Election Announcement | United Kingdom and Ireland Vice-Chair (2024-2025), Chair (2026-2027)

The election of the United Kingdom and Ireland Vice-Chair (2024-2025), Chair (2026-2027) was revealed at the 2023 Annual Christmas Lecture at the University of Westminster on 15th December.

The Section is delighted to announce that Dr Nagham Saeed will take up the position of Vice Chair from January 2024.

Nagham, an Associate Professor at the University of West London, earned her PhD in 2011, specialising in optimising wireless communication networks.  With 15 years dedicated to advancing electrical and electronic engineering, she holds a Senior Fellowship from the Higher Education Academy.

Commenting on the outcome of the election, Nagham said:

The IEEE UK & Ireland Vice Chair is a very exciting role and fills me with supreme passion and purpose. It enables me to actively foster a spirit of collaboration, empowerment, and inclusion within the Section and to witness the power of our services in improving our members’ lives.

The enthusiasm I feel is a reflection of the boundless possibilities and the incredible potential that exists to make a meaningful, human-centric difference within the IEEE UK & Ireland family.

I look forward to working with everyone both during my term as Vice-Chair and then as Chair of the UK and Ireland Section.

Listen to Nagham’s technical presentation, her pitch for the position as well as her experience and vision for the Section below.

Talk Title: Sustainable Smart Cities (SSC): Shaping the Future for the Benefit of Humanity

Abstract:

In the talk, Nagham will explore the nexus of technology and urban living in our digitised society. An SSC is a sustainable city that uses smart technology to provide a high quality of life for citizens, reduce overall costs, and reduce infrastructure costs.

Starting with the Smart Grid highlighting its transformative impact on energy management. Shifting to Intelligent-Transportation-Systems, delving into Smart-Parking utilizing IoT, AI, and blockchain. Then Smart-Industry investigating leak detection and Battery-Monitoring Systems to aid resource conservation.

Finally, Smart-Education explores IoT systems to optimize teaching and learning where Nagham evidenced how her research is an EDI enabler carried by the joined workshops with by the IEEE Women In Engineering (WIE) UK & Ireland AG.

Vice-Chair Pitch

Related Technical Achievements & Experience

Nagham, an Associate Professor at the University of West London, earned her PhD in 2011, specialising in optimising wireless communication networks.

With 15 years dedicated to advancing electrical and electronic engineering, she holds a Senior Fellowship from the Higher Education Academy.

Recognised for teaching excellence, she won the UWL SU Best Academic/Tutor Award in 2021 and received subsequent nominations.

Nagham’s research, emphasizing energy-efficient intelligent systems in smart cities, is evident in her diverse publications across domains like wireless communications, modeling, simulation, BMS, information, and smart power.

A frequent speaker at IEEE conferences such as WIECON-ECE’22 INTELLECT’22, Smart Cities’23, and WF-IoT’23.

Leadership Experience

Nagham established the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) group at the University of West London which focuses on industry-driven research. The group research specifically centres on developing innovative solutions to enhance efficiency and sustainability. The group collaborated with partners from the UK’s; BT Research Group, FB Group and Slingshot Simulations Ltd, South Africa’s (Technology Innovation Agency), Malaysia’s (Universiti Sains Malaysia), and Jordan’s (Applied Science University). The research’s group membership quadrupled from the time Nagham joined.

She is active in organising and hosting technical workshops in flagship IEEE conferences including IEEE Smart Cities’23, WCNC’23, and WF-IoT’23. Moreover, she serves as a technical and diversity chair for a good number of conference such as the IAER iCCECE ’23 and Cyber-RCI, she is editorial board member of a number of journals such as Smart Applications of 5G Network and Engineering Future Sustainability.

Nagham successfully orchestrated joint events across IEEE societies nationally and internationally collaborating with YP, the student branch, the Communication Society, the PES Society, the Nanotechnology Chapter, WIE Romania, WIE Portugal, and WIE Oman such as Women in Smart Communications, Women in IoT, and Women in Smart Cities fostering global unity and engagement.

Position Statement

Overview of Key IEEE roles and engagements

Nagham joined the IEEE WIE UK & Ireland Steering Committee in 2018 and then became the chair by August 2022. In her impactful role as the chair of the UK & Ireland Women in Engineering (WIE) committee, the Affinity Group has flourished.

She initiated and led the Ambassadors’ network (2019), and IEEE UKI WIE Early Profession Work Group (2020), organising over 30 activities, workshops, and seminars that aligned with the IEEE WIE values. Through COVID-19 these webinars garnered substantial online participation and viewership, filing in the gaps of the participants’ learning process.

The Ambassadors’ YouTube channel significantly increased engagement. Through “Early Career Talks” workshops, she provided a unique platform for female students and early-career colleagues to inspire, create industry links, and share their experiences.

In the “Challenges and Opportunities” workshops she not only gave opportunities to students/ younger engineers to participate but also offered more senior engineers the chance to participate as speakers to further the diversity of our community. Within these events, she supported and mentored ambassadors, helping them to develop leadership skills.

Recognised with the prestigious IEEE Region 8 Outstanding Women in Engineering Section Volunteer Award in 2022, Nagham feels honoured to be a role model for young women with so much potential.

Vision for the Section

Her vision extends beyond, aspiring to contribute more to IEEE’s mission by becoming the Vice Chair of the IEEE’s UK & Ireland section.

With her university support and a fresh perspective.

• Nagham aims to replicate the success achieved with the IEEE WIE UK & I AG, fostering connectivity and support within the Section’s Communities.
• Driven by gratitude for the IEEE communities that support her, Nagham aims to evolve communities throughout their professional services.
• Envisions becoming a lifelong partner for all IEEE members, Nagham plans to establish a lifelong environment for our members.
• Nagham is committed to enhancing women’s involvement in technical fields globally, envisioning a vibrant IEEE community where women and men collaboratively innovate for humanity’s benefit.

Nagham’s narrative aligns with IEEE’s mission, positioning her as a compelling candidate. To her, IEEE is more than a technical organization; it’s a platform for individuals to transform adversity into triumph, and she is poised to contribute significantly to this transformative narrative.

Key policy initiatives and action plan

• Strengthen the collaboration with UK & I chapters, communities, and affinity groups by continuing to host joint inter-discipline events.
• Grow the Section’s Communities by delivering high-quality services by setting guidelines aiming to support impactful conferences, workshops, and events.
• Provide continuous support for growth and opportunities to members as students, then young professionals, then senior members then life members.
• Sustain our ongoing commitment to achieving gender balance within the section/chapters/affinity groups communities by actively engaging our members through our section initiatives and the reach-out channels.