IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics Magazine - July 2019 - 7

academia and national laboratories
(e.g., via presentations of technical
notes on latest products for research
and applications) and practitioners from industry (e.g., on the latest research results and techniques
mature enough for industry transition
or adoption).
Large and small companies as well
as start-ups are very active in tracking the previously mentioned trending
technologies. With the SMCS positioned where these trends converge,
volunteers supporting and creating
SMCS activities get an inside track to
international networks and a knowledge base that benefits members from
industry and their companies. This
can be facilitated by volunteering or
working with the SMCS Industrial Liaison Committee or directly with our
conference organizing teams. Members from industry could also leverage the SMCS community by proposing projects, studies, or initiatives in
particular areas that can be considered by the many technical commit-

ILLUMINATE

tees of the SMCS or as workshop and
tutorial/webinar topics.
Call for Female Volunteers
Finally, while it should go without saying, all of the aforementioned ways
and means for volunteering apply
to the women of the SMCS. This is
worth an explicit mention, not only
to be clear but to emphasize that the
Society wants more women to get
involved. With the welcome (albeit
still gradual) increase in the number
of women studying and practicing in
SMCS fields of interest, I expect to see
more women on SMCS committees
and among the Society's leadership.
The Society welcomes the diversity of thought that all backgrounds
can bring, whether related to gender
or not. Without the additional varieties of diversity and leadership that a
greater collection of female members
can offer, we are not operating at our
fullest potential. More help is needed from our membership to attract
and encourage volunteering from our

EDUCATE

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challenges require innovations
in engineering, and IEEE is
committed to finding the solutions.

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ENGAGE

female members at all levels-and not
limited to the important work that the
IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE)
and SMCS WIE Committee does to
facilitate the recruitment and retention of women in technical disciplines globally (an activity, by the way,
for which we need more contributions
from men).
How will you get involved? I invite
you to consider one or several ways to
take advantage of the opportunities the
SMCS has to offer. Your contribution
is needed to maximize the Society's
benefits to members, the engineering
community, and humanity. I extend a
hearty welcome to nonmembers to
join the SMCS and to do the same.
For more information, please visit
http://ieeesmc.org/, and feel free to
reach out to points of contact indicated
there to inquire about available opportunities. We can do much better by our
members, but only through additional
contributions from enthusiastic and
dedicated volunteers.

ENERGIZE

The IEEE Foundation is leading a special campaign to raise
awareness, create partnerships, and generate financial resources
needed to combat these global challenges.

Our goal is to raise $30 million by 2020.

http://www.ieeesmc.org/ http://www.ieeefoundation.org

IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics Magazine - July 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics Magazine - July 2019