A group of IEEE Young Professionals & Impact Creators gathered on 28 December 2022 (10:00 AM – 3:00 PM UTC-3) to create awareness of Cloud Computing and to form a collaborative platform by initiating “Quarter Tech Talk Table 8.0 (QT3)” in the form of a Panel Discussion on the topic, “Role of Cloud Computing in Society & Career Opportunities.” This was conducted in collaboration with the IEEE Computer Society, IEEE Region 9 CS Chapter, IEEE UDP Student Branch, IEEE YP Chile Centro AG, “Universal Access to Technology” (Technical Committee) of IEEE SSIT, IEEE Industry Engagement Committee hosted at the Faculty of Engineering and Sciences of the Diego Portales University, Santiago, Chile.
Motivation
To create a broad collaborative group of Young Professionals and Impact Creators to share some insights on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning through a panel discussion. The primary motivation for QT3 comes from the IEEE Strategic Plan 2020-2025, which inspires us to conduct this event without boundaries.
Objectives
The objectives of QT3 are as stated below:
- Creating a broad collaboration for sharing knowledge of Industrial Technologies.
- Creating a bridge to connect IEEE Young Professionals through this activity for Career and Professional Development.
- Sharing opportunities for elevating ideas using research-based learning.
- Creating an open forum for discussion on recent technological advancements and challenges.
Event Details
This edition was the first to be held outside of India and the second in person-, and featured Hans Nemarich (CTO & Technical Recruiter Lead, N12), Fernando Oliver (CEO, Option. cl), Karim Touma (Chief Data & Analytics Officer, Falabella .com), Sudipta Debnath (Technical Leader – Digital Assurance and Automation, Cisco) as panelists, Melisa Arenas as a speaker at “Careers at Google and how we value our culture,” as well as Ramneek Kalra as a guest and presenter, Karol Suchan, President of IEEE Computer Society Chile Center and academic UDP, and other authorities of the Faculty.
Before the activity began, the guests and panelists shared a welcome breakfast with academics and authorities from the Faculty, such as Dean Rodrigo Garrido. Subsequently, Kalra kicked off the discussion panel, where he reflected on and talked about different topics related to cloud computing.
Among these, the importance students should give to learning about this technology was mentioned, without neglecting the rules and basic knowledge of computing, how cloud computing affects and benefits the world every day, the future they foresee experts, such as the potential incorporation into Artificial Intelligence.
Discussed points
- During the discussion, the panelists recommended different skills that would benefit the students when seeking internships and, eventually, a place of employment, which was well received by future engineers.
- According to panelist Hans Nemarich, who worked directly on the integration of Cloud Computing in Chile between 2011 and 2018, this integration or adaptation was slower than in the main developed countries. “But it has been accelerating briskly, and compared to other Latin American countries, Chile has performed well so far.” In fact, according to the MIT Cloud Ecosystem Index Ranking (June 2022), Chile ranks 37th worldwide and first in Latin America.
- Panelists also highlighted integrating emerging technologies such as AI, Edge Computing, and Cybersecurity with Cloud Computing.
- They also narrowed down the importance of Cloud Computing Applications in Society and how undergraduate students can develop their portfolio with different use-case projects.
Closing Ceremony
The event was concluded with a thanking note from advisors, Dr. Prashant R. Nair and Dr. Bozenna Pasik Duncan, along with guests of honor Prof. Carlos Ahumada and Dr. Satyanarayana Bheesette and the distinguished panelists were presented with mementos.
Post-Closing Ceremony and a short-lunch break, a keynote address on “Careers at Google and how we value our culture” was shared by Melisa Arenas (Customer Engineer, Google Chile), which was followed by an IEEE Benefits Awareness Session by Ramneek Kalra (Founding Chair, IEEE QT3).
Feedback
“It was an interesting event given that cloud computing is one of the technologies most currently used by companies for data storage,” says Alexander Bracho, a second-year Civil Engineering in Computer Science student at San Sebastián University. The fact that the instance allowed experts to know its greatest potential in the use of this technology motivated me to learn this technology in the not too distant future to apply it to solving and optimising problems for present and future companies.”
Jesús Muñoz, a fourth-year student of Electrical Execution Engineering at the University of Santiago de Chile, believes that the event was “fantastic and a very good opportunity to gain interaction with people from other countries. The speakers’ topics were very interesting and in sufficient depth for the general public who are interested in engineering to understand. I also thought it was very relevant and important to know what the industry expects of us as future engineers while we are still in undergrad.”
On the other hand, Matías Aguilera , a fourth-year student of Civil Engineering in Computer Science and Telecommunications UDP, valued the instance as innovative, where he particularly liked the panel discussion section. Topics about work were discussed: insertion and work experience, together with the impact that the way of learning produces in future job interviews.”
At the end of the activity, Dr. Karol Suchan commented that the activity was “a great success. I am glad that we were able to meet among professionals, academics and students from various universities in Chile , such as the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Universidad Andrés Bello, Universidad de Chile, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Universidad Diego Portales and Universidad San Sebastián, and also from other countries such as Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Haiti, India, Nigeria, Pakistan and Peru.”
Keep yourself posted with upcoming editions at: https://attend.ieee.org/qt3/ For any queries/clarifications, please feel free to connect with ramneek@ieee.org.
