The 3 candidates are Life Fellow Saifur Rahman, and Fellows S.K. Ramesh and Ray Liu
To help you choose the next IEEE President-Elect, in IEEE Region 8 Today we publish the official biographies and position statements of the candidates for 2021 IEEE President-Elect as approved by the IEEE Board of Directors.
Life Fellow Saifur Rahman, Nominated by Petition
Joseph R. Loring Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Virginia Tech
Arlington, Virginia, USA
Professor Saifur Rahman is the founding director of the Advanced Research Institute at Virginia Tech where he is the Joseph R. Loring professor of electrical and computer engineering. He is a Life Fellow of the IEEE and an IEEE Millennium Medal winner. He was the President of the IEEE Power and Energy Society (PES) for 2018 and 2019. He was the chair of IEEE Publications Board and a member of the IEEE Board of Directors in 2006. He was the founding editor-in-chief of the IEEE Electrifications Magazine and the IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy. He served as the chair of the US National Science Foundation Advisory Committee for International Science and Engineering from 2010 to 2013. He is a Distinguished Lecturer for the IEEE PES, and has lectured on smart grid, energy efficient buildings, renewable energy, demand response and distributed generation topics in over 30 countries on all six continents.
Candidate’s Statement
As IEEE President my focus will be to make IEEE more global and more relevant to technology professionals all over the world, by the following actions:
- Demonstration of relevance. Through proactive outreach and demonstrating benefits of IEEE membership, with unparalleled networking opportunities at over 2000 international IEEE conferences (face-to-face or virtual), access to the finest technological literature, massive resources for up-skilling, innovative collaboration facilities with like-minded colleagues worldwide, we can powerfully demonstrate IEEE’s relevance to current and prospective members.
- Deeper engagement with technologists at grassroots level. To provide direct links between the chapter leadership (who represent us locally) and society governing board, I set up highly effective IEEE Power & Energy Society Chapters’ Councils in China, India, Africa and Latin America that organize enormously successful local events and meaningful outreach to local industry. I shall mirror these pioneering developments throughout IEEE.
- Enhanced lifelong learning opportunities. I helped establish the immensely popular online PES University. This “university” offers invaluable tutorials, webinars, plain-talk courses in Power & Energy Society’s Field of Interest. I propose to launch an IEEE University encompassing all IEEE’s fields of interest to support career development of practicing engineers.
- Giving life to our motto, Advancing Technology for Humanity. The global events of recent months have shown that technologists play a critical role for humanity. Let us employ the matchless facilities IEEE offers, to address the post-COVID ‘new normal’ supporting remote working, international collaboration, continuing professional development, ambitious technology development, promote renewable energy, expedite Sustainability, and build a resilient future
Fellow S.K. Ramesh, Nominated by the IEEE Board of Directors
Director AIMS2 Program,
Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
California State University (CSU), Northridge
Northridge, California, USA
S. K. Ramesh is a renowned engineering educator with over three decades of leadership experience as a dean, department chair, and faculty member. The programs he established serve industry practitioners in high wage, high demand fields, including renewable energy, assistive technology, and advanced manufacturing. As 2016-17 Vice President of Educational Activities, he championed collaboration, diversity, and inclusive excellence, through innovative programs like IEEE Learning Network (ILN).
Ramesh is an IEEE Fellow recognized for “contributions to entrepreneurship in engineering education”, and founding Director of CSU Northridge’s internationally recognized AIMS2 program that mentors and supports underrepresented minorities in engineering. His many recognitions include the John Guarrera Engineering Educator of the Year, William Johnson International award for “leadership and contributions to the profession”, and Region 6 Community Service award. Ramesh has served on the Boards of IEEE and ABET, leading volunteers and staff with shared strategic goals, measurable outcomes, and transparent fiscal leadership.
Candidate’s Statement
IEEE’s mission of “Advancing Technology for Humanity” has never been more relevant. Today, we are witnessing an extraordinary test of the human spirit as we combat the global COVID-19 pandemic. The entire world is turning to virtual modalities to protect lives. Everything that we know in the world of today will be different when we emerge from this crisis.
How do we serve our members in these uncertain times, and adapt our structures to support IEEE’s mission aligned priorities in the future? Personally speaking, my IEEE experiences of almost four decades have taught me some timeless values: To be Inclusive, Collaborative, Accountable, Resilient, and Ethical. Simply put, “I CARE”.
If elected, you can count on me to:
Grow IEEE globally and empower volunteers to improve their local communities by promoting a culture of transparency, and inclusion
Offer members customized access to continuing education programs, and industry relevant workshops
Increase the value of products and services with prudent fiscal leadership
Engage members and support their ongoing professional and career needs
Empower and strengthen our Student Chapters, YP, WIE, and Entrepreneurship affinity groups
Energize IEEE members working at the forefront of grand challenges for engineering facing humanity
Our members are the heart and soul of IEEE. They create enormous value for IEEE through their contributions. IEEE has the power to hold our profession together and support engineers worldwide. I humbly request your vote and support to work together, to create an IEEE “Of the Members”, “By the Members” and “For the Members”.
Fellow Ray Liu, Nominated by the IEEE Board of Directors
Distinguished University Professor and
Christine Kim Eminent Professor of Information Technology
University of Maryland
College Park, Maryland, USA
I received Ph.D. from UCLA in 1990. My research contributions encompass broad areas of information and communications technology with recent focus on wireless AI for indoor positioning and wireless sensing. I have trained over sixty-eight doctoral/postdoctoral students, of which ten have become IEEE Fellow.
I am the recipient of two IEEE Technical Field Awards: 2021 IEEE Fourier Award for Signal Processing and 2016 IEEE Leon K. Kirchmayer Graduate Teaching Award, IEEE Signal Processing Society 2009 Technical Achievement Award, 2014 Society Award (highest award bestowed by SPS) for “influential technical contributions and profound leadership impact”, and over a dozen best paper/invention awards. Recognized by Web of Science as a Highly Cited Researcher, I am a Fellow of IEEE, AAAS, and U.S. National Academy of Inventors.
As the founder of Origin Wireless, my invention won 2017 CEATEC Grand Prix Award and CES 2020 Innovation Award, with products available over 150 countries worldwide.
Candidate’s Statement
Over the last 35 years I have volunteered time to make IEEE a better place. I understand the issues you are facing in your professional lives, whether getting started after graduation, excelling/struggling in academia or industry, or prospering in the “Gig economy” as an entrepreneur. I am running to represent YOU to make IEEE more relevant and useful for all of us!
As a non-profit organization, our key thrusts are promotion of technical excellence, thought leadership, and facilitation of collaboration and networking, rather than amassing profits. I pledge to:
Provide greater value to you through new products and services
- As the creator of IEEE DataPort, pursue more opportunities in data and analytics for open science and reproducible research
- Develop more continuing education/training on practical content relevant to your work, especially for industry members and young professionals
- Devise mobile strategy and infrastructure to engage members and other users with a simple click, to offer persistent availability and value
Improve Readiness for Crisis Management and Reduce Overhead
- Develop rapid global crisis response mechanism/readiness and strengthen virtual conferencing services/capability as a new emerging trend
- Lower IEEE overhead in its business model to relieve burden for members
- Ensure transparency in all decision making processes
Build our strength in diversity, for all of us worldwide
- Develop global strategies to offset political and geographic walls against equal participation
- Provide personalization of services to accommodate different needs of our diverse constituents
- Strive for fair participation and leadership from diverse groups and regions, especially those under-represented and women
Discover more information about the IEEE accomplishments and activities of the candidates for 2021 IEEE President-Elect, visiting https://www.ieee.org/about/corporate/election/president-elect.html
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