I continued on from my visit to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to the IEEE Region 8 meeting in Vienna, then to Edinburgh for an IEEE medal presentation, by train to Glasgow to talk at the University of Strathclyde. From there I went on to Columbia in South America to attend the IEEE Region 9 meeting. These were all new cities to me and I was very excited to talk with IEEE members in two continents.
In Vienna, I started by visiting the IEEE office (see image below), which also serves as the office of Austrian Standards (a sign on the building said ‘Welcome to the House of Standards’). Visiting with IEEE staff I learned about potential IEEE standards opportunities and a possible exciting opportunity for IEEE technical societies to encourage members to do research and measurements that could support new industry standards.
After my visit to the Vienna IEEE office, I joined other IEEE leaders at the Region 8 IEEE meeting (which comprises IEEE sections in Europe, the Middle East and Africa) as well as other leaders from other regions and members of the IEEE Board of Directors. There we discussed topics of general interest to the IEEE as well as those unique to Region 8. The great diversity represented by this region is a great opportunity to shape IEEE to meet the needs of members from many different societies and countries and to provide value for those working on research as well as the practical applications of technology to accomplish our mission of “advancing technology for the benefit of humanity.”
From Vienna I went to Edinburgh, Scotland, where I gave the IEEE Masura Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award to Steve B. Furber and Sophie M. Wilson at the 2024 IEEE International Symposium on High-Performance Computer Architecture (HPCA). This was the second time I was involved in honoring the design of the 32-bit ARM RISC microprocessor, which led to the ARM microprocessors now used in many billions of applications in data centers, enterprise, industrial and consumer electronics applications. The first time was at the 2024 IEEE International Conference on Consumer Electronics (ICCE) in January of 2024 in Las Vegas, NV. The two medal recipients were not able to make the January event in person, hence the presentation at the HPCA in Edinburgh.
From Edinburgh I took a short train ride to Glasgow, Scotland where I was the guest of IEEE members at the University of Strathclyde. The meeting was organized by IEEE Fellow Dr. Tariq Durrani and included a tour of the university, meeting students at the University and giving a talk on the IEEE as well as a talk on upcoming revolutionary changes in computer architecture based upon developments in memory and storage technologies. The University is part of an event honoring Lord Kelvin (William Thompson) in June of 2024. The picture below shows me next to a bust of Lord Kelvin at the university.
The motto of the University of Strathclyde is that it be a ‘place of useful learning’ from its founder, John Anderson, who was a professor at the nearby University of Glasgow, and who left instructions and the majority of his estate in 1796 to found the university (see an image from a university building below). Many important technologists are from the Glasgow area, including James Watt, who helped to make steam engines into a useful technology that drove the first industrial revolution.
As a result of this trip to Glasgow we may be doing some other events in Glasgow this year, including possible IEEE participation in the 2024 World Science Fiction Convention that will be held in that city in August 2024. While I was at the university, I met one of the SF writer guests of honor at the 2024 SF Worldcon and some of the local IEEE members were able to make connections to the organizers of this conference. Many IEEE members, including myself, were inspired by science fiction movies, TV shows or books to become involved in technology and it seems like a good idea for IEEE to have a presence at events like this which inspire future and present technologists.
From Glasgow I flew to Heathrow and from there to Bogata, Colombia for the IEEE Region 9 meeting in a smaller town called Paipa, Columbia. There I met with IEEE leaders from throughout Latin America, where I had a chance to experience the variety of Latin American IEEE experience and to meet with IEEE members of all grades. IEEE Region 9 is seeking to provide value to its diverse members and help its members and their societies advance technology.
We had a short tour of some nearby historic sites during one afternoon, which included a visit to the site of the Battle of Pantano de Vargas, not too far away, where Simon Bolivar and his troops won a battle against a much larger Spanish army in 1819. This was an important battle in the effort to free South and Central America from Spanish rule. The picture below the logo for the Region 9 meeting, which included an image inspired by the monument of this battle (public domain image from Wikipedia article).
IEEE represents a very diverse membership from countries all over the world. In visiting meetings in IEEE Region 8 (Europe and Africa) and Region 9 (Latin America) I saw the energy and enthusiasm of our members and the ways in which they are working within their cultures and together to advance technology for the benefit of humanity.
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