Tom Coughlin visits Washington DC for IEEE-US Congressional Visit Day
Updates on my travels and conferences as IEEE President and CEO. From March to mid-April of this year, I attended three of his IEEE regional conferences, spoke at the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Deans and Deans Association (ECEDHA) conference, and attended the IEEE Congressional Visit Day in Washington, DC and the first attended his IEEE Life Membership. Conference and visit to Cuba. Along the way, I was able to capture a total solar eclipse in Arkansas just after the IEEE Region 5 conference.
The IEEE Region 6 Conference was held in Seattle, Washington. Region 6 includes the western United States, including Alaska and Hawaii. This is my home section because I live in San Jose, California and have had the pleasure of meeting many of my IEEE Volunteer colleagues with whom I have worked over the years. At this regional conference, as well as at other of his IEEE conferences, I spoke about the IEEE's key guiding priorities. These include retaining more young members to help us stay vital and relevant, and strengthening our collaboration with industry and those involved in the real-world applications of technology. The world learns about IEEE and its mission to advance technology for the benefit of humanity, to serve our members and customers, and to invest in new products and services to fund our mission. Know more.
Besides the meetings and discussions on important topics, one of the most important highlights of the conference was the IEEE label IPA shown below.
IEEE IPA at Region 6 Conference
From the Region 6 conference, I traveled to Tucson, Arizona to speak about the future of education at the Electrical and Computer Engineering Deans and Deans Association (ECEDHA) conference. This year, IEEE will examine how technology can be used to reduce the cost of higher technical education and make it more accessible and affordable to more people, especially marginalized and disadvantaged populations. A task force was established.
Furthermore, as technology rapidly changes, so do educational needs, necessitating continuing education for technology professionals. IEEE works with other organizations and educators around the world to leverage technology to create new opportunities and build the global workforce needed to use technology to solve the world's most pressing problems. We need to consider whether education can be transformed to meet the needs of
After the ECEDHA conference, I joined colleagues to speak at a technical conference and meet with technical educators in Havana, Cuba. I believe I was the first IEEE president to visit Cuba, and I was glad to have the opportunity. The people I met were very friendly, well-educated, and enthusiastic about further cooperation with IEEE. I was able to go out for a bit in the evening and visited El Floridita, the restaurant and bar where Ernest Hemingway used to hang out and talk with the locals. The image below shows a conversation with a life-sized bronze statue of a famous author.
Talk to the Ernest Hemingway statue in Havana
I also went to Arkansas in early April to attend the Region 5 conference in Springdale, northwest Arkansas. It was my first time coming to Arkansas and I really enjoyed it. Region 5 is located in the south-central United States and includes parts of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Colorado, Louisiana, Wyoming, South Dakota, and New Mexico. Again, I discussed these priorities with local IEEE volunteers and met with them to spend time discussing important topics and the future of the technology and engineering profession.
I stayed one more day in Arkansas to see the total solar eclipse (my first experience with a total solar eclipse). It was a very impressive experience and I understood why it has had such a huge impact on human culture for thousands of years. I observed the eclipse with several telescopes, including a large telescope like the one shown below that an astrophysicist from Alabama brought in to record the eclipse. This year was a year of high solar activity, the sun's corona was large, and the totality appeared to change.
preparation for solar eclipse
I flew from Arkansas to Washington, DC, to attend the annual Congressional Visit Day hosted by IEEE-USA and visit with senators and congressmen. IEEE-USA is based in Washington, DC and represents the IEEE with the US government. IEEE-USA has organized a public policy committee of volunteer expert IEEE members to discuss important topics such as allowing the immigration of technical professionals born outside the United States, ethical design and artificial intelligence, and semiconductor workforce and supply chains. provides advice and insight to public policy makers about It also develops and funds NIST and other U.S. government technology programs.
IEEE-USA helps schedule meetings with IEEE members and senators and representatives to discuss priorities and the importance of technology in their regions. His 2024 IEEE Congressional Visit Day was attended by a record number of his IEEE members. After my visit, I had some free time in the afternoon, so I visited the Library of Congress with other volunteers. One of them had obtained a Library of Congress Reader card the previous year and showed us how to get one ourselves. This allowed us to go inside the library and see more of this historic building. This is my new library card!
My Library of Congress Reader Card
I flew from Washington, DC to Toronto, Canada to attend the IEEE Region 7 conference. Region 7 is all of Canada. Although Region 7 is also the IEEE smallest region in terms of number of members, Region 7 volunteers are very active in IEEE and serve in many IEEE leadership positions. Like most regions in the United States, Region 7 has experienced declining membership over the years and is looking for ways to retain current members and attract new members, especially younger members. This was one of the priorities I discussed and discussed with the Region 7 volunteers.
I had to leave the Region 7 conference early to go to the first IEEE Life Member Conference in Austin, Texas. An IEEE lifetime member is one who is over 65 years old, and the length of membership and age add up to 100. These members may make contributions to the IEEE, but do not pay IEEE dues. IEEE lifetime membership is increasing, especially in Regions 1-7 (United States and Canada), while the number of younger members is not growing.
Although some IEEE Life Members have retired, most remain active and want to be involved in their fields of expertise. The conference brought together Life Members from all over the world to not only discuss new technological developments and trends, but also how they can contribute and make a difference in the world. There were sessions on a variety of volunteering, mentoring, and other topics, including one where amateur radio operators (many of whom are also IEEE members) talked about local Austin emergency services. Below are vans to assist with local emergencies. There are a lot of antennas and radios inside!
Amateur Radio Emergency Service Van in Austin, Texas
One of the IEEE MOVE trucks, working with the Red Cross to support disaster response, participated in the Life Member Conference and previous Region 5 conference.
From March to mid-April, as IEEE President and CEO, I visited and spoke to IEEE members (and non-members) at Regions 5, 6, and 7 conferences, the ECEDHA conference, and Cuba. I also participated in IEEE-USA's Congressional Visit Day. I met with many members working on exciting projects that pursue IEEE's mission of advancing technology for humanity.
