Content Gazette - November 2020 - Cover2

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Ahmed Tewfik | IEEE Signal Processing Society President | tewfik@austin.utexas.edu

That This Nation, Under God,
Shall Have a New Birth of Freedom

n my "President's Message" in the
July issue of IEEE Signal Processing
Magazine, I issued a call for meaningful
action to fight racism and discrimination
as a Society, writing that it was "important as a professional society to acknowledge that simply professing our strong
commitment to diversity, inclusion, and
equality was not enough." Since then,
the IEEE Signal Processing Society (SPS)
has engaged with several organizations
that have successful track records of preparing K-12 students from disadvantaged
backgrounds for successful college STEM
studies in some of the best institutions in
the United States and impressive careers.
By the time you read this column, I hope
that many of you-including faculty,
undergraduate, and graduate students-
have signed up as mentors for the K-12
students served by these organizations. I
also hope that several of you are offering
virtual research internships to keep the
flame of curiosity and innovation alive and
bright in the sharp, young minds of today.
The Ingenuity Project is an example
of one of the organizations to which
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MSP.2020.3006649
Date of current version: 2 September 2020

been accepted into competitive fourwe have reached out. The project "is a
year colleges.
joint effort of the Baltimore City Public
We can all clearly contribute to the
School System, the Abell Foundation,
Ingenuity Project, far beyond the obviand Baltimore's science and mathematous. We can challenge our undergraduics community." It provides more than
ate and graduate mentors to work with
800 Baltimore students in grades 6-12
students participating in the project to
a comprehensive advanced math and
come up with applications that can have
science instructional program. As part
a measurable positive impact on everyof this project, students connect with
day life in our less fortunate neighborsuccessful alumni and mentors in their
hoods. We can help bridge the digital,
field of interest. Moreover, the Ingenuopportunities, and services divides. The
ity Project offers students a three-year
mentors and mentees
research practicum
The mentors and mentees of the most impactfor students in grades
ful projects will be
of the most impactful
10-12. Students involved in the research
projects will be recognized recognized by the
IEEE SPS. The pospracticum conceive
by the IEEE SPS.
sibilities are endless.
of independent reIn addition to the organizations we
search projects with guidance and
have contacted, we are here to support
mentorship provided by academics and
and implement your ideas and projects
professionals in STEM fields. As part of
across the globe. I look forward to heartheir research practicum, students also
ing more about the projects that you'd
regularly compete in national precollike to lead!
lege competitions. To date, the program
has produced 11 Intel Science Talent
Search semifinalists and three winners!
Many students also coauthor papers in
peer-reviewed journals or conferences.
It's no wonder that almost 100% of the
SP
students enrolled in the program have

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IEEE SIGNAL PROCESSING MAGAZINE | September 2020 |

http://www.signalprocessingsociety.org

Content Gazette - November 2020

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