April, 24th-27th 2008

IEEE Region 8St. Julians/Malta 90th Committee Meeting

IEEELebanon Section

IEEE Lebanon Section Report April 2008

Milestone: (Granting the Lebanese License)July 01, 2006

Officers: The Executive Committee of the IEEE Lebanon Section (ElectedJune 16, 2007)

1.Chair: Dr. Mohamad Adnan Al-Alaoui

2.Vice Chair/Professional Activities /GOLD Coordinator: Dr. Elias Nassar

3.Secretary/Student Coordinator: Dr. Hadi Sawaya

4.Treasurer/IRO: Mr. Ghassan Shaban

5.Membership Development Officer: Dr. Usamah Farrukh

6.Representative to the Lebanese Interior Ministry: Mr. Ahmed Adra

Chapters and Affinity Groups:1.The Communications Society Chapter: Chair: Dr. Elias Haddad,Vice Chair: Dr. Zaher Dawy, Secretary: Mr. Izzat Halwani,Treasurer: Dr. Majd Sakr,Membership Development/Industry Relations: Mr. Nabil Nasser. 2.The Computer Society Chapter: Chair: Dr. Mazen Saghir,Vice Chair: Miss. Rim Dbaibo,Secretary: Mr. Tarek Hassan,Treasurer: Dr. Aziz Barbar,Membership Development/Industry Relations: Mr. Nabil Nasser. 3.The Joint Power Engineering Society/ Circuits and Systems Society Chapter (In Petition)Chair: Mr. Ahmad Adra,Vice Chair: Dr. Ali Chehab,Secretary: Dr. Abdallah Kassem,Treasurer: Dr. Mohammad Mansour. 4.The GOLD Affinity Group:Chair: Dr. Michel Khayat,Vice Chair: Mr Paul-Marc BOUGHARIOS,Secretary: Mr. Mohammed AL-HUSSEINI,Treasurer: Dr. Mona Itani.

Membership:Statistics from Membership Development indicate the following as ofDec 30 2007:Total number of members=910 (880 in Dec. 2006); Senior members=23; Associate members=34; Fellow=1;Life Fellow=1; Life Member=1; Members=224 (Including 34 Graduate Student Members); Student Member=624.This is an increase of 15% in Senior Members and 10% in student members over same time in the previous year. There is however a 13% decrease in regular members.

Technical meetings and Activities: Many activities were postponed because of the unsettled political situation in Lebanon. The fact that the following activities were carried out is indicative of the dynamism and resilience of the people of Lebanon and the dedication of the members of the IEEE Lebanon Section.1.Notre Dame University (NDU), February 28-29, 2008: International Conference on Current Trends in the Theory and Applications of Computer Science. 2. IEEE student branches at AUB, BAU, LAU and NDU with the support of WIT and IEEE Lebanon Section, March 8, 2008: Different Career Path in Engineering and Technology:The first WIE event in lebanon. 3.Communications chapter of IEEE Lebanon Section, April 2008: IEEE Lebanon Communications Workshop 2008 (IEEE LCW’2008)

Administrative meetings (Fifteen):April 4, 2007, April 28, 2007, May 11, 2007, May 18, 2007, June 8, 2007, July 10, 2007, July 31, 2007, September 13, 2007, October 26, 2007,

January 9, 2008, January 21, 2008, February 21, 2008, February 28, 2008, March 6, 2008, and March 18, 2008.

Best practices:The IEEE Lebanon Section is playing an increasing role in supporting and sponsoring the activities of its student branches by providing some financial support, monetary prizes and certificates of appreciations. The IEEE student membership is probably the largest in Region 8, both in total numbers (655 including 31 Graduate Students), and in percentage (72%). This is particularly impressive with the total population of Lebanon being no more than 4 million. Indeed the students were very active for 8 yearsbefore the establishment of the IEEE Lebanon Section in 2005. The first IEEE student branch was established at AUB, the American University of Beirut, in 1997. The branch received the first prize for its web site for Region 8 and came in second globally (second to Arizona State University student branch). The AUB IEEE Student Branch (founded in 1997) is one the largest, if not the largest, student branches in region 8 and is the oldest student branch in Lebanon. Other student branches had been established at LAU (The American Lebanese University), NDU (Notre Dame University), and BAU (Beirut Arab University) which received a Region 8 award for the fastest growing student branch. Students in three other universities have shown interest in establishing new student branches.

The student branches of the IEEE Lebanon Section have been very active in meetings, exhibitions, work shops, hosting seminars and conferences, offering technical crash courses, organizing Ramadan Iftars, Spring Barbecues, Christmas gatherings, and Gala Dinners. AUB have established a yearly student conference with the contributed papers being mostly based on the students final year projects. IEEE members participate actively in the conference. Students from other student branches in Lebanon and abroad are encouraged to participate in the conference.

WIE student chapters were established at BAU and NDU. All the student branches participated in the WIE event reported below.

The first WIE event in lebanon:This event great success was due in large amount to the amazing support of our sponsors INKRIPT , Crazy multimedia and IEEE lebanon Section . "Different Career paths in Engineering & Technology":The IEEE Student Branches in lebanon in partnership with Women in IT (WIT) joined forces to organize the first WIE event titled "Different Career paths in Engineering & Technology" that took place on Saturday 8 March 2008 at NDU campus from 9:00 to 3:00 PM.The audience was largely made up of men and women engineers and engaged the lecturers in challenging questions.March 8 was also International Women's day, which honors women human rights defenders who dedicated their lives to promote justice and equality for women, adding flavor to a colorful event.

Topics to be discussed in Malta:

  • The following motion, motion 42 in Vilnius, was passed unanimously. The IEEE Lebanon Section recommends its adoption for the IEEE sections Congress to be held in Quebec.
  • IEEE Lebanon Section is planning an IEEE Engineering Month once the situation in Lebanon has improvedand we hope this will happen soon. The envisaged activities will give visibility to IEEE and its possible contribution for the reconstruction of Lebanon by raising awareness and providing possible solutions to the problems in power, communications, and the environment through a series of workshops and seminars. Financial support of region 8 of at least 5000 US dollars will help to launch a successful event.