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IEEE Journeys Planned for Singapore, Japan, New Jersey, San Francisco, and Italy

I've felt privileged to be a member of the 2024 IEEE board, and I'm deeply proud of the achievements we've managed to clock this year.

Global Chart Depiction. Minimally Lit Outline Symbolization.
Global Chart Depiction. Minimally Lit Outline Symbolization.

IEEE Journeys Planned for Singapore, Japan, New Jersey, San Francisco, and Italy

12/18/24: New image and text for the Italian Academy of Science section. Change Title to Italy.

As I wrap up my IEEE Presidency, there are a few more tasks to complete. I estimate I've been away from home for over 250 days this year, traveled on 17 distinct airlines, and delivered over 100 talks, either in person, remotely, or through recordings at various IEEE and other events. It's been an intense year!

At Tencon, Tom delivers his discourse.

In our virtual board meeting this month, we approved the winner of the 2025 IEEE Medal of Honor, who will receive a $2M prize in April 2025 in Tokyo. I also visited and presented at the IEEE Tencon, a Region 10 conference in Singapore, attended and spoke at a YP/student-oriented event, and visited a milestone in Kyoto, Japan, as well as the Nintendo Museum with other IEEE volunteers and staff. Following this, I flew to San Francisco, CA, to present some IEEE field awards at the IEDM and then to Italy to give talks in Bologna and present another IEEE field award in Milan, Italy.

Tom, serving at Schneider Electric, based in Singapore.

At Tencon, I talked about IEEE AI Ethics activities in a keynote speech, as well as providing an overview of recent IEEE board activities and encouraging our younger members to remain with us and consider IEEE their professional home. I also visited the local Schneider Electronics Office, Black Sesame, a startup that makes chips for electric vehicles, the IEEE Singapore office, and A-Star, a Singapore government-funded research organization. The image below shows me during my keynote speech, wearing a gift from the Singapore IEEE office – a batik print shirt, which is common wear in this area.

In the presence of Nobel laureate Koichi Tanaka, at Shimadzu

The below image is of me at Schneider Electric's visitors center in Singapore. We learned about their electric power and facilities management products and services, and spoke about increasing collaboration between the industry and IEEE. We had similar discussions with Black Sesame, who share a building with the Singapore IEEE Office. At A-Star, we discussed various IEEE initiatives, including those related to sustainability efforts, such as port electrification for ships to connect to the electric grid when in port and for charging electric boats.

Exploring the Keage Hydro Power Station in Kyoto Marks Significant Milestone

In Kyoto, Japan, I gave a talk at a virtual and physical event for students and young professionals about recent board-approved activities, the benefits of stronger engagement with industry, and how IEEE can serve as a professional home for our younger members, supporting their careers. I also visited two milestones in Kyoto – the first was to Shimadzu Corporation, a biomedical company in Kyoto. I joined Nobel laureate Koichi Tanaka, shown below with me at Shimadzu, who invented the matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization technique, which enabled the detection of large organic molecules for various medical and biological research applications. This milestone was installed in November 2024.

Exploring the Nintendo Museum situated close to Kyoto

The below image is from my visit to the Keage Hydro Power Station in Kyoto, which began producing electricity for the city with water from the lake Biwa Canal in 1897. The first power plant was DC-powered and later converted to AC. A new facility was completed near the original building in 1936, using water from a second canal to increase the AC power output. This facility continues to provide low-carbon power to Kyoto. The image below shows me next to one of three milestone plaques near the hydro-power generators.

Updated image for the Italian Academy of Sciences

Nintendo recently opened a museum near Kyoto. I visited it with 2020 IEEE President Toshio Fukuda, Makiko Koto from the IEEE Council Office, and my Kyoto host, Tomohiro Hase-sensei, from left to right, as shown below with some animated Nintendo Toads and Toadstools at the museum. Nintendo began as a card game manufacturer in the 19th century, expanded into board and other games in the mid-20th century, and released its first electronic game devices in the 1970s.

Celebrating Significant Achievements at Marconi

I then flew from Kyoto to New Jersey to present the Charles Proteus Steinmetz award to Gary Hoffman at the IEEE Standards award event and returned to San Francisco for the IEEE IEDM, International Electron Devices Meeting. There, I presented three more technical field awards and attended some sessions at the IEDM and MRAM Forum on Thursday. I also attended an IEEE Magnetics Society standards meeting on Wednesday night.

Following a half-day at home in San Jose, I headed to Bologna and Milan, Italy, to give talks and present the IEEE Control Systems Society award at the IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, CDC, in Milan, Italy, before returning home to spend some time with my family.

The image below shows me with my gracious hosts Cecilia Metra, left, Paola Monari, and Carlo Alberto Nucci, right, at an incredible meeting room where I spoke about the IEEE and recent board activities in 2024 at the Italian Academy of Science. The room features hand-painted drawings on the ceiling and busts of famous Italian scientists on the walls.

Cecilia is an IEEE Fellow and a professor in Electrical Engineering at the University of Bologna, the world's oldest university, founded in 1088. She has played a significant role in fault-tolerant design of digital circuits and systems and served as the President of the IEEE Computer Society and will be an IEEE director again in 2025. Paola Monari is Deputy chair of the Academy. Carlo Alberto is a member of the Italian Academy of Science and is a professor of Electrical Power Systems at the University of Bologna and the Editor and Chief of the Electric Power Systems Research Journal.

I chatted with students and academic staff at the University of Bologna, discussing IEEE's sustainability efforts in data centers, focusing on digital storage and memory technologies. I then visited Sasso Marconi, close to Bologna, which was the home of Guglielmo Marconi, where he carried out his groundbreaking radio experiments. The snapshot below shows me standing before the IEEE Engineering milestones, with the hill where Marconi and his team successfully demonstrated radio communication beyond a visible line-of-sight, using a spark gap transmitter.

The following day, I headed to Milan for an award ceremony, where my role was to present the IEEE Technical Field Award, TFA, at the IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, CDC. Hosted by the Control Systems Society, the event included social activities at the Alfa Romeo Museum and the National Museum of Science and Technology, situated in and around Milan. By December 19, it was time for me to fly home, reuniting with my family during the holiday season.

This was my final trip as IEEE President, and I feel privileged to have been part of the 2024 IEEE board. I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved this year, and I am eager to collaborate with the 2025 IEEE President, Kathleen Kramer, in my role as IEEE Past President in 2025.

  1. During my visit to Kyoto, Japan, I attended a virtual and physical event hosted by the IEEE and gave a talk about recent board-approved activities, emphasizing the benefits of stronger industry engagement and positioning IEEE as a professional home for young members.
  2. At the IEDM in San Francisco, I presented the Charles Proteus Steinmetz award, which is one of the IEEE's prestigious field awards, recognizing significant contributions to the standards development process.
  3. In Milan, Italy, I had the opportunity to present the IEEE Control Systems Society award at the IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, CDC, and also attended social activities at the Alfa Romeo Museum and the National Museum of Science and Technology.
  4. As a reminder, IEEE is a global professional organization that develops and promotes IEEE standards, along with sponsoring and organizing various events worldwide, such as the International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) and Conferences like CDC in Milan.

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