IEEE-USA Activities Overview

Since everyone else is looking out for #1,
we're looking out for you.

Through years of record layoffs and bleak employment prospects for U.S. engineers, one organization has been there helping to protect and create jobs for the IEEE's 235,000 U.S. members and all U.S. electrical, electronics and computer engineers. IEEE-USA is working three jobs to make your career more rewarding.

WORKING TO SUPPORT YOUR CAREER

IEEE-USA bolsters the professional standing and careers of U.S. engineers in many ways.

We spearhead career workshops and a biennial professional development conference to help engineers develop resilience in a changing job market. We oversee local consultants' networks and an online salary and fringe benefits survey. We sponsor skills banks, along with global employment services.

IEEE-USA career policy committees inform and educate U.S. IEEE members about trends, issues and actions affecting their professional careers. The committees prepare positions and recommend appropriate action to public and private decision-makers, and respond to members requests for information.

The Career and Workforce Policy Committee (CWPC) tracks developments in the public and private sectors, makes policy recommendations and educates U.S. members on pensions and other retirement savings issues. CWPC promotes legislation to improve pension portability and increase individual savings for retirement, as well as assists in developing and marketing retirement planning software. In addition, it monitors trends, issues and developments affecting members' employment opportunities. CWPC prepares analyses and reports, makes policy recommendations, and gives testimony to Congress and government agencies on employment issues. Committee activities include analysis and reporting on major economic, educational, immigration, and trade policy issues affecting employment and educational opportunities.

The Intellectual Property Committee (IPC) encourages the establishment of appropriate incentives and protection for the development and disclosure of inventions. The IPC also seeks to strengthen intellectual property rights in patents, copyrights, trademarks, industrial designs, maskworks and trade secrets. Committee activities include advising federal policymakers on intellectual property issues and the government's role in protecting technology; developing, evaluating, and proposing alternative forms of protection for rapidly changing technology; and recommending guidelines for university intellectual property rights policy.

The Licensure & Registration Committee (L&R) represents U.S. members' interests in engineer credentialing by providing policy perspectives on developing, administering, and evaluating the Professional Engineering Exam, offered by the National Council of Examiners in Engineering and Surveying. The committee recommends procedures that will protect the public without imposing unwarranted restrictions on engineering practice.

WORKING TO ENHANCE OUR PROFESSION

IEEE-USA endorses and promotes public policies that nurture the professional environments of U.S. engineers and scientists. Through our government outreach program, we are working to correct imbalances in engineering work-force demand, reform immigration policy, ensure tax incentives for continuing education, protect inventors' rights, provide incentives for innovation, and combat employment discrimination.

IEEE-USA Awards and Recognitions honor member accomplishments and help raise the stature of our profession. IEEE-USA gives awards for distinguished public service, literary contributions to the profession, and achievement in electrotechnology transfer, in addition to awards for engineering professionalism, professional achievement, and Region and Division leadership.

The Employment and Career Services Committee (ECSC) assists member in developing lifelong employability, including their own professional and career development.

The Alliance of IEEE Consultants' Networks (AICN) coordinates IEEE-USA's Consultants' Services for self-employed members, including national workshops, local networks, and online Consultants Database.

IEEE-USA's Survey Committee periodically surveys U.S. members to obtain information about their salaries and opinions on important professional issues. The Salary and Fringe Benefit Survey is conducted online and the survey data is used to generate an individual Salary Calculator.  Both members and industry use the results extensively to determine competitive salary levels.

The Professional Activities Committees for Engineers (PACE) Network, established in the Regions, Divisions, Sections, Societies, and other IEEE units throughout the United States, guides professional activities at the local level and communicates members' views on other professional needs. 

The Student Professional Awareness Committee (S-PAC) works with IEEE Student Branches in U.S. universities to provide career guidance and promote student awareness of professional issues. Through participation in Student Professional Awareness Conferences (S-PACs), one-day events that students organize and conduct, future EEs hear practicing engineers discuss such career issues as professional ethics, registration and continuing education. The Student Professional Awareness Venture (S-PAVe) program offers students the opportunity to design their own professional awareness activities, with support from S-PAC.

The Precollege Education Committee (PEC) increases U.S. members' awareness of a crisis in U.S. precollege math and science education and facilitates members participation in community activities designed to enrich math and science teaching.

The Communications Committee (CC) coordinates IEEE-USA's News and Publications, including the monthly webzine, IEEE-USA Today's Engineer, and the freestanding magapaper mailed quarterly with Spectrum, IEEE-USA News & Views. The Communications staff also supervises production of IEEE-USA publications, coordinates media relations, provides marketing support, coordinates the IEEE's participation in National Engineers Week, and sponsors a graduate engineering student in the AAAS Mass Media Science & Technology Fellowship program. The program, which places engineering students in 10-week assignments with major media outlets each summer, is intended to help strengthen ties between the media and the science and engineering community.

WORKING TO SHAPE U.S. TECHNOLOGY POLICY

From our Washington, D.C. headquarters, IEEE-USA develops position statements and communicates technology policy recommendations to Congress, the executive branch, the media and other opinion-makers in support of member priorities outlined in our Legislative Agenda. Our Policy Log lists recent communications and testimonies.  In addition, IEEE-USA has launched a Legislative Action Center to help IEEE members communicate with their representatives in Washington.

The Committee on Transportation & Aerospace Technology Policy (CTAP) presents views on government and private sector space, aviation and ground programs. Committee activities in the space portion focus on remote sensing and satellite applications such as communications, global positioning and weather.

The Committee On Communications Policy (CCP) promotes formulation of sound legislation, regulation and policies relating to communications technologies. Committee members have focused on such issues as spectrum efficiency, high-performance computing, RFID, digital high-resolution systems, personal communications systems, and privacy.

The Energy Policy Committee (EPC) presents technical information and policy views on key energy issues. EPC specifically focuses on national energy policy legislation, energy transmission technology development, and energy efficiency.

The Medical Technology Policy Committee provides a central focal point to bring the many interests of IEEE-USA to bear on national policy issues such as health care and wellness. The primary objective of the MTPC is utilizing the professional and technical knowledge of IEEE members to assist in the rational formulation of medical technology legislation, regulation, and policy.

The Research and Development Policy Committee (R&DPC) disseminates positions on engineering R&D policies and programs, specifically those of the National Science Foundation, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Commerce's Technology Administration, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The R&DPC focuses on NIST standards and technology programs, NSF engineering programs and reauthorization, and DOC's role in technology commercialization.

IEEE-USA's Government Fellows Programs recruits and supports U.S. IEEE members to serve one-year Congressional Fellowships as advisers on either the personal staff of a U.S. Senator or Representative or on the professional staff of a Congressional Committee, as well as high-level Executive Fellowships in selected Federal agencies. State Government Activities Coordinators in IEEE Regions 1-6 also promote U.S. members' involvement in technology-related issues at the state and local levels. 

The State Government Activities Committee promotes and coordinates IEEE interests and member participation in state and local governments and encourages grassroots member support of IEEE-USA's national government activities.

As a member of the American Association of Engineering Societies, the IEEE has joined with more than 25 professional engineering societies to pursue common advocacy goals in technological competitiveness, pensions, sustainable development and the environment.

IEEE-USA's Government Activities staff publishes the Policy Forum and What's New at IEEE-USA Eye on Washington to help keep members up-to-date on key legislation and policy developments. IEEE-USA also provides resources such as the Engineers' Guide to Influencing Public Policy to promote member activism.

The Washington Internships for Students of Engineering and IEEE-USA's Public Policy Internships introduce engineering students to technology policy issues and the policy-making process.

For More Information

Visit the IEEE-USA website homepage, or contact IEEE-USA, 2001 L Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036-5104, phone: 202/785-0017, fax: 202/785-0835, electronic mail: ieeeusa@ieee.org.

Updated: 29 September, 2011
Contact: IEEE-USA, ieeeusa@ieee.org