The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a
501(c)(3)
A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of ...
professional association
A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) usually seeks to further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in that profession, and t ...
for
electronic engineering
Electronics engineering is a sub-discipline of electrical engineering which emerged in the early 20th century and is distinguished by the additional use of active components such as semiconductor devices to amplify and control electric current ...
and
electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
(and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and its operations center in
Piscataway, New Jersey
Piscataway () is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. It is a suburb of the New York metropolitan area, in the Raritan Valley. At the 2010 United States Census, the population was 56,044, an increase of 5,562 (+11.0%) fr ...
. The mission of the IEEE is ''advancing technology for the benefit of humanity''. The IEEE was formed from the amalgamation of the
American Institute of Electrical Engineers
The American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) was a United States-based organization of electrical engineers that existed from 1884 through 1962. On January 1, 1963, it merged with the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) to form the Insti ...
and the
Institute of Radio Engineers
The Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) was a professional organization which existed from 1912 until December 31, 1962. On January 1, 1963, it merged with the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) to form the Institute of Electrical ...
in 1963.
Due to its expansion of scope into so many related fields, it is simply referred to by the letters I-E-E-E (pronounced I-triple-E), except on legal business documents. , it is the world's largest association of technical professionals with more than 423,000 members in over 160 countries around the world. Its objectives are the educational and technical advancement of
electrical and electronic engineering,
telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
s,
computer engineering
Computer engineering (CoE or CpE) is a branch of electrical engineering and computer science that integrates several fields of computer science and electronic engineering required to develop computer hardware and software. Computer engineers ...
and similar disciplines.
History
Origins
The IEEE traces its founding to 1884 and the
American Institute of Electrical Engineers
The American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) was a United States-based organization of electrical engineers that existed from 1884 through 1962. On January 1, 1963, it merged with the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) to form the Insti ...
. In 1912, the rival
Institute of Radio Engineers
The Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) was a professional organization which existed from 1912 until December 31, 1962. On January 1, 1963, it merged with the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) to form the Institute of Electrical ...
was formed. Although the AIEE was initially larger, the IRE attracted more students and was larger by the mid-1950s. The AIEE and IRE merged in 1963.
The IEEE headquarters is in New York City at 3 Park Ave, but most business is done at the IEEE Operations Center in Piscataway, NJ, first occupied in 1975.
Growth
The
American Institute of Electrical Engineers
The American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) was a United States-based organization of electrical engineers that existed from 1884 through 1962. On January 1, 1963, it merged with the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) to form the Insti ...
(AIEE) and the
Institute of Radio Engineers
The Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) was a professional organization which existed from 1912 until December 31, 1962. On January 1, 1963, it merged with the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) to form the Institute of Electrical ...
(IRE) merged to create the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) on January 1, 1963. At that time, the combined group had 150,000 members, 93% in the United States. By 1984 there were 250,000 members, 20% of whom were outside the U.S.
The Australian Section of the IEEE existed between 1972 and 1985. After this date, it split into
state- and territory-based sections.
, IEEE has over 400,000 members in 160 countries, with the U.S. based membership no longer constituting a majority.
Controversies
Huawei ban
In May 2019, IEEE restricted
Huawei
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ( ; ) is a Chinese multinational technology corporation headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It designs, develops, produces and sells telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics and various smar ...
employees from peer reviewing papers or handling papers as editors due to the "severe legal implications" of U.S. government sanctions against Huawei. As members of its standard-setting body, Huawei employees could continue to exercise their voting rights, attend standards development meetings, submit proposals and comment in public discussions on new standards. The ban sparked outrage among Chinese scientists on social media. Some professors in China decided to cancel their memberships.
On June 3, 2019, IEEE lifted restrictions on Huawei's editorial and peer review activities after receiving clearance from the United States government.
Position on the Russia-Ukraine conflict
On February 26, 2022, the chair of the IEEE Ukraine Section, Ievgen Pichkalov, publicly appealed to the IEEE members to "freeze
EEE EEE may refer to:
Business
* ''Electronic Equipment Engineering'', a defunct American trade magazine
* Embrace, extend and extinguish, an anti-competitive Microsoft business strategy
* Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (trades as EEE)
* Union of ...
activities and membership in Russia" and requested "public reaction and strict disapproval of Russia’s aggression" from the IEEE and IEEE Region 8. On March 17, 2022, an article in the form of Q&A interview with IEEE Russia (Siberia) senior member Roman Gorbunov titled "A Russian Perspective on the War in Ukraine" was published in ''
IEEE Spectrum
''IEEE Spectrum'' is a magazine edited by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
The first issue of ''IEEE Spectrum'' was published in January 1964 as a successor to ''Electrical Engineering''. The magazine contains peer-revie ...
'' to demonstrate "the plurality of views among IEEE members" and the "views that are at odds with international reporting on the war in Ukraine". On March 30, 2022, activist Anna Rohrbach created an open letter to the IEEE in an attempt to have them directly address the article, stating that the article used "common narratives in Russian propaganda" on the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
and requesting the
IEEE Spectrum
''IEEE Spectrum'' is a magazine edited by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
The first issue of ''IEEE Spectrum'' was published in January 1964 as a successor to ''Electrical Engineering''. The magazine contains peer-revie ...
to acknowledge "that they have unwittingly published a piece furthering misinformation and Russian propaganda." A few days later a note from the editors was added on April 6
with an apology "for not providing adequate context at the time of publication", though the editors did not revise the original article.
Publications
IEEE claims to produce over 30% of the world's literature in the electrical and electronics engineering and computer science fields, publishing approximately 200
peer-reviewed journals
An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and d ...
and magazines. IEEE publishes more than 1,200 conference proceedings every year.
The published content in these journals as well as the content from several hundred annual
conferences
A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic.
Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main pu ...
sponsored by the IEEE are available in the IEEE Electronic Library (IEL) available through
IEEE ''Xplore'' platform, for subscription-based access and individual publication purchases.
In addition to journals and conference proceedings, the IEEE also publishes tutorials and standards that are produced by its standardization committees. The organization also has its own IEEE format paper.
Educational activities
The IEEE provides learning opportunities within the engineering sciences, research, and technology.
IEEE offers educational opportunities such as ''IEEE eLearning Library'', the ''Education Partners Program'', ''Standards in Education'' and ''Continuing Education Units'' (CEUs).
''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, forty states in the United States require Professional Development Hours (PDH) to maintain a
Professional Engineering license, 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. This website allows students to search for accredited engineering degree programs in Canada and the United States.
Through the Student Activities Committee, IEEE facilitates partnership between student activities and all other IEEE entities.
Technical societies
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
Networking is the sharing of information or services between people, businesses, or groups. It is also a way for individuals to grow their relationships for their job or business. As a result, connections or a network can be built and useful for i ...
and sometimes other services.
IEEE Computer Society
IEEE Computer society is the largest among IEEE Societies with membership of 51,985 as of 2021. Its flagship publication included as part of the membership is
Computer
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...
. Non members and members can sign up for fre
Computing Edgemagazine, which is a digest of content previously published in several IEEE Computer society magazines.
IEEE Global History Network
In September 2008, the ''IEEE History Committee'' founded the ''IEEE Global History Network'',
it now redirects to
Engineering and Technology History Wiki The Engineering and Technology History Wiki (ETHW) is a MediaWiki-based website dedicated to the history of technology. It started operating in 2015. It consists of articles, first-hand accounts, oral histories, landmarks and milestones.
A partners ...
.
IEEE Foundation
The IEEE Foundation is a charitable foundation established in 1973 to support and promote technology education, innovation and excellence.
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 role of the IEEE Foundation 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.
As of the end of 2014, the foundation's total assets were nearly $45 million, split equally between unrestricted and donor-designated funds.
See also
*
Certified Software Development Professional (CSDP) program of the IEEE Computer Society
*
Glossary of electrical and electronics engineering
This glossary of electrical and electronics engineering is a list of definitions of terms and concepts related specifically to electrical engineering and electronics engineering. For terms related to engineering in general, see Glossary of engine ...
*
Engineering and Technology History Wiki The Engineering and Technology History Wiki (ETHW) is a MediaWiki-based website dedicated to the history of technology. It started operating in 2015. It consists of articles, first-hand accounts, oral histories, landmarks and milestones.
A partners ...
*
Eta Kappa Nu
Eta Kappa Nu () or IEEE-HKN is the international honor society of the Computer Science and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). "The organization promotes excellence in the profession and in education through an emphasis ...
– IEEE HKN Honor society
*
IEEE Standards Association
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standards Association (IEEE SA) is an operating unit within IEEE that develops global standards in a broad range of industries, including: power and energy, artificial intelligence systems, i ...
*
Institution of Engineering and Technology
The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is a multidisciplinary professional engineering institution. The IET was formed in 2006 from two separate institutions: the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), dating back to 1871, and ...
(UK)
*
International Electrotechnical Commission
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC; in French: ''Commission électrotechnique internationale'') is an international standards organization that prepares and publishes international standards for all electrical, electronic and r ...
(IEC)
*
List of IEEE awards
*
List of IEEE conferences
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with ...
*
List of IEEE Fellows
As of 2019, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has 5,082 members designated Fellow, each of whom is associated with one of the 41 societies under the IEEE. The Fellow grade of membership is the highest level of membersh ...
References
External links
*
*
IEEE Xplore research database and online digital library archive
IEEE History Center
{{Authority control
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
1963 establishments in New York (state)
Organizations based in New York City
Piscataway, New Jersey
Professional associations based in the United States
Standards organizations in the United States