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Volunteers are needed to serve as corporate officers, committee chairs, and members. IEEE depends on the dedicated service of its volunteers to advance its mission. The organization is governed by volunteer members and depends on them for many things, including editing its publications, organizing conferences, coordinating regional and local activities, writing standards, leading educational activities, and identifying individuals for IEEE recognitions and awards. See below for the complete list. To nominate a person for a position, complete this form. The Nominations and Appointments (N&A) Committee is responsible for developing recommendations for staffing many volunteer positions including for president-elect, corporate officers, and committee chairs and members. Its recommendations are sent to the Board of Directors and the IEEE Assembly. Accordingly, the N&A committee is seeking nominees for the following positions:2027 IEEE President-Elect (who will serve as President in 2028)2026 IEEE Corporate OfficersSecretaryTreasurerVice President, Educational ActivitiesVice President, Publication Services and Products2026 IEEE Committees Chairs and MembersAuditAwards BoardConduct ReviewDiversity and InclusionElection OversightEmployee Benefits and CompensationEthics and Member ConductEuropean Public PolicyFellowFellow Nominations and AppointmentsGovernanceHistoryHumanitarian Technologies Board Industry EngagementNew InitiativesNominations and AppointmentsPublic VisibilityStrategy and Alignment TellersDeadlines for nominations15 MarchVice President, Educational ActivitiesVice President, Publication Services and ProductsCommittee Chairs 15 JunePresident-ElectSecretaryTreasurerCommittee MembersDeadlines for self-nominations30 MarchVice President, Educational ActivitiesVice President, Publication Services and ProductsCommittee Chairs 30 JunePresident-ElectSecretaryTreasurerCommittee Members Who can nominateAnyone may submit a nomination. Self-nominations are encouraged. Nominators need not be IEEE members, but nominees must meet specific qualifications. An IEEE organizational unit may submit recommendations endorsed by its governing body or the body’s […]

The Viking Energy, an oil platform supply ship undergoing a pioneering retrofit to run on ammonia fuel, is now scheduled to begin operations in 2026—two years later than initially planned. Once completed, it will be the first vessel capable of operating full-time on ammonia, marking a major milestone in efforts to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the maritime industry.IEEE Spectrum previously reported on ammonia as a potential replacement for petroleum fuels in the shipping industry in 2021, at which time key stakeholders—including Norwegian energy giant Equinor, technology provider Wärtsilä, and shipping company Eidesvik Offshore—expected the Viking Energy to set sail in 2024. However, progress has slowed.Industry experts attribute the delay to the complex infrastructure required to handle ammonia safely. “Ammonia is toxic, explosive, and corrosive. We must use special piping, storage tanks, and trucks outfitted with materials engineered to be both leakproof and resistant to ammonia’s corrosive properties,” says John Prousalidis, a professor of marine engineering at the National Technical University of Athens. (Equinor, Wärtsilä, and Eidesvik Offshore did not respond to requests for comment.)One of the biggest environmental concerns with ammonia-powered ships is the potential release of nitrogen oxides. “Instead of CO2, which contributes to global warming, we could end up with nitrogen oxides, which are lethal to breathe,” says Prousalidis. “To avoid simply swapping one pollutant for another, ammonia propulsion systems must include emissions-control technologies to prevent harmful nitrogen oxides from entering the atmosphere,” he adds.A promising alternative to combustion engines is ammonia-powered fuel cells, which generate electricity without producing nitrogen oxide emissions. By avoiding combustion entirely, these fuel cells allow ammonia’s nitrogen content to remain in its inert form, eliminating a key health risk.Ammonia Fuel Delays for Viking EnergyDespite the challenges, experts believe ammonia could become a mainstream maritime fuel—but not overnight. “Twenty or thirty years ago, the shipping industry made a major […]

This past week at the 2025 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Samsung and Hyundai Motor Company unveiled a private 5G network streamlined for low-power devices that connect across large facilities. The companies reported their factory’s private 5G Reduced Capability (RedCap) network will transmit internal inspection data throughout the facility, speeding up the inspection process and outstripping the performance of the factory’s previous Wi-Fi system. Developed by industry partners including Qualcomm and Ericsson and standardized by the mobile standards consortium 3GPP in 2022, RedCap was designed in part to meet the needs of industrial and manufacturing environments. It forms part of a larger suite of technologies called 5G New Radio (5G NR), which reduces 5G bandwidth and optimizes power consumption for extended battery life.As of January, Samsung and Hyundai conducted a pilot project for their private 5G RedCap technology at Samsung’s R&D center in Suwon, South Korea. The goal, they said, was to evaluate the capabilities and integrated performance of RedCap throughout the entire network, beginning with the vehicle inspection terminal.Samsung has been collaborating with the carmaker to modernize Hyundai’s Ulsan Plant in Ulsan, South Korea—the world’s largest automotive plant, with a 5 million square-meter footprint and average daily production of 6,000 vehicles.RedCap Tech for Reliable Smart Factories“[RedCap] is an excellent option for scenarios where low latency is essential,” a Hyundai spokesperson told IEEE Spectrum. “This includes operating many automated guided vehicles, autonomous mobile robots, monitoring work safety, running mission-critical applications, and remote control.”“One of the key advantages of Private 5G is not only its speed but also its reliability,’” a Hyundai spokesperson said via email. “When there are [only a] few wireless devices, using the existing Wi-Fi network for factory operations is not a problem. But when more wireless devices are used, issues like frequency interference can make it harder to operate factories.”Meanwhile, Samsung has been rolling out private 5G networks in a range of […]

This is a guest post. The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent positions of IEEE Spectrum, The Institute, or IEEE.Although it might seem as though there is intense interest right now in exploring Mars, many people don’t realize how important the moon is in getting to the Red Planet. A number of countries are invested in commercial space ventures to the moon and establishing a lunar economy.During the next 20 years, a significant number of missions are expected, with approximately half being national endeavors and the other half privately funded commercial missions. The missions will be far more extensive than those of the Apollo program of the 1960s and 1970s. Instead of short visits and flag-planting, missions are planned to create a more sustained presence on the moon. The possibility of establishing semipermanent bases, conducting scientific experiments, mining, and resource utilization are being explored.To achieve those ambitious goals, advanced communication systems are crucial. It’s not about astronauts sharing pictures on social media; it’s about facilitating complex operations, enabling seamless collaboration, and supporting scientific advancements and economic endeavors.I want to delve into the collaboration between the telecom industry and space exploration. The telecom industry’s expertise in networking technologies has opened up numerous untapped possibilities that can be harnessed for space missions.I spoke with IEEE Fellow Thierry E. Klein, vice president of strategic partnerships at Nokia Bell Labs which, along with NASA and Intuitive Machines, has constructed the first cellular network for the moon. I’ve been following the project for the past year and a half.Klein is an expert in networking technologies. Bell Labs has a long history of innovation in telecommunications and has played a vital role in revolutionizing communication on Earth. The company is now poised to adapt and customize the technologies for lunar missions.The IM-2 mission lander (named Athena), which launched on 26 February and it is believed the spacecraft landed on the moon on 6 March near Shackleton Crater on the moon’s […]

On 1 May the IEEE Board of Directors is scheduled to announce the candidates to be placed on this year’s ballot for the annual election of officers—which begins on 15 August.The ballot includes IEEE president-elect candidates and other officer positions up for election.The Board of Directors has nominated IEEE Senior Member Jill I. Gostin and IEEE Senior Member David Alan Koehler as candidates for 2026 IEEE president-elect. IEEE Life Fellow Manfred J. “Fred” Schindler is seeking nomination by petition for 2026 IEEE president-elect. Visit ieee.org/pe26 for information about the three candidates. This year’s ballot also includes nominees for delegate-elect/director-elect openings submitted by division and region nominating committees, as well as IEEE Technical Activities vice president-elect; IEEE-USA president-elect; IEEE Standards Association president-elect and board of governors members-at-large; and IEEE Women in Engineering Committee chair-elect.Those elected take office on 1 January 2026.IEEE members who want to run for an office, except for IEEE president-elect, who have not been nominated need to submit their petition intention to the IEEE Board of Directors by 15 April. Petitions should be sent to the IEEE Corporate Governance staff: [email protected]. The petition intention deadline for IEEE president-elect was 31 December.Updates to this year’s electionIn the 2025 IEEE annual election, eligible voting members residing in the future IEEE Region 11 (South Asia and Pacific) will be electing the region’s delegate-elect/director-elect for the 2026–2027 term, as outlined in The Institute’s September 2024 article, “How Region Realignment Will Impact IEEE Elections.”In addition, the IEEE Board of Directors approved revisions to clarify the voter eligibility for the office of IEEE-USA president-elect. IEEE members who reside in the United States or its territories and hold the membership grade of graduate student member or higher are eligible to vote for IEEE-USA president-elect.Effective this annual election, ballots will be created for eligible voting members on record on 31 March.To support sustainability initiatives, members may vote […]