Message from the Convention Chair

I am honored to welcome our guests, distinguished speakers, and fellow engineers and scientists to the 34th ASEI National Convention consisting of 3 distinctly designed events spread across 2 days - the Aerospace Symposium, Youth Technology Exposition and the CXO Summit.

As much as we all longed for this to be a gathering where we could network, meet and greet in-person, the prevalent pandemic has forced us to host this event virtually again. But then, the virtual nature of events has a positive aspect that we can have attendees from any part of the world. We are glad to welcome our speakers from 3 continents and attendees from over 25 different countries at this two-day convention.

This convention’s theme is “Sustainable Technology Innovations” #STI2022. The theme reflects ASEI vision and commitment to support United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) through technology advancements and innovations to address one of the largest challenges our world faces today. There are concerns about global climate change and uncertainty of energy demand-supply and ultimately the survival of our species.

Engineers must lower the emissions of the products they design and build. They must develop devices that consume less energy and develop viable renewable energy technologies for a greener tomorrow. Carbon footprint is a metric that is getting popular across corporations as well as governments. As companies move to the cloud, choosing technology vendors that have net carbon neutral and green energy initiatives in place is becoming the norm.

Our guest speakers at this convention are amongst the most recognized leaders from the various corporations, US government organizations, and academia. This event would not have been possible without them so I am very much indebted to all the speakers across the two days.

As some may recall, ASEI was founded in 1983. Looking back over the past 39 years, ASEI has come a long way from being a regional organization to the National level with multiple professional chapters and student chapters.

I take pride in mentioning some of its achievements in various programs, including the following:

Content driven Value (aka Never let a crisis go to waste Program):

With recent new initiatives such as University Connect, Mentor Connect, Getting Real with Engineering Webinars and Engineering Tales series with achievers and eponymous Clubhouse social audio channel room, we have made the best use of the curveball that the pandemic threw. We focused on delivering valuable content and events that allow our members to share knowledge as well as learn from invited guests to stay in tune with the current trends.

Newsletter and Social media Savviness:

Another feather in the cap of 2021 was when we were able to revive the ASEI newsletter after a gap of a couple of decades. While still in its infancy, we kept it going for the entire year and adopted alternate means of distribution rather than print and post. Our “open” LinkedIn page, Twitter and YouTube channels have become active thanks to channeling the volunteer energies during the pandemic infused lockdowns.

Academic Excellence Scholarship Program: ASEI has awarded $120K over the years to engineering undergraduate and graduate students across the US. Additionally, in the past we have awarded scholarships to students in India via our association with SAE.

Technical Symposia and Networking: Talks on the latest advancements in various technologies are conducted periodically. For example, in 2021, ASEI organized an AI Summit focusing on the latest technology trends in Artificial Intelligence. This was followed by Design Summit incorporating design thinking engineering and technology. Silicon Valley chapter has emerged to be the most active and thriving chapter helping ASEI organize over 25 events in 2021. Whether it is Webinars or Engineering Tales or Youth Special programs. Such events provide a forum for professional networking and an opportunity for budding engineers and student members to observer, learn and grow.

Corporate Awards Program: We plan to reinvigorate recognition programs further this year especially the Corporate Excellence Recognition Program (CERP). This program provides a forum for corporations to recognize their high achievers for their leadership and technical skills. Award categories are Engineering Excellence, Woman Engineer, Young Engineer, Outstanding Achievement, and Service Excellence.

Community service and Philanthropy: ASEI members are encouraged to provide community service in various areas depending on their capability and interests. For example, addressing water conservation and river rejuvenation in partnership with nonprofits in their community such as Overseas Volunteer of Better India, International Association for Human Values, HelpAge India, Sankara Eye Foundation and so on.

Recognition Program: Every year at the convention, ASEI recognizes members in engineering excellence, entrepreneurship, and service to ASEI. We are fired up on growing ASEI through increased collaboration with other engineering organizations, such as PAN-IIT, CII, NASSCOM, IEEE etc. Additionally, we are challenging ourselves to work with top-notch universities and start ASEI student chapters there in order to bring young engineers to help achieve the ASEI vision.

I am very thankful to the Aerospace Symposium Chairs Dr Shreekant Agrawal and Dr Ajay Kothari and the symposium team of many volunteers as they have put together an exciting and enriching program focused on latest development in Aerospace and Space Technology. For the CXO Summit, I was fortunate to partner with Co-Chair Surbhi Kaul in pulling together impactful C-Suite speakers for a program suitable for all. The Youth Technology Exposition was made possible by program chairs Dr Preetha Ram and Laxmi Patil along with volunteer judges across chapters demonstrating the true One-ASEI philosophy I put forth when taking this office last year.

I am sure you will enjoy the convention. Thank you for your attendance and feedback. I wish to acknowledge all the sponsors, speakers as well as volunteers for their hard work and support.

Piyush Malik

Chairman, ASEI 34th Convention,

President, ASEI National

President, ASEI Silicon Valley Chapter