As IEEE President in 2023, my goal is to work with all members, especially our students, young professionals, and committee members, to make the IEEE a more successful and resilient global technical organization and achieve global recognition of the IEEE as a force. for change.

For over 40 years IEEE has been an integral part of my pursuit of excellence in my professional life. This has given me the opportunity to speak at over 200 IEEE events where I have had the pleasure of interacting with scientists, young professionals and mid-level engineers in industry and government, some of whom are women and underrepresented minorities. These grassroots interactions have given me a deeper understanding of the needs of members from different communities and how the IEEE can best provide them with career opportunities.


Through active outreach, we can demonstrate the benefits of membership and the relevance of the IEEE to current and potential members. These offerings include unrivaled networking opportunities at over 2,000 international IEEE conferences, both in-person and virtual, as well as access to the best technical literature, extensive training resources, and innovative collaboration tools with peers around the world.

I appreciate both the global nature of the IEEE and the rich variety of engineering and technical fields in which our members excel. We must continue to look for opportunities to deliver greater value and service to professionals in industry, academia and the public service, while paying close attention to underrepresented communities such as women and entrepreneurs, as well as our students and young professionals who are our future technologies.

Fulfilling the IEEE Mission

The mission of the IEEE is to advance technology for the benefit of mankind. Each of us can play a decisive role in improving the conditions of society. IEEE members are responsible citizens and therefore strive to help solve global problems using technological solutions.

Today, the world is facing the biggest modern threat: climate change. We see how extreme weather events such as changing weather patterns, crop losses and rising sea levels are affecting communities around the world. It’s natural for us to want to contribute.

As the world’s largest organization of technical professionals, the IEEE has both the ability and the responsibility to help engineers, scientists, and technicians around the world respond to cause, mitigate, and adapt to climate change. The IEEE is aware of this global crisis and is committed to helping mitigate climate change with pragmatic and affordable technical solutions for sustainability, and to provide engineers and technologists with a neutral space for discussion and action.

The IEEE has significant ongoing efforts and expertise that can be used to address this issue. Our scientific publications, conference proceedings, technical standards and other materials can facilitate the exchange of technical knowledge and information on the critical climate issues facing our planet. Two important resources are the IEEE Climate Change website and the IEEE Climate Change Collection in the IEEE Xplore Digital Library. The collection is a repository of more than 7,000 IEEE articles on the causes of climate change and mitigation and adaptation strategies.

The IEEE is also reaching out to all major engineering and technology communities in Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and South America to identify areas of collaboration and solution sets to address climate change. Our organization has the right to bring experts around the table to represent different points of view and seek common solutions. For example, the IEEE actively attended the UN Convention on Climate Change (COP27) in Egypt last November, where I spoke at events organized by two engineering organizations: the Global Climate Alliance of Universities and the International Renewable Energy Agency.

I believe the impact of the IEEE starts at the local level, starting with raising awareness of the many resources that membership provides. With over 340 sections around the world, local engineers, technologists, and computer scientists are able to provide technology solutions for their unique communities. We must focus on identifying IEEE members and their local counterparts who can be points of contact for those seeking solutions to these complex problems. Another direction should be to bring together industry scientists and practitioners to share their ideas and experiences with each other and with the next generation of engineers.

I invite all IEEE members and volunteers from around the world to share their experiences and ideas so that together we can explore and find solutions to address climate change. I encourage our community to contribute and influence the fight against climate change through research, knowledge sharing, technological advances, solution development and more.

Let’s use the opportunities offered by the IEEE, such as international collaboration, continuous professional development, and ambitious technology development, to build a more sustainable future.

— SAIFUR RAHMAN

IEEE President and CEO

This article appeared in the March 2023 print issue titled “Making the IEEE an Engine for Change”.