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Welcome to the new IEEE Life Members Committee Electronic Newsletter

The IEEE Life Members Committee (LMC) has decided to increase contact with Life Members from the current mailing of two printed editions of the IEEE Life Members Newsletter in June and December to over 35,000 LMs around the world. This, the first edition of the new electronic newsletter, reports the outcomes from the annual LMC meeting held in January 2020. In the future, the print editions will be supplemented by two electronic newsletters each year. We know that not all LMs use e-mail, so we are also launching new web pages on the MGA website, with a link to the e-newsletter, as soon as possible.

First, let me introduce myself. I have served as an active volunteer of the IEEE for over 50 years, worked on the IEEE Member and Geographic Activities (MGA) Board as vice chair of the Geographic Unit Operations Support Committee and several other committees of the MGA and IEEE-USA, including the IEEE Life Members Committee (LMC), which is a joint committee of the IEEE and IEEE Foundation. I am honored to have been chosen by MGA to be the 2020 chair of the LMC. Our focus this year will be on the management of our various activities, which includes:

(2) increasing the LMAG activities for all Life Members (LMs) and other long-serving members

(4) launching a new campaign towards achieving a 1 Million US Dollar increase in our Life Members Fund to be able to continue to provide our philanthropic goals for the IEEE

Over the course of this year we will be informing you about the committee’s work, including new initiatives. As you are aware, we publish the printed IEEE Life Members Newsletter twice each year, in June and December. However, it seems apparent to the volunteers and staff supporting LM activities that we are not communicating effectively with all LMs. At our recent LMC meeting, held in January, we discussed how to improve our communications so that the work of the LMC on behalf of LMs is better known. To this end, we are now implementing a new electronic newsletter to fill the gaps between our two print versions. In the electronic versions, we will be sharing information about the activities of our 100+ LMAGs along with other activities involving our partnership with the IEEE Foundation.

Charles Turner, Past Chair of the LMC, has agreed to coordinate this new effort as we develop it into a full-blown newsletter. We are particularly interested in receiving feedback from our readers about its contents. We aim to find out whether it is achieving its goal of improving the communication between the LMC and LMs, to ensure that they are better informed in 2020. Please feel free to contact your local Affinity Group Chair, your Regional Coordinator or me at s.atkinson@ieee.org.

The LMC approved full participation in the 2020 Sections’ Congress to be held in Ottawa, Canada, on 11–13 August by providing an information booth to promote interaction with the approximately 300 Section Chairs attending the event. The drive to expand the number of LMAGs from the present level of 103 will be intensified at Sections Congress 2020. The Section Chairs will be reminded of their responsibilities for their LMs, who have been members for many decades, and to provide funding for their activities.

The LMC is a joint committee of the IEEE Foundation and MGA. To minimize its operating expenses, the LMC meets face-to-face only once per year, using WebEx conferences for the rest of its meetings. The funding of LMAG activities is mostly provided from the Life Members Fund (LMF). These activities must be organized for the benefit of LMs to receive approval from the regional coordinator and the LMC Chair. The full list of LMC’s 2020 financial commitments is posted on the LMC/MGA website.

It is essential that the LMF is not only replenished but also is restored to the historic level that was achieved a decade ago. The LMC target for the 2020 total donations from LMs represents an average donation of aproximately US$20 per member. This level of support would enable the LMC to maintain its excellent portfolio of programs organized on behalf of LMs, which includes the Grants Program, jointly run with the IEEE Foundation Board, the IEEE Mulligan Education Medal, the History Center Global Museum project, and the Electrical Engineering Graduate Fellowship.

LMAGs can access their annual allocation from the Life Members Fund (LMF) through their Regional Coordinators (RCs), whose contact details are listed below and on their Region’s website. The maximum amount available is US$2,000. These funds are intended to support activities organized for the benefit of LMs and the IEEE, such as those reported each year via the L31 vTools system. In addition, each LMAG receives an annual rebate of US$200 (plus a bonus of US$75 if six or more events are held in the year) from their Section Treasurer. LMAGs are encouraged to request further support, if needed, from the Section Chair. They can also seek funds from companies or other bodies willing to sponsor LM events such as IEEE Milestone ceremonies.

The LMF funds can be used to pay for the costs of meetings (such as venue rentals and refreshments, speakers’ expenses, and the printing of publicity materials). The costs of sit-down lunches and dinners are normally paid by the members themselves and their guests, or by sponsors. Adding a social dimension to LMAG activities is a great way to get LMs more involved with the IEEE and recruit new volunteers.

RCs should be informed in advance of all LMAG events requesting funding from the LMF, including a proposed budget. If approved, the expense claim, with vouchers and receipts, will be processed by the LMC Chair for payment to the relevant Section account. It is helpful to the LMC if claims can be submitted as soon as possible after the event has concluded.

Sections that have set up an LMAG are in a much better position to deliver programs specifically designed for LMs. LMAGs have direct access to financial help through the LMC and can respond readily to requests from LMs for support to run events and meetings. Because only about one-third of the 330 IEEE Sections have formed LMAGs, the LMC is concerned that many LMs are missing out on important opportunities.

To form a new LMAG, a petition should be prepared; details can be found on the MGA website. It requires the support of six voting members, including an LM as the lead organizer.

In 1977, the IEEE History Center established a program to commemorate landmark achievements in electrotechnology through the award of IEEE Milestone plaques. These have been erected in more than 200 sites across all 10 Regions of the IEEE. Full details of the most recent IEEE Milestone awards can be found on the History Center website at http://ieeemilestones.ethw.org/Main_Page.

Several newly approved IEEE Milestones will be celebrated at historic sites this year, including:

More IEEE Milestones will be dedicated this year at dates to be determined. Consult the IEEE History Center website for details and learn how to prepare an IEEE Milestone proposal. The IEEE Milestone program has provided excellent opportunities for Life Members to collaborate with other IEEE colleagues. Preparing the nomination involves extensive research on the history of technology and the identification of the appropriate location for a plaque to be erected. The nomination is reviewed by experts chosen by the IEEE History Committee. Please consider volunteering on IEEE Milestone projects.

In future editions of this newsletter, we plan to feature recent activities organized for Life Members (LMs) by the 103 LMAGs currently operating in the IEEE. We hope that the reports will serve as examples of good practices and stimulate other LMAGs to offer similar activities as a way of providing a better membership experience to their older members. LMAGs are invited to submit E-Newsletter reports about successful events that demonstrate that it is possible to convene well-supported activities for LMs.

This LMAG held its annual dinner at the new Houston Spaceport, a focus of aerospace innovation and home to the Lone Star Flight Museum. Exciting plans for the development of the facility as a new hub of commercially driven space programs were presented.

In 2019, the New Jersey Coast Section organized lunch meetings for its LMs that included talks on the history of technology and other topics of interest. Many LMAGs have learned that LMs generally prefer to attend meetings during daylight hours, especially if a lengthy drive is necessary. An awards banquet was held jointly with the Princeton/Central Jersey LMAG.

The San Diego LMAG has established a series of well-attended lunch meetings for its LMs since 2014. These lunches regularly include a talk on a topic of current interest. Recent examples include 3D printing, artificial intelligence applications, blockchain systems, and 5G mobile communications.

Adding a social dimension enhances the value of these meetings, enabling members to renew acquaintanceships with former work colleagues and IEEE volunteers. The lunches are open to non-LMs and provide opportunities for collaboration, such as helping with high school science events and projects.

On 9–19 October 2019, the San Antonio LMAG, chaired by James Brakefield and Garrett Polhamus, held the IEEE Texas Technical Tour. The Tour consisted of a 10-day bus tour of six major Texas cities. Forty individuals and four tour volunteers visited several technical, cultural, and historic sites in Texas. The cities included Galveston, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Ft. Worth, and Dallas.

Key sites visited included NASA’s Johnson Space Center, the Superconductivity Research Facility at the University of Houston, Robotic and their High Speed Computing Center at Rice University, the World Heritage Site in San Antonio that included the San Jose Mission and The Alamo, Laboratories of South West Research Institute in San Antonio, the Texas State Computing Center and the Micro Grid facilities at the University of Texas in Austin, the Texas Ranger Museum in Waco, the Stockyards in Ft. Worth, and the Texas Instruments offices and chip fabrication plant in Dallas and Richardson. The tour was chaired by Scott Atkinson.

The Tokyo Section has one of the most active and well organized LMAGs, with an executive committee holding five meetings during the year. Its 2019 report demonstrates that with the support of a high-level team of officers, it is possible to sponsor several technical tours within the Section, combining visits to important company plants with lectures.

The LMAG Committee has conducted a program of IEEE Milestone projects for approximately 10 years. The latest successful nomination (Active Shielding of Superconducting Magnets) will be commemorated near Oxford, England, at the Siemens Magnet Technology facility. An application for another IEEE Milestone celebrating the invention of the Computerized Tomography (CT) X-Ray Scanner by EMI has been submitted for approval. The LMAG will also sponsor a symposium on the History of the Gyrotron millimeter-wave vacuum tube at Queen Mary, University of London.

In the interests of better communication with the Life Member (LM) community, the LMC invites your comments and questions, which we plan to include in future editions of this newsletter. One of LMC’s main objectives is to raise the profile of LMs within IEEE, especially in the Sections. The impressive humanitarian activities being supported by your donations to the Life Member Fund deserve wider recognition. “Make some noise” should become our mantra. Let’s hear from you!