Fifth Annual IEEE Winter Banquet, 2019

Management is doing things right. Leadership is doing the right things.

These are the words Shubho Bhattacharya shared at The Ohio State University’s 5th Annual Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Winter Banquet held Jan. 25 at the Longaberger Alumni House.

Associate Chief Engineer at Honda North America, Bhattacharya served as keynote speaker. 

His advice to electrical and computer engineering (ECE) students? Live with a sense of purpose. 

“Ohio State has prepared you to be successful in any situation,” Bhattacharya said. “The most important thing now is to learn for the rest of your life. You are here to make the world a better place.”

IEEE Ohio State Chapter President Autumn Mathias said the Winter Banquet is an opportunity to say thank you to industry sponsors and faculty mentors for their support throughout the year. Also attending were Ohio State ECE Assistant Professor and IEEE Faculty Advisor Tawfiq Musah, ECE Department Chair Hesham El Gamal, IEEE Columbus Chair Carl Lee, and numerous student officers. 

Industry representatives from sponsors like ArcelorMittal, Vertiv, Marathon, CAT, Texas Instruments, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories and Honda attend each year to help bridge the gap for students seeking employment or internships.

As IEEE members, El Gamal said, everyone in the room is tied together by a collective goal.

“We are very passionate about what we do here,” he said.

Bhattacharya told the engineering students their learning does not end after graduation. They must keep striving to know more. 

“Do what you are passionate about and your life will be filled with joy and you will have a true sense of meaning,” he said, “and then make people successful in your orbit.”

At Honda, Bhattacharya said, the role of electrical engineering remains vital. It is a part of important applications in every vehicle, from lighting systems to control systems and more. 

Even on the factory floors, he said, facility high voltage power engineers are important in preventing downtime and malfunctions. Even the painting system robotics depend upon intense electrical engineering skills. 

Moving forward, Bhattacharya said, Honda relies on new game-changing ideas from graduates to keep the company vital. Its ties to Ohio State are strong. He said the company employed 51 Buckeye co-ops this past summer and provided 23 capstone projects to students within the College of Engineering.

Bhattacharya said their educational life should focus on going from reactive to creative. If they can remove the technical barriers they face, it allows more room for new ideas. 

In 2015, the Honda and Ohio State Partnership announced a new strategic direction to build upon the last 28 years of success, with a focus on innovations in the mobility industry to benefit society. Honda companies involved in the partnership with Ohio State include Honda R&D Americas, Inc., Honda of America Mfg., Inc. and Honda North America, Inc.

During the banquet, ArcelorMittal was presented the IEEE “Undisputed Champion Donor Award.”

Founded in 1884, IEEE is currently the world’s largest technical professional society. The organization helps students grow in the engineering process of creating, developing, integrating, sharing, applying knowledge about electrical, electronic, and information technologies, and sciences for the benefit of humanity and the profession. 

For students interested in learning more about Ohio States IEEE Chapter, head online to: https://ieee.osu.edu

For more pictures from the event, click here.