Since its launch in 1973, the IEEE Foundation has raised greater than US $135 million for greater than 250 IEEE packages that enhance entry to expertise, improve technological literacy, and help training.
IEEE’s philanthropic accomplice is celebrating its Fiftieth anniversary with a number of occasions that showcase the profound influence donors world wide have made. It additionally has launched new methods to acknowledge its donors and has added a spotlight space the place contributions might be directed.
“As the IEEE Foundation marks its 50-year anniversary, the global need for sustainable development, Internet access, STEM education and inspiring a new, diverse generation of technologists to take up such worthy endeavors has never been greater,” Ralph Ford, the Foundation’s president, mentioned in a information launch in regards to the anniversary. “Generous donors and members are the lifeblood fueling the IEEE Foundation’s world-changing initiatives, which have positively impacted thousands of communities.”
Here is a have a look at among the occasions and a lot of the packages which have benefited from donors’ generosity.
Celebrating with tech pioneers
The celebrations kicked off in February with an occasion held on the Sheraton New York resort in Times Square.
“Over the past 50 years, IEEE Foundation leaders, volunteers, and donors have impacted the lives of so many throughout the world,” John McDonald, chair of the Fiftieth-anniversary celebration committee, mentioned throughout his welcoming remarks. He and his spouse have been donors for many years. “I have personally witnessed how these contributions have made a meaningful and lasting impact. I look forward to working with all of you to increase our impact, expand our network, and establish even more partnerships with IEEE members, volunteers, and philanthropists.”
“I look forward to partnering with the IEEE Foundation to make meaningful philanthropic investments that encourage comprehensive and intelligent ways of using technology to improve conditions for people around the world,” added Saifur Rahman, IEEE president. “As we continue these pursuits, we will create a larger spectrum of technological possibilities and continue to address global challenges.”
In one of many occasion highlights, actors posing as engineering pioneers Marie Curie, Thomas Alva Edison, Lewis Latimer, Nikola Tesla, and George Westinghouse mingled with attendees and talked about how the technologists’ innovations modified the world.
Curie, Tesla, and Westinghouse made one other look on 1 March throughout a digital celebration hosted by McDonald, Rahman, and Ford.
“Generous donors and members are the lifeblood fueling the IEEE Foundation’s world-changing initiatives, which have positively impacted thousands of communities.”
Rahman and Tesla mentioned IEEE Foundation–supported packages which have improved residing circumstances. “Contributing to IEEE and the IEEE Foundation extends our possibilities beyond our own beliefs and enhances people’s lives, both professionally and personally,” Rahman mentioned.
Ford and Curie talked in regards to the essential contributions made by the Nobel laureate and different feminine engineers. Ford talked about IEEE Women in Engineering and the way the IEEE Foundation helps this system and funds its scholarships.
“We are inspiring girls around the world to follow their academic interests to careers in engineering, computer science, technology, and related technical fields,” Ford mentioned. “We want to do more and take bold steps to help WIE members with families advance their careers, and to ensure women studying these fields find meaningful careers.”
Other celebratory occasions and actions are scheduled all year long, based on the Foundation’s government director, Karen A. Galuchie.
The anniversary of the Foundation, which initially was established to simply accept and handle donations in help of the IEEE Awards Program, might be highlighted all through the IEEE Vision, Innovation, and Challenges Summit and Honors Ceremony, officers say.
During the IEEE Power & Energy Society General Meeting, the Foundation plans to characteristic the success of the PES Scholarship Plus Initiative and IEEE Smart Village and to host an estate-planning session for attendees.
The Foundation plans to proceed its proud historical past of investing in IEEE’s grassroots management by sponsoring the IEEE Sections Congress in August. The Foundation is about to host a reception after the opening ceremony, lead classes on philanthropy, and highlight its 50-year historical past in an exhibit.
Thanks to donations made to the IEEE Smart Village program, IEEE Senior Member Chief Tunde Salihu [third from left] and his workers have been capable of set up a microgrid at a medical facility in Illorin, Kwara, Nigeria. SHAYBIS NIGERIA LTD
New donor recognition packages
During the 1 March digital occasion, Ford additionally introduced that the Foundation had added six giving ranges to the IEEE Heritage Circle, together with one named in Curie’s honor. The cumulative-giving donor-recognition program has varied giving ranges named for innovators within the fields of science and expertise. The Curie degree honors members who give $150,000 to $249,999. The different 5 new ranges replicate groundbreaking engineering work by girls, individuals of colour, and members of the LGBT+ neighborhood: Hertha Ayrton ($25,000 to $49,999), Jagadish Chandra Bose ($750,000 to $999,999), Edith Clarke ($5 million or extra), Lewis Latimer ($75,000 to $99,999), and Alan Turing ($2.5 million to $4,999,999).
Another means the Foundation marked its anniversary was so as to add a fifth space, a pillar, to assist information the philanthropic focus. One instance, often known as the future pillar, will fund instructional, inspirational, and foundational packages for upcoming generations, the Foundation mentioned. The different 4 pillars are designated illuminate, educate, interact, and energize.
Supporting girls and instructing STEM
Generous donors help these present packages:
- IEEE History Center. In 1979 the middle was one of many earliest packages to accomplice with the newly established IEEE Foundation. The heart, which was arrange in preparation to have fun IEEE’s centennial in 1984, preserves and promotes the historical past of expertise, the engineering career, and IEEE. Donations have funded oral histories of almost 1,000 expertise icons; greater than 200 Milestones, which honor important technical achievements worldwide; and greater than 5,000 articles printed on the Engineering and Technology History Wiki.
- IEEE Life Members Fund. This program, which predates the IEEE Foundation, was one of many first funds added to the Foundation in 1979. It helps lifetime members, in addition to scholarships and fellowships for college students.
- IEEE Women in Engineering. This world community is devoted to selling feminine engineers and scientists, and to inspiring ladies to pursue careers in science, expertise, engineering, and arithmetic (STEM. WIE has 30,000 members, together with males, in additional than 100 international locations and 950local teams worldwide.
- IEEE Try Engineering. This STEM outreach program is designed to empower the subsequent era of expertise innovators. Donations help the IEEE TryEngineering portal, which gives educators and college students with free assets, 135 lesson plans, and STEM-centered hands-on actions. More than 562,000 individuals use the portal annually.
- IEEE Smart Village.ISV helps business-development tasks that combine renewable power, instructional alternatives, and entrepreneurship improvement to empower energy-impoverished communities world wide. With almost 200 tasks established throughout sub-Saharan Africa, India, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, this system has benefited greater than 1.4 million individuals.
- IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu.This honor society has obtained Foundation help because it merged with IEEE in 2010. More than 200,000 electrical engineers, pc engineers, pc scientists, and different professionals and college students in allied fields are members. It has greater than 250 scholar and alumni chapters in 29 international locations.
- IEEE SIGHT.Members of the IEEE Special Interest Group on Humanitarian Technology accomplice with communities to share concepts, acquire experiences, and implement expertise tasks to sort out native issues. The initiative has 18,000 members from greater than 130 international locations.
“Technology has and will continue to benefit humanity, and this is the mission IEEE embraces,” Rahman mentioned in a information launch in regards to the anniversary. “Making our world more equitable, sustainable, and resilient is critical for every community.
“The five decades of generous support from donors … have been invaluable to under-resourced communities globally.”
To discover out how one can help essential IEEE initiatives, contact the IEEE Foundation. You can also merely make a donation on-line.