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Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Founded	January 1, 1963; 55 years ago (1963-01-01)
Type	Professional association
Focus	Electrical, Electronics, Communications, Computer Engineering, Computer Science and Information Technology[1]
Location	Piscataway, New Jersey, US
Origins	Merger of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and the Institute of Radio Engineers
Area served	Worldwide
Method	Industry standards, Conferences, Publications
Members	420,000+
Key people	James A. Jefferies, President and CEO
Revenue	US$413 million
Website	www.ieee.org

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a professional association with its corporate office in New York City^[2] and its operations center in Piscataway, New Jersey. It was formed in 1963 from the amalgamation of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and the Institute of Radio Engineers.^[3]

Today, the organization's scope of interest has expanded into so many related fields, that it is simply referred to by the letters I-E-E-E (pronounced Eye-triple-E), except on legal business documents. As of 2018^[update], it is the world's largest association of technical professionals^[4][5] with more than 423,000 members in over 160 countries around the world.^[6] Its objectives are the educational and technical advancement of electrical and electronic engineering, telecommunications, computer engineering and allied disciplines.^[7]

Publications[edit]

IEEE produces over 30% of the world's literature in the electrical and electronics engineering and computer science fields, publishing well over 100 peer-reviewed journals.^[8][9]

The published content in these journals as well as the content from several hundred annual conferences sponsored by the IEEE are available in the IEEE online digital library, IEEE Xplore, for subscription-based access and individual publication purchases.^[10]

In addition to journals and conference proceedings, the IEEE also publishes tutorials and standards that are produced by its standardization committees.

Educational activities[edit]

The IEEE provides learning opportunities within the engineering sciences, research, and technology.

IEEE offers educational opportunities such as IEEE e Learning Library,^[11] the Education Partners Program,^[12]Standards in Education^[13] and Continuing Education Units (CEUs).^[14]

IEEE eLearning Library is a collection of online educational courses designed for self-paced learning. Education Partners, exclusive for IEEE members, offers on-line degree programs, certifications and courses at a 10% discount. The Standards in Education website explains what standards are and the importance of developing and using them. The site includes tutorial modules and case illustrations to introduce the history of standards, the basic terminology, their applications and impact on products, as well as news related to standards, book reviews and links to other sites that contain information on standards. Currently, twenty-nine states in the United States require Professional Development Hours (PDH) to maintain a Professional Engineering
license,^[15][16] encouraging engineers to seek Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for their participation in continuing education programs. CEUs readily translate into Professional Development Hours (PDHs), with 1 CEU being equivalent to 10 PDHs. Countries outside the United States, such as South Africa, similarly require continuing professional development (CPD) credits, and it is anticipated that IEEE Expert Now courses will feature in the CPD listing for South Africa.

IEEE also sponsors a website designed to help young people better understand engineering, and how an engineering career can be made part of their future. Students of age 8–18, parents, and teachers can explore the site to prepare for an engineering career, ask experts engineering-related questions, play interactive games, explore curriculum links, and review lesson plans. This website also allows students to search for accredited engineering degree programs in Canada and the United States; visitors are able to search by state/province/territory, country, degree field, tuition ranges, room and board ranges, size of student body, and location (rural, suburban, or urban).

Through the Student Activities Committee, IEEE facilitates partnership between student activities and all other IEEE entities.^[17]

IEEE Conferences[edit]

IEEE Standards Body[edit]

Membership grades[edit]

Most IEEE members are electrical and electronics engineers, but the organization's wide scope of interests has attracted people in other disciplines as well (e.g., computer science, software engineering, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, biology, physics, and mathematics).

An individual can join the IEEE as a student member, professional member, or associate member. In order to qualify for membership, the individual must fulfill certain academic or professional criteria and abide to the code of ethics and bylaws of the organization. There are several categories and levels of IEEE membership and affiliation:

• 
  Student Members: Student membership is available for a reduced fee to those who are enrolled in an accredited institution of higher education as undergraduate or graduate students in technology or engineering.


• 
  Graduate Student Members: Graduate Student Membership is discounted but members at this level have greater privileges than do Student Members.


• 
  Members: Ordinary or professional Membership requires that the individual have graduated from a technology or engineering program of an appropriately accredited institution of higher education or have demonstrated professional competence in technology or engineering through at least six years of professional work experience. An associate membership is available to an individual whose area of expertise falls outside the scope of the IEEE or who does not, at the time of enrollment, meet all the requirements for full membership. Students and Associates have all the privileges of members, except the right to vote and hold certain offices.


• 
  Society Affiliates: Some IEEE Societies also allow a person who is not an IEEE member to become a Society Affiliate of a particular Society within the IEEE, which allows a limited form of participation in the work of a particular IEEE Society.


• 
  Senior Members: Upon meeting certain requirements, a professional member can apply for Senior Membership, which is the highest level of recognition that a professional member can directly apply for. Applicants for Senior Member must have at least three letters of recommendation from Senior, Fellow, or Honorary members and fulfill other rigorous requirements of education, achievement, remarkable contribution, and experience in the field. The Senior Members are a selected group, and certain IEEE officer positions are available only to Senior (and Fellow) Members. Senior Membership is also one of the requirements for those who are nominated and elevated to the grade IEEE Fellow, a distinctive honor.


• 
  Fellow Members: The Fellow grade of membership is the highest level of membership, and cannot be applied for directly by the member – instead the candidate must be nominated by others. This grade of membership is conferred by the IEEE Board of Directors in recognition of a high level of demonstrated extraordinary accomplishment.


• 
  Honorary Members: Individuals who are not IEEE members but have demonstrated exceptional contributions, such as being a recipient of an IEEE Medal of Honor, may receive Honorary Membership from the IEEE Board of Directors.^[18]
  


• 
  Life Members, Life Senior Members and Life Fellows: Members who have reached the age of 65 and whose number of years of membership plus their age in years adds up to at least 100 are recognized as Life Members, Life Senior Members or Life Fellows, as appropriate.

Medals and awards[edit]

Societies under the IEEE[edit]

Various technical areas are addressed by IEEE's 39 societies, each one focused on a certain knowledge area. They provide specialized publications, conferences, business networking and sometimes other services.^[19]

Technical councils[edit]

IEEE technical councils are collaborations of several IEEE societies on a broader knowledge area. There are currently seven technical councils:^[20]

• IEEE Biometrics Council


• IEEE Council on Electronic Design Automation


• IEEE Nanotechnology Council


• IEEE Sensors Council


• IEEE Council on Superconductivity


• IEEE Systems Council


• IEEE Council on RFID (CRFID)^[21]
  

Technical committees[edit]

To allow a quick response to new innovations, IEEE can also organize technical committees on top of their societies and technical councils. There are currently over twenty such technical committees^[22].

Organizational units[edit]

• 
  Technical Activities Board (TAB)


• 
  GlobalSpec - acquired by IEEE in 2016, having partnered with them and using their search engine of engineering and industrial products.^[23]
  


• IEEE Xplor^[24]
  

IEEE Foundation[edit]

The IEEE Foundation^[25] is a charitable foundation established
in 1973^[26] to support and promote technology education, innovation and excellence.^[27] It is incorporated separately from the IEEE, although it has a close relationship to it. Members of the Board of Directors of the foundation are required to be active members of IEEE, and one third of them must be current or former members of the IEEE Board of Directors.

Initially, the IEEE Foundation's role was to accept and administer donations for the IEEE Awards program, but donations increased beyond what was necessary for this purpose, and the scope was broadened. In addition to soliciting and administering unrestricted funds, the foundation also administers donor-designated funds supporting particular educational, humanitarian, historical preservation, and peer recognition programs of the IEEE.^[27] As of the end of 2014, the foundation's total assets were nearly $45 million, split equally between unrestricted and donor-designated funds.^[28]

See also[edit]

• Glossary of electrical and electronics engineering


• 
  Certified Software Development Professional (CSDP) Program of the IEEE Computer Society
  


• Institution of Engineering and Technology


• IEEE Cloud Computing

References[edit]