IEEE Austria Section History

From ETHW


IEEE Austria Section History
Established date 1979/12/21
IEEE Region 8
IEEE Council
Geographic region Austria
Region area Europe
Principal cities Vienna
Home page http://www.ieee-austria.org/
List of Subsections in this Section

How it started in 1979

The idea to establish an IEEE Section in Austria came up in the years preceding 1979. After these plans have been detailed the OVE (Austrian Electrotechnical Association) set the formation process in motion. As part of these activities the OVE nominated a representative, Heinrich Pangratz, who led preparatory talks with the IEEE headquarter. Finally, in 1997 a number of motivated OVE members (helding an IEEE membership too) formally started the formation process of the IEEE Austria Section. During the early years the IEEE Austria Section was heavily supported by the OVE and today, there is still a strong cooperation between these two associations. The figure below shows the form that has been used to report the first section officers to the IEEE headquarter (Kurt Richter/Graz University of Technology, Robert Genser/ÖBB Austrian Federal Railways, Andreas Sethy/Arsenal Research Center and Franz Voggenberger/Schrack).

First IEEE Austria ExCom

The official approval date of the IEEE Austria Section is December 21, 1979. Upon approval the first meetings have been organized. Below is invitation of the first section chair, Kurt Richter (who was professor at Graz University of Technology during that time) to the IEEE president.

Invitation Letter 1980

Starting with 60 members in 1980, the number of IEEE Austria Section members raised from 370 in 1990 to 1.300 in the year 2010. Today, the IEEE Austria Section is a strong player in the area of electrical engineering and related fields with members from both academia and industry in Austria. All the work in the manifold society chapters, student branches and affinity groups of the section is done by highly motivated section officers on a pure voluntary basis.

Membership Development

The followig figure provides an overview of the membership developments over the time:

Membership Development

40th Anniversary in 2019

In 2019 the IEEE Austria Section was celebrating the 40th anniversary of the section in Graz as part of the IEEE International Conference of Connected Vehicles and Expo (ICCVE). The photo below provides an impression of this event.

40th Anniversary IEEE Austria

The photo shows (from the left to the right): Margaretha Eriksson (Past Director IEEE Region 8), Ernst Bonek (Chair IEEE Austria from 1985-1990), Kurt Richter (founding member and Chair IEEE Austria from 1980-1985), Peter Rössler (Chair IEEE Austria from 2012-2014), Michael Heiss (Chair IEEE Austria during 2017 and 2020) and Reinhard Pfliegl (Chair IEEE Austria from 2018-2019).

More information about the achievements during the first 40 years of the section are provided in the corresponding 40th Anniversary Booklet.

Executive Committee

The following list shows all the members of the Executive Committee (ExCom) of the section since its formation in 1979:

Year Chair Vice Chair Treasurer Secretary
01/1980 - 01/1985 Kurt R. Richter Robert Genser Franz O. Voggenberger Andreas Sethy
02/1985 - 12/1990 Ernst Bonek Robert Genser Franz O. Voggenberger Gerhard F. Doblinger
01/1991 - 12/1995 Ingeborg J. Hochmair-Desoyer Max Kowatsch Franz O. Voggenberger Manfred K. Susts
01/1996 - 12/2001 Michael Muhr Franz J. Seifert Franz O. Voggenberger Edgar R. Trummer/Christoph F. Strnadl
01/2002 - 12/2005 Christoph F. Strnadl Bernd Kopacek Matthias Hülsemann Christian G. Diskus
01/2006 - 12/2008 Dietmar Dietrich Thilo Sauter Andreas Kaindl Franz Pirker
01/2009 - 12/2009 Andreas Kaindl Franz Pirker Thilo Sauter Jan Haase
01/2010 - 01/2012 Jan Haase Franz Pirker Thilo Sauter Peter Palensky
02/2012 - 12/2014 Peter Rössler Margit Gelautz Thilo Sauter Peter Palensky
01/2015 - 12/2016 Peter Palensky Michael Heiss Thilo Sauter Thomas I. Strasser
01/2017 - 12/2017 Michael Heiss Reinhard Pfliegl Thilo Sauter Thomas I. Strasser
01/2018 - 12/2019 Reinhard Pfliegl Michael Heiss Thilo Sauter Torsten Andre
01/2020 - 12/2020 Michael Heiss Thomas I. Strasser Thilo Sauter Torsten Andre
01/2021 - 12/2023 Thomas I. Strasser Werner R. Drexel Thilo Sauter Torsten Andre
01/2024 - Werner R. Drexel Daniel Watzenig Thilo Sauter Norbert Eidenberger

Events and Activities

The following list shows an overview of past and future events and activities of the section:

Chapters, Student Branches, and Affinity Groups

The following list provides an overview of different groups of the section:

Links and Archival Documents

The following list proivdes important links and documents related to the section and its foundation: