Summary
In this article we talk about the IEEE region 8 North Africa Student and Young Professional Congress (IEEE R8 NASYP) which is a biannual event. We have Mohamed Tahoon from our editorial team giving us a first person account of the event as he attended it. The event was graced by over 200 people from 18 countries and the guest list included several dignitaries including Prof. Saifur Rahman (IEEE past President). The event included several keynote sessions, panel discussions, technical sessions and workshops. The event was not limited to technical content as they also held social and networking activities.
Contributed by Mohamed Tahoon, Editor at IEEE YP IMPACT Blog
The IEEE Region 8 North Africa Student and Young Professional Congress (IEEE R8 NASYP) is held every alternate year in Region 8. It gathers student and young professional members from Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco to socialize and interact, develop soft skills, enhance their knowledge of technology, discuss common organizational challenges, and prepare for new roles.
The Congress was hosted for the first time in Egypt in 2023 from August 24th to August 27th, The event had 125 IEEE student and young professional members as participants, 76 non-IEEE members, and 45 VIPs and guests from 18 countries.
The IEEE Young Professionals Egypt Section, alongside the IEEE Egypt Section and under the auspices of the Egyptian Ministry of Communication and Information Technology and the Egyptian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, hosted by Egypt University of Informatics (EUI), organized the Congress in collaboration with the IEEE EUI Student Branch.
The congress was attended by many IEEE leaders, including Prof. Saifur Rahman (2024 IEEE Past President), Prof. Mike Hinchey (IEEE R8 Director Elect), Abdullateef Aliyu (IEEE R8 SAC Chair), Eric Berkowitz (Membership and Education Director, IEEE Computer Society), Mohamed El Dallal (Vice president for IEEE Entrepreneurship Global committee), Mohamed Amin (IEEE R8 Careers Ad Hoc committee chair), Samarth Deo (Chair of the EPICS in the IEEE committee), and Seif Elhajjem (IEEE R8 YP representative).
In the IEEE R8 Student and Young Professional Congress (NASYP) 2023, we had more than 11 keynote speakers, 10 panelists for 2-panel discussions, 6 technical sessions, 4 workshops, one poster session and a visit to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization.
The congress featured technical sessions provided by the technical industry sponsors Valeo Egypt and Dell Technologies Egypt. In addition to the technical sessions, there were also keynote speeches on soft skills. More details on the events can be found on their page here.
The Congress also included social and networking activities, such as a multicultural evening, a poster session, a tour to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC), and ice breaking activities.
In an interview with Prof. Saifur Rahman, he said: “I have visited Egypt twice last year. I enjoyed Egyptian members’ enthusiasm, innovation, and hard work to make IEEE relevant in their lives. That is an example I hope other countries can follow so that Egypt becomes a role model for other countries, and members from other countries to be visible globally. Finally, Egypt is a very attractive country because of its cultivated history.”