Description

IAS Chapter Contests are annually organized by the IAS main chapter, with the participation of contestants across all the ten IEEE regions. In 2017, there were only three submissions from University of Moratuwa, two submissions to the Myron Zucker Undergraduate Student Design Contest and one submission to the Student Robotics Demonstration Contest. Out of the three submissions, two won awards, Jathushan Rajasegaran won the first place in the individual category of the Design contest while Vinoj Jayasundara won the second place in the Robotics Demonstration contest. With the intent of increasing the number of submissions to these contests in 2018, IAS student branch chapter of University of Moratuwa decided to conduct several awareness sessions targeting the undergraduates of the university, to enhance their awareness of IAS as well as the chapter contests. Awareness Session for the undergraduates of Department of Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering was held on 21st of February 2018 with the participation of over 100 undergraduates. Full session extended for a period of 20 minutes and consisted of a brief PowerPoint presentation followed by an interactive Q & A session. During the Q & A session, many questions were asked regarding the scope of the competition, format of the submissions and etc. The sessions were conducted by Vinoj Jayasundara, a past winner of the Robotics Demonstration Contest and the treasurer of the University of Moratuwa student branch chapter, with the assistance of Lakshitha Gunasekara and Hirunima Jayasekara, the president and the secretary of the University of Moratuwa student branch chapter, and under the guidance of Dr. Upuli Jayathunga, the adviser of the chapter. The presentation introduced the IAS chapter to the participants, highlighting the importance and significance of it within the IEEE network. Subsequently, it introduced the Myron Zucker Undergraduate Student Design Contest and Student Robotics Demonstration Contest, elaborating on the entry requirements, scope, deadlines, prizes and other details. Past winners of these contests from University of Moratuwa were also introduced. The programme was extremely successful and the purpose of the programme was fulfilled, with many students confirming their submissions to the contests this year. As opposed to the 3 submissions last year, we expect over 10 submissions from the department of Electronic and telecommunication to the contests this year, as a result of these awareness programmes. Further, the promocode for IAS membership for the year 2018 was also distributed during the sessions. As a result, the number of members of the SBC10741E Sri Lanka Section University of Moratuwa Student Branch Chapter expanded from 6 to 50, within a short time period.