The Punjab Engineering College (Deemed to be University), in collaboration with IEEE Region 10, IEEE Chandigarh SubSection, IEEE Delhi Section and Galgotias University, hosted an International Workshop on "Best Practices in Educational Activities Workshop" in hybrid mode ideated by IEEE R-10 Education Activities Committee. IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. Prof. Baldev Setia, Director, PEC welcomed all the guests, delegates and volunteers from different IEEE sections, councils and regions and expressed his gratitude towards IEEE R-10 for giving PEC the chance to host such an extravagant event. The rare combination of PEC 'Centenary Year' and 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' made the event extra special. The event was attended by Mr. Deepak Mathur, Director IEEE R-10 (Asia Pacific),Dr. K R Suresh Nair, Chair IEEE India Council, Prof. Rajiv Ahuja, Director IIT Ropar, Dr. Preeti Bajaj, Chair IEEE R-10 EAC, Dr. Rachana Garg, Chair IEEE Delhi Section, Dr. Prerna Gaur, Treasurer IEEE India Council, and Delegates from IEEE Hyderabad Section. All the honourable guests commenced the event by invoking goddess Saraswati and lighting the auspicious lamp post in which a video depicting the illustrious history of PEC was presented on the big screen. The workshop included sessions from Prof. Liu, 2022 IEEE President and CEO, 2020 IEEE President and CEO, Dr. Takako Hashimoto, Dr. Takako Hashimoto, Chair IEEE Japan Council, Steve M Phillips, VP IEEE EA and Jamie Moesch, MD IEEE EA who connected with the delegates virtually.
Two panel discussions were organised on the themes: Best Practices & Challenges in Higher Education: A Global Perspective and IEEE & Education.
The first discussion was moderated by Prof. R Jadeja, Treasurer IEEE R10 and was focused mainly on industry-academia collaboration. Prof. Rajiv Ahuja talked about rural development and said that the industry should be a part of academics and vice-versa. Dr. Deepak Mathur emphasized that Collaboration and Team are the only keys to success and there is a need to shift from being Job seekers to Job providers. The key takeaways for the volunteers and delegates were the need of collaboration and Innovation for growth, "Learn, Unlearn and Relearn", need to shift from being Job seekers to Job providers and the importance of technical teaching.
The second panel discussion was presided over by Dr. Debabrata Das, Director IIIT Bangalore, Dr.Sivaji Chakravorti, Past Chair IEEE India Council and Dr. V. Ramgopal Rao, Former Director IIT Delhi and moderated by Prof. Prerna Gaur and discussed IEEE's future plans and workshops to emphasize technical education.
The workshop also included a session where dignitaries from Region 7 and 8 connected virtually and addressed the gathering. Dr. Devyasini Majumdar and Dr. Conrad Attard spoke about best practices in EA and reaching out to locals in their respective regions.
The event came to a notable end with Dr. Preeti Bajaj honoring esteemed dignitaries and guests with mementoes.
Dr. Arun Kumar Singh, Chair IEEE Chandigarh SubSection and Organizer for the workshop commended the Student Lead and Volunteers for their support, diligence and hard work. "Such activities promote students to learn & build confidence and is a great learning as well as networking opportunity for all delegates and participants ", he summarised in his vote of thanks which was followed by a networking lunch and office networking activity.
