Larry k wilson

IEEE Larry K. Wilson Regional Student Activities AwardNomination

Marios-Fotios BikosIEEE Student Branch-University of Patras• Greece Section • Region 8• January 23, 2013

Marios-Fotios Bikos • email: [email protected]• gr.linkedin.com/in/mariosbikos/ 1

Dedication & DevotionMe and IEEE

Photos from IEEE Activities & Events during 2011-2012

I joined IEEE in February 2011 and I am an active IEEE member since then. During that period, the Student Branch of University of Patras was inactive, although it is one of the oldest ones here in Greece. It was founded in 2003.I searched the web and I found out that there are Student Branches all around the world which transfer knowledge to their members and cooperate in order to carry out several projects,while at the same time, they organize seminars,conferences & workshops to advance technology for humanity.Since then I realised that I really wanted the Student Branch here in Patras to be revamped. Me and the rest of the executive committee members managed to “rejuvenate” the IEEE Student Branch of Patras and activate students in order to promote science. I managed to set high standards for IEEE Members, while also founded the 1st Computer Society Student Chapter in Greece. Nowadays, Student Branch of the University of Patras tends to become the largest student branch not only in Greece, but also in Region 8.

New Student Branch Chapters!

During 2011-2012 we managed to establish 2 Student Branch Chapters, the Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society Student Chapter and the Computer Society Student Chapter.The needs of IEEE Student Branch of University of Patras’ members and expressions of

interest from IEEE members about specific scientific interests led to the establishment of these 2 new Student Chapters, the most active Student Chapters to have ever been estalished in Greece.

Since then, members were eager to organize and participate in scientific events , as well as undertake scientific projects to develop applications.Our community grew numerically amazingly during the first months of our activity.Right now the Student Chapters are counting 51 Active Members(Computer Society) and 34 Active Members(EMB Society) and this number is growing rapidly day by day.

Our outstanding effort and the organization of several interesting events during 2011-2012 had as a result the creation of a huge network including researchers, students, professors and industry, while also the Greek and IEEE Press published several articles in newsletters.I am honored that I have contributed to the success of this Student Branch and i will continue to do so...

Therefore, I submit this petition in order to nominate myself for the Larry K.Wilson Regional Student Activities of IEEE.

Accomplishments“So early in my life, I had learned that if you want something, you had better make some noise.”

From my first days as a member of the IEEE Ι started working actively. On the first elections that took place in Patras(after 3 whole years of inactivity), I came 6th and I was not elected to become one of the members of the Executive Committee.I didn’t

”IEEE Day 2011” organized for the 1st time

in University of Patras.”

give up though.I took the position of Web Master and despite the fact I had no idea how to make websites (2nd year undergrad), I learned quickly the basics and developed the official website of IEEE Student Branch-University of Patras www.ieee-upatras.gr as well as maintained all web infrastructure of IEEE Student Branch of University of Patras for 1 year.

What now?Just a Web Master?

Being a member of the executive committee is a big responsibility. However, in this reconstruction of the Student Branch there were many members who could not stand the pressure. As a result, quickly came the resignation of Vice-Chair and therefore someone had to replace him. The fact that I was the first surrogate immediately made me a

favorite and I became Vice-Chair with the consent of the Executive Committee.

What happened until then?

I became the Vice-Chair of the Executive Committee on January of 2012.Until then i managed to do several things that helped the Student Branch operations.First of all, I was the one who designed a brand new T-Shirt with a special logo and a quote for our Branch. This had a huge impact for the executive committee and certainly attracted several new members to understand what exactly is IEEE.

On October 22, 2011 we managed to hold the 5th International IEEEXtreme Programming Competition, and I participated to it with my team: “NightCoders”.We got the 280th position.We participated for the first time in a major competition such as IEEEXtreme. We spent 24 hours

filled with excitement, anxiety, and problems that give you food for thought. We enjoyed the thrill of having to solve a series of complex problems in only a short amount of time, all the while knowing that we're racing against thousands of teams worldwide to the answer. IEEEXtreme was an exciting challenge that every student should experience.

What is more, me and my team managed to organize for the 1st time ever in Patras, “IEEE Day 2011”.A day dedicated to new students who want to learn all about IEEE and to update information to the older

Official T-shirt 2011-2012

IEEEXtreme 5.0 Participants

members of the IEEE.This way we managed to inform students about IEEE.The event’s program included a workshop section on how to write your first report & Paper, as well as a speech on Entrepreneurship by D.Tsigkos, President of the Hellenic Startup Association.

Beyond the actions in the Student Branch, hereto, once informed of the IEEE Societies which refer to a particular scientific area, I was interested immediately to establish an IEEE Computer Society Student Chapter. This idea came up because at the University of Patras there are two Departments on the subject of computers. The Dpt of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Dpt of Informatics & Computer Science. So I thought that one Computer Society Student Chapter would be ideal to set up here, since surely would appeal to students of these schools.

So, having discussed it with some of the members of the IEEE, the first meeting open to students took place in order to explain to students what exactly is a Student Chapter. Too many students responded and this led to the immediate establishment of the Student Chapter. Here in Greece, there are many students that would like to bring theory to practice...and this was

a perfect start for them and for us!

IEEE Computer Society Student Chapter-University of Patras-Logo Presentation

At this moment, I would really like to thank Mr. Sgarbas, our Faculty Advisor of the Computer Society Student Chapter.Without him we wouldn’t be so successful.

In one of our meetings, we decided to organize the first event of the Student Chapter. My proposal was to do

something that will help many students. Something which has not yet been taught in school, but certainly students would love to learn. And just like this,we came up with the idea of organizing a workshop on how to build websites from scratch using Joomla CMS.

So I began to lead a group of about fifteen people, having the experience from the Branch events. Ι commissioned responsibilities for every member and I managed to talk to F.Evangellou, a well known web designer who works as a CTO for a

big company(Nuevvo LTD) from Athens.Moreover I managed to close a deal with Xarchakos Publications and every IEEE Member could buy Joomla Books with a 50% Discount!We also had a random giveaway of 5 Joomla Books!

The event took place on Tuesday 20th December 2011.The purpose of this event was to teach participants simple steps to create

websites, but also to present the IEEE Computer Society Student Chapter-the first in Greece-whose members took the initiative to establish.The event attracted more than 250 students! What a start for our Computer Society Student Chapter!

After this great event, i thought that what student learned should be come practice somehow.So me and my team organized a contest in order for IEEE volunteers to create a website...the website of IEEE Computer Society Student Chapter!

Students were invited to submit their site using ONLY Joomla CMS. We wanted them to create our website as they imagined it should have been. Me and my team got several gifts for the winner.1 HTC Trophy mobile phone by HTC,€70.00 cash by Found.gr,2 Domain Names .gr, .eu or 1 Domain Name .com by Papaki.gr and 1 Web Hosting-Dynamic for 1 Year and Free-1 Web Hosting Pro for 1 Year Free! by Papaki.gr

2012New year,new ambitions...

Presentations about IEEE & IEEE Computer Society

Student Chapter

So here we are. 2012! The Student Branch after organizing more than 6 events from September till now,after having established the Computer Society and the EMB Society Student Chapter. It has now been rebuilt and the number of it’s members is increasing rapidly.

What’s Next?

Several Events took place during 2012.One of them was “Study Abroad” seminar.The  event  was  

held  at  the  Conference  and  

Cultural  Center  of  the  University  

of  Patras,  where  students  shared  

with  us  their  experiences  from  

their  visit  to  Stanford  University  on  a  scholarship  COSINE  and  professors  

helped  us  in  wri@ng  a  good  CV.Speakers  were  IEEE  Greece  Sec@on  Chair  

A.Skodras  and  T.Kakarountas  ex-­‐Counsellor  of  IEEE  Student  Branch-­‐

University  of  Central  Greece.

AJer  the  end  of  this  event  we  had  the  New  Year's  Pie  Cut  for  the  

members  of  the  IEEE  Student  Branch.

As the Chair of IEEE Computer Society Student Chapter, I tried to create some sub-divisions for the Chapter.So we created the Web Development Team, the Game Development Team and the Mobile Apps development team in order for the members to manage several projects and create different and useful applications.

On Thursday, February 16th, 2012 the IEEE Computer Society Student Chapter, in cooperation with the IEEE student Branch of the University of Patras organized a seminar entitled:

"Human-Computer Interaction & Artificial Intelligence".

The purpose of this event was to present to the public the sectors and research applications that have been developed by the laboratories of Human-Computer Interaction and Wire Communications, which also includes the area of Artificial Intelligence.Speakers were N.Fakotakis, Director of the Laboratory of Wire Communications (EBC), and head of the Artificial Intelligence Group,N.Avouris, Head of Group HCI, Professor of Software Engineering

and Human-Computer Interaction and K.Sgarbas, Assistant Professor on "Symbolic Artificial Intelligence with emphasis on Interactive Systems", Faculty Advisor of the IEEE Computer Society Student Chapter.More than 120 Students attended this event.

Games Expo 2012Our extraordinary accomplishment

THE 1ST GAMING EVENT IN GREECE & 1000 ATTENDEES

The Official Logo of Games Expo 2012

IEEE Computer Society Student Chapter in collaboration with the IEEE Student Branch of University of Patras organized the first Greek Games Expo in the city of Patras.

A series of successful events at the University of Patras, and the expertise combined with the appetite of the members of the Organizing Committee led to our decision to organize an event on a field that we all know from when we were young but we want to know more about, the one of ...Video Games!

Video games have become an entertainment for all ages and genders, with huge appeal to both young people and adults.They are available in every format from digital consoles to mobile phones. Gradually changing the way we communicate, we interact, we learn, we work.It's an industry with great history, but with an even greater future. We Deserve to know gaming better and what better way than to present

this field to new students with interest and hunger for learning!

This event was addressed to the public generally, but particularly young people and students interested in the field of Gaming in

Greece.

Our goal was to bring together in this event a series of speeches by researchers and Greek companies operating in the area of Gaming in Greece as well as informing the public about how they started, what is happening currently in the field of Gaming in Greece, what do they think about the future of video games in Greece, business solutions

through this area, information on the stages and processes of a project and finally a video game demo or Demo Videos from video games that have been developed by them. Partially, our goal was to strengthen the presence of Greece in the developing field of videogames.

Main concern of the event was to bring IEEE members and young people into more direct contact with the area of Game Development in Greece and to highlight the interconnection between academics-researchers and production & development of videogames.

Personal contact and dialogue between companies, researchers and young people emerged interesting proposals and prospects for participants from both sides.To achieve these objectives, each participating company was presented to the public through a speech, while it could have its own space in the event, which could be formed as it wanted in order to be attractive to visitors. Thus, a friendly

atmosphere enabled all attendees to learn about the activities of the companies, recruiting chances, Gaming Projects dealt with. It also enabled the public to play video games on consoles which had been placed to live closely the thrill of Gaming.In

the end, companies , were advertised and made known to students and young engineers and showed their support for voluntary initiatives despite difficult economic times.The event was held on Friday, March 16th at the Conference and Cultural Centre of the University of Patras and attracted more than 1000 people.

I also created a new website for Games Expo 2012:

www.games-expo.ieee-upatras.gr

More Pictures Here

Connection with Industry through our activity

During Games Expo 2012 personal contact and dialogue between companies, researchers and young people emerged 2 interesting proposals for participants.Specifically, 2 Gaming Companies from Greece, Saicon Games (http://www.saicongames.com/) and Eyelead (http://eyelead.com) offered internships for students of Electrical & Computer Engineering Department during the students’ diploma thesis in the field of Game Development.

Student Branch Chapter NewslettersSince January 6th 2012 I wrote and published 2 NewsLetters(Greek

Language) for 2 seasons(Winter & Spring).These Newsletters included information and summaries of past events as well as a section of “coming soon” events.

http://issuu.com/MariosBikos/docs/csupatras1stnewsletter/1

http://issuu.com/MariosBikos/docs/2nd_newsletter/1

Fund-Raising

During the Games Expo 2012 organization and throughout the year we managed to raise funds and created T-shirts with our Logos and IEEE Computer Society Stamps.

SBC Madrid & HSBC 20121 Great Experience leads to another...

On July 2012 the IEEE Student Branch Congress 2012 was held in Madrid. I was chosen to represent the Student Branch of Patras together with another colleague of mine. It was an awesome experience. Not only did i learn a lot about the history of IEEE, but also I had the opportunity to meet volunteers from all around the world. As you can see from the photos the Greek representation was tremendous with 10 volunteers and an amazing table in the multicultural evening.

Multicultural Evening -Table of Greece

The SBC 2012-Madrid experience became forever etched in our hearts. Returning from Madrid and after talks with representatives of the other Greek Student Branches we thought that we should organize the 1st Hellenic Student Branch Congress.

Where else? Patras!

Apparently the ΙΕΕΕ student Branch of the University of Patras was chosen to have the honor and responsibility to host HSBC 2012, since our activities so far have shown that we are the most able Branch to

carry it out. And so we did.

The 3-day conference/meeting was held in Patras on 14-16 December 2012 and was supported by IEEE R8SAC and the IEEE Greece Section, as well as by Corallia Clusters Initiative and the Hellenic Telecommunications Organization.

In this National Meeting of IEEE Student Branches, participants were students of higher technical institutions from Greece, Cyprus and

Europe, prominent scientists and members of the IEEE Greece Section.The congress managed to attract around 70 attendees from 10 Student Branches all over Greece and invited student branches from University of Cyprus and IST, Portugal. In addition, the list also included the Region 8 Secretary Mr. Costas Stasopoulos, as well as the Regional Student Representative, Jorge Soares and the Regional Student Branch Coordinator Simay Akar.

The aim of this congress/meeting, which included among others, workshops, visits and lectures related to the scientific nature of IEEE, was to help participants gain further knowledge and

promote the exchange of ideas, about the future of IEEE in Greece. Technical and non-technical presentations of the conference focused not only on IEEE and the advancement of technology, but also on career and research issues. Perhaps most important were the ample opportunities for networking and exchange of experiences, which took place around the clock.

The participants had the opportunity to present past activities and future goals of their Student Branches. The IEEE Greece Section Chair

Prof. Athanassios Skodras sincerely acknowledged their impressive volunteer efforts.It is worth mentioning that in the framework of the congress, students had the opportunity to tour the premises of Patras

InnoHub, which hosts also the office of the IEEE Student Branch of the University of Patras, and attend the presentation of Prof. Vassilios

Makios, General Manager of Corallia,  who  emphasized  the  need  for  the  

development  of  innova@on  

"made  in  Greece".  IEEE  

volunteers  also  had  the  chance  

to  visit  the  Archaeological

Museum of Patras, to have a legendary dinner at a traditional Greek Tavern and photo shoot for the commemorative photograph at Patras' Lighthouse.

During this Congress, students from IST, Portugal did a presentation explaining both TISP and EPICS-in-IEEE programs. They also presented the work done by the IST Student Branch to create the most successful TISP of all Region 8 inspiring all the members of the Congress.

This was the 1st nationwide collaborative effort on such a scale by IEEE student members in Greece, and is expected to have a great impact on the IEEE community and Greek IEEE Volunteers. The IEEE HSBC 2012 was very successful and although it was the first one, we all hope that it will be the one Annual Meeting/Congress to look forward to for several years!

StatisticsLet the numbers do the talking...

Most Active Student Branch in Greece during 2011-2012

21 EVENTS during 2011-2012

150,6% Active Members Increase212 Active Members currently

660+ Facebook Page Likes

1200 Website Unique visitors/month

I was responsible for coordinating, managing and proposing the technical activities developed by the IEEE Student Branch at Patras.

My primary function as an IEEE Student Branch Vice Chair was to manage the operations of the Branch in the best interest of the local members and to provide leadership and guidance for the other ΙΕΕΕ volunteers. We wanted students to get involved in several activities and learn how to think out of the box.

Me and the rest of the volunteers organized more than 21 events including seminars,workshops and technical meetings, in order to promote cooperation and exchange of technical information among IEEE members.

This is a huge accomplishment, considering that this time last year there was not even an Executive Committee for the Student Branch.Furthermore it should be mentioned that the creation of Student chapters inspired other Student Branches to establish new

Student Chapters, having as a guide the ones which were created in Patras.

Our activities became known both in local newspapers and in the Region 8 Newsletter of IEEE.(check documents).

Since September 2012 I serve as the Chair of IEEE Student Branch of the University of Patras!

Founder & Chair of IEEE Computer Society Student Chapter - Univ of Patras

Achievements

Computer Society 2012-Outstanding Chapter Award113% Active Members Increase(52 Active Members)26 Unique Speakers20 Supporters/Sponsors

We presented and still present an exemplary series of events and actions.We count almost 25% of the registered students of the associated Department, presenting thus one of the highest percentages of student engagement among all the Greek Universities.During 2011-2012 we attracted more than 250 participants to every event,and more than 1000 people attended Games Expo 2012, the biggest SB Event to date in Greece. We managed to raise funds enough to support all of our activities without the need of support from IEEE or its units (i.e. Greece IEEE Section) and cooperated with great companies such as HTC - Corallia- Oktabit- Dell-Intel.Finally, we had the honor to win IEEE Computer Society 2012 Outstanding Chapter Award, a worldwide recognition of our efforts and mine personally!

I am proud to be a member of the IEEE and the Chair of the IEEE Student Branch of the University of Patras and I would be honored if i win this prize, since it will give me another push to continue my purpose...to lead the Most Active Student Branch in Greece!

USEFUL LINKS

Official Website of IEEE Student Branch of the University of Patras, www.ieee-upatras.gr

Official Website of IEEE Computer Society Student Chapter of the University of Patras, www.computer.ieee-upatras.gr

Official Website of IEEE EMBS Student Chapter of the University of Patras,www.emb.ieee-upatras.gr

Official Website of Games Expo 2012, www.games-expo.ieee-upatras.gr

Official Website of Hellenic Student Branch Congress 2012, www.hsbc.ieee-upatras.gr

IEEE Student Branch Presentation Link, http://prezi.com/g63pacecdpvb/copy-of-ieee-student-branch-patra/?kw=view-g63pacecdpvb&rc=ref-4586743

Facebook Page(IEEE UPatras): https://www.facebook.com/ieeesbupatras

Facebook Page(Computer Society Student Chapter):https://www.facebook.com/pages/IEEE-SB-UPatras-Computer-Chapter/307346405946129?fref=ts

Facebook Page(EMBS Student Chapter):https://www.facebook.com/ieeeembspatras?fref=ts

Twitter: www.twitter.com/ieeeupatras

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=3668244&trk=hb_side_g

Photos Check out http://ieee-upatras.gr/en/gallery/gallery & https://www.facebook.com/ieeesbupatras/photos_albums