IEEE Region 8 Section AssessmentBenelux SectionBenelux Section

23 April 2004

Krakow, Poland

Section Team

Jan Biemond (Chair) TU Delft; NLCor Claeys (Past Chair) KU Leuven, IMEC; BMartin Bastiaans (Officer) TU Eindhoven; NL

Overview presentation

Background to the Section Finances Governance Section Activities

Chapter Activities Membership Development Student and Gold Activities Conferences Education

Long-term goals/ New Directions Best practices

Background to the Section

Strengths: Founded May 13, 1959 as part of IRE Part of IEEE since 1963 after merger with AIEE First chair Ir. H. Rinia (1959-1961), director

Philips Research, Eindhoven Strong organizational and financial structure Local circumstances: Excellent educational

system and strong consumer electronics (support) industry

Background to the Section (2)

Successes: Large # of Chapters and Student Branches Relatively large # of IEEE Fellows and

Senior Members Two recent IEEE medalists

Prof. Kees Schouhamer Immink, IEEE Edison Medal (optical disk storage) Prof. Aad T. de Hoop, IEEE Heinrich Hertz Medal (EM propagation)

Two Society Presidents Prof. Han Vinck, IEEE Information Theory (IT) Society (2003-2004) Prof. Djan Khoe, IEEE Lasers & Electro-Optical Society (LEOS) (2003-

2004)

Background to the Section (3)

Threats: Lack of volunteers Uncertain future of (Electrical) Engineering

Limited inflow into technical studies Lack of high-tech start-ups as innovation drivers Brain drain Outsourcing and off shoring of production, services and

research Exodus of research labs and (consumer) electronics industry to

low-income countries

Finances

Financial goals: Section is planning to shrink its reserves due to:

Growing # of Chapters with increased activity level New rebate scheme for SB’s to promote activities Promotion of technical studies (at high schools)

Level of reserves kept consistent with objectives: To provide risk-bearing capital to support conferences and

workshops within Benelux Region

Governance

Officers (period 2002-2005):

Chairman: Prof. dr. ir. Jan Biemond (TU Delft; NL)Junior Past Chairman: Prof. dr. ir. Cor Claeys (KU-Leuven; IMEC; B)Vice chairman: Prof. Dr. Ir. Patrice Mégret (Polytechnique de Mons ; B)

Prof. Damien Macq (Polytechnique de Mons, B); since 01/01/04

Secretary: Dr. Alan Hanjalic (TU Delft; NL)Treasurer NL: Dr.ir. Jan Bergmans (TU Eindhoven; NL)Treasurer B: Ir. Dirk Rabaey (Alcatel, B)Member B: Prof. Joseph. Lahr (IST; L)Member NL: Dr.ir. Martin J. Bastiaans (TU Eindhoven; NL)

(Vice- chair candidate per 01/01/05)

ExCom: Officers + Standing Committee Chairs + Chapter Chairs

Governance (2)

Standing Committee Chairs (2002-2005):

Awards: Ir. J (Hans) Noordanus (Philips retiree: NL)

Chapter Coordination: Ir. Kees van ‘t Klooster (ESTEC/ESA; NL)

Student Activities: Prof.dr.ir. Daniel M. van Dommelen (KU-Leuven;B)

Industry Relations: Fred Snijders (Philips Research Eindhoven,NL)

Educational Activities (NL): Prof. A.M.J. Koonen (TU Eindhoven; NL)

Educational Activities (B): Prof. Jacques Verly (Université de Liège ; B)

Professional Activities and Ing. K. K. Keimpema (retired Dutch PTT, NL) Membership Development: Vacancy per 01/01/04

Electronic Communications: Dr.ir. J. Vanderschoot (Leiden University Medical Center; NL)

Governance (3)

ExCom meetings twice a year (May/November) General assembly (with officer election) every second

year; last one in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, January 14, 2002

Next in January 2005 (postponed with 1 year) Chairpersons alternate between The Netherlands and

Belgium or Luxembourg Within Belgium/Luxembourgian turns, it alternates

between Northern and Southern region

Chapter ActivitiesChapters: 15 + 1 + 1

LEOS: Lasers and Electro-Optics AP/MTT: Antennas and Propagation/Microwave Theory and Techniques IT: Information Theory SP: Signal Processing VT&C: Vehicular Technology and Communications CE: Consumer Electronics CAS: Circuits and Systems ED: Electron Devices EMS: Engineering Management Society Chapter SSCS: Solid State Circuits Society Chapter IAS/PEL: Industry Applications/Power Electronics NPS: Nuclear and Plasma Science EMC: Electromagnetic Compatibility CS: Computer Society NN: The Neural Network Chapter

The ED/CAS Université Catholique de Louvain Student Branch Chapter

GOLD Affinity Group

Chapters Activities (2)

New Chapters since 2000:

1. IAS/PEL: Industry Applications/Power Electronics Oct. 20002. NPS: Nuclear and Plasma Science Chapter Feb. 26, 20013. EMS: Engineering Management Society Chapter Oct. 24, 2001 4. EMC: Electromagnetic Compatibility Dec. 20025. CS: Computer Society Chapter May 20026. NN: The Neural Networks Society Chapter May 30, 2003

7. ED/CAS Université Catholique de Louvain Student Branch Chapter Oct. 2003

The Joint Industry Applications & Power Electronics Society Chapter has applied to expand its activities to Power Engineering (Nov. 2003) and to become the joint IAS/PELS/PES Benelux Chapter

A Chapter on Robotics and Automation is in the process of organization by Dr. Stefano Stramigioli, Twente University NL

There are some recent initiatives to create a Chapter on Biomedical Engineering

Chapter Activities (3)

All Chapters are active, but there is sometimes a lack of reporting (VT&C and SSCS) invited to next Section meeting

Chapters are requested to report to our biannual Section meeting

LEOS was nominated last year for the Chapter of the Year award of Region 8

A good means to revitalize a Chapter is a (complete) change of board members (SP, AP/MTT)

Membership Development Activities

Theme Benelux Chair: “Membership value”“Membership value”

Membership development: SM Fellow Student Total End 1998 133 36 412 2568End 1999 154 37 424 2706End 2000 154 42 385 2790End 2001 163 43 387 2795End 2002 169 46 478 2833End 2003 178 45 442 2750

Membership division: Industry: 50%Academia: 45%Government: 5%

- Factors: Electronic access Recent economic downturn Membership fee increase

Membership Development Activities (2)

How to reach members from industry?

Promotion and sponsoring of conferences and Symposia with major industry participation

Recent appointment of Industry Relation Officer Composition of Section and Chapter boards Link with industry through Gold Supporting friend Award for Alcatel

Supporting Friend Award

The IEEE would like to recognize Alcatel-Antwerp, for its consistent support in sponsoring various IEEE activities.

The IEEE extends its gratitude for providing over 15 years of faithful support to the IEEE for hosting the EXCOM meetings of the IEEE Benelux Section.

For the encouragement of its employees to participate in member activities of the IEEE and to promote the value of membership.

Alcatel was supportive in the establishment of the first GOLD Chapter program in Region 8. 

Especially the financial management of Dirk Rabaey should be mentioned.

Student Activities

7 recognized Student Branches:Delft, Endhoven, Gent, Leuven, Liege, Louvain-la-Neuve, Twente

Recent revitalization SB’s Delft and Liege. Each ExCom meeting a student branch is invited Strong visibility:

1. Successful organization SBC-2000 in Eindhoven

2. High visibility in Region 8 Student paper contests

3. Symposia, Study projects, Debates, Beer courses

4. Exchange visits of neighboring SB’s

SB Delft

From competition to cooperation

Focus on International MSc students

IEEE Student Branch Leuven presents:Beer Course

In cooperation with Zythos: the Confederation of Belgian Objective Beer tasters

➢➢     Maandag 8 maart, 20 uur: De kunst van het bierproeven en het brouwproces➢➢     Maandag 15 maart: Bezoek aan de artisinale brouwerij van Boon, te Ledegem (oude Geuze), busrit inbegrepen (vertrekuur: 19 uur)➢➢     Maandag 22 maart, 20 uur: De geschiedenis van het bier en de verschillende biersoorten 

Elke avond is er uitgebreide mogelijkheid tot proeven

DEBATEIEEE Student Branch Leuven

Wednesday, April 28, 2004

Intellectual Exodus from BelgiumFuture and Expansion of our Knowledge Economy

Speakers:• Dirk Rabaey, IEEE Benelux, Alcatel Strategic Alliances• Frank Vandenbroecke, Minister of Labor and Pensions• Prof. Yves Willems, Dean Faculty Applied Sciences, Catholic University Leuven

GOLD Affinity Group

• Very active Gold Affinity Group• Certificate of Appreciation May 2002• Lack of reporting in 2003• Expiration of IEEE Membership GOLD Affinity Chair Jan van Nieuwenhuyse• Discussion to combine activities with German GOLD Section• Recent initiative of William Watté, Sammy Martens to revitalize GOLD through a new Board, etc.

Conferences

3rd IEEE Conference on Standardization and Innovation in Information Technology, Delft, The Netherlands, Oct. 22-24, 2003

2004 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man & Cybernetics, The Hague, The Netherlands, October 10-13, 2004

2005 IEEE International Conference on Multimedia and Expo (ICME), Amsterdam, The Netherlands, July 2005

Education

Several Chapters actively participate in The Distinguished Lecturer Program

Many short courses and post graduate courses are offered by the different Universities, Graduate Schools, Philips CTT. Many IEEE members are involved, but no direct involvement of the Section

Biemond was appointed as a member of Region 8 Educational Activities Sub Committee per 01-01-04

Long Term Goals/New Directions

Membership development and retention Improved leadership in Section To promote engineering studies

Pre-university programs International MSc programmes

• To invest in knowledge society To promote start-ups and spin-off companies To promote electronic industry as innovation driver

Best Practices

A very good relation with other professional Societies in the electronics field: NERG, KIvI, AES, IEE, etc.

Strong interaction with Chapters and SB’s, partly based on a very good rebate/support program

A relative high participation of SB’s in Regional activities, like Student Paper Contests

An excellent, inspiring host from Industry for our biannual ExCom meetings