IEEESGFest2021 [Panel]: Re-Engineer – Career Management
About the Event
IEEE Singapore Festival 2021
This year, we celebrate the 12th annual IEEE Day across the globe on 5 October. In the spirit of IEEE Day 2021, we are delighted to host the “IEEE Singapore Festival 2021”. Beginning on 5 October, the one-week festival will include an all-virtual series of technical and professional talks, networking sessions, and fun social contests.
This festival is jointly organised by the IEEE Young Professionals Singapore and IEEE Women in Engineering Singapore affinity groups.
#IEEESGFest2021 #IEEEDaySG
Speakers
Chitra Venkatraman
Senior Member, IEEE
Chitra Venkatraman recently retired after a four-decade long career as a Technical Manager at Nokia in Murray Hill, NJ. She received a B.S.E.E. from the University of Madras, India, in 1977, and an M.S.E.E. from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, in 1981. After graduation, she joined AT&T Bell Labs in 1981 as a Member of Technical Staff. Under her leadership, Chitra’s team covered every wireless technology from Analog to LTE, often working extensively with many global wireless operators including Reliance India. Chitra is a Senior Member of IEEE. She is currently serving as the IEEE North Jersey Section Employment and Career Services, Pre-University and WIE Chair.
Kelvin Gan
Regional Lead, Project Management Institute (Asia Pacific)
Kelvin Gan has more than 15 years of regional experience in the educational industry, working strategically with public institutions and companies in the region to empower students and upskill professionals to enhance their relevancy and employability. In his career, Kelvin has impacted more than 100,000 individuals both locally and regionally. He is currently Regional Lead of Project Management Institute (Asia Pacific), one of the largest and fastest growing project management body globally. Kelvin will provide insights on how to score better in a highly competitive interview environment and the growing importance of lifelong learning and diversifying technical competencies, including project management, a skill-set relevant and valued across roles and industries.
John D. McDonald, P.E.
Smart Grid Business Development Leader, GE Grid Solutions
John D. McDonald, P.E., is Smart Grid Business Development Leader for GE’s Grid Solutions business. John has 47 years of experience in the electric utility transmission and distribution industry. John received his B.S.E.E. and M.S.E.E. (Power Engineering) degrees from Purdue University, and an M.B.A. (Finance) degree from the University of California-Berkeley. John is a Life Fellow of IEEE (member for 50 years), and was awarded the IEEE Millennium Medal, the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) Excellence in Power Distribution Engineering Award, the IEEE PES Substations Committee Distinguished Service Award, the IEEE PES Meritorious Service Award, the 2016 CIGRE Distinguished Member Award, the 2016 CIGRE USNC Attwood Associate Award, and the 2021 CIGRE Honorary Member Award. John is Past President of the IEEE PES, the VP for Technical Activities for the US National Committee (USNC) of CIGRE, the Past Chair of the IEEE PES Substations Committee, and the IEEE Division VII Past Director. John was on the Board of Governors of the IEEE-SA (Standards Association), is an IEEE Foundation Director, and is a Founding Board Member and Treasurer of the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC). John received the 2009 Outstanding Electrical and Computer Engineer Award from Purdue University. John teaches a Smart Grid course at the Georgia Institute of Technology, a Smart Grid course for GE, and Smart Grid courses for various IEEE PES local chapters as an IEEE PES Distinguished Lecturer (since 1999). John has published one hundred fifty papers and articles, has co-authored five books and has one US patent.