IEEE TEMS
Volunteering with TEMS and TEMS 2022 Ad-com Elections
Technology and Engineering Management Society was introduced to me by Dr. Sudheendra Kowshik when we accidentally bumped into one another on a Sunday afternoon on the streets of Bangalore. They were having a TEMS Bangalore meeting, I believe, and he invited me to join them. I listened in on their discussions for a while before I had to bail out. But, the 30 odd minutes I spent with him and the rest of the team interested me in TEMS. After talking to Mr. Ravikiran A, a board member, I decided to add TEMS membership to my IEEE societies and help them in whatever capacity I could.
Motivation: I decided to join TEMS with only one intention. Learn what other leaders do to make their teams better and emulate that in what I do. I joined TEMS in 2019 and wasn't a manager or a leader back then. Why then would I care? One need not have official titles as a leader or manager to influence people and decisions. Every engineer must duly understand what they are building, why they are building, and the target audience. In a world where shareholder value gets many spotlights, it is essential to have a sharp eye on customer focus and prioritize their needs ahead of anything else. I was getting more involved in my team's decision-making and wanted to evaluate myself against other more experienced leaders to learn and improve.
IEEE Activities: 2020 was when I made myself available to TEMS as the host of the "Thursdays with TEMS" series of webinars. Most of us were locked in our homes for the entire year of 2020 and gave us a lot of time. I decided to use some of it for TEMS. Throughout the year, I hosted 14 webinars and assisted in the conduct of 20 of them. I hosted all these webinars and the digital transformation at the IEEE Bangalore section. We were the first section in IEEE to use a ticketing system to manage conference co-sponsorship applications. The ticket system provided visibility to the applicants on the status of their applications while making it easy for the reviewers to go through the details and provide feedback and comments in almost real-time using the mobile app. This new process reduced the overall time for approvals to a great extent, and we had most applications have the first response on it within 48 hours. I used the ticketing system to manage queries on the flagship conference hosted by IEEE Bangalore Section. Adding a payment gateway and a registration system on the website ensured that members could pay the IEEE Bangalore section directly in their preferred payment methods, whether event registrations or conference fees. As a next step, I To top it off, I was also able to work with IEEE HQ to add SAML authentication to IEEE Bangalore's website and make it easy for members to get the benefits exclusive for members. Henceforth, all members would automatically get discounts on event registrations based on their member grades, avoiding abuse of discount codes that were previously happening with third-party event registration systems.
Before this, I have served as the chair of IEEE Bangalore Young Professionals Affinity Group (known as Graduated of Last Decade GOLD). I was caching in on the Teacher In-Service Program (TISP) that Karthik Kulkarni, then Chair IEEE Bangalore Section YP and currently Chair, IEEE Humanitarian Committee, introduced in India in the year 2011. I worked with many schools and organizations in and around Bangalore to implement TISP, and the response was remarkable. I was awarded the MGA Achievement Award in 2013 for my efforts in TISP India.
Profession: I have been working in the software industry for over 11 years now. I have worked as an Independent Contractor for Apple for 5+ years, where I rearchitected a legacy system to a more modern adaptation and subsequently enhanced it with many more cutting edge features. For the last years, I have been working with Atlassian on various products. Just in the previous month, I have started my transition to an Engineering Manager role.
Why TEMS Adcom: While I am transitioning to a managerial role myself, I wish to gain from the TEMS group's expertise and help other engineers thinking of transition. I believe that organizational growth is more about helping other employees realize their potential and achieve their goals while keeping the team's objectives in mind. A manager has to see himself as a leader and in charge of the team's members' growth. They have a crucial goal of making sure the vision and mission of the company and its leadership are making way to the lowest level of the organization, and at the same time, the sentiments, needs, and aspirations of its people are getting visibility in the leadership. Today, there is a lot of emphasis on managing projects and achieving project/company goals, and personnel management take a back seat. Through TEMS, I wish to focus on people management and empower our next-generation leaders with the tools and expertise to uncover the true potential in their teams.
My second wishlist for TEMS is to drive more membership engagement with quality content and member-exclusive activities, including direct member benefit transfer via our technology platforms. I see every section thriving with activities that encompass their local needs and cultures with more engaging members.
I am dedicated to the cause of TEMS for the next two years to volunteer in initiatives and assist the chair and committees in any meaningful capacity to the community.
My appeal to you all as TEMS members is to engage and bring the best you have got to the table. We are here to provide you the platform to unleash the true potential and make a difference in the world we live in, and we shall do what it takes to get this done. And your first step in getting involved is to vote! Vote for the ones who are capable, the ones who wish to bring a change, or just the ones you know and like. But, do vote!