Now that we are halfway through the year, it is a good time to think strategically about what you want your SIGHT group to accomplish before the end of 2014. What do you need to do today to ensure you reach your goals for this year? Our monthly SIGHT newsletter provides opportunities and ideas, but you may have further questions for us. Please do not hesitate to get in touch at sight@ieee.org. We want to see you succeed!

 

Kartik Kulkarni, Chair, IEEE SIGHT Steering Committee

In March, we informed you of the three subcommittees of the SIGHT Steering Committee and last month we introduced you to our Operations Subcommittee Chair. This month's spotlight is on Projects.

The SIGHT Projects Subcommittee is chaired by longtime humanitarian activities volunteer from IEEE Region 6 (Western USA), Ray Larsen. 

The central questions that the Projects Subcommittee will grapple with in 2014 are:

• "How do we measure success?"
• "How do we deliver guidelines/best practices to SIGHT groups?"
• "Can/should we standardize our funding support system?"
• "How do we synergize with existing IEEE programs?" 

• Welcome to the following new SIGHTs: IEEE Montreal Section, MSRIT (India), and Pontifical Catholic University of Valpara�so (Chile)!

• Congratulations to Team ORION, winners of the Humanitarian Robotics and Automation Technology Challenge sponsored by RAS SIGHT. Read the whole story. 
• Magdalena Rojas, chair of UDP SIGHT Chile, received an award from Crea+ for outstanding work directing the snap circuits electronics workshop.
• The SCV SIGHT (California) is helping to support a local community college's humanitarian technology project.
• The 2014 Region 10 Humanitarian Technology Activities grant recipients have been named!
• The SIGHT program was featured in an inspiring article by Dr. Moshe Kam, IEEE 2011 President!
• SIGHT was also featured in IEEE The Institute - "Changing the World from the Inside Out."

 Join the SIGHT Facebook Group and stay up-to-date on the latest news!

Please let us know what you would like to read about in upcoming SIGHT newsletters.

Send your suggestions and ideas to Holly Schneider Brown, SIGHT Program Manager, at h.s.brown@ieee.org. 

 

 

 

 

 

SIGHT held its first Community Engagement Workshop (CEW) of the year at the International Humanitarian Technology Conference June 1 - 4 in Montreal, Canada. The June 2nd event was the first in North America, and it provided an opportunity to learn about the EPICS, TISP, and SIGHT programs as well as to meet local organizations for potential joint projects. The CEW and the many tutorials, workshops and keynotes provided a vibrant environment to be inspired and to connect. 

 

The night before the CEW, a panel celebrating the 5th year anniversary of the Humanitarian Technology Challenge (HTC) took place. It provided an excellent opportunity to celebrate and reflect on the opportunity to serve humanity with our technology know-how. 

 

As a result of the CEW, two to four SIGHT groups should emerge, and a new engagement opportunity with UNICEF is in the works. 

 

Videos and presentations from the conference soon will be online for all to access. 

  

The fishery is one of the most vulnerable sectors, and fishing is ranked as one of the dangerous occupations in the world. Over 24,000 fishermen die every year. Moreover, the great challenge of post-harvest fish losses contributes to food insecurity throughout the world.

 

Vincent Jain, one of the SIGHT fellowship recipients from GHTC 2013, has written a call to action for SIGHT volunteers to focus efforts using electrical and electronics engineering and ICT to help address some of these overlooked challenges.

 

Read his article on our SIGHT blog to better understand the problem and come up with some ideas your SIGHT group might want to work on. The impact you could have is huge!

 

We will feature your fisheries-related activities in future SIGHT newsletters, so please keep us apprised at sight@ieee.org. 

 

In our March survey on humanitarian technology, we asked you "What groups/kinds of people do you most want to benefit and why?"

 

Most responses seemed to revolve around the same idea: helping individuals placed in situations over which they have no control. Results showed the top three groups mentioned were the poor and people in developing countries, both at 16%, and people living in urban areas, 10%. 

 

  

Elliot V. Kotek, Content-Chief and Co-Founder, Not Impossible Labs