The Bridge - Issue 2, 2020 - 25

Professional Profile

Donor Profile

Hulya Kirkici
Eta Kappa Nu membership certificate-Purdue 1971

John speaking at Canada Protection Symposium-2019

I wish I had known...

From your perspective, what's the next
BIG advance in engineering?

I wish I had known the importance of being fluent
in a second language. I give talks and teach courses
frequently worldwide, and in Latin America my local
host provides simultaneous translation. Knowing
what I know now, I would have taken four years of
Spanish in high school, taken at least two elective
courses in Spanish at Purdue, and spent time in a
Spanish-speaking country to be fluent.

Best advice for new graduates...
Much of our work is art rather than science. One
must master the science, but it takes many years of
working with very experienced people to learn the
art - the application of the science. New graduates
should find at least one mentor and spend at least
one hour with each mentor each month. I gave
a webinar one year ago for the IEEE PES on "Key
Insights to Career Management". It was recorded
and is available at no cost to everyone. This talk is
designed to discuss managing your career. There are
12 important things to keep in mind when living and
managing your career to achieve your goals. These
are explained and explored with examples and
photographs based on my 46 years as an engineer,
manager and executive managing people's careers,
and 49 years as an IEEE member. Your career is your
career and understanding your priorities (which can
change) and your company's objectives can help you
have a rewarding and fulfilling career.

THE BRIDGE

The one big advance that has many potential benefits
is managing big data, developing new analytics to
provide new value streams, and creating a user
experience (more than user interface) for effective
conveyance of the data and the results of the
analytics. This involves machine learning, artificial
intelligence and use of the digital twin. When this
is applied to power systems, one application is
moving from time-based maintenance to conditionbased maintenance, or from reactive maintenance
(wait until it breaks) to predictive maintenance. This
application is called Asset Performance Management
(APM). Both manufacturers and electric utilities are
now hiring data scientists for the first time. We have
barely scratched the surface of the potential benefits
of APM or other similar applications. There is so much
more we can do! I wrote the first chapter, titled "A
Holistic Approach to Becoming a Data-Driven Utility",
in the book Big Data Application in Power Systems,
published by Elsevier in 2018.

Are You Eta Kappa Nu?
Show Your Eta Kappa Nu!
If it's not on your card, it's
not in your IEEE membership
record. Let us know!

800-406-2590
info@hkn.org
www.hkn.org

IEEE Fellow
Xi Chapter
ILLUMINATE

ENGAGE

the possibilities
of technology by
using it to address
global challenges

a wider audience
in appreciating the value
and importance
of engineering
and technology

EDUCATE

ENERGIZE

the next generation
of innovators
and engineers

innovation by
celebrating
technological
excellence

The world's most daunting challenges
require innovations in engineering, and
IEEE is committed to finding the solutions.
The IEEE Foundation is leading a special
campaign to raise awareness, create
partnerships, and generate financial resources
needed to combat these global challenges.
Our goal is to raise $30 million by 2020.

DONATE NOW

ieeefoundation.org

Recognizing Student Achievement
Through a New IEEE-HKN Award
Hulya Kirkici is an IEEE Fellow, and an officer of IEEE
recently serving as the 2019 Vice President, Publications
Services and Products. She's also the founder of an
important new award designed to recognize technical
achievement by IEEE-HKN students.
In search of a worthy target for proceeds of a non-profit
initiative called the Power Modulator Conference, Hulya
approached the IEEE Foundation to discuss ways to put
it to good use in recognizing technical achievement by
students within IEEE Region 3. Working with IEEE-HKN,
the IEEE honor society, Hulya donated the proceeds to the
IEEE-HKN Power Modulator Fund in 2019 and created a
new award called the 'IEEE-HKN Best Technical Conference
Student Paper Award' at IEEE Southeastcon. Scheduled
to be presented for the first time during the 2020 IEEE
Southeastcon in Raleigh, NC, USA, the new award will
recognize the best student paper presented at the technical
conference portion of Southeastcon, IEEE Region 3's major
annual event.
"I'm proud to invest in IEEE," Hulya said, "and hope that this
new award will help enable IEEE-HKN to nurture the next
generation of technology leaders for years to come."

You can choose to directly support IEEE-HKN or any of the strategically identified IEEE initiatives that help
meet the world's most pressing challenges and help us to realize the full potential of IEEE.

HKN.ORG

https://www.ieeefoundation.org/ https://www.ieeefoundation.org/ieee_hkn https://hkn.ieee.org/ https://hkn.ieee.org/

The Bridge - Issue 2, 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Bridge - Issue 2, 2020