IEEE – Defining Our World
The IEEE reads as eye-triple-e. The name was historically the acronym for the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc. but today, its scope goes beyond electrical and electronics to cover related areas and is thus, simply referred to by its name, eye-triple-e. The IEEE is a non-profit organization that was formed and incorporated in New York, USA in 1963 with the merging of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIRE) founded in 1884 and the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) founded in 1912. This effectively puts the IEEE as having its roots in 1883, making the organization celebrate its 126th anniversary this year.
Organizational Focus
The history of the IEEE is precisely the history of electricity-based technologies of the 20th century that were given due recognition by various societies like the AIRE and IRE. With the merging and the advance of electronics at that time, the IEEE's constitutional by-laws emerged to define precisely what the organization is for. It defines its purpose as “scientific and educational, directed toward the advancement of the theory and practice of electrical, electronics, communication and computer engineering, as well as computer science, the allied branches of engineering and the related arts and sciences."
In pursuing these purpose, the IEEE has evolved into a global enforcer of industrial standards over a wide range of professional disciplines like power, biomedical technologies, information technologies, telecommunications, consumer electronics, aerospace, transportation and nanotechnology, among the major ones. To this end it is the IEEE Standards Association that takes care of the promulgating the standards of the IEEE.
The IEEE also functions as a leading publisher of scientific and engineering journals as well as a conference organizer on its areas of expertise. It publishes about 30% of the world’s printed and online materials on electrical and electronics engineering as well as computer sciences and related derivative fields with well in excess of 100 peer-reviewed scientific and engineering journals.
