IEEE President’s Note: Why Students Should Stay with IEEE

I would like our student members to know that IEEE is much more than just a club you join at school. It is an international community that can help students build and sustain successful careers as technical professionals after they graduate.

For more than 40 years, IEEE has been a great place to build my personal brand and to create a valuable professional network. I know it can do the same for the next generation of engineers.

By maintaining their membership after graduation and throughout their careers, students will have access to more resources-both professional and personal-that can help them advance within their field and discover new interests. They will also have the opportunity to build soft skills, raise their visibility, and make friendships that last a lifetime. All these resources and experiences, and more, will be of value in their life and work.

Lifelong professional home

The students of today likely will have many jobs across different organizations throughout their career. IEEE can be their lifelong professional home and help them meet their long-term technical and professional needs. The organization provides professional contacts and a community that offers support, advice, and mentoring, independent of where they work.

IEEE is here to support members at each stage of their professional journey. Within the organization, there are young people just starting to explore their professional passions. But there are also active engineers currently working in industry, government, and academia, as well as retired professionals who have a wealth of acquired knowledge and experience to share.

The students of today likely will have many jobs across different organizations throughout their career. IEEE can be their lifelong professional home and help them meet their long-term technical and professional needs.

Through its technical societies, IEEE also has a tremendous reach that spans areas including circuits, communications, computers, power and energy, semiconductors, and more. Whatever your focus is, there is a community within IEEE that will meet your needs.

For students and early-career practitioners, membership can help expand one's professional network and elevate one's professional image. It can lead to meaningful collaborative research opportunities that jump-start and advance one's career, and it can provide professional-development pathways that refine skills through leadership opportunities.

Many of the key benefits of volunteering are also help with skills critical to continued professional success. Volunteering can advance your knowledge in all aspects of technology and science, provide opportunities to help guide the evolution of numerous fields, and network with others from around the world. Serving as a volunteer can also help empower members to champion their ideas and hone their communication and presentation skills, as well as management experience, which are important for professional development.

The future looks bright

There are great career opportunities in technology and engineering. The number of jobs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields is increasing, and many of them are lucrative, as they are essential components of today's competitive global economy.

A career in these areas enables IEEE members to make a significant impact in the world, as STEM fields are imperative to solving some of the grand challenges facing society, such as climate change, cyberwarfare, and public health.

IEEE is committed to empowering and inspiring the next generation of engineering and technology leaders. Members, from students to retirees, will play a pivotal role in not only helping the organization continue to flourish but also in advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. They are the future of IEEE.

The best way to realize the true value of the organization is by engaging with IEEE colleagues. Get involved. Volunteer with your local section or engage with a society or technical community or work on an IEEE standard. Become an active participant-whether it be with affinity groups, humanitarian efforts, continuing education, or a standards working group and make IEEE your professional home.

-Tom Coughlin

IEEE president and CEO

This article appears in the September 2024 print issue as Why Students Should Stay with IEEE."