Exploring Entrepreneurship At Sections Congress “Ignite!”

In August of 2017, IEEE members, staff, and volunteers met in Sydney, Australia to attend IEEE Sections Congress.

Sections Congress is IEEE’s triennial gathering of grassroots leadership at which attendees network with local geographic leaders, attend training programs and develop recommendations to guide the future of IEEE.

As part of this years’ Ignite! session schedule volunteers and staff presented useful information on a variety of subjects related to the IEEE, including several sessions focused on entrepreneurship.

Simay Akar, and Amit Kumar, IEEE members from Region 10, delivered presentations that focused on the ways in which people can leverage IEEE to help grow their engineering-driven business.

Connecting Startups and Industry: How Sections Can Help – Simay Akar

Can Sections Congress be a tool that young professionals and students can leverage to help their careers? In this presentation, Committee members of MGA Membership Recruitment and Recovery and WIE Liaison Simay Akar described how IEEE Sections, Young Professionals, and students can collaborate to connect to entrepreneurship to industry. Akar encouraged activities to promote awareness, utilizing university resources, startup incubators, events, competitions, and more.

Simay Akar has been an active IEEE volunteer since 2007, serving in multiple leadership roles and working closely with multiple societies and initiatives within the organization to help people, especially women and students, better leverage the tools that the IEEE provides to its members in order to further their careers in engineering or engineering-driven startups.

Building Technical Communities Through Entrepreneurship Activities in India – Amit Kumar

Over the past few years, Region 10 (in particular the Hyperabad area) has been one of the most active regions in the world of technology-driven entrepreneurship. Amit Kumar, Committee member of IEEE MGA Strategic Direction and Environmental Assessment (SDEA), spoke about the rise of India’s entrepreneurship in a challenging economy. He reviewed the IEEE India Initiative, its sections, and how to build community.

Amit Kumar has held multiple leadership positions within the IEEE, including Chairman of the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society (Hyperabad Section), and is currently the Treasurer of the IEEE Hyperabad Section, a title he’s held since 2013. He is also currently the vice-chairman of the IEEE India Council, making him extremely knowledgeable about how the IEEE can help Indian engineers and engineering-driven entrepreneurs to succeed.