IEEE: A Welcome Home for All Engineers

November 15, 2022

Over the past three decades, I have had a long and valued relationship with IEEE. This organization has helped me grow my professional career, from my time as a graduate student to my years as an academic and entrepreneur.

But if you were to ask me what I value most about IEEE, I would tell you that it is the many opportunities to build friendships from across the world with people from different cultures, backgrounds, and ways of life. These friendships have opened my eyes to the diverse universe of humanity. The beauty and richness of this diversity has made IEEE’s core mission, “advancing technology for the benefit of humanity,” all the more meaningful to me.

I vividly remember sharing meals and exploring new places with friends I have made from around the world – in the United Arab Emirates, Greece, Egypt, Tuscany, and Singapore, to name a few. All of these experiences came about through my involvement with IEEE. Despite our varied backgrounds, we share a professional language and mutual passions and we share a professional home.

IEEE brings together technical professionals from around the world who are committed to innovation. In doing so, our organization actively works to remove barriers that would otherwise keep us apart.

I am proud to say that IEEE has a long history of doing more. As an organization, we work actively to draw more people from traditionally under-represented backgrounds into the technology and engineering community worldwide. IEEE’s Women in Engineering has encouraged increased gender diversity in STEM fields for more than 25 years. And several IEEE operating units have taken steps to increase the geographic diversity of their membership and leadership.

There is still more work to be done to ensure that the technology and engineering community can pursue their work without discrimination or harassment. We must also encourage people with these talents and interests to get involved, no matter who they are, where they came from, or what language they speak. Every member around the world has a unique wisdom to offer.

I believe we must pursue these goals because our fields are improved by the free flow of ideas that only a diverse community of thinkers provides. IEEE demonstrates the ability of technologists to work together for the greater global public good without boundaries.

IEEE will continue to be my professional home because it has offered me so many opportunities to meet and to learn from peers from across the world. These experiences have been just as important as the skill-building, career advancement, and leadership training that IEEE offers. I hope that IEEE can offer the same to you and to all technical professionals around the world. I hope that IEEE will also be your professional home.

IEEE offers support for every step of your professional journey, and we’ve created a new website to showcase these resources. To find out more, visit IEEE’s Your Professional Home.

ABOUT OUR AUTHOR
Dr. K.J. Ray Liu is 2022 IEEE President and CEO. He has served IEEE in numerous capacities, including as IEEE Vice President, Technical Activities in 2019, Division IX Director of IEEE Board of Directors 2016-2017, and the President of IEEE Signal Processing Society (2012-13), in which he has also served as Vice President – Publications from 2006-2008 and a member on the Board of Governors. He was the Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Signal Processing Magazine from 2003- 2005.