Reconnect with a committee of members of the revitalized IEEE

As the proverb says, you are never too old to start again. It is true for the Committee of Members of the Life of the IEEE, which was revitalized after the pandemic disturbances COVID-19.

The Committee supports people aged at least 65 who are members long enough for their age and membership years to equal or exceed 100. The contributions of members of life, regional assessments and the costs of the company are deleted, and certain costs of registration of conferences are reduced.

During the pandemic, fewer members of life attended activities in person and joined local groups, and donations to the funds of life members, which supports several, abandoned programs.

“While we bounce back from Covid,” said Howard Wolfman, former president, “The Committee of Members of Life has taken a deep inspiration and said:” Let’s move forward. What are our problems? “A senior member of life, Wolfman, is an active volunteer from the IEEE for 64 years and a generous donor of the members of life.

“We have restored connections, developed new objectives and introduces new programs,” he said.

Over the past five years, the Committee has launched several initiatives, including an annual conference and a mentoring program. He also worked to reactivate the affinity groups that had become dormant, and he formed new ones. Affinity groups are part of a section or a region of the IEEE.

The Committee also led campaigns to increase donations to the funds of members of life, which the IEEE foundation manages. The campaigns have shown how donations are used to support members of members and IEEE programs.

The number of life members increased from 25,000 in 2019 to almost 39,000 last year. IEEE now projects an increase of 58% by 2034. The organization says that it wants to use its most experienced and competent engineers.

Tech for an aging population

The inaugural conference of members of life took place in April 2024 in Austin, Texas. Its theme was “evolution: technology, applications and contributions”. Open to all members of the IEEE, the event focused on the best understanding of how emerging technologies and new applications may have an impact on the elderly. Over 180 people attended.

This year’s conference, “Learning Never Stops”, is scheduled for June 11 to 13 at TUFTS University in Medford, Mass. Subjects include innovations in health technology, artificial intelligence and robotics. A session on systems that have an impact on the company should discuss the energy network and telecommunications.

“The members of life have the opportunity to share the wisdom they have acquired thanks to their members as well as careers in the industry or the academic world.”

According to the World Health Organization, by 2030, one in six people worldwide will be 60 or over.

In this spirit, a discussion on the conference on aging and longevity will cover technologies to improve the quality of life of the elderly, says Wolfman, adding that he will approach independence and general well-being. The field of age technology includes monitoring health and well-being, smart devices and home care robots.

The technological standards of the IEEE Standards Association for aging activities plan to offer a session to discuss the technical standards under development to ensure that these products are interoperable, safe and secure. The honor speaker is Rick Robinson, vice-president and managing director of AARP Agetech collaborative, who supports developers in the field. Dean Kamen, an honorary member of the IEEE, who is probably best known for having invented the Segway Scooter, should give the closing speech.

You don’t need to be a member to attend the conference. Registration is always open.

Sharing experiences with young generations

The concept of mentorship is not new. Traditional mentorship programs generally involve individual sessions. But Wolfman says he had an epiphany for a new type of program that the committee should launch: group mentorship.

Presented last year, the group sessions imply that the members of life meet secondary school students, students and young professionals. The members share the ups and downs of their professional and personal life, the lessons learned and the traps to avoid, says Wolfman.

Group sessions took place in Ottawa; San Marcos, Texas; and Tokyo.

“One thing I learned by speaking to participants is that mentorship works in both directions,” explains Wolfman. “The members of life are also supervised. We learn what’s going on in today’s world, so it’s a two -way street. ”

He explores the expansion of the mentoring program to other IEEE groups, including women in engineering and young professionals, so that participants can obtain different perspectives.

Affinity Group Activities

There are more than 190 groups of affinity for life in 66 countries. The African Council formed one of the most recent. Its members come from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Zambia and three other countries.

Several affinity groups were reactivated after several years of inactivity, including the Dallas group last year.

Groups have different types of activities. Last year, the IEEE Benelux group visited the European space agency in Noordwijk, in the Netherlands. Members also visited the manufacturing company of the Cochlear medical equipment company in Mechen, Belgium. In Colorado, the Ieee Denver and Pikes Peak groups visited the SKAGGS Research Center of the US General Services Administration, in Boulder.

Affinity groups also organize educational sessions on cybersecurity, electrical safety, spintronics and similar subjects.

Supporters of 15 programs

The members of life are generous. Last year, they gave more than 1.7 million US dollars to the IEEE philanthropic programs, according to the IEEE Foundation. The members of life represent 65% of the total of the donations given by individuals to the more than 215 accounts of the IEEE Foundation.

The Fund for Members of the IEEE life supports more than 15 programs, including prices, conferences, educational awareness, scholarships and humanitarian projects.

The fund, for example, supports epics in IEEE projects worldwide. Last year, more than 12,800 students and some 1,600 volunteers participated in the learning program by service in their community.

Another program that receives funding is the IEEE MOVE (Mobile Outreach using volunteer commitment). In the United States, three displaced vehicles provide communities with electricity and communication capacities in areas affected by widespread breakdowns due to natural disasters. In the past year, they have been deployed to help flood survivors in Kentucky, hurricanes in Florida and forest fires in California.

Move India led several programs last year, including disasters awareness sessions, STEM workshops and volunteer training. Move India donated solar lanterns and mobile chargers to the survivors of Wayanad landslides which were without power.

“The members of life have the opportunity to share the wisdom they have acquired thanks to their members as well as careers in the industry or the academic world,” explains Wolfman. “We receive the satisfaction of knowing that we are returning to the next generation of innovators, IEEE in general and to society.”