Candidate Statement

IEEE, being the largest technical professional society in the world, is very broad and at the same time specialized in many areas of electrical engineering. With almost 2,000 conferences, 150 magazines and journals, global standards activities and with five million articles in the IEEE Xplore digital library, IEEE is a very complex organization. Members, and technology professionals in general, benefit from IEEE in many different ways. At the same time, many volunteers give their time and effort to keep the IEEE engine running. But there are many other volunteers who do not find IEEE relevant to the work they do or cannot benefit from what IEEE has to offer. As the president of IEEE, I would like to address this challenge by focusing on the following. And, I hope, in the process IEEE will become more global and more relevant to technology professionals from all over the world.

First: Demonstration of Relevance

There is a perceived lack of relevance of the IEEE membership in an engineer’s professional work. Through proactive outreach and demonstrating benefits of IEEE membership – from unparalleled networking opportunities at almost 2000 international IEEE conferences (both face-to-face and virtual), access to the finest technological literature, innovative collaboration facilities with like-minded colleagues worldwide, we can powerfully demonstrate IEEE’s relevance to current and prospective members.

Second: Deeper Engagement with Technologists at the Grassroots Level

For IEEE societies, chapter members are our key resources. To provide a direct link between chapter leadership and the society governing board, I set up highly effective IEEE Power & Energy Society Chapters’ Councils in China, India, Africa and Latin America that organize local events and reach out to local industry. I will encourage similar developments throughout IEEE.

Third: Enhanced Lifelong Learning Opportunities

One of the high-value opportunities IEEE members and non-members have expressed to me is lifelong learning, which IEEE can provide. I helped establish the very successful online PES University. This “university” offers tutorials, webinars and plain-talk courses in the Power & Energy Society’s Field of Interest. I will work on setting up an IEEE University encompassing all of IEEE’s fields of interest to support career development of practicing technologists.

Fourth: Giving Life to Our Motto - Advancing Technology for Humanity

The global events of the past several months have shown us that technologists have a role to play for humanity. Let us employ the matchless facilities IEEE offers to address the post-COVID ‘new normal’ supporting remote working, international collaboration, continuing professional development, and build a resilient future.