Figure 1. From left to right: Dr. Pritpal
Singh, Dr. Sampathkumar Veeraraghavan,
Dr. Luis Kun, and Dr. Morgan Kiani during
Panel Session 1: Humanitarian Technology
2022. Photo credit: M. Aleman. In April 2022, I was invited to lecture at Villanova University, Villanova, PA, USA, and I met Dr. Pritpal Singh. Later, in June of that year during the IEEE TAB Series, I met the then President of the Humanitarian Activities Committee (HAC), Dr. Sampathkumar Veeraraghavan. Later, in July during the IEEE Latin American Electron Devices Conference (LAEDC) sponsored by the IEEE Electron Devices Society (EDS), I was invited to give a keynote talk and to be part of a panel. Mario Aleman conducted this panel session on Humanitarian Technology 2022, which also included both above-mentioned individuals. I also had the opportunity to meet the fourth panelist, Dr. Morgan Kiani (see Figure 1).
During this conference, I also had the opportunity to watch a workshop sponsored by Women in Engineering (WIE) and IEEE Young Professionals where Dr. Kiani did an outstanding presentation entitled “Girls in STEM. ” Her quote, “The key to bridge the gender gap in STEM areas is to enable and empower female students in K-12,” can be found on the IEEE Smart Village website [1]
During the rest of 2022, I partnered with Dr. Sampathkumar Veeraraghavan, on multiple occasions. These included the National Reunion of Student Branches (8 September 2022); Invited Panelist during ARGENCON (9 September 2022) conferences in San Juan, Argentina; another panel on 6 October 2022, in Costa Rica; and several other presentations in Region 10. In November 2022, IEEE SSIT’s flagship annual conference, the 2022 IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society (ISTAS’22) was held virtually in Hong Kong. Dr. Veeraraghavan’s HAC, helped SSIT financially through the HAC program, funding student registrations for ISTAS’22.
The key to bridge the gender gap in STEM areas is to enable and empower female students in K-12.
In 2023, as Dr. Veeraraghavan became president of IEEE Eta Kappa Nu (HKN), I was an Invited Panelist for the Humanitarian Track on Climate Change during their 2023 TechX—Conference, on 27 April. On September 14, he was an Invited Panelist on Climate Change during SSIT’s ISTAS 2023 in Wales, and the HAB became a Sponsor of ISTAS 2023 in Wales as well.
In July 2023, the LAEDC conference was held again in Puebla, Mexico. I was invited again to keynote and to be part of the Panel session in Humanitarian Technology 2023 chaired by Dr. Fernando Guarin. Invited Panelists were: Dr. Rajan Kapur, president of IEEE Smart Village; Dr. Morgan Kiani; Dr. Lwanga Herbert, president of the IEEE Humanitarian Activities Board (HAB; Dr. Edmundo Gutierrez, Director of the Instituto Nacional de Astronomia, Optica y Electronica (INAOE); and Victor Grimblatt of the IEEE Circuit and Systems Society (CAS).
During this panel, I heard Dr. Kiani describe the project she conducted personally in Nepal. A school that had no connection to the outside world suddenly had electricity and Internet access, completely changing the lives of many families forever. In September 2023, IEEE Spectrum published a detailed story [2] (Figure 2).
![Figure 2. - Dr. Morgan Kiani [left] led the team of engineers that installed photovoltaic panels at the Shree Batase Secondary School in Melamchi, Nepal, on behalf of IEEE Smart Village. She collaborated with Paras Loomba [right], founder of Global Himalayan Expedition, an organization that couples tourism with humanitarian technology to provide solar energy in off-grid communities [2]. Photo credit: M. Kiani.](https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/mediastore_new/IEEE/content/media/44/10496874/10496889/kun2-3363787-large.gif)
Figure 2.Dr. Morgan Kiani [left] led the team of engineers that installed photovoltaic panels at the Shree Batase Secondary School in Melamchi, Nepal, on behalf of IEEE Smart Village. She collaborated with Paras Loomba [right], founder of Global Himalayan Expedition, an organization that couples tourism with humanitarian technology to provide solar energy in off-grid communities [2]. Photo credit: M. Kiani.
Also in 2023, the Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC) was conducted at Villanova University by Dr. Pritpal Singh, who again, in 2024, will be the conference chair. SSIT participated in this meeting and provided the financial awards for best student paper and best student poster and also used the opportunity to present Dr. Guru Madhavan the 2023 Norbert Weiner award.
A school that had no connection to the outside world suddenly had electricity and Internet access, completely changing the lives of many families forever.
During the November 2023 IEEE Series/TAB meeting, Dr. Rajan Kapur invited SSIT to become part of the IEEE Smart Village effort. I accepted the proposal.
Dr. Kiani is a wonderful example of practicing what she preaches in several areas. First, she believes in talking with very young/K12 girls to get involved in STEM and she is very active in the IEEE-USA efforts. The implementation of the Nepal project is an example of “walk the talk.” I spoke with Dr Kiani and asked her to become a member of the SSIT family. I also asked her to become the SSIT liaison with the IEEE Smart Village effort, and she accepted. Her outstanding leadership will be a wonderful addition not only to SSIT and to the IEEE but for Society. Please join me in welcoming her.
A concluding note: All the people mentioned in this column will be part of ISTAS 2024 either as participants or as sponsors. All these relationships were generated by networking, socializing, and speaking individually with each person, and then collectively. In my view, these activities need to happen in person. The human touch over a cup of coffee is irreplaceable.
Author Information
Luis Kun is the 2023–2024 President of the IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology. He is a distinguished professor emeritus with the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, National Defense University, Washington, DC 20319 USA. Email: l.kun@ieee.org.
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