IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility Society

To join: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/

Fifty years ago, a group of engineers petitioned the Institute of Radio Engineers (one of the IEEE’s predecessor societies) in New York City to form a professional group to study radio frequency interference (RFI). Later that year, that group became the Electromagnetic Compatibility Society, and today it has approximately 4000 members. To mark its 50th anniversary, the society is publishing a booklet on the history of its packaging, components, and manufacturing technology fields, creating a Web page that contains oral histories from some of the leaders in those fields, and releasing a special anniversary issue of its IEEE-EMC Transactions. It also held celebratory events in July at its major conference, the 2007 Symposium Week, which included a multimedia presentation about the history of the society and a tour of the island, Oahu.

Field of Interest The design, integration, test, and analysis of electrotechnology products and systems to control radiated and conducted interference.

Publications The quarterly EMC Society Newsletter, and a journal, IEEE-EMC Transactions.

Conferences Its major conference, Symposium Week, was held from 8 to 12 July in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Awards EMCS sponsors a number of annual awards to recognize people who have contributed significantly to the society or the profession. This year, the society presented special awards at its Symposium conference to mark its anniversary, including those that recognized the 10 best papers ever presented at the conference, and the best transactions papers published over the past 50 years.

IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society

To join: http://www.sscs.org
Membership: 10 230
Established: 1997

Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, the Solid-State Circuits Society focuses on the design, test, and application of circuits and subsystems, as well as the related topics of device technology and circuit theory. It also explores scientific, technical, and industrial applications, and other activities that contribute to the solid-state circuits field or use the techniques or products of the field.

The society publishes the monthly Journal of Solid-State Circuits and the newsletter SSCS Quarterly News. It also sponsors the Asian Solid-State Circuits Conference, the Custom Integrated Circuits Conference, the European Solid-State Circuits Conference, the International Solid-State Circuits Conference, and the Symposium on VLSI Circuits.

IEEE Industrial Electronics Society

To join: http://www.ieee-ies.org
Membership: 3580
Established: 1951

The society launched IEEE Industrial Electronics Magazine this year to replace its quarterly IEEE-IES Newsletter. The new monthly magazine focuses on issues such as the theory and application of electronics, controls, and communications. Articles cover emerging trends and practices in industrial electronics, product research and development, and insights from leaders in academia and industry. There are also tutorials and surveys on the theory and application of electronics, controls, communications, instrumentation, and computational intelligence in industrial and manufacturing systems and processes.

The society is sponsoring more than two dozen conferences this year.

IEEE Power Electronics Society

To join: http://www.pels.org
Membership: 5600
Established: 1988

This was one of five societies that showed significant membership growth last year, with an increase of 6.2 percent over 2005. The society focuses on power electronics engineering and research, including devices, control and regulation, power converter design, magnetic components, electronic circuit packaging and manufacturing, and electric motor control.

It publishes both the quarterly PELS Newsletter and the bimonthly Transactions on Power Electronics. Each year it sponsors the Power Electronics Specialists Conference, in addition to several other international power electronics meetings.

Society on Social Implications of Technology

To join: http://www.ieeessit.org
Membership: 1775
Established: 1982

The society deals with topics such as the environmental, health, and safety implications of technology; engineering ethics and professional responsibility; the history of electrotechnology; and the public policy and social issues related to the fields of energy, information technology, and telecommunications.

It publishes the quarterly IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, which ran a special 25th anniversary issue in Winter 2006.

The society sponsors the annual International Symposium on Technology and Society Conference. Its last one, in June, covered such topics as nuclear weapons technology, gambling technology, financial risk and insurance, and tourism and public health vulnerability.