Report on Visit to Region 9

By Saj Durrani
September 2009

I was invited to speak at several places in Brazil and Argentina recently, and since the trip was sponsored by the AESS Distinguished Lecturers Program, it gave me the opportunity to discuss the possibility of forming AESS Chapters there. Section Officers in both countries said they had enough members to form an AESS Chapter, either stand alone or jointly with another Society. Here is a short report that may be of interest to the Board.

Background
The idea for the visit was initiated by the Student Branch at a university in Brazil, located in Ilha Solteira (Ilha for short), a remote mountain region in the State of Sao Paulo. (Ilha is pronounced as Ilya, and means Island. The town is on a “Solitary Island” in a very wide river.) The State university system called UNESP has 32 campuses; the Ilha campus has about 3,000 students in a city of about 25,000. It is located near a big hydroelectric plant, so their emphasis is on Power Engineering. However, they hold an annual conference with a broader range of topics during their Engineering Week in August, with speakers from other States and abroad. Registration and related activities are organized by the Student Branch, with guidance from their Faculty Advisor, Prof. Antonio Pedilha. This year Carlos Beltrame, a final year student of EE and Past Chair of the IEEE Student Branch, decided to add Satellite Communications as a topic, and asked me if I could speak on Satellite Communications at the Conference. (He is a young man with a lot of initiative and good leadership skills; he plans to remain active in Region 9 and GOLD after graduation.)

After I had accepted, Carlos informed his counterparts in other Student Branches in the State, and two other institutes (not part of UNESP) also contacted me. The information found its way to the Section Chairs in Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires, and they also invited me to speak. The DLP now falls under the VP-Education, Iram Weinstein, who supported the idea, and the Board approved my visit to five locations: four in Brazil and one in Argentina. (It required larger than usual funding, but the hosts picked up a significant part of the expenses, so the total cost remained within the budget.)

The visit extended from August 23 to September 5. After landing in Sao Paulo and speaking at a Section meeting there, I proceeded to Ilha; then I returned to Sao Paulo and spoke at two other neighboring locations, followed by the last stop in Buenos Aires. At my request, Dave Dobson had sent packages containing back issues of the Systems Magazine and some other publications to Ilha as well as the Section offices in Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires. These were eagerly picked up by attendees at various meetings. (Thanks, Dave!)

Specific Visits

1. South Brazil Section, Sao Paulo
The Section Chair, Alessio Borelli, met me at the airport when I arrived in Sao Paulo, and took me to meet some of his colleagues in the Politechnic where he teaches. He had arranged my talk at a Section meeting on August 24, and it was attended by about 40 people. After the talk and a break for refreshments, we met again to discuss the benefits of joining the IEEE and AESS. I also gave a slide-show about how NASA prepares to launch a Space Shuttle to take cargo to the Space Station, since such a launch was scheduled during that week. Some of them showed an interest in joining the AESS, and Mr Borelli said he will follow up on it. (The same pattern – talk on Satellite Communications, break for refreshments, discussion about IEEE, and slide show about the Space Shuttle – was followed in my visits to other places, and was well-received.)

2. Ilha Solteira
The Engineering Conference extended over four days and my talk was set for its concluding session on August 28. For two days before my talk, I met with members of the Student Branch and several faculty members in their offices and in numerous social events. Some faculty members showed interest in joining the AESS, but perhaps it was just a polite response to my “PR” effort.

The Conference was very well attended, and more than 130 people came to my talk. A big surprise was that the Mayor of the City (accompanied by the university’s Rector) showed up before the session to welcome me as an AESS Distinguished Lecturer, and proclaiming me as the City’s Official Guest that day. Thus the AESS got some official recognition out of this visit!

3. ITA
The Institute of Aeronautic Technology (ITA) is a highly regarded institute with a competitively selected small student body, located on a huge campus about three hours drive from Sao Paulo. One of their professors, Dr. David Fernandez, had scheduled my talk on August 31; it was attended by about 40 students and faculty members. Dr. Fernandez also took me to see the National Institute of Space Research nearby, which has state of the art facilities. Faculty members of both institutes are quite familiar with the IEEE and belong to its Societies; some of them said they would look into forming an AESS Chapter, either independently or jointly with another Society.

4. UFABC
This is a relatively new Federal University, comprising three Boroughs (with initials A, B, and C), not far from Sao Paulo. Their IEEE Student Branch, led by Rodrigo Enjiu, arranged the talk on September 1; several faculty members and about 50 students showed up. Here also I discussed IEEE and AESS following the main talk, and several people showed interest.

5. Argentina Section, Buenos Aires
The Argentina Section has an office in Buenos Aires, but their Officers are located in other parts of the country as well. The current Chair, Guillermo Kalocai, lives in a city about 600 km from Buenos Aires. Two of their very active members – Valentino Trainotti, and Luis Remez – live in Buenos Aires and acted as my hosts. Mr Kalocai joined us just for the Section Meeting on September 3. (He took a nine-hour overnight bus trip each way, which shows his dedication to the IEEE!) According to Mr Remez, 40 members had registered for the meeting, but the actual attendance was only about 25 - perhaps because it was raining that day. The program was similar to that of other meetings described above, and some attendees expressed an interest in joining an AESS Chapter in future.

Mr Trainotti is Chair of the Broadcasting Society’s local Chapter, and has served on the Society’s Board for several years. He is very familiar with how the IEEE works, and showed a willingness to help form an AESS Chapter. However, he has many items on his agenda for the next two months, and it may be a while before he has the time to act on this one.

Summary
My visit showed once again that the IEEE is a truly international organization, and that many of its members are willing to spend their time and effort in its service. The IEEE Officers in both countries were very hospitable and made me feel like old friends. The visit generated interest in the AESS, and may lead to the formation of Chapters in Brazil and Argentina. I will stay in touch with the two Section Chairs and hopefully will be able to report some positive development in the next few months.

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