The IEEE Young Professionals played an integral role at the 2017 IEEE Educational Activities Awards Dinner. The prestigious awards ceremony was hosted at the Wrigley Mansion in Phoenix, Arizona on Friday 17th. Every year the IEEE recognises outstanding engineers and teachers worldwide who have made stand out knowledge transfer contributions. The awards ceremony honors individuals who are impacting others through education but more importantly it highlights the importance IEEE places on education and that it is core to our organisation’s mission.

The event was opened by Prof. S.K Ramesh, the Vice President of IEEE Education Activities by quoting William Butler Yeats “Education is not a filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire”. Educational activities are intertwined throughout IEEE introducing young people all over the world to the wonderful world of engineering through tryengineering.org, mentoring programs and summer camps. IEEE supports university educations by taking a lead role in accreditation with ABET, supporting programs such as Early Career Faculty Development and IEEE Academic. IEEE also provides vast information through many of our communication channels, most recently through our amazing online courses.

Among the recognised recipient this year are two outstanding IEEE Young Professionals:

Jamal Madni – IEEE-HKN Outstanding Young Professional Award for “contributions in software engineering and technology advocacy”

Jamal Madni is an incredible young achiever who serves as the Program Manager and Chief Architect of Special Projects for Boeing Satellite Systems. Jamal is leading the execution of the integrated electronics suite collaborating with NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation. Jamal was responsible for designing, developing and testing a 4 billion dollar software program. Besides numerous technical achievements, Jamal has greatly impacted employee culture through innovation, career development, mentoring and career development. He established the da Vinci Summit within Boeing, an in-house career development conference. He has led community engagement for Boeing as well as STEM outreach to over 1500 middle and high school students. Jamal is an inspiration to all and we know that he will continue to contribute greatly to humanity.

Ezaldeen Jamel Abd Alhalem Najjar – IEEE Educational Activities Board Pre University Educator Award for “leadership in the promotion and understanding of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in Jordan”

Ezaldeen has demonstrated in his early career that giving back to the community is a priority. He is an electrical engineer and educational activities officer with the IEEE Jordan Section. He is an Electrical Design Engineer at the Consolidated Consultant Group. Ezaldeen is a Teacher in Service Program Champion. During the past few years, Ezaldeen has worked with over 700 students, 200 teachers and 100 women from communities in Jordan introducing large audiences to effective teaching of engineering concepts. Under his own initiative, Ezaldeen also ran numerous workshops on emerging technologies to help clarify to teachers how these will impact society and education as a whole.

From left to right: Jamie Moesch (Director, IEEE Educational Activities), S. K Ramesh (VP, IEEE Educational Activities), Ezaldeen Najjar (Award Winner), Jamal Madni (Award Winner), Sohaib Qamar Sheikh (IEEE Educational Activities), Eddie Custovic (IEEE Industry Engagement), Karen Bartleson (IEEE President & CEO)
The full list of award recipients include:

Sid Suryanarayanan – IEEE-HKN C. Holmes MacDonald Oustanding Teaching Award for “leadership and excellence curriculum design, course delivery and the education and mentoring of electric power engineers”
Dr Asad M. Madni – IEEE-HKN Vladimir Karapetoff Outstanding Technical Achievement Award for “seminal contributions to the development and commercialisation of intelligent sensors, systems, and instrumentation for aerospace, commercial aviation and automotive safety.
Ryan Fraser & Shi Bu – IEEE Life Members Graduate Study Fellowship in Electrical Engineering
Adam Forster MoreauI – IEEE Charles LeGeyt Fortescue Graduate Scholarship
Dr Hemchandra Shertukde – IEEE Educational Activities and Standards Association Education Award
Professor Gil Sik Lee – IEEE Educational Activities Board Meritorious Achievement Award for “significant contributions to preparing underserved students to succeed in college education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields”
Professor Sarah A. Rajala and Martin A. Reed – IEEE Educational Activities Board Meritorious Achievement Award in Accreditation Activities
Cristina Monreal – IEEE Educational Activities Board Meritorious Achievement Award in Continuing Education for “designing and implementing innovative courses and programs in the fields of intelligent transportation systems”
IEEE Communications Society – IEEE Society Council Professional Development Award for “pioneering education and advancement opportunities for practitioners in the field of communications, engineering & technology”
John Orr – IEEE Educational Activities Board Meritorious Achievement Service Citation “In recognition of sustained contributions and leadership in IEEE-HKN and engineering accreditation”
Sanjit K Mitra – IEEE Educational Activities Vice President’s Recognition Award
Article contributed by Eddie Custovic, Editor-in-Chief, IMAPACT by IEEE Young Professionals