, Shell, IBM, and Google.

Towards the end of the congress, we, the delegates, all agreed that the most important learning factor was the networking platform which was provided to us by the congress. The IEEE 125th Anniversary R10 Student Congress 2009 created a unified forum for student delegates to get to know each other professionally, technically and culturally, bringing about a potential growth in networking and interregional sharing and development of IEEE student activities. The congress provided unique and unprecedented opportunities for some of the most qualified students in the world to rub elbows with each other, and with a number of eminently respected and influential leaders of IEEE. After the congress, the student leaders carried home an invaluable four days of experience that will have an everlasting impact on their leadership skills and IEEE volunteerism in “Engineering the Future”. (By Shiblee Imtiaz Hasan)