A Conversation with IEEE President and IEEE Region 6 Direct Elect
Time/Date: 5pm-7:30pm March 28, 2024
Venue: Santa Clara University Room SCDI 1302 & 1308 (see map for room location)
Register at: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/410534
Abstract:
Please join us for a lively and enlightening conversation with IEEE President Tom Coughlin and IEEE Region 6 Director Elect Joseph Wei, moderated by Alan J Weissberger. We will discuss and debate how to make IEEE more relevant to its members, explore volunteer opportunities, ways to elevate the awareness and perception of IEEE as the world’s largest tech non-profit organization.
In the past decade, IEEE membership has significantly declined, there are fewer volunteers, and many IEEE initiatives (e.g. 5G, cloud computing, IoT and smart grid) have fizzled. IEEE Conferences and Journals are now dominated by academia and for the most part are not of interest to industry as the content is not realizable and has little or no practical value. Many engineers, sales and marketing people think that IEEE is irrelevant and won’t help them advance their careers. Clearly, IEEE has been in a severe decline for several years.
How can we turn that around? Can IEEE provide better tools and support for the active volunteers and to grow its professional membership while encouraging student members to upgrade to full membership? How can we retain, encourage and train younger members to volunteer for officer positions and provide fresh leadership? Can we find a more equitable balance between industry and academia for IEEE conferences, publications, and local chapters? What are the important, high priority tech initiatives that IEEE should focus on to ensure success? Finally, can we orchestrate a leadership transition to ensure high priority projects are progressed?
Timeline:
5pm-5:30pm: Registration and Networking
5:30pm-7pm: Opening statements by each participant followed by a conversation/debate about IEEE key issues and initiatives.
7pm-7:25pm: Audience Q & A
7:25pm-7:30pm: Closing remarks and thanks from the participants
References:
https://techblog.comsoc.org/2024/02/05/ieee-presidents-priorities-and-strategic-direction-for-2024/
https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/410534