• IEEE Humber Winter Coding Sessions #14

    Humber College North Campus, Room F310

    We will be having our weekly programming session Friday April 19 at 5:10 pm in room F310. Snacks and Codes will be served! We will continue our format of splitting off into groups for the first hour to help the new members catch up, the second hour will be preparation for IEEE Xtreme, and the 3rd hour will be dedicated to whatever interests the group that day (so bring your questions and ideas)! We will also continue our smart city project discussions! Bring your laptop with you! Day & Time: Friday April 19th, 2019 5:10 p.m. ‐ 7:00 p.m. Speaker: Andew Rudder Humber College Professor Organizers: IEEE Toronto WIE, Humber Student Branch Location: Humber College North Campus, Room F310 Contact: IEEE Humber

  • Blockchain Ecosystem TO: Public Launch Event for IEEE Toronto Blockchain

    WeWork, 100 University Ave, Toronto, ON M5J 1V6, Canada

    This is an open, free event taking place at WeWork, and organized by the IEEE Toronto to launch our NEW local Blockchain Group during Blockchain Week in Toronto. The IEEE is the largest technical association in the world. You can find more about IEEE Blockchain at https://blockchain.ieee.org/ The event is designed for anyone interested in networking with actual blockchain “builders”, not just engineers. It won’t be technical, we’ll get to network and enjoy some good conversation and learning. We’ll have an introduction to both the Greater Toronto ecosystem (there are many great blockchain initiatives and organizations in our city) and to concrete examples of ACTUAL realizations with a real world impact using Blockchain / Distributed Ledger technologies. Day & Time: Tuesday April 23rd, 2019 6:00 p.m. ‐ 8:00 p.m. Organizers: IEEE Toronto Consultants Network Location: WeWork 100 University Avenue Toronto, ON M5J 1V6 Contact: Greg Boutin RVSP: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/blockchain-ecosystem-to-public-launch-event-for-ieee-toronto-blockchain-tickets-59136197960 Agenda: 6-6.30pm: Networking (food and drinks provided) 6.30-7.40pm: Engaging 10-to-15-minute presentations by blockchain entrepreneurs and experts in Toronto (to be detailed shortly on this page) 7.40-8pm: More networking and wrap-up (we may head to a local bar after that if there is interest)

  • The Wow Dinner Toronto 2019

    Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St W, Toronto, ON M6J 1J6, Canada

    The WOW Dinner is the world’s leading #womenintech dinner promoting diversity & inclusion in tech and related industries. The inspirational global series of networking events coming to Toronto on May 21, 2019 at the Gladstone Hotel, and coincides with the Collision Conference held just blocks away. The event welcomes people of all genders and orientation. Expect an evening of great conversation with a vibrant group and an eclectic mix of innovators, amazing food and inspiring speakers! Day & Time: Tuesday May 21st, 2019 5:30 p.m. ‐ 8:00 p.m. Organizers: Newhaus Communications, Green Capulet, IEEE Toronto WIE Price: All IEEE members can get tickets for $50. Register: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-wow-dinner-toronto-for-women-in-tech-tickets-59334500087 Location: The Gladstone Hotel

  • ComSoc Industry Visit: Siemens RUGGEDCOM

    Siemens Ruggedcom, 300 Applewood Crescent, Concord, ON L4K 4E5, Canada

    IEEE Toronto ComSoc Chapter in partnership with IEEE Toronto Industrial Relations are inviting all interested to a unique opportunity to visit Siemens RUGGEDCOM Facility at 300 Applewood Crescent, Concord, ON L4K 4E5. RUGGEDCOM is a Canadian based company that is a subsidiary of Siemens. RUGGEDCOM networking products are designed to meet, even surpass internationally recognized industry standards for fast, reliable, standardized communications in numerous mission-critical industrial applications around the world. During the visit we will get to take a factory tour, meet with an R&D engineer and tour the R&D lab. RUGGEDCOM will host us for a lunch afterwards. Day & Time: Thursday May 23rd, 2019 10:00 a.m. ‐ 1:00 p.m. Organizers: IEEE Toronto ComSoc Transportation: The location is not far from Vaughan Metropolitan Centre (TTC). registered individuals are welcome to coordinate their own transportation to the location. Meeting point: We plan to meet inside the building entrance at 10am. Register: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/198904 Location: Siemens Ruggedcom, 300 Applewood Crescent Concord, Ontario, Canada L4K 4E5 Contact: Toronto_Chapter@comsoc.org

  • Assessment of Egocentric Spatial Orientation using Virtual Reality for Diagnosis and Monitoring Alzheimer’s Disease

    TRI-UC, Basement Lecture theatre 550 University Ave., Toronto, M5G 2A2

    Friday May 24th, 2019 at 12:15 p.m. Prof. Zahra Moussavi, Director of the Biomedical Engineering Program at University of Manitoba and Canada Research Chair, will be presenting “Assessment of Egocentric Spatial Orientation using Virtual Reality for Diagnosis and Monitoring Alzheimer’s Disease”. Day & Time: Friday May 24th, 2019 12:15 p.m. ‐ 1:15 p.m. Speaker: Zahra Moussavi Director of the Biomedical Engineering Program Professor & Canada Research Chair Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering University of Manitoba Organizers: IEEE Toronto WIE, IEEE Toronto, IEEE Toronto Engineering in Medicine and Biology Chapter, UHN Location: TRI-UC, Basement Lecture Theatre 550 University Ave., Toronto, M5G 2A2 GoToMeeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/543203653 Contact: Dr. Maryam Davoudpour Abstract: Memory and cognitive declines are associated with normal brain aging but are also precursors to dementia, in particular the so called the pandemic of the century, Alzheimer’s disease. While currently there is no cure or “vaccine” against dementia, based on brain’s plasticity, there are hopes to delay the onset or to slow the progression of disease. Alzheimer’s disease is multi-facet condition; thus, the key to its management is in multi- disciplinary approaches. The clinical diagnosis of neurodegenerative disorders, in general, is based on an extensive evaluation of cognition and behavioral performance along with functional status, which provides a variable grade of accuracy especially at early stages of the disease. In this talk, I will review diagnostic objective methods that can assist Alzheimer’s diagnosis. In particular, I will elaborate on the application and research outcomes of virtual reality egocentric spatial assessment for and its potentials for a differential diagnosis of Alzheimer’s versus other types of dementia. Biography: Zahra Moussavi is a professor, a Canada Research Chair, and the founder and director of Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program at University of Manitoba. Her current research focuses are on medical devices instrumentation and signal analysis for sleep apnea management and Alzheimer’s diagnosis and treatment using virtual reality, rTMS and EVestG technologies. She is the recipient of several awards including the “Canada’s Most Powerful Women (Top 100)” and “Manitoba Distinguished Women” in 2014 and IEEE EMBS Distinguished Lecturer, 2014 and 2019. She has published more than 259 peer-reviewed papers in journals and conferences, and has given 94 invited talks/seminars including 2 Tedx Talks and 9 keynote speaker seminars at national and international conferences. Aside from academic work, on her spare time, she writes science articles for public; also has developed and offered memory fitness programs for aging population. Poster Link: Click here

  • MIMO Signalling: Knowing the Classics Can Make a Difference

    Room BA-2135, University of Toronto

    Thursday June 6th, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. Prof. Wing-Kin (Ken) Ma, Chinese University of Hong Kong, will be presenting an IEEE Signal Processing Society Distinguished Lecture “MIMO Signalling: Knowing the Classics Can Make a Difference”. Day & Time: Thursday June 6th, 2019 10:00 a.m. ‐ 11:00 a.m. Speaker: Prof. Wing-Kin (Ken) Ma Chinese University of Hong Kong Organizers: IEEE Signal Processing Chapter Toronto Section IEEE Communications Chapter Toronto Section Location: Room BA-2135, University of Toronto http://map.utoronto.ca/building/080 Contact: Mehrnaz Shokrollahi, Yashodhan Athavale, Michael Zara, Abstract: In this talk the speaker will share two stories of how his research was benefitted by learning from the basics. The first story concerns physical-layer multicasting, a topic that has been dominated bybeamforming and optimization techniques. We will see how the classical concept of using channel coding to fight fast fading effects gives spark to rethink multicasting, and how that leads to a stochastic beamforming approach that goes beyond what beamforming achieves. The second story considers one-bit massive MIMO precoding, an emerging and challengingtopic. Current research on this topic mostly focuses on optimization, often in a sophisticated, if not complicated, manner. We will see how the traditional idea of Sigma-Delta modulation for DAC of temporal signals can be transferred to the spatial case, leading to one-bit massive MIMO precoding solutions that are simple and have quantization error well under control. Biography: Wing-Kin (Ken) Ma is a Professor with the Department of Electronic Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. His research interests lie in signal processing, optimization and communications. His mostrecent research focuses on two distinct topics, namely, structured matrix factorization for data science and remote sensing, and MIMO transceiver design and optimization. Dr. Ma is active in the Signal Processing Society. He served as editors of several journals, e.g.,Senior Area Editor of IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, Lead Guest Editor of a special issue in IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, to name a few. He is currently a member of the Signal Processing for Communications and Networking (SPCOM) Technical Committee. He received Research Excellence Award 2013– 2014 by CUHK, the 2015 IEEE Signal Processing Magazine Best Paper Award, the 2016 IEEE Signal Processing Letters Best Paper Award, and the 2018 IEEE Signal Processing Best Paper Award. He is an IEEE Fellow and is currently an IEEE SPS Distinguished Lecturer.

  • Data Mining and Machine Learning with Application to Medical Data

    TRI-UC, Basement Lecture theatre 550 University Ave., Toronto, M5G 2A2

    Wednesday July 17th, 2019 at 12:15 p.m. Prof. Steven Wang, Professor in Statistics at York University, will be presenting “Data Mining and Machine Learning with Application to Medical Data”. Day & Time: Wednesday July 17th, 2019 12:15 p.m. ‐ 1:15 p.m. Speaker: Prof. Steven Wang Professor in Statistics Department of Mathematics and Statistics York University Organizers: IEEE Toronto Robotics, IEEE Toronto WIE, EMB, UHN Location: TRI-UC, Basement Lecture theatre 550 University Ave., Toronto, M5G 2A2 GoToMeeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/435099981 Contact: Prof. Azadeh Yadollahi Abstract: In this talk, we will discuss some applications of data mining and machine learning to medical data. We will discuss a variety of topics: genetic analysis, signal processing method for ECG and EEG, personalized medicine, autoimmune disease and human microbiome analysis. We will also share our experience on data including issues related to data cleaning and missing values. Biography: Dr. Steven Wang is a professor in Statistics at the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. He received his Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of British Columbia in 2001 and did one year Postdoc on Data Mining at the Pacific Institute of Mathematical Sciences. He joined York University in 2002 and currently a full professor in Statistics. His research included statistical theory, data mining, optimization and machine learning. With his co-inventors, he has applied a Canadian and US patent for deep learning method. In the past 10 years, his research is focused on machine learning and medical data. Poster: See Poster

  • IEEE Toronto Centennial Workshop: Distributed Machine Learning, Basic Concepts

    Room B3-09 Centennial College, Progress Campus 941 Progress Ave., Toronto, Ontario, M1G 3T8

    Tuesday July 23rd, 2019 at 2:30 p.m. Reza Dibaj, Chair of Magnetics Chapter in the IEEE Toronto Section, will be presenting “IEEE Toronto Centennial Workshop: Distributed Machine Learning, Basic Concepts”. Day & Time: Tuesday July 23rd, 2019 2:30 p.m. ‐ 3:30 p.m. Speaker: Reza Dibaj Chair of Magnetics Chapter, IEEE Toronto Section Organizers: Magnetics Chapter, IEEE Toronto Centennial College Chapter, WIE IEEE Toronto Location: Room B3-09 Centennial College, Progress Campus 941 Progress Ave., Toronto, Ontario, M1G 3T8 Contact: Reza Dibaj Abstract: Machine Learning is an indispensable part of data science and there is no need to have a thorough programming background to benefit from it. Machine Learning (ML) and statistical techniques have provided a new era that enables us to convert the data to information, and transform the information into actionable knowledge. SciKit and TensorFlow are two states of the art libraries that can be used in Python and this seminar will open the gate to know their bases. The first seminar is about “Hello World!” Machine Learning program, using python language and SciKit learn library.

  • IEEE Toronto Centennial Workshop: Distributed Machine Learning, The Second Step

    Room B3-09 Centennial College, Progress Campus 941 Progress Ave., Toronto, Ontario, M1G 3T8

    Tuesday July 30th, 2019 at 2:30 p.m. Reza Dibaj, Chair of Magnetics Chapter in the IEEE Toronto Section, will be presenting “IEEE Toronto Centennial Workshop: Distributed Machine Learning, The Second Step”. Day & Time: Tuesday July 30th, 2019 2:30 p.m. ‐ 3:30 p.m. Speaker: Reza Dibaj Chair of Magnetics Chapter, IEEE Toronto Section Organizers: Magnetics Chapter, IEEE Toronto Centennial College Chapter, WIE IEEE Toronto Location: Room B3-09 Centennial College, Progress Campus 941 Progress Ave., Toronto, Ontario, M1G 3T8 Contact: Reza Dibaj Abstract: At the beginning of the workshop, we quickly recap what we did in the previous session and knowing more about the definition of good features in our datasets. To continue our journey that we have started in the previous workshop, we will dive deeper into ML by applying our Decision Tree algorithm on a classical iris dataset. We will thoroughly practice training and testing data, using a step-by-step hands-on. Finally, we will use visualization tools to show what is happening under the hood in a decision tree and how it works as one of the most interpretable algorithms in ML.

  • Opportunities, Challenges and Implementations of Silicon Integration and Packaging in mmWave Radar and Communication Applications

    Room BA 1200, Bahen Centre for Information Technology 40 St George St Toronto, Ontario M5S 2E4

    Friday August 9th, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. Dr. Xiaoxiong Gu, Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE EMC Society, will be presenting “Opportunities, Challenges and Implementations of Silicon Integration and Packaging in mmWave Radar and Communication Applications”. Day & Time: Friday August 9th, 2019 10:00 a.m. ‐ 11:00 a.m. Speaker: Dr. Xiaoxiong Gu (IBM) Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE EMC Society Organizers: IEEE Toronto Electromagnetics & Radiation Chapter, IEEE EMC Society Location: Room BA 1200 Bahen Centre for Information Technology 40 St George St, Toronto, ON M5S 2E4 Contact: Prof. Piero Triverio Abstract: Co-design and integration of RFIC, package, and antennas are critical to enable multiple aspects of 5G communications (backhaul, last mile, mobile access) and are particularly challenging at mmWave frequencies. This talk will cover various important aspects of mmWave antenna module packaging and integration for base station, backhaul, and user equipment applications, respectively. We will first present a historical perspective on Si-based mmWave modules and approaches for antenna and IC integration including trade-offs. We will focus on the challenges, implementation, and characterization of a 28-GHz phased-array module with 64 dual polarized antennas for 5G base station applications. We will then introduce a software-defined phased array radio based on the 28-GHz hardware. The highly re-configurable phased array radio features beam shaping/steering control as well as data TX/RX function control from a single Python-based software interface. Second, we will present a W-band phased-array module with 64-element dual-polarization antennas for radar imaging and backhaul application. The module consists of a multilayer organic chip-carrier package and a 16-element phased-array TX IC or a 32-element RX IC chipset. Third, we will describe a compact, low-power, 60-GHz switched-beam transceiver module suitable for handset integration incorporating 4 antennas that supports both normal and end-fire directions for a wide link spatial coverage. Biography: Xiaoxiong Gu received the Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Washington, Seattle, USA, in 2006. He joined IBM Research as a Research Staff Member in January 2007. His research activities are focused on 5G radio access technologies, optoelectronic and mm-wave packaging, electrical designs, modeling and characterization of communication, imaging radar and computation systems. He has recently worked on antenna-in-package design and integration for mm-wave imaging and communication systems including Ka-band, V-band and W-band phased-array modules. He has also worked on 3D electrical packaging and signal/power integrity analysis for high-speed I/O subsystems including on-chip and off-chip interconnects. He has been involved in developing novel TSV and interposer technologies for heterogeneous system integration. Dr. Gu has co-authored over 80 peer-reviewed publications and holds 9 issued patents. He was a co-recipient of IEEE ISSCC 2017 Lewis Winner Award for Outstanding Paper and IEEE JSSC 2017 Best Paper Award (the world’s first reported silicon-based 5G mmWave phased array antenna module operating at 28GHz). He was a co-recipient of the 2017 Pat Goldberg Memorial Award to the best paper in computer science, electrical engineering, and mathematics published by IBM Research. He received an IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement Award in 2016, four IBM Plateau Invention Awards in 2012 ~ 2016, the IEEE EMC Symposium Best Paper Award in 2013, two SRC Mahboob Khan Outstanding Industry Liaison Awards in 2012 and 2014, the Best Conference Paper Award at IEEE EPEPS in 2011, IEC DesignCon Paper Awards in 2008 and 2010, the Best Interactive Session Paper Award at IEEE DATE in 2008, and the Best Session Paper Award at IEEE ECTC in 2007. Dr. Gu is the co-chair of Professional Interest Community (PIC) on Computer System Designs at IBM. He is a Senior Member of IEEE and has been serving on different program committees for MTT-S, EPEPS, ECTC, EDAPS and DesignCon. Dr. Gu was the General Chair of IEEE EPEPS 2018 in San Jose, CA. He is also a Distinguished Lecturer for IEEE EMC Society in 2019-2020.

  • Setting in with Programming – Python – Workshop 1

    Lassonde Building, Ottawa Rd, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada

    Monday September 16th, 2019 at 1:30 p.m. Enas Tarawneh will be presenting a Python workshop, “Setting in with Programming”. Day & Time: Monday September 16th, 2019 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Speaker: Enas Tarawneh Organizers: IEEE WIE, WICSE Location: Lassonde Building (LAS-3033) Contact: Hina Tabassum Registration Link: http://bit.ly/2y9bKaY Snacks will be served. Workshop Description: Beginner lesson (assumes no knowledge in programming). This workshop will cover (1) input/output, (2) variables (3) numbers (4) string (5) lists /arrays (6) if-else (7) loops Note: Bring your own laptop with a python installation (2.7, 3.3-3.6) and Speech Recognition Package installation. Installation guidelines will be sent to registered attendees. Biography: Enas Tarawneh is a PhD student at York University in the department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. She works in the Vision, Graphics and Robotics (VGR) Laboratory as a research assistant. Her most recent research involves the development and evaluation of a cloud-based avatar (intelligent agent) for human-robot interaction that is part of a project funded by VISTA. She holds an OGS and VISTA doctoral scholarship. Prior to this, Enas worked as an academic Lead, instructor and e-learning coordinator in the Institute of Applied Technology in UAE in which she received an award for “Distinguished Curriculum Support” and another for “Excellence in E-learning coordination”. Most importantly Enas, is a wife and mother of three, that believes that open-mindedness and positivism is the best accomplishment and the source of true happiness.

  • Professional Development Conference for Immigrants (PDCI)

    Humber College North Campus Residence 203 Humber College Boulevard Toronto, ON M9W 6V3

    After four successful years of holding sold-out seminars for immigrants, North Star Success Inc. has partnered up with Humber College to host an amazing one-day conference, PDCI: An opportunity for networking with and learning from successful immigrants. Day & Time: Sunday, October 6, 2019 9:00 a.m. ‐ 5:00 p.m. Speakers: Dr. Abuelaish (5-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee), Mohamad Fakih (Founder of Paramoun Fine Foods), Kundan Joshi (Entrepreneur of the Year), Sathish Bala (Founder of DesiFest) and Bobby Umar (5-time TEDx speaker), and more! Organizers: North Star Success Inc., Humber College, IEEE Toronto Location: Humber College North Campus Residence 203 Humber College Boulevard Toronto, ON M9W 6V3 Register: www.northstarsuccess.com/pdci Contact: Dr. Maryam Davoudpour Description: PDCI (Professional Development Conference for Immigrants) aims for three major initiatives: 1) NETWORKING and OPEN EXCHANGE of INFORMATION: Stop struggling for success in Canada! PDCI means open exchange of information and resources. Network with and get direct advice from the most successful immigrants, whether in corporate jobs or in business. 2) PRIZES for PREPARED MINDS: Looking for excitement? During the panel discussions, the moderator of the panel will pose a question to the audience and whoever gives the best answer (judged by the panelists) will win big cash prizes! 3) RECOGNITION of CHAMPIONS: Let’s acknowledge the Champions! A handful of successful immigrants who have chosen to support our cause will be recognized and given awards for their achievements and contribution.