Outstanding YP Volunteers - Jacob Thomas Puthurekil

Jacob Thomas Puthurekil, is a passionate robotics engineer, working at Hikvision India, focusing on AGV, machine vision systems and other automation solutions. He completed his graduation in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Marian Engineering College in 2019. A passionate volunteer who is a people person and loves to handle sessions, workshops and events, He is currently volunteering as the Treasurer of IEEE Kerala Young Professionals and the Design team lead of IEEE Kerala Section Interns Team. He was a recipient of the New Talent Award at IEEE PES/IAS Power Africa Conference 2020.

IEEE contribution during last year at Branch / Chapter / Section /IC / Region

He was  proud to state that all the six funds that were applied for during his term as Treasurer were successful, owing to which the team was able to conduct 105 events in comparison to the 63 events which were conducted in 2021.He also co-Chaired the Sparklers Summit, which is the official virtual gathering of YP and students members, organized by IEEE R10 YP. Having received over 1200 registrations, 784 were given green signal to attend the event.  Hehandled the team of YP members across Asia-Pacific and successfully organized the summit with more than 34 speakers in different domains. He also coordinated YP Talks across the Section for Student Branches and associated Chapters with topics specific to YPs registered in the portal and thus, completed more than 65 YP talks which is almost 60% of the total reported by the AG in vtools. They organized one of the most important and successful events this year for the AG – Global Outreach Initiative, in which we collaborated with foreign Sections and conducted events to understand and exchange cultural views, educational systems and job opportunities. He collaborated with the Section ECC to handpick a student team named IKS Interns Team to work directly under the Section leadership. He was the design mentor of the team and led to the birth of IKS MinT – a tool that is now used by the 120 Section and Chapter officers to manage the Section resources. This is a kind of tool the likes of which IEEE has never seen before. He also helped the Interns to create the Section first feature magazine Inked. Under his lead, the Section now generates better designs than ever before.

IEEE contribution of past years at Branch / Chapter / Section /IC / Region

He joined  IEEE in 2015 and by 2018, He was elected as the Chair of one of the societies in my SB. At those times, conducting a virtual event was not very common. With the vision of learning new technologies, his team kickstarted online events like hackathons, idea pitching, and even online workshops. One of the most recognized events among the list was DRelay which was an International Online Energy Hackathon that was introduced in 2019 and attracted participants from more than 30 countries and it was the virtual networking platform that they organized for the first time in his Section. From the revenue we generated by conducting the events, he put forward humanitarian and social activities as well. Every 3rd Sunday of each month they visited orphanages and interacted with the inhabitants there, and conducted technical workshops on microcontrollers and other solutions for students in higher secondary classes. He helped introduce the Alpha Program in association with SAC to aid the weaker Student Branches in generating revenue by organizing workshops and seminars with minimal tutoring pay.

He believes that, for a team engaged in a certain task under proper and obedient leadership, nothing is impossible. This has been the driving principle for me in every action. The funds he strived to get resulted in a year with one of the best performances for IEEE Kerala Young Professionals. Events like Sparklers Summit and YP talks have received stellar feedback and resulted in the members truly understanding the global nature of IEEE. He has been successful in providing a platform for the members to display their prowess in technical topics through YP talks. Our most prestigious event, Global Outreach Initiative, was the first opportunity for many IEEE members to interact with professionals abroad. All of these events have been realized through his vision and/or direct contributions. In the IEEE Kerala Section Interns Team, he has followed a European MNC style, thus ensuring the passing down of a healthy work culture to the future batches of the team.

Being the Design Team mentor, the selected students under his team were trained in UI/UX designing and poster designing following IEEE guidelines along with leadership and management qualities. Beyond a workshop or coaching, these trainings were made to run real-life projects from which IKS MinT originated. He believed there was an effective team. Thus he firmly believes that for fulfilling the vision of IEEE and Young Professionals and going the extra mile to ensure that my actions benefit the community, He was a deserved recipient of India Council Outstanding YP Award.

Contributions other than IEEE

Apart from  his contributions to IEEE, he was involved in other humanitarian projects as well. The most noticeable project among them is Urjja. After the great flood in Kerala in 2018, many people were faced with difficulty in bringing electricity back to their houses, especially those in hilly areas. With the help of the local authorities in that area, he commissioned a 30KW Solar plant downhill and supplied the power thus obtained to 27 houses, powering three lamps and two fans in each house.