IEEE Communications Society
Published: 20 Apr 2020
The COVID-19 global pandemic is a unique challenge that has impacted many members of the IEEE family and some of you are directly or indirectly engaged in the fight against it. We would like to express our concern and support for all members of the IEEE community, our staff, our families and others affected by this health crisis. These are difficult times, but we will get through them by working together. Thank you for your support of our shared mission to advance technology for humanity.
Welcome Message from Nirwan Ansari, Director of IEEE ComSoc Educational Services Board
It has been a great honor to be appointed Director of IEEE COMSOC Educational Activities Board (ESB) for 2020-2021. I am privileged to ride on the solid foundation laid down by many earlier volunteers and COMSOC staff to continue the missions of ESB. The COVID-19 global pandemic does present a challenge for us to run some already planned face-to-face events, and so they are either postponed for later dates or being converted into “virtual events.” This also offers an opportunity to raise awareness of the many valuable resources that ComSoc already has available to deliver online education and training. I hope this newsletter (first issue of 2020) will provide you with useful information for further educational enrichment including free educational resources, online courses and IEEE.tv. ESB is also accepting proposals for the 2021 COMSOC School Series. Last but not least, I would like to introduce our dedicated ESB members and profile two of them in each of these newsletters, starting with Michael Devetsikiotis and Fabrizio Granelli in this issue.
Free Educational Resources Available
IEEE ComSoc continues to offer a selection of IEEE ComSoc Webinars, Webcasts, and Free Tutorials Now to you at no cost. Many of these valuable resources are available on-demand, to view on your own schedule. IEEE ComSoc Webinars are offered live and available as a recording after the live session. Those webinars even come with the opportunity to earn CEUs/PDHs. Learn more about these educational resources.
Featured topics include:
Clear the Next Hurdle in the 5G Rollout
Radio Propagation Channel Modeling Fundamentals
5G – Recent Advance and Future Evolution
Access Hundreds of Videos on IEEE.tv.
Did you know that IEEE ComSoc members can access hundreds of videos from the IEEE Communications Society through IEEE.tv? Available videos include presentations from summits and conferences, such as keynote speakers, panel discussions and more.
Featured Video: “Desirable Properties of an Industrial Internet” presented by Dr. Vinton G. Cerf in his keynote speech at 2019 GLOBECOM in Hawaii.
In his speech, Dr. Cerf highlights the responsibilities engineers have to design systems that are reliable, secure, autonomous and possess a high degree of interoperability.
Sign Up for Live, Online Communication Technology Courses
IEEE ComSoc offers regularly scheduled live, instructor-led continuing education courses that cover the latest communication technologies. The courses taught entirely online via WebEx and IEEE CEUs are available for course participants.
Upcoming Courses
| Fundamentals of LTE: The Essentials Instructor: Daniel Wong 29 April 2020, 9:00AM-4:30PM EDT |
Introduction to MIMO Instructor: Alan Bensky 14 May 2020, 10:00AM - 2:00PM EDT |
| Visible Light Communications Instructor: Harald Haas 6 May 2020, 9:00AM-4:30PM EDT |
IoT and M2M Essentials Instructor: Lee Vishloff 20 May 2020, 9:00AM-4:30PM EDT |
| Optical Wireless Communications: Recent Applications in Terrestrial, Space, Satellite and Underwater First time offered! Instructor: Arun K. Majumdar 13 May 2020, 9:00AM-4:30PM EDT |
Emerging Optical Communication Technologies for 5G Instructor: Xiang Liu 21 May 2020, 10:00AM - 2:00PM EDT |
| View all upcoming ComSoc Training courses on the calendar. |
Call for Proposals for the 2021 IEEE ComSoc School Series
Since 2015, the IEEE Communications Society has hosted an official international school series event each year where student members receive hands-on experience with the latest technological developments in key areas of communications. The IEEE ComSoc School Series is designed for ComSoc student members who study communications and related areas. The ComSoc School Series program covers fundamental, advanced and hot topics in communications and features lectures by international experts, poster presentations, site visits, and hands-on demos. The typical duration of an IEEE ComSoc School Series event is 4 to 5 days.
IEEE ComSoc is currently accepting proposals for ComSoc School Series Events to be planned for 2021. If your Chapter or organization is interested in submitting a proposal, please visit the ComSoc School Series web page to learn more.
View information about the IEEE ComSoc School Series 2019 events.
2020 IEEE ComSoc Educational Services Board
The IEEE ComSoc Educational Services Board is responsible for the oversight of all Society education and training activities, including administration of the Society’s programs on continuing education, tutorials, short courses, lectures, etc. In particular, the Board is responsible for developing and maintaining continuing professional education and training programs, while striking a balance between generating revenue, supporting outreach efforts, and providing services to members.
2020 IEEE ComSoc Educational Services Board (ESB) Members:
Nirwan Ansari - Chair & Director
Michael Devetsikiotis
Periklis Chatzimisios
Ricardo Veiga
Nelson Fonseca
Carlos Lozano Garzon
Stefano Giordano
Nury Gabriela Ramirez Cely
Fabrizio Granelli
Venkatesha Prasad
Each issue of this newsletter will feature profiles of ComSoc ESB members. We have asked these members to share what they enjoy most about volunteering and what news they would like to share about current projects in which they are involved.
ComSoc ESB Member Profile: Fabrizio Granelli
I have been involved in ComSoc Educational Activities for several years and it was a great experience to collaborate with my colleagues and ComSoc staff on amazing projects! I got involved in the Educational Services Board as organizer of visits to local high schools during ICC and GLOBECOM to disseminate awareness about the relevance of communications, and then I had the chance to start the ComSoc Schools events by organizing two ComSoc Summer Schools in 2015 and 2016. I also had the chance and honor to coordinate Educational Activities as Director in 2018-19 and to consolidate our initiatives as permanent assets of ComSoc.
It is really impressive to experience the enthusiasm and dedication of the ESB members, and to collaborate in a really friendly and stimulating environment.
Most recently, I continue to collaborate as member of the Board, and I started an initiative (COMMS4ITALY) as chair of the local ComSoc/VTS chapter to serve our community by offering for free webinars by top researchers in communications and collecting donations for the COVID-19 emergency to the Civil Protection in Italy.
More about the COMMS4ITALY Initiative
It is a hard period for Italy due to COVID-19 outbreak, and the scientific community of telecommunications, represented by IEEE Italy Joint ComSoc/VTS Chapter, IEEE Communication Society Educational Services Board, Consorzio Nazionale Universitario per le Telecomunicazioni (CNIT) and Gruppo Nazionale delle Telecomunicazioni e Tecnologie dell’Informazione (GTTI), decided to offer specifically to young members the possibility to meet, even though virtually, some of the most representative figures of the tlc sector and to learn from them about emerging and future technologies.
The initiative was endorsed with enthusiasm by several experts in the field, volunteered their time to offer free online webinars (around 45 minutes) on topics including quantum communications, ICT sustainability, and others, not only exposing participants to the most revolutionary ideas and finding interesting issues to study and analyze, but also helping to ease the restrictions due to the current isolation period.
ComSoc ESB Member Profile: Michael Devetsikiotis
My involvement with ComSoc started more than 10 years ago in 2008. Our contribution to the members in the form of education and professional development is one of our most valuable services. What has always motivated me has been the impact we can have on the lives and careers of young people, students and engineers around the world. An emblematic moment as an ESB member was in Cape Town,South Africa, during ICC 2010, when several of us, among others former ComSoc Presidents and active Distinguished Lecturers, visited local universities and high schools to promote awareness of the value of telecommunications in the economy and in every day life. We continue to organize exciting events such as the ComSoc Summer School, which I organized and hosted in Albuquerque, New Mexico in the summer of 2018. I look forward to another great term as an ESB member under the new leadership of Professor Nirwan Ansari.
Stay Connected to IEEE Xplore When Working Remotely
If your organization has an institutional subscription to IEEE Xplore(R) and you need to work remotely due to school and workplace closures, you can still access IEEE Xplore and continue your work and research while offsite. Try these tips for remote access or contact IEEE for help. IEEE is here to support you, making certain that your IEEE subscription continues to be accessible to all users so they can continue to work regardless of location.
Get Involved!
Interested in volunteering with ComSoc? Check out the volunteer opportunities web page.