Me with the Albert Einstein sculpture at Frankfurt Airport’s Z terminal
Tom Coughlin Photos
I just finished an IEEE trip in Africa. I have visited 3 countries. It was Tunisia, Kenya and South Africa. I was impressed by the energy and enthusiasm of the IEEE volunteers I saw in Africa. I believe that Africa offers great opportunities for IEEE to pursue our mission of advancing technology for the benefit of humanity and to help IEEE attract and retain more young members. I am.
Africa is the continent with the youngest population. According to the United Nations, 70% of sub-Saharan Africa’s population is under 30 years old, and Africa’s median age is under 20 years old. We have a significant number of student members in Africa, particularly Tunisia. Getting many of these student members to become full members of IEEE after graduation will help keep IEEE relevant and relevant for the next 30 years.
My first destination was Tunisia. Thanks to the efforts of the Tunisia IEEE Section, the number of student members in Tunisia increased by 775% from 2014 to 2024. This is probably the largest increase in student membership of any IEEE section. Interestingly, the number of senior members in Tunisia also increased by 71% over the same period. I wanted to meet the Tunisian chapter executives, talk to student members, and visit companies in the country about the value of IEEE membership. Since most IEEE students end up working in industry after graduation, I think reaching out to companies is especially important.
On my first day in Tunisia, I visited Novation City in Sousse. It is a technology incubator that hosts several local companies, including early-stage technology startups and more established companies. Among other developments, Novation City CEO Hichem Turki said the company is collaborating with NVIDIA to enable AI development capabilities in the country and showed off NVIDIA equipment in the company’s data center. Ta. I spoke with Hichem about IEEE’s efforts to partner with companies.
I met with Enova Robotics, one of the more mature startups hosted in Novation City. They make private security robots and logistics robots and seem to be doing good business. Below, I’m standing next to the Enova logo.
Visit Enova Robotics in Novation City, Sousse, Tunisia
Tom Coughlin Photos
While I was staying in Yasmine Hammamet, just north of Sousse, I attended the IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Green Energy, which focused on the evolution of digital storage and memory technology and how to create a more circular economy and reduce environmental impact. He gave a lecture on efforts to reduce waste. The impact of digital storage in data centers, including the P2883 standard for data sanitization of storage devices.
I also spoke to student chapters about why they should consider IEEE as a professional home, and also talked about creating a more diverse and inclusive IEEE in conjunction with the Women in Engineering (WIE) event. We talked about. I also gave a short talk to local teams for the IEEE Xtreme 24-hour coding competition on October 26th.
After Tunisia, we headed to Nairobi, Kenya for the next leg of our African trip. While in Kenya, I met with Kenyan university deans at Strathmore University and visited IBM Research Africa. See image from IBM Kenya below. I would like to thank IEEE Kenya Secretary General Stephen Okwiri for driving me during my visit to Kenya and other members of the Kenya section for accompanying me.
Tom Coughlin at IBM Africa in Kenya
tom coughlin
We spoke to IBM’s John Matogo about the work they do and their work with the local Kenyan division. I also talked to John about IBM, or at least working with the African office to become a corporate partner of the IEEE, and perhaps working with them to do some corporate work to make the IBM IEEE members senior members. We talked. I believe it is important to establish good relationships with the companies where most of our student members work so that we can retain more young members and maintain a presence in the future. .
We also visited Oracle Kenya. Therefore, the Kenya division entered into a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, to provide local IEEE members with a variety of Oracle classes with certification at a discounted price. These IEEE activities should be carried out at a more global IEEE level by working with the IEEE Educational Activities Committee to offer such classes as part of continuing education programs and providing more value to our members. You will be able to. Below is a photo of me at Oracle headquarters in Kenya.
Visit the Oracle office in Nairobi, Kenya
Tom Coughlin Photos
After Kenya, I traveled to South Africa and visited local sections of people in Johannesburg and Cape Town. In Johannesburg, Department Head Professor Bola Akul and his colleagues have arranged for me to speak at the University of Johannesburg on IEEE’s Ethical Design of Intelligent and Autonomous Systems work, as well as in Tunisia on digital storage and the circular economy. Ta. At the Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria campus, Professor Akul’s campus. They provided us with a very fun and safe driver named Petrus.
From Johannesburg I traveled to Cape Town, where I was hosted by Stephen Payne, Vice-Chairman of the University of Cape Town in South Africa, and assisted by many local colleagues. I spoke again on Ethical Design for Intelligent and Autonomous Systems Activities and discussed with volunteers from the local section what was going on, opportunities and issues for the local section. My talk at the university was followed by a lively discussion about IEEE standards and AI.
A short visit to Tunisia, Kenya, and South Africa was a fun and educational opportunity to meet local section members and find out how IEEE can better engage with members and businesses in Africa. It has expanded.
