Jan Machácˇ and Daniel Pasquet
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The annual Region 8 meeting of the IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology Society (MTT-S) Chapter chairs and other Chapter representatives took place in conjunction with European Microwave Week (EuMW), the most prestigious microwave event in Europe. In 2022, EuMW was held in Milan, Italy, at the Milano Convention Centre, 25–30 September. The Chapter Chair Meeting (CCM) took place at the Hotel NH Collection CityLife, Milan, on Monday, 26 September, starting at 3:30 p.m. This friendly meeting brought together Chapter representatives and MTT-S AdCom officers. It provided an opportunity to exchange experiences among individual Chapters, share best practices, clarify what the Chapters want the AdCom officers to do, and what IEEE MTT-S administrators should do, and explain the support given to the Chapters by the MTT-S and the conditions under which it is provided. In brief, the CCM provides an opportunity to teach Chapter chairs how to run their Chapters. The MTT-S Membership and Geographic Activities (MGA) Committee considers this meeting to be the most important event organized for the Chapters in Region 8. There are always some interesting lectures included in the CCM program as well.
There are 50 MTT-S Chapters in Region 8, including six MTT-S Chapters, 37 joint Chapters, and seven MTT-S Student Branch Chapters (SBCs). In total, 47 participants attended the meeting. Among them were representatives of 22 Chapters. Sixteen Chapters from
Region 8 were represented (Benelux; Central and South Italy; France; Georgia; Israel; Latvia; Lebanon; Poland; Scotland; Spain; Tunisia; Ukraine—Central, West, East, and Student Branch; and Western Saudi Arabia). Additionally, four Chapters from Region 10 (three from India and one from Pakistan) and two from the United States were represented.
Jan Machácˇ (Figure 1), the Region 8 Chapter coordinator, opened the meeting and welcomed the guests and all of the participants. He stressed that the Chapter chairs and other Chapter officers are the most important people in the Society as they represent the Society and its programs to the members. He thanked them for the work they do for their members. Then everyone in the room stood up and introduced him/herself.
The CCM participants were welcomed by MTT-S President Rashaunda Henderson (Figure 2). Henderson introduced the composition of the AdCom governing the MTT-S and particularly MGA Committees. The MTT-S consists of many active local Chapters, which sponsor technical meetings, workshops, social events, and seminar series and serve the professional and technical needs of members. The MGA’s mission is to ensure quality member opportunities for continuous engagement; inspire, enable, empower, and engage members of IEEE for the purposes of enhancing member growth and development throughout their professional lifecycles; and provide their professional home.
Next, the floor was given to Luca Perregrini, EuMW general chair (Figure 3). Perregrini introduced the EuMW 2022 team and participants and presented some statistics. EuMW is composed of three conferences: the European Microwave Integrated Circuits Conference, European Microwave Conference, and European Radar Conference. In addition, EuMW offers 30 workshops; a full-day short course; the Defense, Security and Space Forum; Automotive Forum; From 5G to 6G Forum; Student and Young Professionals (YPs) activities; a Women in Microwaves (WiM) session; two doctoral schools; and several social activities. A perennial favorite is a large exhibition.
Next, Charlie Jackson, past chair of the Fellow Search Committee, gave tips on how to submit a successful IEEE Fellow nomination and explained the process (Figure 4).
Dominique Schreurs, chair of the Technical Coordination and Future Directions Committee (TCFDC), spoke about two programs for Chapters: the Distinguished Microwave Lecturer (DML) and Speakers Bureau (SB). The DML are available worldwide (the travel budget for each is US$10,000 per year) (Figure 5). They are nominated by technical committees (TCs) and Chapters and selected by a dedicated TCFDC subcommittee, then approved by AdCom vote. Scheduling for in-person talks is centralized, with direct communication for virtual talks. For more information, visit https://mtt.org/distinguished-microwave-lecturers. The SB is more regional (a travel budget of US$1,000 per year), and speakers are selected by the TCs (typically, three SBs per TC). Their scheduling is via direct communication between the Chapter chair and the SB (virtual/in person). For details, visit https://mtt.org/speakers_bureau/. Schreurs also explained the process for requesting DML and SB speakers.
Sherry Hess introduced the Marketing and Communications Committee (MARCOM) and its goals (Figure 6). The vision of MARCOM is for the MTT-S to enhance the professional visibility and recognition of the Society and the value of megahertz-to-terahertz RF sciences and technologies to the engineering profession, advertisers/sponsors, the MTT-S membership, and the microwave/RF community and general public. Its goals and objectives are to promote the MTT-S brand to members and nonmembers, increase the visibility of our Society activities/members, and expand membership.
Sara Barros introduced the YP Ad Hoc Committee (Figure 7). She mentioned some sources of funding for YP activities through the SBCs. These include YP Step, with up to US$500 for events for graduating students as they transition to YPs. YP local activities, with up to US$750 to support local volunteer leaders to implement new initiatives customized to local member needs. YP Meetup, with up to US$1,500 for larger-scale YP events, which can be attached to conferences. At the Society level, the MTT-S also provides YP funding: up to US$1,500 for events designed for the microwave YP community, and more general MTT-S SBC funding of up to US$1,000. The MTT-S Affiliate Program is coordinated with the TCFDC and totals 52 YPs who have been selected as members of particular TCs. There is currently a focus on YP activities in Region 9. A translation project into Spanish and Portuguese, with its first MTT-S Newsletter ready to go. In addition, Barros mentioned YP activities in other regions as well.
Kim Eilert, MGA Committee coordinator, talked about what Chapters should do for and can receive from the Society (Figure 8). Chapters in good standing position can benefit in multiple ways. They become members of the community that is the broader MTT-S network, which allows them to coordinate joint events with neighboring Chapters (or far away ones); receive introductions at a conference/event; join the MTT-S LinkedIn group; and ask for a speaker recommendation. Within technical resources, they can receive access to the DML program, SB lecturers, and the MTT-S Resource Center, Events Calendar, and Webinars list, all on mtt.org. All members receive Journal of Microwaves and IEEE Microwave Magazine. The annual funding from the MTT-S is US$1,000 for an MTT-S Chapter and US$500 for a joint Chapter. Eilert also mentioned the deadline for scholarships for graduate students (15 October). She urged joint Chapters to check whether their other Society will match MTT-S funding. Annual Society funding is separate from Section funding. Workshop funding is provided as needed up to US$500. Affinity group funding is also available for YPs, WiM, Life Members (LM), and Special Interest Group on Humanitarian Technology (SIGHT). She concluded with Chapters’ responsibilities to their members, excellent community events, connectivity to the Society’s events and people, and an annual contact update. Chapters should also file meeting reports with the Society and share ideas that the Chapter generates.
Figure 8. Kim Eilert, MGA coordinator, contributes to the discussion. At left is Sherry Hess. (Source: Photo courtesy of Shmuel Auster, Israel MTT/AP Chapter chair.)
Malgorzata Celuch (Figure 9) from the Poland Chapter gave the technical lecture, “Bridging the Gaps Between Microwave Modeling and Materials Measurements and Between Women and Engineering.” Celuch is the founder of the successful company QWED and included in her talk her path to engineering.
Goutam Chattopadhyay, MGA chair, talked about the recent activities of the MGA Committee and the MTT-S (Figure 10). Some of the most significant recent accomplishments include The formation of 15 new Chapters (one in Region 3, two in Region 8, three in Region 9, nine in Region 10), bringing the total number of active Chapters to 210 (65 SBCs, 53 full Chapters, and 92 joint Chapters). The growth in Chapters has been accompanied by a significant increase in new MTT-S members. The MTT-S has gained 1,913 new members as of August 2022 (1,306 from Region 10), for a total membership of 11,098. Females make up nearly 10% of all members. The MGA expects its new Student Ambassador Program (a 3% initiative), recently approved by AdCom, to further grow membership. The objective of the Student Ambassador Program is to increase awareness of the benefits of MTT-S membership among undergraduate/graduate students and early career professionals. The committee also finalized its new Student Welcome kits for new student members. Other accomplishments include the organization of several very successful meetings by our Chapters around the world, most of which were streamed online.
Figure 10. Goutam Chattopadhyay, MGA chair, contributes to the discussion. At right is Daniel Pasquet. (Source: Photo courtesy of Shmuel Auster, Israel MTT/AP Chapter chair.)
Figure 11. The Poland Chapter receives its Outstanding Chapter plaque. From left: Nuno Carvalho, Goutam Chattopadhyay, Daniel Pasquet, Jan Machácˇ, and Krzysztof Nyka (Poland Chapter chair). (Source: Photo courtesy of Timothy Lee.)
Figure 12. The New South Wales Chapter receives its Outstanding Chapter plaque. From left: Nuno Carvalho, Goutam Chattopadhyay, Syed Muzahir Abbas (New South Wales Chapter Chair), Daniel Pasquet, and Jan Machácˇ. (Source: Photo courtesy of Timothy Lee.)
MTT-S President-Elect Nuno Carvalho, MGA Chair Chattopadhyay, and Chapter Award Committee Chair and Region 8 Coordinator Daniel Pasquet gave plaques and certificates to the two winning Chapters of the 2021 Outstanding Chapter Award. Poland Chapter Chair Krzysztof Nyka accepted its award (Figure 11). The New South Wales Joint Chapter’s plaque was received by Chair Syed Muzahir Abbas (Figure 12).
The Chapter chairs then spoke in a panel session moderated by Chattopadhyay. The panel included the chairs of the two winners of the 2021 Outstanding Chapter Award and representatives of the Boston and Washington Northern Virginia Chapters, who presented some of the activities of their Chapters.
The mission of the Boston Chapter is to continue to understand and influence microwave technology and provide a forum for all microwave engineers. The MTT-S will continue to be the global focus for promotion of the RF and microwave engineering profession by advancing and distributing knowledge and supporting professional development. The IEEE Washington Section has a rich history, going back to at least 1902, although it was formally admitted to the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, one of two predecessor organizations of the IEEE, in 1903. The Washington Section history and material from the Section archives (1903–1953) have been added to the digital archives of the IEEE Global History Network. The IEEE MTT-17 Washington Northern Virginia Chapter was represented by Vice Chair Kiki Ikossi. It was founded in 1957 and has been active for the last 65 years. In the past, the Chapter has organized from four to seven local MTT-S technical meetings with distinguished lecturers. They have organized those over the years as courses or series of lectures with themes like “The Internet of Things.” Of course, they also cosponsor many other local lectures with related Societies and themes like “Electron Devices,” “Electromagnetic Compatibility,” “Biomedical Applications,” and “WiM.” In 2017, the Chapter received the MTT-S Chapter of the Year Award. The Chapter is actively engaged with the MTT-S, with many of their members over the years serving as organizers for the International Microwave Symposium, student competitions, MTT-S Technical Program Review Committee, and awards committees.
The majority of the discussion that followed the panel session was devoted to the present situation in Ukraine. The topic was introduced by Alexander Nosich, chair of the East Ukraine Chapter. He shared a horrible situation in Kharkiv under a Russian Army attack. Fred Schindler, past president of Division 4, stated that the Society can help only in a technological capacity. Arturs Aboltins, the Latvia Chapter chair, said that there is a need for a message of support at least. Chattopadhyay promised that the MTT-S will take this point into account. Felix Yanovsky, the Ukraine Section past chair, mentioned that EuMA has revoked the membership of Russia and Belarussia in the EuMA General Assembly.
In conclusion, Pasquet and Machácˇ thanked the Chapter representatives for all the work they have done for MTT-S members. Pasquet and Machácˇ will finish their terms as Region 8 coordinators on 31 December 2022. They introduced the new Region 8 coordinators, Sara Barros from The Netherlands and Luciano Tarricone from Italy, and wished them success in their future activities.
The CCM was followed by a very pleasant dinner that brought together all the participants.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2022.3220037