Student Professional Awareness Conference (SPAC) at SFU

Keith Cheung - 95/96 IEEE SFU Student Branch Chair

Student Professional Awareness Conference (SPAC) at SFU Last year, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Student Branches of SFU and UBC jointly held a SPAC at UBC. The conference consisted of 3 speakers and a panel discussion. Last year's theme was 'Business and Entrepreneurs.' There were over one hundred participants and it was very interesting and informative. This year, we are again planning a SPAC. The theme for this year's SPAC is 'Innovation and Invention' with a focus on patents (how to get one, why should I get one, and how to use a patent to my advantage).

The SPAC will be held at the SFU Halpern Centre on October the 27th from 11am to 5pm. Lunch will be provided with admission. Keep an eye out for the posters and promotions! We are looking to top last year's attendance so come out and bring a friend.

The IEEE Chair Orientation in Calgary

Every year, the Chairperson and the Branch Counselor of each of the student branches in Western Canada are invited to attend a weekend workshop on how to run a student chapter and to meet with the chairs from other schools. This year's workshop was in Calgary. The weekend started with my 7PM flight to Calgary. I then took a taxi to the hotel which was right next to McMahon Stadium. After unpacking, I went around and met the other students from University of Saskatchewan, University of Regina, and other western schools. We started early Saturday morning with introductions and then an overview of the IEEE organization.

After lunch, we had a group discussion on why we joined the IEEE and how we were elected to be Chair, and solved a couple of case studies. Sunday morning, we had presentations from all the schools in attendance. The presentations were about what we did last year and what we plan on doing this year. There were some great ideas presented and our Student Branch will be looking into trying some of these new events this year. After lunch, I caught the 4PM flight back to Vancouver. All in all, it was a very fast moving weekend.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is the largest association of professionals in our field in the world. Student membership application forms can be obtained through Garson Ho (IEEE Vice-Chair); student membership for one year works out to be around C$42 per year, and includes regular newsletters, subscription to IEEE Spectrum, the opportunity to join specialty associations, and (most importantly!) FREE admission to pizza/pop/movie nights sponsored by your local IEEE Student Branch. -- Ed.

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