IEEE Foundation Has Reached 60 Percent of Its Fundraising Goal

The Realize the Full Potential of IEEE fundraising campaign aims to raise US $30 Million by next year

3 min read

IEEE PES Scholarship scholar Stephanie Avendano shown during an internship at Southern California Edison.
IEEE Student Member Stephanie Avendano, an IEEE Power & Energy Society Scholarship Plus Initiative Scholar, was able to secure an internship at Southern California Edison, in Rosemead., thanks to donations to the Realize the Potential of IEEE fundraising campaign.
Photo: IEEE

THE INSTITUTEIn a little more than a year, the IEEE Foundation has received more than half of its fundraising goal of US $30 million. So far, donors have contributed $18 million in support of IEEE programs since the launch of IEEE’s first fundraising campaign, Realize the Full Potential of IEEE in February 2018.

Funds generated by the campaign will help increase technological access, innovation, and engagement through a variety of far-reaching global initiatives designed to transform lives through the power of technology and education.

The campaign is seeking donations from members and nonmembers as well as academic institutions, companies, foundations, and other organizations that support IEEE’s mission of advancing technology for humanity through IEEE Day, which is 6 October.

WORTHWHILE INITIATIVES

Some programs that benefit from the donations are EPICS in IEEE, the IEEE History Center REACH program, IEEE Smart Village, and the IEEE Power & Energy Society Scholarship Plus Initiative.

EPICS in IEEE matches volunteers and student members with preuniversity and university students. Together, they work with community-based organizations on engineering-related projects.

IEEE members John Moore and Brian Hagerty, for example, collaborated with NASA’s Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment program to establish the EPICS and GLOBE Lab. The aim of EAGL, which was launched in October, is for students to learn how to design and model science and engineering projects with supercomputers. There are two labs, one at Rowan University, in Glassboro, N.J., and the other at California State University in Fullerton. In our article, Hagerty predicted EAGL likely would be fully operational next month.

The REACH program offers preuniversity history teachers free access to educational resources so students can explore engineering and technology and how they impact society. The resources, including hands-on activities, are designed to enhance students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Some hands-on activities include making a light bulb with batteries and testing refrigerated rail cars’ insulation.

IEEE Smart Village brings electricity—as well as access to education and job opportunities—to more than 300,000 people in nearly three dozen remote, off-the-grid communities worldwide. Smart Village members work with entrepreneurs in India, Nigeria, and other countries to help them set up micro-utilities, using solar panels and other renewable-energy technology to power homes, businesses, and schools.

IEEE Smart Village recently worked with Nam Can Tho University, a private school in Vietnam, to launch the Bending Bamboo program. The project aims to develop Vietnamese- and English-language science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM) curricula for the country’s youngsters. Working together with On Semiconductor, a global company that is seeking energy-efficient innovations and empowering customers to reduce their energy use, the two organizations are developing, writing, and publishing curricula for elementary and high school teachers. They also are facilitating workshops for the teachers.

The IEEE Power & Energy Society Scholarship Plus Initiative provides scholarships and work experience to undergraduates who are interested in an engineering career in power and energy. The initiative supports the students by providing up to three years of tuition assistance, facilitating internships and co-op experience, and offering mentoring opportunities. Since the initiative’s launch in 2011, more than 1,500 scholarships have been awarded to some 900 students from 200 colleges and universities in Canada and the United States. There are scholarship programs in India and Italy as well.

SUPPORT THE CAMPAIGN

“Each donor who participates in the campaign helps ensure that the future of IEEE holds even greater promise than its historic past,” says Karen Kaufman, senior communications manager at the IEEE Foundation. “We welcome you to help build on a legacy that will positively and indelibly impact generations to come.

“There are several ways to ensure we reach our fundraising goal by IEEE Day 2020,” Kaufman notes. You can donate online and designate a specific program or let the Foundation determine where the need is greatest. You also can donate by mail, over the phone, or through your company’s matching-gift program. Or you can contact the Foundation directly. If you’d like, you can choose to remain anonymous.

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