Chapters Are Volunteer Powered—the Bangalore Chapter Case Study

Professor Navakanta Bhat at the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore and chair of the 2003 SSCS Outstanding Chapter, knows the value of chapter activities. The attendance at local events has ranged from 30 to 300, with an excellent balance between industry and students.
The Chapter is joint between SSCS and EDS. In the Bangalore Section there are about 50 members of ED/SSCS. “But we believe that the total number of professionals in Bangalore working in the related fields such as semiconductor process and device technology, VLSI design, ECAD, TCAD, and MEMS may be an order of magnitude higher.” The chapter intends to bring them into the fold and offers to help their professional development.
However, what the professor enjoys most about his chapter involvement is “the fact that every event that we organize under the chapter has benefited the students—the future professionals—immensely. The chapter is important to create awareness about IEEE and its usefulness.”
Bhat finds that local institutions and companies help the chapter carry out their activities. “We are fortunate that for most of the events, local institutes and companies who host the events don’t charge us for the venue. That is a big support.”
Bhat recalls that the Bangalore Chapter was started by Professors Renuka P. Jindal and J. Vasi and that both have been chapter partners since its inception. “They convinced me that it makes a lot of sense to have a joint EDS and SSCS chapter in Bangalore. Since I happened to be a member of both these societies, I immediately decided to take this up.”
M.K. Radhakrishnan, who was chair of the Singapore Rel/ED/CPMT Chapter, has recently relocated to Bangalore. Bhat reports that he has become a valued colleague to the Singapore chapters with his rich experience in volunteering for IEEE and in serving as a chapter partner to the Electron Devices Chapters of India and Bombay. Radhakrishnan points out that “the various programs, such as technical talks, Distinguished Lectures, and continuing education programs are the important effects of chapter activities for both student and professional.” As a volunteer he “enjoys the working environment, especially the commitment of a few volunteers, even though they are only a few.”
Ideas for technical talks emerge during discussions with industry and academic colleagues. “The topics are decided based on the background audience (undergraduate, graduate, etc.),” Bhat reports. “Fortunately, it has not been a problem to identify resource persons in Bangalore, since this city has the largest number of professionals in the country working in EDS and SSCS and related areas.” The Bangalore Chapter also has organized tours of local businesses and has found them to be valuable chapter activities.
Organizing and publicizing chapter events takes a number of people. The Web site is maintained by R. Srinivasan, a graduate student at IISc. A lot of the logistics that go into the local arrangements are taken care of by various people, depending on the venue of the event. From the very beginning of the joint chapter in 2001, Radhakrishnan offered to help the Bangalore Chapter. He has given three technical talks at the chapter as an EDS Distinguished Lecturer. C.R.Venogopal is working to set up the ED/SSCS students’ chapter under the IEEE students’ section at Mysore, about 100 miles away from Bangalore. P.V. Subrahmanyam and Professor C.R.Venogopal also contribute as officers.
“This kind of activity can be sustained and carried forward only through enthusiastic volunteers. We urge professionals and students to be proactive and be part of this new chapter. By all means, anyone interested in volunteering can contact me or any other officers. We would be very glad to have more volunteers,” says Bhat.