Promoting HEALTH, a project that brings reliable Internet connectivity to Agumbe, a rainforest region in Karnataka’s Shimoga district, often listed as one of India’s “no network zones.” The elevation of Agumbe is 660 meters above mean sea level; rainfall here exceeds 7,000 millimeters per year; the terrain is steep, forested, and often inaccessible; and power outages are frequent. Tucked in one of the corners of the Western Ghats Mountain range, Agumbe is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but is also the most cut-off area, with complete network isolation.
The Distinguished Lecturer Program (DLP) is a valuable resource for IEEE members affiliated with Technical Societies. The IEEE Communications Society (ComSoc) strongly supports its DLP to offer high-quality lectures to its members worldwide. The ComSoc Distinguished Lecturer Program also helps attract new students and professional members to the ComSoc community, allowing them to take advantage of membership benefits. Additionally, it serves not only as an effective member retention tool but also as a source of technical and professional value to IEEE ComSoc membership.
Since a chance meeting at a scientific conference in Hanoi in 1992, the relationship between the Radio and Electronics Association of Vietnam and the IEEE Communications Society has grown into an annual series of international conferences, a scientific journal awarded the highest possible rating by Vietnam’s State Professor Council, and a network of more than 800 members nationwide.
This article continues the series of interviews with the Officers of the IEEE ComSoc Member and Global Activities (MGA) Council for the term 2026–2027, which is published every month in the Global Communications Newsletter.