Meet The 2025 IEEE President-Elect Candidates Forum

Dear Alex, 

Thank you for your thoughtful comments. This is a priority for me as I mentioned during my remarks when it comes to member engagement - by providing access to affordable continuing education programs to upskill for jobs of the future, and by strengthening industry engagement with conferences, publications, and events that address the needs of engineers and technologists in industry.  Please feel free to reach out to me at s.ramesh@ieee.org with any suggestions you have.

Best,

Ramesh

Dear Alex,

I am committed to engaging all segments of our members, including the self-employed and unemployed. Easy discovery of relevant engagement opportunities, products and services through AI, for example, will help us better match members’ unique needs.  Further input is welcomed.
Best regards,
Mary Ellen Randall
merandall@ieee.org

Dear Alex,

Thanks for your comments and your membership. Having been self-employed as a consultant and an entrepreneur, I understand the challenges, uncertainty, and additional costs and burdens. IEEE has an Entrepreneurship Program relevant to a segment of self-employed. IEEE also provides a number of benefits for self-employed such as deeply discounted insurance (depending on location). IEEE's public policy arms (IEEE USA, European Public Policy Committee, and the Global Public Policy Committee have often developed position papers and advocated for the interests of the self-employed in the engineering/technology sectors.  

For future employed persons, in addition to the professional development tools mentioned by my colleagues, IEEE provides paths to network at all scales from local (Local Groups, Chapters, Sections ...) to global (international conferences, symposia, workshops). The avenue you choose to engage depends on your objectives - are you seeking a position in a particular area, or are you willing to move for that next big opportunity? Networking is important because you can learn more about opportunities, make a case to get that initial interview, or get advice from your fellow IEEE members, many of whom have walked a similar path, or are looking for motivated people to hire.

We would love to have you engage in these activities where you have passion, drop me a note at johnv@msu.edu if you would like to talk specifics. You will be surprised at the power of the IEEE community.