Professional Member Spotlight
Oto-obong John Effiong
Written by: Madeleine Dawson, Content and Design Staff for IEEE GRSS
Oto-obong John Effiong is a professional engineer specializing in electrical power systems and remote sensing. He is the current chapter head of the newly formed IEEE GRSS Nigeria Section. A member of GRSS since 2019, he is also a Senior Member of IEEE. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, a Master’s degree in Electrical Power Systems Engineering, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Electrical Engineering (Power Option).
Introduce yourself and give us a short background of who you are and what you do?
I am a dedicated engineer specializing in electrical power systems, remote sensing, and engineering leadership. I currently work as a regional maintenance and operations manager at the
Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company. I am passionate about using geospatial technology to improve sustainable energy solutions. I also enjoy promoting technical advancements and mentoring young professionals.
How long have you been a member? Tell us about your GRSS journey.
I have been a member since 2019, and my involvement within the society has been both inspiring and impactful, from engaging in technical conferences to volunteering GRSS led initiatives.
Through GRSS, I’ve gained invaluable exposure to the global science and remote sensing community. My journey has allowed me to collaborate with experts worldwide and contribute to research discussions.
What made you decide to join GRSS and how has GRSS helped you professionally?
My decision to join GRSS sustained from deep interest in spatial technologies and their applications in environmental monitoring and disaster management. For example, in Nigeria we have a lot of flooding issues here we could harness for management and sustainable energy solutions. GRSS provides an excellent platform to stay updated with cutting edge research, networks with industry leaders, and contributing to advancing remote sensing.
What message or advice can you give to individuals who want to join the community?
GRSS has significantly shaped my career by providing access to high quality resources, technical workshops, and networking opportunities. Through GRSS, I have attended global conferences and connected with top researchers. Most recently, we held one in Nigeria. Moreover, my leadership roles within GRSS have strengthened my project management, collaboration, and organizational skills.
Building a new established GRSS chapter has been both a challenging and rewarding one. You know, it has required a lot of strategy, planning, and outreach efforts and strong collaboration to build and engage an active community. For example, here in Africa we just have the Nigerian chapter that is active. We are looking forward to expanding initiatives to East, West, South, and North Africa. So that has been an inspiration for us. It has been a lot of responsibility managing people from different backgrounds and different parts of the world coming together, especially
from different states, regions, and time zones. It has been a challenge, but getting people involved matters a lot, even an hour daily can help us to make progress.
Why do you think it is important to create a chapter in your region?
In my region we only have the Nigerian chapter in existence, and Africa is a very big continent. Expanding chapters across Africa will be very beneficial for both IEEE and GRSS.
What are the plans your chapter has set moving forward?
We intend to organize technical workshops, and hands-on training on remote sensing applications. One of such is a collaboration with the REACT committee. We have settlements in Ghana, and Cameroon where they could come to Nigeria and we will have a workshop on how to plot flooding systems. We also have a distinguished lecturer visit Nigeria for the first time. That is one initiative.
The second would be fostering collaborations with universities, industries, and governments to promote geospatial technologies. Recently, we have an entrepreneurship event coming up in May sponsored by IEEE, and we look for having a good set up there as we have volunteers traveling from all across Africa in the regions of proposed chapters to be formed (Rwanda, Kenya, and Uganda).
What is your vision for the future of your chapter?
At the moment, we are looking at student branches. More recently, getting in touch with the GRSS committees where we can lead in collaboration and expanding our section during the upcoming summit in Rwanda. Also, we will look towards more local and international conferences to bring more gloabal experts to our region.
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