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Dear Members, IEEE Students Branches In India There are 125 Students Branches in India. IEEE recognizes the good work of some of these branches. Thus IEEE conducted a contest for Web Page design for all its Students Branches in the world. The results have been declared in June 1999. The judges felt that there are many superb Student Branch Web Sites. Hence they declared five PLATINUM (i.e. First) prizes. I am happy to report that the Students Branch of the Vivekanand Education Society's Institute of Technology, in the Bombay Section, was one of the distinguished five. Moreover it is the only Students Branch to have won the prize in the whole of the Asia - Pacific region. On behalf of all the IEEE members in India, I congratulate the Counselor, the Office-bearers and the Student members of the Branch. I also convey our HIGH APPRECIATION to the Director and the teachers for the good standards being maintained by them. The prize-winning site is located at https://members.tripod.com/ieeevesit. I invite our members to visit it and see the excellent work that our young budding engineers have done. IEEE head quarters maintain a list of all the Students Branch sites so that if anyone wants, he can reach the site of any Students Branch by clicking at the link in the list. I am sorry to note that the list brings out a very poor picture for India. Only FIVE out of 125 branches are listed there. In 1999 I am sure there must not be a single Branch in India, whose students do not know how to design a Web-site. The Branch Counselor, the Section's SAC, Dr S. C. Gupta, the India Council's SAC (e mail: s.c.gupta@ieee.org) or Dr S. Parthasarthy, the IC PageMaster (e mail: algolog@hd1. vsnl.net.in), can guide if any help is needed. A Students Branch can register its Web-site by sending e-mail to the IEEE Webmaster at webmaster@ieee.org or by writing to student-services@ieee.org. May I call upon every Students Branch in India to create its Web-site and to register it with IEEE? If a Branch is able to have even the simplest type of access to INTERNET, it can use free IEEE resources to host its site. A team, which regularly, during the academic year, keeps the site up-dated, can provide a link to the world for not only the Branch but also for the Institute/ University/ Engineering College. EXEMPLARY STUDENTS BRANCH: Running a Students Branch gives to the young students a good training. A branch must conduct its activities in a professional manner. This can be done only if a Branch keeps proper records of all its meetings and activities. To encourage the Branches to do so, IEEE gives an Exemplary Students Branch Award to every Branch, which submits all its plans and reports properly. Two important deadlines are November 1, 1999 for the Annual Plan of Activities and May 1, 2000 for the Annual report of activities. It costs nothing more than running the Branch in a systematic manner for it to win the Award. I request all the Counselors and the Chairmen of the Students Branches to ensure that their Branches win the Award. IEEE encourages the organization of the STUDENT PROFESSIONAL AWARENESS CONFERENCES (S-PACs) and STUDENT PROFESSIONAL AWARENESS VENTURES (S-PAVs). If these Conferences are planned about six months in advance and if a request is sent to Mrs. Laura J. Durrett, IEEE Student Services Coordinator, (email. l.durrett@ieee.org), some grant can be obtained by the Students Branch. I would close by quoting a volunteer leader from his address to an IEEE Students Branch: "IEEE supports you throughout the information curve: when you need information as a student, we can provide the necessary research resources; when you apply that information, we can help you to be efficient and successful with the result; and when you are so informed that you can start to create information, we are here to publish you." (-Ref: The Web-site of NED University of Engineering and Technology). |
