IEEE Bylaw I-104.3 sets forth the criteria for elevation to Senior Member grade as follows:

  • A candidate shall be an engineer, scientist, educator, technical executive or originator in IEEE-designated fields
  • Candidates shall have been in professional practice for at least ten years
  • Candidates shall have shown significant performance over a period of at least five of those years

In addition, candidates for Senior Member grade must supply three references from current IEEE members holding the grade of Fellow, Senior Member, or Honorary Member. 

IEEE-designated fields

  • Engineering
  • Computer sciences and information technology
  • Physical sciences
  • Biological and medical sciences
  • Mathematics
  • Technical communications, education, management, law and policy

Ten years of professional experience

The ad hoc Admission and Advancement (A&A) Review Panel, that is evaluating your application, will count the years you have been in professional practice.

Time working and attending school at the same time will be counted either as work experience OR education experience.

Your educational experience is credited toward that time as follows:

  • Three years if you hold a baccalaureate degree or equivalent in an IEEE-designated field

or

  • Fours years if you hold a master's degree or equivalent in an IEEE-designated field

or

  • Five years if you hold a doctorate or equivalent in an IEEE-designated field

 

 Please note, the maximum number of years for education that may be counted toward professional experience is five years.

Five years of significant performance

Many prospective applicants make the mistake of assuming that "significant performance" requires special awards, patents, or other extremely sophisticated technical accomplishments, but this is not the case. Substantial job responsibilities such as team leader, task supervisor, engineer in charge of a program or project, engineer or scientist performing research with some measure of success (papers), or faculty developing and teaching courses with research and publications, all are indications of significant performance. The following are also indications of significant performance:

  • Substantial engineering responsibility or achievement
  • Publication of engineering or scientific papers, books, or inventions
  • Technical direction, or management of important scientific or engineering work, with evidence of accomplishment
  • Recognized contributions to the welfare of the scientific or engineering profession
  • Development or furtherance of important scientific or engineering courses that fall within the IEEE designated fields of interest
  • Contributions equivalent to those of the above in such areas as technical editing, patent prosecution, or patent law, provided these contributions serve to advance progress substantially in IEEE designated fields

Significant performance that would serve to qualify an individual for elevation to Senior member need not have occurred in the years immediately prior to the application. Thus, Life and Retired members are eligible for elevation.

References

The applicant must also provide three references from current IEEE members holding Senior Member, Fellow, or Honorary Member grade. Your professional colleagues are your best source of these references. If you have difficulty in locating Senior members or Fellows to serve as references, you have three options.

PLEASE NOTE: It is the responsibility of the applicant to follow up with their references regarding the completion of the reference form.

Option 1

Follow these simple steps to search for qualifying members using IEEE Collabratec.

  1. Sign in to Collabratec.
  2. Enter your user name and password.
  3. On the top of Collabratec, click on “People.”
  4. Under the “IEEE Membership Directory” on the lefthand side, use "Member Status" to filter “Senior Member,” “Life Senior,” “Fellow,” and “Life Fellow.”
  5. Use the remaining Filters on the lefthand side to narrow your search as you please.
  6. Click on any of the profiles listed that you wish to message.
  7. Click the “Message” tab to message the member.

Option 2

Contact the Section or Chapter chair for assistance in finding qualified references. More information about your Section chair can be found under the "References" tab of your application. 

The applicant is responsible for contacting your Region/Section Chair. Tell them you are applying for Senior membership and require three references. Your Section Chair may ask you a few questions and ask to see your resume. You will need names and membership numbers that will be entered into the reference tab of the application process.

If you are working with your Society or Region, they may offer to endorse (be a nominator) on your application. IEEE Sections/Societies can receive a rebate of $10 for each successful nomination as part of the Nominate a Senior Member Initiative. If they wish to serve as a nominator they should begin the application process for you and then the applicant will finish the remaining tabs of the application.

Please note: If you have a nominator, they serve as a reference as well; therefore, you will only require two additional references.

Option 3

Attend Section meetings and network with Senior members and Fellows in your area.

Examples

The following are examples of significant performance that would serve to qualify an individual for elevation to Senior member. In each case, assume that three qualified references were provided:

Case 1 An applicant/nominee has a bachelor's degree and seven additional years of professional experience beyond graduation in an area encompassed by one of IEEE's technical Societies, which meets the requirement of ten years of professional experience. Significant performance can be demonstrated by describing substantial job responsibilities (e.g., team leader) for a period of at least five years. Result: All criteria are satisfied and the application is approved.

Case 2 Same as Case 1, except that the applicant/nominee worked in industry for one year following graduation with the bachelor's degree and then was a full-time graduate student for two years, obtaining a master's degree. The applicant demonstrates significant performance during another five years in industry. Result: Approved.

Case 3 An applicant/nominee has bachelor, master's, and doctoral degrees in an IEEE-designated field. Five years of significant performance in academia, industry, or government beyond the doctoral degree are demonstrated (e.g., a faculty member with five years beyond the doctorate and promotion to associate professor). Result: Approved.

Case 4 An applicant/nominee has no degree and has worked for many years in the electric industry as a technician. Ten years ago, the applicant/nominee accepted an engineering-level position and continued with it since that time. Included was a period of at least five years with demonstrated significant performance. Result: Approved.

Case 5 An applicant/nominee retired some years ago and has not been active recently in the profession. Prior to retirement, the applicant/nominee had at least ten years of professional experience, including five years of significant performance. Result: Approved.

Volunteer Resources

Visit the Volunteers section for the following:

  • Senior member initiative
  • Section and Society benefits
  • Best practices for Sections and Societies
  • Schedule of review panels
  • Senior member statistics
  • Admission & Advancement Committee