IEEE Technical Societies’ Panel Discussion

Lorena received her Electronic Engineering degree from Universidad del Norte (2006) and the M.Sc. in Electronic and Computer Engineering from Universidad de los Andes (2008). She has more than 10 years of experience in academic administration, teaching and research in important institutions in Colombia. Currently, she is Assistant Professor and Director of Laboratories and Facilities of the Faculty of Engineering and Basic Sciences of Universidad Central. Active IEEE volunteer for more than 19 years, Lorena has been a member of the Educational Activities Board for the last 6 years, and she is currently the IEEE EAB PreUniversity Education Coordinating Committee Chair.

Mark Davis has over 50 years’ experience in Government and Industry in developing technology and systems for Radar and Electronic applications. He held senior management positions at DARPA as Deputy Director Information Exploitation Office (2006-08), Technical Director for Air Force Research Laboratory Space Based Radar Technology (1998-2006) and Program Manager in DARPA Information Systems Office for Counter CC&D technologies (1995-1998). Since 2008, he has been an independent consultant for Government and Industry technology applications.

Dr Davis is a Life Fellow of the IEEE, and President of the IEEE Aerospace & Electronics Systems Society. He has received a PhD in Physics from The Ohio State University, and Bachelor and Masters Degrees in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse University.

In addition to these technical duties, he has published over 80 journal and conference papers on Radar and Microwave Systems. More recently, he has authored two books: Foliage Penetration Radar – Detection and Characterization of Objects under Trees published by Scitech Publishing in March 2011; and Ultrawideband Surveillance Radar published by IET in February 2021.

Babak Enayati received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from Clarkson University, USA in 2009. He joined New Leaf Energy in 2022 and is currently the Director of Electrical Engineering. Prior to joining New Leaf Energy, Babak worked in the utility industry for 13 years holding various engineering and managerial positions.

He joined Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in 2006 and currently is a Senior IEEE Member. Babak currently serves as the Vice President of Education on the IEEE Power and Energy Society (PES) Governing Board. He is the current chair of the IEEE PES Transmission Subcommittee. Babak serves as the Vice Chair of the IEEE Std 1547 Standard for Interconnecting Distributed Energy Resources with Electric Power Systems, and IEEE P2800 Standard for Interconnection and Interoperability of Inverter-Based Resources Interconnecting with Associated Transmission Electric Power Systems. Babak is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Massachusetts.

Steve joined the Educational Services Board primarily to focus on PreUniversity/STEM education. He comes to this new role after retiring from a long career in industry starting in Broadband Cable, then with AT&T and ending at Nokia Bell Labs. His career spans a range of functional responsibilities with a focus on network and service operations. Prior to joining Bell Labs, he worked in software engineering, strategy, marketing, technical sales and product management roles. He has a patent awarded for service quality metrics selection, has presented at multiple conferences and is an author of articles and papers in industry publications. At Bell Labs he engaged with global communication service companies leading advisory projects and providing network, business and operations analysis, process and metrics design, and process optimization. Steve believes that Educational Services delivers one of the most valuable components of IEEE Membership and provides opportunities for both personal growth and career enhancement. He looks forward to working with colleagues on the Board in what will be an exciting and challenging journey to create the next evolution of IEEE Educational Services.

Hari Vishnu is a postdoctoral fellow at the National University of Singapore, and a Visiting Scholar at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego. He studies the physics of underwater sound and how to make sense of sounds recorded underwater. Since sound travels long distances in water, it is a useful tool to understand what is happening in water bodies like Oceans which cover 70% of Earth. Hari uses his techniques for applications like trying to understand how fast the ice is melting in the Arctic, detect ships that are too far away to be seen, or to interpret how dolphins use their own brand of underwater sonar.

Hari is also a member of the IEEE Oceanic Engineering society (OES). He is involved in the society’s activities allowing him to tap into a larger network of ocean engineering professionals. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the society’s science outreach magazine Earthzine (earthzine.org) which aims to communicate science in simple, non-technical terms. In 2019, he was awarded the Young-Professionals Boost awards which encourages early-career ocean engineers to become involved in leadership activities under OES. He has also been active in helping conduct student-outreach activities like the Singapore AUV Challenge underwater robotics competition (sauvc.org).