Prof. Celia Shahnaz

Biography:

Celia Shahnaz, SMIEEE, Fellow IEB, received Ph.D. degree from Concordia University, Canada and is currently a Professor at, Department of EEE, BUET, Bangladesh since 2015.

She has published more than 150 international journal/conference papers. She is a recipient of the Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship/Fellowship and Bangladesh Academy of Science Gold Medal for her contribution in Science and Technology. Her research interests include the areas of signal processing for speech analysis and speech enhancement, audio-visual recognition for biometric security, control system, robotics, pattern recognition,  machine learning and deep learning for audio, video, biomedical, power signals, multimodal emotion recognition, and humanitarian technology.

Recently, her papers have received best paper awards in IEEE BECITHCON 2019,  biomedical Engineering tracks at TENCON 2017 and at IEEE WIECON-ECE 2016, in Humanitarian Challenge track at R10 HTC 2017, and the best interactive poster award at ICIVPR 2017. Her paper has been selected for the top ten best paper awards in the Student Paper Contest of the 2018 and 2014 IEEE International Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems (MWSCAS), College Station, Texas, USA and Knoxville, TN, USA, respectively. She was the winner, the Best Student Paper Award, 2008 IEEE International Conference on Neural Networks and Signal Processing (ICNNSP), Zhenjiang, China. She was selected as one of the finalists of the Student Research Presentation Competition in the 2009 SYTACOM Workshop, Montreal, QC, Canada.

She was the mentor of 1st/2nd prize winning projects in IEEE IAS CMD Contests (Robotics, Humanitarian) in 2017-2019, USA. She was the supervisor of 4th/5th rank winning teams in SPCUP competitions, ICASSP 2020 (Spain)/2015 (Australia) and 5th  rank winning team in VIP CUP competition, ICIP 2020 (United Arab Emirates) .

She is the recipient of the 2021 IEEE MGA Achievement Award, 2021 Inspiring Women in Academia Award from Bangladesh brand forum, 2019 R10 Humanitarian Activities Outstanding Volunteer Award, 2016 MGA Leadership Award 2015 WIE Inspiring Member Award, 2013 R10 WIE Professional Volunteer Award.

She has been elected as 2022 IEEE WIE Committee Chair-Elect and she will serve as the 2023-2024 IEEE WIE Committee Chair. She has been appointed as 2022-23 Member, IEEE New Initiative Committee, 2021-23 Chair, IEEE SPS Women in Signal Processing, 2021-23 Liaison between IEEE SPS and IEEE WIE. She has been appointed as 2021-22 Member, IEEE History Committee, Liaison between IEEE History Committee and IEEE WIE, 2021 Chair, IEEE WIE History Subcommittee and 2021-22 Member, IEEE Educational Activities Board Faculty Resource Committee. She is 2020-21 Member, IEEE WIE Senior Member Elevation Drive, 2019-2021 Member, IEEE WIE WePower Subcommittee, 2020-22 Member, IEEE smart Village South Asian Working Group, 2017-2021  IEEE PES Women in Power (WiP) IEEE Region 10 Regional representative. She was a candidate for the 2021-22 IEEE Region 10 Director-Elect  election,  2020 Member, IEEE New Initiative Committee, 2020 Chair, Women in SIGHT Working Group, , 2017, 2019 Communications Chair, IEEE SIGHT steering Committee, 2017-18  Chair, IEEE WIE Workshops Subcommittee, 2017-18  Member, IEEE Region 10 Subcommittees (WIE, Humanitarian Technology Activity, Education), and 2016 IEEE Region 10 WIE Coordinator.  She has served as the 2018-6/2021Chair, IEEE Bangladesh Section.

She is the founder & Chair, IEEE SPS, IAS Bangladesh Chapters, Co-founder & Vice-Chair, IEEE RAS, SSIT Bangladesh Chapters, Founder and Advisor, WIE AG, IEEE Bangladesh Section. She has served as  the General Chair, IEEE TENSYMP 2020, IEEE BECITHCON 2021, IEEE SPICSCON 2019, IEEE PEEIACON 2021 & 2019, IEEE RAAICON 2021 General Chair: IEEE WIECON-ECE 2021, 2019, 2018, 2016, General Co- Chair, IEEE Region 10 HTC 2017 and IEEE WIECON-ECE 2017, Founder and  TPC Chair: IEEE SPICSCON 2021, IEEE WIECON-ECE 2015, IEEE BECITHCON 2019 & IEEE RAAIACON 2019.

She has served as an  Editorial board member, IET Signal Processing From 2018 to date and  2018- 20 Member, Technical Committee, Image, Video, and Multimedia (IVM), Asia Pacific Signal and Information Processing Association (APSIPA).

She has more than 20 years of experience (20 years as an IEEE volunteer) in leading impactful Technical, Professional, Educational, Industrial, Women Empowerment and Humanitarian Technology, Power and Energy-related Projects at national/international levels.

Address:United States

Kathleen A. Kramer

Biography:

Kathleen A. Kramer is an IEEE Senior Member and has been elected as the 2024 IEEE president-elect. She is set to begin serving as president on 1 January 2025. She is a Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of San Diego, San Diego, CA. She worked to develop new engineering programs as a founding member of the faculty and eventually became the chair of electrical engineering, and then serving as Director of Engineering (2004-2013), providing academic leadership for all of the university’s engineering programs. She has also been a Member of Technical Staff at several companies, including ViaSat, Hewlett Packard, and Bell Communications Research. She maintains an active research agenda and has recent publications in the areas of multisensor data fusion, evidence accrual, intelligent systems, and neural and fuzzy systems. Her teaching interests are in the areas of signal processing, mechatronics and robotics, and communication systems. She is a Fellow of ABET, and leader in the development of criteria for cyber security, mechatronics and robotics. She is served as AESS Cyber Security Technical Operations Panel Chair (2017-2022) and is a member of the AESS Avionics Technical Operations Panel. She served as the 2019-21 IEEE Secretary & Director, leading Governance across the IEEE. She received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering magna cum laude with a second major in physics from Loyola Marymount University, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the California Institute of Technology. 

Address:United States

Mary Ellen Randall

Biography:

Mary Ellen Randall was the IEEE Treasurer for 2021-2023.  She founded Ascot Technologies in 2000 in Cary, N.C. Ascot develops enterprise applications using mobile data delivery technologies. She serves as the award-winning company’s CEO.

Before launching Ascot, she worked for IBM, where she held several technical and managerial positions in hardware and software development, digital video chips, and test design automation. She routinely managed international projects. Randall has served as IEEE treasurer, director of IEEE Region 3, chair of IEEE Women in Engineering, and vice president of IEEE Member and Geographic Activities. In 2016 she created the IEEE MOVE (Mobile Outreach Vehicle) program to assist with disaster relief efforts and for science, technology, engineering, and math educational purposes. The IEEE Eta Kappa Nu honor society member has received several honors including the 2020 IEEE Haraden Pratt Award, which recognizes outstanding volunteer service to IEEE. She was named a top businesswoman in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park area, and she made the 2003 Business Leader Impact 100 list.

Address:United States

Simay Akar

Biography:

Simay Akar is a sustainable energy expert and a Multi-award-winning entrepreneur in the energy industry. She is the CEO and founder of AK Energy Consulting, a firm that provides a wide range of environmental consulting services to achieve sustainability goals; from conducting environmental impact assessments to developing and implementing carbon management plans and a comprehensive range of supply chain solutions for clean energy technologies. Her current roles within IEEE are

• IEEE Humanitarian Technologies Board: Best Practices and Projects Committee Chair- MGA Representative to the HTB Board and Representative to the IEEE MOVE Global Committee (MGC)

• ​IEEE MOVE Global Committee (MGC) Chair

• IEEE Region 8 Student Activities Committee Past Chair

Address:United States