IEEE Global Communications Conference
8–10 December 2020 // In-person (Taipei, Taiwan)
7-11 December 2020 // Virtual
Communications for Human and Machine Intelligence

Young Engineers & Scientists Initiative (i-YES) Education Track

Monday, December 7

Time: 21:00-23:30 Taipei time, 8:00-10:30 New York time, 14:00-16:30 CET
Room: Online

Motivation and Background

The Young Engineers & Scientists Initiative (i-YES) Education Track organized by the IEEE Communication Society Education Services Board (ESB) will feature a Keynote Speech by Prof. Vincent W.S. Chan (President of the IEEE Communication Society) and the Session on "Technologies and activities to turn the pandemic to a great opportunity", followed by a Panel on "Education and teaching in Communication Engineering during Covid-19 times" and interactive discussion!

Organizers

Prof. Periklis Chatzimisios, International Hellenic University, Greece
Prof. Stefano Giordano, University of Pisa, Italy

View the Live Session


SESSION 1: 21:00-22:30

Session on "Technologies and Activities to Turn the Pandemic to a Great Opportunity"

21:00-21:35 Vincent W.S. Chan (President, IEEE Communication Society)
Keynote Speech on “Future Network Architectures and Influences of the Pandemic – Technical, Funding, Regulations and Policies

21:35-22:00 Tomas O'Raghallaigh (Teledyne LeCroy)
Talk on “Supporting Bluetooth Wireless Development and Testing”

22:00-22:30 Christopher Stapels (Mathworks)
Talk on “Remote Learning IoT Projects with ThingSpeak and MATLAB


SESSION 2: 22:30-23:30

Panel on “Education and Teaching in Communication Engineering During Covid-19 Times”

Panelists:


Abstracts

Keynote: Future Network Architectures and Influences of the Pandemic – Technical, Funding, Regulations and Policies

Communication and networking technologies are providing important alternate ways to conduct life during the pandemic. This talk will discuss the future state of network technology in the context of the pandemic. Differential access to technology will widen gulf between rich and poor. There can be big social/economic impacts if the digital divide persists. Technology of contact tracing, social networking, etc. especially in their advanced forms can be intrusive. The society must address the social, economic, policy, regulation, legal, and public funding aspects.

Talk: “Remote Learning IoT Projects with ThingSpeak and MATLAB”

Pervasive connectivity via wireless and long-range wireless networks along with IoT platforms allow data collection and sharing of that data for collaboration and teaching. IoT platforms like ThingSpeak provide a platform for ingesting and storing the data. The availability and relative ease of programming of low-cost hardware including Raspberry Pi and Arduino or Arduino compatible devices like ESP8266 and ESP32 makes it possible for educators to make devices available for students to interact with remotely or locally.We present multiple workflows for microprocessor programming, and we demonstrate how MATLAB and Simulink enable a complete workflow for the generation of remote learning projects.  Using model-based design in Simulink, you can build and test your hardware model, including writing to ThingSpeak from your model. Once you deploy that model to your hardware, students can access the output data, or change input parameters and measure the results remotely using ThingSpeak. Finally, access to sensor data from mobile phones via MATLAB Mobile means students can collect and interact with their own data without access to a lab.

Talk: “New Educational Ideas and Remote Labs in Time of Online Learning”

In this panel session we will present an approach of educational methods based on flipped classroom and practical competences using remote laboratories as part of the learning activities during this time of social distance and online learning.

Talk: “Supporting Engineering Education During the Pandemic”

When many universities shut down in early 2020, and many more engineering professionals had to work from home, the IEEE Educational Activities team pivoted quickly to support the educational needs of those in industry and academia alike. In this talk, I will highlight many new programs, most of them free and available to everyone, that were launched in a very short amount of time and reached tens of thousands of people grappling with this new virtual reality. I will also share some new programs from IEEE launching in 2021 that will continue to support educational needs and volunteering opportunities through the end of the pandemic and beyond.


Bios (Organizers)

Periklis ChatzimisiosPeriklis Chatzimisios

Dr. Periklis Chatzimisios serves as Professor in the Department of Science and Technology of the International Hellenic University (Greece). He is also a Visiting Fellow in the Faculty of Science & Technology, at Bournemouth University, UK. Dr. Chatzimisios is/has been involved in several standardization and IEEE activities serving as a Member of IEEE ComSoc Education Services Board, Member of the IEEE ComSoc Standards Program Development Board and Industry Outreach Board under the IEEE Communication Society (ComSoc). He is the Chair of the Communications Chapter and Professional Activities for the IEEE Greece Section and also serves as the Chair of ComSoc Technical Committee on Information Infrastructure and Networking (TCIIN), the Vice Chair of ComSoc Technical Committee on Big Data (TCBD) and an active member of the IEEE Future Networks (5G) Initiative. He is the EiC for the IEEE Standards Education e-Magazine (eZine) and a member of the IEEE Standards Education Committee (SEC).

Stefano GiordanoStefano Giordano

Dr. Stefano Giordano is Full Professor at the University of Pisa and responsible of the TLC networks labs. He is senior member of the IEEE Comsoc and former Chair of the CSIM TC. He is member of IFIP WG 6.3 and of the ISOC (1992). He is the representative of the UNIPI in the Scientific Committee of CNIT. He founded with Juniper Networks the first European Juniper Networks Higher Learning Center. He is author of more than 300 papers on conferences and journals. He is associate editor of the Wiley's IJCS and of the JCSS. He is member of the editorial board of the IEEE COMST. He was co-founder of three start-ups (Nextworks, Netresults Natech) and co-founder of the Cubit Consortium where at present is President of the Scientific and Technical Committee. He is Vice-President of the TLC Eng Program at Unipi. His research interests are mainly related to the development of SDN/NFV solutions for IoT particularly in Smart Agriculture and Networked Cyber Physical Systems.


Bios (Speakers/Panelists)

Vincent W.S. ChanVincent W.S. Chan

Vincent W.S. Chan, the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Professor of EECS, MIT, received his BS(71), MS(71), EE(72), and Ph.D.(74) degrees in EE from MIT. From 1974 to 1977, he was an assistant professor, EE, at Cornell University. He joined MIT Lincoln Laboratory in 1977 and had been Division Head of the Communications and Information Technology Division until becoming the Director of the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (1999–2007). In July 1983, he initiated the Laser Intersatellite Transmission Experiment Program and the follow-on GeoLITE Program. In 1989, he formed and chaired the All-Optical-Network Consortium among MIT, AT&T and DEC, the Next Generation Internet Consortium, ONRAMP among AT&T, Cabletron, MIT, Nortel and JDS, and a Satellite Networking Research Consortium formed between MIT, Motorola, Teledesic and Globalstar. He chaired the Defense Science Board Task Force on Defense Communications, Networks and Satellite Communications and the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Advisory Committee. He also has been active with start-ups and was a Board Member of a Fortune-500 network company and a member of the Draper Corporation. After chairing the Strategic Planning Committee of ComSoc from 2018-2019, he is serving as the President of the IEEE Communication Society since January 2020.

Tomas O'RaghallaighTomas O'Raghallaigh

Tomas O'Raghallaigh is with the Department of international sales and service with Teledyne LeCroy (Frontline Test Equipment). He is involved in Bluetooth "world" since 1999 when first Bluetooth products were developed and tested. Before 2016, he worked under Frontline Test Equipment, then acquired by Teledyne LeCroy. He supported customers and events on a Global basis in relation to Bluetooth development tools.

Christopher StapelsChristopher Stapels

Christopher Stapels is the Marketing Manager for ThingSpeak, an IoT platform by MathWorks. Previously he was involved in contract research to build radiation detectors and systems. He originally comes from Detroit, Michigan where working in his father’s tool and die shop gave him a background in making things. He holds a Ph.D. in Nuclear physics and an MBA from Oregon State University, after an undergraduate degree at Alma College. He now lives happily in the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts with his wife and children, and their five pet ducks.

Manuel CastroManuel Castro

Prof. Dr. Manuel Castro, Electrical and Computer Engineering educator in the Spanish University for Distance Education (UNED) has a doctoral industrial engineering degree from the ETSII/UPM. Professor of Electronics Technology inside the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Past Department Director and Past Vicerrector. He published more than 100 articles in Journals and more than 300 papers in Conferences inside the areas of Renewable Energies, Electronics and Computer Architectures and Engineering Education. Co-chaired several conferences like FIE 2014, REV 2016, LWMOOCS 2018, LWMOOCS 2020 and COMPSAC 2020, in Madrid, Spain, and online. He is Fellow member of IEEE (for contributions to distance learning in electrical and computer engineering education) and IEEE Division VI Past Director, member of the Board of Governors (BoG) of the IEEE Education Society as well as President Emeritus; Founder and Past-Chairman of the Spanish Chapter of the IEEE Education Society, and Past-Chair of the IEEE Spain Section. He has been awarded with the 2020 TAEE (Technologies Applied to Electronic Education) Tomas Pollan Multidisciplinary Award, 2019 IEEE William E. Sayle II Award for Achievement in Education of the IEEE Education Society, 2017 IGIP Nikola Tesla Award for Outstanding Achievements, Honor Ambassador of Madrid Convention Bureau in 2017, IEEE EDUNINE 2017 Meritorious Service Award, IEEE EDUCON 2011 Meritorious Service Award, 2010 Distinguished Member Award and 2009 Edwin C. Jones, Jr. Meritorious Service Award of the IEEE Education Society. He is professional member of IEEE-ETA KAPPA NU.

Jennifer FongJennifer Fong

Jennifer Fong is a former classroom teacher and instructional designer who now leads the education product, sales, and marketing teams at IEEE, the world’s largest not-for-profit technical association dedicated to advancing technology for humanity. Jennifer’s team works with top technical experts from around the world to develop the IEEE eLearning Library, a collection of hundreds of online courses designed to provide students and working professionals with peer-reviewed content on the latest technologies and essential skills.

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