Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-1 - 33

the advantages of live interaction with the DLs for worldwide
audiences and the constant availability of the webinars for everybody
who could not attend the live event. The IMS Virtual
Distinguished Lecturer Webinar Program continued through
2022. Everybody is encouraged to register for the upcoming
webinars and to view the recordings from past webinars held
during 2020-2022 [5].
The IMS offers a selection of Video Tutorials (VTs) that
Fig. 2. Tutorial at I2MTC 2022, held in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
backgrounds, may work in different application fields, and
may or may not be able to travel to our larger conference venues.
The IMS Distinguished Lecturer Program (DLP) provides
IMS Chapters and HEIs around the world with lectures given
in-person by experts on topics of interest and importance to the
I&M community. All DLs are outstanding in their fields of specialty
and are chosen by means of a very selective evaluation
process by looking at the up-to-date topics they propose. Collectively,
the DLs possess a broad range of expertise within the
area of I&M, and any potential learner has a first-hand chance
to interact with these experts during their lectures. The IMS
aids Chapters financially so that they might use this program.
Our current DLP involves six DLs who deliver lectures dealing
with I&M in hot topics like power grids, artificial intelligence,
biomedical systems and autonomous vehicles [4].
The IMS offers a wide number of tutorials at its conferences
every year by means of 90 to 120-minute lectures that aim to
update our members about a variety of hot topics. Currently
about 16 tutorials are provided at I2MTC (Fig. 2) and two to
four at MeMeA. Although the main target of the tutorials are
the conference attendees, they are open also to those not registered
to the conference for a small fee.
Online Educational Offerings
The IMS Virtual Distinguished Lecturer Webinar Series was
started with the aim of providing the educational offerings
of our respected and reputable DLs even during the COVID
pandemic that disrupted personal travels around the world.
Since 2020, five series of two or three webinars have been
held, a series in Spring and a series in Autumn of each year.
Every web inar lasts 60 minutes, followed by live online interaction
with the speakers. Registration is completely free and
is limited to the first 100 registrants per event. In the case that
someone is unable to register, it is also to possible attend the
webinar concurrently via Facebook live, or to access the webinar
recording after the event. Such a formula allows the IMS
February 2023
address relevant topics of interest to the EEE community to
provide potential learners with free, on-demand access to the
expertise of our lecturers. Most of our VT speakers are selected
among the conference tutorial teachers by looking at the topics
they deal with and at the possibility of creating 15 to 20-minute
professional videos. The developed VTs are classified as
belonging to the Expert or Classroom series. The VTs of the
Expert series are authored by someone who is recognized as
an expert (academician or practitioner) in his/her field, while
the Classroom series VTs are typically authored by a graduate
student and may be geared more towards specific I&M
skills and/or classroom-based lecture topics. About 30 VTs are
available so far [6]. The IMS also offers the opportunity to earn
CEU/PDH credits by following the VTs and taking a short
examination.
A particularly new initiative called " Read our VideosWatch
our Papers " is linked to VTs. It is aimed at collecting
papers for the IEEE Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine
that are authored by speakers who already recorded a VT for
the IMS. The first five papers were published in June 2022 [7].
The initiative is intended to work both ways; therefore, authors
of papers published in the Magazine are encouraged to
apply for the VT program.
Since the shortest format of our online educational offerings
seems the best suited to reach potential learners quickly
and easily, the IMS is working on a complete 4-module short
course program on I&M with the aim to provide potential
learners with a framework that they can apply to every application
in the I&M field [8]. This short course program is aimed
at young professionals, graduate students, and practicing
technical staff, allowing them to acquire increased capabilities
in instrumentation, measurement, and calibration. It will be
delivered by means of the IEEE Learning Network, the Learning
Management System of IEEE that allows a sequence of
connected didactic units to be created, instead of simple videos,
that will be delivered online as group of lessons. Each
lesson will include: a 20-minute video lecture; working examples
and/or workpapers, either totally or partially solved
by the teacher; and an assessment quiz. The four modules
will cover " Measurement Theory, " " Calibration and Quality
Assurance, " " Instrumentation, " and " Practical Training, "
including lessons about basic knowledge and specific applications.
In particular, the short course will include training
sessions in a virtual laboratory by remotely controlling real
IEEE Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine
33
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-1

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