As the days get shorter, we recognize that summer is winding down. While some may dread this transition, there are many reasons to embrace the change. One reason is that IEEE Chicago Section members have more opportunities to connect with each other as the summer meeting slowdown comes to an end.

You will see meeting announcements from technical chapters that have thrived in the Chicago Section over the years. In addition, the Chicago Section has recently added three new chapters and revived two others. As a result, keep your eyes open for meetings organized by the chapters of:

  • IEEE Communications Society;
  • IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society;
  • IEEE Information Theory Society;
  • IEEE Nanotechnology Council; and
  • IEEE Sensors Council.

Another meeting highlight is the IEEE Women in Engineering AI Leadership Summit being held in Naperville on Friday, September 20th. As summer officially ends in the wee hours of September 23rd, you can consider this summit as the Chicago Section’s last hurrah to summer! Information regarding the summit can be found here: https://attend.ieee.org/wieails-2019/

Also keep your eyes open for an announcement regarding the Chicago Section’s Young Professionals meeting scheduled for October 10th. You may want to block off this evening on your calendar so you don’t miss what will be an exciting event. Another YP meeting is also in the early stages of planning so stay tuned.

Meeting announcements are normally delivered to chapter and affinity group members. You can also find meeting information on the section’s webpage (https://ieeechicago.org/) and in vTools (https://events.vtools.ieee.org/). If you are using vTools, please note that the Chicago Section is in Region 4.

If you are looking for ways other than attending meetings to get involved, below are some opportunities:

  • Email the Nomination Committee Chair, Bakul Banerjee (b.banerjee@ieee.org), if you are interested in becoming the Section’s Treasurer or Secretary.
  • If you want to volunteer in a different role, please email me at lisa.schoedel@ieee.org and I will send you a volunteer form to complete so we can match your interests to a role you will enjoy.
  • Email the Educational Activities Chair, Connie Kelly (ckelly@ieee.org), to become a Future Cities mentor.
  • Get involved in Science Kits for Public Libraries (SKPL) program by going to https://ieeechicago.org/get-involved/.
  • Nominate a colleague for an award by the September 30th deadline. Information can be found at https://ieeechicago.org/resources/.

As you can see, the IEEE Chicago Section is vibrant and growing. Please renew your membership, if you haven’t already, so you can continue to be part of this thriving technical community. You can renew your membership by going to www.ieee.org and click “Renew my membership” in the green box on the right side of the webpage. After that task is completed, I suggest you go to IEEE’s new learning website iln.ieee.org and check out the available courses.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the Labor Day weekend – the unofficial end of the summer and kick-off of IEEE Chicago Section’s post-summer meetings.

Best regards,
Lisa Schoedel
IEEE Chicago Section Chair