On the 29^th of April 2018, the National Engineering School of Sfax hosted a very successful event called Energy Open Day (EOD). It was organized by IEEE PES ENIS SBC, ENIS Electric Club and OVET (the student’s voice). EOD presented an opportunity for professionals, graduates and undergraduate students from different engineering fields to pitch their ideas, discuss their interests and highlight the importance of renewable energy.

The opening ceremony was led by the school’s director Mr. Slim Abdelkefi and the head of the electrical engineering department Mr. Abdelmajid Oualha and the ceremony was followed by a visit to the sponsors’ booths to network and interact with the industrials. The event also included a rich technical program that emphasized on the importance of the Power and Energy field in modern day societies through extraordinary workshops that were animated by two of the best of IEEE’s distinguished lecturers.

In the first workshop, Mr. John McDonald gave a talk about Grid Modernization (Technological Advancements Beyond Smart Grid). Mr. John Mc Donald is a Fellow of IEEE, Director of technical strategy and policy development for GE’s digital energy business, IEEE PES Distinguished Lecturer. He is Past President of the IEEE PES, Chair of the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative (SGCC) Board, Past Chair of the IEEE PES Substations Committee, IEEE Division VII Director in 2008-2009.

In the second workshop, Dr. Ming Cheng gave a talk about Electric Motor Drives and Control for Electric/Hybrid Vehicles. Prof. Ming Cheng is a Fellow of IEEE and IET, Founder and Chair of IEEE Nanjing Section IAS/PES and IEEE IAS distinguished lecturer. He is a Distinguished Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering of Southeast University, China and Director of the Research Center for Wind Power Generation, and Associate Director of Yancheng Research Institute of New Energy Vehicles. The distinguished speakers demonstrated a great deal expertise and knowledge while interacting with students during the round tables and shared their visions for a better and smarter tomorrow.

EOD was also an occasion to introduce and promote the IEEE PES Women in Power initiative and encourage young women to join the power and energy fields. That is why, a Region 8 WiP representative Yasmine Chelly joined the event to present IEEE PES WiP and host a Start-up competition called LA  CASA  DEL ENERGIA where the participants pitched their creative ideas and exhibited their prototypes and eventually, the esteemed members of the jury chose a winner that has been rewarded generously.