Celebrating IEEE Day 2014

On October 7, 2014 the IEEE Manipal Dubai Student Branch organized its very first celebratory event for the IEEE day. 

For the first time since the inception of the Manipal University Dubai student branch, our membership count grew to the extent where it was possible to come together and use the collective motivation to use the student force and faculty guidance at our disposal to plan this inaugural event. 

The event was co-ordinated by Student Branch Vice Presidents – Madhur Tipnis and Supratik Mukherjee and student member Shaelesh Raj under thorough guidance and mentorship of Student Branch counsellor Prof. M I Jawid Nazir, Faculty Co-ordinator Prof K P Abdullah.

Our inaugural event kicked off with a special welcome speech by Student Branch Co-Vice President Supratik Mukherjee, followed by a summary of the year’s IEEE events by his compatriot Madhur Tipnis. This was followed by a short and brief acknowledgement speech by Dr. S K Pandey, Chairperson for the School of Engineering and IT. His words of encouragement were enough to pump the spirits of over 200 students in attendance.

Sight Co-ordinator at Dubai MENSA International & board member of Emirates Science Club, Ms. Mariyam Althani  addresses Manipal Dubai's IEEE students

The highlight of the event was the guest speaker Ms. Mariyam Althani – a long time standing member of IEEE UAE. Ms. Althani who is currently the Sight Co-ordinator at Dubai MENSA International, is also Senior Member, Corportate Partnership at DEWA. She also serves on the board for the Emirates Science Club. More importantly Ms. Althani is among the first female IEEE members in the UAE.

Ms. Althani enlightened students about the initial days of IEEE in the UAE and how they went about seeking memberships and building a vast membership portal for IEEE in the country. She spoke about the role of women in IEEE in the UAE today and the technological events and progress made by the many universities in the UAE in the last few years. She also accentuated the importance of being an IEEE member and how it enriches student experience and how it transcends through once status as an alumnus; and the various benefits it brings with it.

The IEEE events at MUDC were therefore a great success, especially Ms. Althani’s visit to our campus encouraged many girl students to join IEEE on the same day immediately after the celebration. The IEEE Student Club look forward to many more years of such dedication and enthusiasm from the student body and increasing support from the faculty members to make our student body progressively better with time.

 By Madhur Tipnis