IEEE ComSoc Distiguished Lecturer Tour - North America (Canada)
By Prof. Fabrizio Granelli, University of Trento, Italy
I'm an active ComSoc member since I was Secretary of CSIM TC in 2005, and last year I was very proud to be nominated IEEE ComSoc Distinguished Lecturer for the period 2012-13.
My first Distinguished Lecturer Tour was in North Carolina and Eastern Canada, with a very tight schedule on 8 lectures in 8 different locations (Raleigh, NC, USA; Halifax, St. John's, Fredericton, Quebec City, Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa, Canada), in the period June 3-15, 2012.
The lectures were focused on two topics: "Networking and the Smart Grid" and "Green Wireless Communications."
The first topic was by far the most popular, given the hype around it, and also the more interdisciplinary. Indeed, discussing about how networking impacts development of the next generation power grid leads to touch different engineering subjects and raises a lot of questions. During such lectures, I received very interesting questions, and found myself discussing on electric vehicles integration and other architectural aspects. A common question was related to the cyber security aspects implied by the usage of Internet technology for such a critical infrastructure. It was very interesting to discuss about smart grids in presence of a mixed audience of communication and power engineers, and academic and industry people. I really believe the DLTs should focus on opening and fostering discussions on "hot topics" to a broad audience, and I hope the attendees found good insights and also suggestions on those.
From the personal viewpoint, even tough I was taking more than one flight per day, I enjoyed visiting so many different places in Eastern Canada, from small places were Distinguished Lectures are quite rare to big cities such as Toronto and Ottawa. It gave me the chance to get a snapshot of a part of Canada... but also reminded me once more of how much small is the scientific community: in Halifax I met my "old" friend Christian Schlegel, now at Dalhousie, and I finally understood where St. John's was (thanks, Octavia) - almost, since due to extreme weather conditions my flight couldn't land and got back! Anyway, I promised we'll organize a remote version of the seminar.
Overall, the DLT experience was wonderful. I always got an interested and interactive audience, with several good points of discussion, and local arrangements were perfect. I'd like to express my gratitude to all the people who supported my trip for hosting me and for the enthusiasm in the initiative.
About IEEE ComSoc Distinguished Lecturer/Speaker Program
The Distinguished Lecturers Tour Program is a a service to our ComSoc local chapters. Distinguished Lecture Tours and individual Distinguished Speakers can be arranged in response to a request from one or more Chapter Chairs. They may also be initiated by Regional Directors, the Director – Membership Programs Development, or the Vice President – Member Relations. Tours and individual lectures are organized to benefit members and Chapters, and encourage membership development and new chapter formation. Lecture tours are supported as the budget allows in each of our four Regions: Asia/Pacific, Europe-Africa-Middle-East, Latin America, and North America. The Director in each region plays a key role as facilitator.
Visit IEEE ComSoc Distinguished Lectuers Tour web page for more information.