IEEE PES Day Celebration 2019 – IEEE Bangladesh Section

Hosted by: WIE Affinity Group, IEEE BDS

Co- Host: IEEE Bangladesh Section, PES IEEE BUET Student Branch Chapter

Venue: BUET

Date: April 27, 2019

Details: IEEE Bangladesh Section along with is Women In Engineering Affinity Group as well Power and Energy Society, IEEE BUET Student Branch Chapter celebrated the second global IEEE PES Day on 27th April at BUET. The event started at 4:30 with Professor Dr. Celia Shahnaz, Chair, IEEE Bangladesh Section, welcoming everyone and informing the audience about the history of Power and Energy Society.

After the interactive and informative introductory session by Prof. Celia, the first guest speaker Ms. Zarifa Khatun took the stage. Ms. Zarifa Khatun, Executive engineer, Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) talked about about the recruitment process at BPDB, the role she plays in the planning division of the organization, how her department is helping the government achieve the goal “Electricity for everyone- by 2021” and will help achieve “Reliable and Quality Power”, how demand forecast for the fiscal year correlates with the annual national budget etc. For the young engineers to-be, she shed some light upon the various power sector companies that are going to recruit a large number of engineers in the near future. She also discussed PhD opportunities for those who want to study abroad but come back to the country to further serve the nation.

Prof. Celia suggested some improvements that can be incorporated in our power sector, so that research-oriented students are also attracted by it, such as, creating internship opportunities, implementation of A.I, pattern recognition in this field etc. Next, she invited the honorable Managing Director of EGCB (Electricity Generation company Bangladesh Limited), Mr. Arun Kumar Saha to the dais. Mr. Saha discussed his very dynamic career till now and elaborated on two of the monumental decisions he was involved in that changed the whole portrait of power sector in Bangladesh. One was the decision to use oil as fuel instead of allowing load shedding and the other was importing power from India through cross-border HVDC connection in 2009. He then proceeded to discuss the current scenario in the power sector of Bangladesh including generation capacity and future plans to achieve government-imposed goals and beyond. The esteemed speaker held everyone rapt as he continued to discuss the impact of an improved power sector on GDP and described the company he led. He ended his speech with heartfelt words of advice to the young engineers present – to build up their careers and end the scarcity of skilled manpower in our country. His keynote speech was followed by an interactive question-answer session.

Professor Dr. Shaikh Anowarul Fattah, member of Long-Range Planning Committee of IEEE PES and Education Chair of IEEE Humanitarian Activity Committee (HAC), provided valuable information regarding the long term plans of IEEE PES, mentioning Ms. Zarifa Khatun, Executive engineer, Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) to speak to the audience. Three categories getting the highest priority – energy storage, distributed control and security. He then talked about SCADA being implemented in the various sectors and hence the importance of ensuring cyber-security. Dr. Celia added to the information by emphasizing on the fact that PES is targeting to register corporate members in our country so that, our progress in power sector is show-cased to the whole world.

The next speaker was Ms Tasnuva Binte Anowar, Assistant Engineer, DPDC who mentioned company achievements and milestones in the power sector.

A short break ensued during which the cake to celebrate PES Day was brought in, cut and distributed. Everybody took part in a photo session and enjoyed the refreshment.

Pramiti Anasuya Alam, AGM of Energypac Ltd, captivated the listeners with a video-clip showing her company’s progress and products, then charting a comparison of female participation among different departments of their company. She projected how female participation can be increased in their company and appealed for more female engineers to get more involved. She also asserted that they were a very female friendly employer. An interesting informal discussion followed on how industry owners such as Energypac can contribute to provide students with openings such that they can solve various problems through internship opportunities and open competitions.

Farah Nazifa, Data Analyst of SOLshare shared explained how she joined and contributes to the energy sector as a Data Analyst. She delivered an overview of the SOLshare and how it provides a sustainable energy solution for rural and remote communities.

Dr. Md. Raju Ahmed, Professor, Department of EEE, DUET, spoke about the scope of his research, the outcomes of his visits to multiple RMG factories, the codes to follow to ensure minimum fire hazards and lightning incidents. He discussed the necessity of proper protection system and urged everyone to consult experts on service design when building any structure.

The event was attended by a total of 41 people, 12 from 12 professional organizations and 29 affiliated to 9 educational institutions.