Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-4 - 3

fromthesociety
Reza Zoughi
A Message for the I&M Society Members
& the I&M Magazine Readers
S
everal weeks ago, the Editorin-Chief
of the I&M Magazine,
Professor Bruno Andò, reached
out to me and asked if I would write a short
article about the I&M Society. He indicated
several topics for me to consider such as: a
brief history of the I&M Society, our strategic
goals and the value of volunteerism.
However, he left me with little to no constraints
on what I could write, which was
greatly appreciated!
It is good to remind ourselves about the Vision and Mission
statements of the I&M Society (https://ieee-ims.org):
Vision:
◗ Be the premier international professional Society in the
Instrumentation and Measurement (I&M) fields.
Mission:
◗ Provide the most comprehensive and high-quality
services to our members and related professionals.
◗ Serve as the professional incubator for the growth of all
(particularly younger) members.
◗ Be at the forefront of future I&M fundamental, technological,
and application advances.
◗ Provide education in the field of instrumentation and
measurement.
These statements quite succinctly express what we aspire
to become. I say " to become " since these are long-term objectives
and require organized planning and continuous hard
work to achieve and sustain them.
I must also mention COVID-19 and its impact on the Society.
We are just coming out of the many constraints and
hardships this pandemic has caused worldwide. I think it is
important for all of us to recognize and appreciate the amazing
hard work of the I&M Society officers, volunteers, and
administrators who diligently minimized the impact of this
pandemic on the normal activities of the Society and the benefits
it brings to you-its members. In many cases, changes
had to be made on-the-fly and then changed again a couple of
weeks later. I am certain you also experienced the same during
the past 2-3 years. My hat's off to my colleagues who persevered
and admirably managed the affairs of the Society under
these extreme conditions. Most of these colleagues are volunteers
who sacrificed their time and efforts to ensure minimal
June 2023
adverse impact on the outcome of the Society's activities. This
pandemic taught us some tough and yet valuable lessons on
how to become nimble and improvise as needed under those
difficult circumstances.
The I&M Society was founded in 1970 after the Group on
Instrumentation and Measurement (GIM) became the Instrumentation
and Measurement Society (IMS) [1]. IEEE officially
designates the abbreviation for the IEEE I&M Society as
IMS (https://www.ieee.org/communities/societies/index.
html#IM009). You can read about some interesting historical
facts pertaining to the formation of the I&M Society, its early
and impactful individuals, and its offerings [1]. The Society
has gone through many changes since 1970, of course. Some of
these changes have been inevitable. Advancements in technology
have completely transformed how we conduct our affairs.
IEEE rules constantly change in response to various internal
and external forces, requiring that societies and councils adapt
accordingly. The impact of new areas of science and technology
is all around us, and the I&M Society must also adapt and
respond accordingly.
In the 1990s, IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and
Measurement (TIM) received several hundred submissions
annually. Currently, TIM receives several thousands of submissions
per year. Our conferences were relatively small. Now,
not only have they expanded, but we also support a relatively
large number of conferences either financially or technically.
There was a time that engaging our graduate and undergraduate
students in the Society's activities (e.g., conferences, a
seat on the I&M Society Administrative Committee (AdCom),
number of awards for students, etc.) was done on a limited
basis. Today, we strive to engage all our students in many of
the Society's meaningful activities and decision-making processes.
The I&M Society AdCom membership includes a
voting undergraduate and a graduate student representative,
in addition to a member who represents our Society's young
professionals.
Engaging our international colleagues has substantially increased
in the past two decades. This is evident from the fact
that the first ten I2
MTC meetings (then it was called IMTC)
were held in the USA. Now, when we look at how the Society
is administered, we see a tremendous diversity of engagement
in every respect. I distinctly remember when we changed
IMTC to I2
IEEE Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine
1094-6969/23/$25.00©2023IEEE
3
MTC to showcase the international nature of this
https://www.ieee.org/communities/societies/index.html#IM009 https://www.ieee.org/communities/societies/index.html#IM009 https://ieee-ims.org
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-4

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