IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - January/February 2021 - 12

leader's corner

THE YEAR 2020 WAS A DIFFICULT
one, and we are glad to put it behind
us. We feared for our loved ones, we
feared for our jobs, and we feared
life would never be the same again.
This is our new normal, and as hard as
that is to accept, we must keep moving forward. In this month's " Leader's
Corner " column, I want to reflect on
the positive aspects I have seen and
experienced this past year in my professional career and as a member of
and volunteer for the IEEE Power &
Energy Society (PES). This exercise
has given me hope that we can survive
the pandemic together.
As the PES vice president for Chapters, my role is to oversee the operation
of the Society's professional and Student Chapters around the world. We
currently have nearly 260 Chapters and
450 Student Chapters in more than
150 countries. PES Chapters provide the
means for our Society to connect with
members locally. Our Chapters are
run by volunteers who are just like the
people you work and live with in your
community. They organize events to
support the professional development
of PES members in the community and
provide them with networking opportunities. With the start of the pandemic,
all local Chapter activities across the
world were paused, but only for a brief
period. Our volunteers regrouped and
soon started organizing virtual events.
Conferences and technical meetings
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPE.2020.3033368
Date of current version: 6 January 2021

ieee power & energy magazine

Mazana Armstrong

unity in adversity
staying connected during challenging times

were transitioned to virtual events at
low to no cost to our members. Distinguished lectures became webinars.
Our " engines " were restarted and ran
at a high speed in this new virtual
world. As PES, we decided to not sit
back but instead do just the opposite.
We moved forward with strength and
support for each other at the time we
needed it the most.

2020 PES Student
Congress
Let me tell you a story about the 2020
PES Student Congress. This biannual
event was started in
2014, and our Society
funds approximately
100 Student Chapters
to send their representatives to this training
and networking event.
The event s u p p o r t s
the growth of student
membership and ensures that our Society
continues to f lourish
for years to come. These
young students will
carry the torch lit by
the inventors of electric power systems and
founders of IEEE/AIEE more than
130 years ago. The fourth Student Congress was scheduled to be held August 2020 in Montréal in conjunction
with the IEEE PES General Meeting.
When it became clear that all IEEE
conferences and events were being
switched to virtual events, our orga-

nizing com m ittee for the Student
Congress was faced with an enormous challenge to create a first-ever virtual congress in an extremely
short time and with many uncertainties, such as the number of potential attendees.
Our organizing team of student
volunteers from Sri Lanka, Canada,
Tunisia, and Brazil united to pull
off an outstanding event. The virtual congress was free of charge, with
registrations exceeding 2,000 student
participants from across the world.
The sessions included online competitions, debates, softskills training, multicultural events, leader
forums, and training
on how to run successful Student Chapters. The event was
broadcast via social
media outlets, and it
was a huge success.
To make this happen, our student volunteer leaders donated hundreds of hours
of their own time on
we eke n d s a n d eve nings for one reason
only: the positive difference it would
make for our members around the
world. That truly mattered to them.
This volunteering spirit is just one of
the examples where I have witnessed
the strength of our Society and the
support and benefits that emerge when
we work as a team.

Our organizing
team of student
volunteers
from Sri Lanka,
Canada, Tunisia,
and Brazil
united to pull off
an outstanding
event.

january/february 2021

IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - January/February 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - January/February 2021