Conference Advisory Committee – CONAC
What CONAC can do for you
There are a significant number of technical meetings held each year under the auspices of the IEEE. These meetings, whether large or small, entail a great deal of effort on the part of the organizing team of the conference or symposium. Some technical meetings are annual affairs with a long-standing organizational history, others are infrequent or one-time events that have no pre-established structure or routine to fall back on.
Most organizing committees, involved in either long-standing or infrequent conferences, consist of new people who may be inexperienced and may require some information, guidelines or tips for running a successful conference.
The IEEE Canada Conference Advisory Committee – CONAC
CONAC provides such a service to its membership (Sections and Chapters). CONAC is an Operating Committee of the IEEE, reporting to the IEEE Canada Board of Directors, with a specific mandate to facilitate conference organization.
In order to provide leadership, encouragement, and support to Societies, Sections and Chapters, CONAC provides the following resources:
- Literature on conference organization which includes information on local arrangements, the technical program, publicity, finances, registration procedures, and post-conference responsibilities.
- A Distinguished Speakers list that identifies leading experts in the various Electrical Engineering disciplines.
- Access to various CONAC Advisors who would be able to aid you in finding technical speakers/papers in the field of Electrical Engineering.
- Limited funding for conferences. Co-sponsorship is provided in the form of seed funding.
- Free advertising on the IEEE Canada Website.
How to apply for seed funding
If your Section and/or Society is planning a professional conference in the near future, the IEEE Conference Advisory Committee (CONAC) may be able to offer you some assistance both in how to plan and execute a successful conference and provide seed funding.
Limited funds are available
Each proposal is carefully examined and awarded seed funding based on the merits of the proposed conference and available resources. Typically, CONAC co-sponsorship is based on a profit sharing formula negotiated by all parties concerned. I strongly encourage you to utilize this channel of funding and conference expertise to ensure your conference is highly successful.
Please use the linked APPLICATION FORM to apply for CONAC seed funding, or make preliminary inquiries to the CONAC Chair.
CONAC Manual
- CONAC Checklist; Updated April 2017
- CONAC Manual; August 2014
- Appendix A – MoU Template; August 2014
- Appendix B – Conference Information Schedule; August 2014
- Appendix C – Budget Sheet; Updated April 2017
- Appendix D – LOA Signed; August 2014
- Appendix E – Express Registration; August 2014
- Appendix F – Technical Program Summary; August 2014
- Appendix G – Sample Cross Reference of Papers and Authors from EDAS; August 2014
- Appendix H – Sample Registration Summary; August 2014
The Conference Advisory Committee 2022
- CONAC Chair – Usman Munawar
- CONAC Vice-Chair – Mohamed Shehata
- Current CCECE 2022 Chair – Christopher Whitt
- Past CCECE 2021 Chairs – Xianbin Wang
- Future CCECE 2023 Chair – Dr. Raman Paranjape
- Current EPEC 2022 Chairs – Dr. Yang Shi
- Past EPEC 2021 Chairs – Dr. Ali Navabi
- Future EPEC 2023 Chair – TBD
- Current Antem 2023 Chair – TBD
- Past Antem 2021 Chair – Dustin Isleifson
- Current IHTC 2022 Chair – Anis Ben Arfi
- Past IHTC 2017 Chair – Xavier Fernando
- East: Eastern Area Chair – Scott Melvin
- Central: Central Area Chair – Esrafil Jedari
- West: Western Area Chair – Jeremy Gates
- IEEE Canada Treasurer – Daniel Coode
- IEEE Canada President (ex-officio) – Rob Anderson
- IEEE Canada Vice-President – Jason Gu
- IEEE Canada Conference Registrar -Cathie Lowell
- CONAC Advisor – Raed Abdullah and Ashfaq (Kash) Husain
