IEEE Russia (Northwest) Section History

Establishment of the Section

The IEEE Russia (Northwest) Section covers a territory of 1800 thousand square km and has a population of 15 million. This area includes the Russian Northwest Federal Okrug with the capital of Saint Petersburg. Although not organized until the 1990's, the first IEEE members worked in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) before the Second World War. The famous Chief Engineer of Electrosila Company, Professor Alexander Alexeev, joined the AIEE in the USA during a business trip to the General Electric Corporation in 1929. However, before 1992, St. Petersburg had only five active IEEE members.

The first IEEE Chapter in St. Petersburg was founded in 1995 by Professor Sergei Tretyakov from St. Petersburg Technical University with the financial support from IEEE Region 8. Sergei Tretyakov was a very active IEEE recruiter and even attempted to form the St. Petersburg IEEE Section in 1993. The first Chapter was the Electron Devices (ED)/Microwave Theory and Techniques (MTT) Joint Chapter, which was transformed in 1996 into the AP/ED/MTT Joint Chapter. At that time, it had 30 IEEE members, including 10 students.

IEEE activities in St.Petersburg were accelerated by the memorable visit in 1995 of the former IEEE Executive Director Mr. Theodore Hissey (now the IEEE Director Emeritus). The first annual Conference for this new Section took place on 10 June 2003 in St. Petersburg. The colloquium included a scientific session with 15 papers presented in English. The agenda of the meeting also included the Section Officers elections and the formal approval of the Section Bylaws. All papers were published in the "Proceedings 2003" of St. Petersburg IEEE Members. The conference was held at the majestic 18th century Shuvalov Palace and was attended by more than half of the 136 St. Petersburg active members. This meeting was organized in the frames of the annual St. Petersburg High Technology Week under the direct patronage of the City Government with the support from the major St. Petersburg exhibition company RESTEK. Warm and encouraging greetings were given by Professor Alexander Gelman (IEEE Communication Society Vice-President) and Professor Dmitry Puzankov, Rector of St. Petersburg Electrotechnical University. The keynote addresses were followed by meetings that accomplished very important business for the Section: 1. First Section Officers were unanimously elected: Professor Dmitry Puzankov (St. Petersburg Electrotechnical University) as the Chair, Professor Alexander Mikerov (from the same University) as the Vice-Chair, Professor Alexander Korotkov (St. Petersburg Polytechnic University) as the Secretary and Dr. Yuriy Sepp (St. Petersburg Electrotechnical University) as the Treasurer. 2. The Section Bylaws Draft with small corrections and additions was approved and a 15 members strong Section Executive Committee was formed. Four St. Petersburg registered IEEE Chapters and their respective activity was noted.

These Chapters included ED/MTT/AP (Dr. Margarita Sitnikova), BT/CAS/COM (Dr. Dmitry Tkachenko), LEOS (Prof. Efim Portnoi) and AES/IE/C/EMC/PE (Prof. Alexander Mikerov). At the suggestion of IEEE volunteers, the future formation of four new Chapters was planned:

• CAS Chapter (Professor Alexander Korotkov)
• PEL/IA Chapter (Professor Valeriy Chrisanov)
• AES/SP/UFFC Chapter (Professor Yuriy Filatov)
• C/EM Chapter (Professor Vladimir Safonov).

The initiators and future Chairs of these Chapters (mentioned in brackets) launched Chapter Petition Signature campaigns. The establishment in May 2003 of the first St. Petersburg Student Branch at Electrotechnical University (Chair: Eugene Pickulin, Councilor: Dr. Yurij Sepp) was appreciated as a very important contribution of this University and its Rector Professor Dmitry Puzankov to the development of the IEEE student activity in the area.

List of Section chairs and years in office

2003 – 2010: Section Chair Prof. Dmitry V.Puzankov, Vice Chair Prof. Alexander G.Mikerov 2010 – present: Section Chair Prof. Vladimir M.Kutuzov, Vice Chair Dr. Sergey O.Shaposhnikov

IEEE Russia NW Section Membership Statistics

Year	H	Fellows	Student Members	Members	Associate Members	Higher grade subtotal
2004	0	2	16	106	19	143
2005	0	2	17	105	37	161
2006	0	2	18	108	24	152
2007	0	2	21	118	24	185
2008	0	2	23	132	15	194
2009	0	1	22	114	18	176
2011	0	1	49	125	15	190

Listing of Chapters/Affinity Groups/Student branches and year of establishment

• Aerospace and Electronic/ Signal Processing/Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control (AES/SP/UFFC)
• Broadcast Technology, Consumer Electronics & Communication Societies Joint Chapter (BT/COM/CE)
• CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS (CAS)
• Computer Society/ Technology Management Council Chapter (C/EM)
• Computational Intelligence Systems/Control Systems/Robotics & Automation Societies Joint Chapter (CIS/CS/RA)
• Industrial Electronics/Electromagnetic Compatibility/Power Engineering Chapter (IE/EMC/PE)
• Laser Electronics and Optics (LEO)
• Microwave Technology and Techniques/Antennas and Propagation/Electron Devices Chapter (MTT/AP/ED)
• Power Electronics/Industry Applications Chapter (PEL/IA)
• Joint Sections Information Theory Society Chapter (ITS)
• Student Branches at St.Petersburg State Electrotechnical University “LETI” and St.Petersburg State University of Cinema and Television

All Chapters and 2 Student Branches established in 2003.

• Student Branch at St.Petersburg University for Informatics, Fine Mechanics and Optics (established 2011)

Major activities of the Section during the years

• Technical English Program (TEP) Project (launched in 2009) with the number of participants about 60 students each year.
• Tutorials on the TEP in St.Petersburg hosted by the Section in 2009 – 27 observers from Europe and the USA, 39 students
• 2011 – the 1-st volume of the Proceedings of the IEEE Russia North West Section was published as a periodical journal of the Section.

Main Conferences

2005

International Conference on the 110 Anniversary of Invention of Radio Communications (93 participants, 69 papers)

2009

EuroCon’2009 Congress (315 participants from 49 countries, 471 papers

2010

8th IEEE East-West Design & Test Symposium (EWDTS 2010)

Milestones

Popov's Contribution to the Development of Wireless Communication, 1895, May 2005 (at the St.Petersburg State Electrotechnical University “LETI”)

Shilling's Pioneering Contribution to Practical Telegraphy, 1828-1837, May 2009 (at the Central Museum for Communications, St.Petersburg) – see R8 News, vol.12, no.3, 2009

Awards to Section Members

2010 – Prof. Alexander Mikerov, IEEE R8 Award for developing Volunteering

2010 - Information Theory Society Chapter (Chairman Professor S.V. Fedorenko) received The IEEE IT Society Chapter of the Year Award.

Examples of Special events – student meetings

2004

• Student I. Ryjov got the scholarship in the frames of the NORFA Network for Research and Training
• Student O.Romanova took part in the IEEE R8 Student Branches Congress in Austria
• Student A.Konstantinova presented a paper on the role of Prof.Alexander Popov in inventing Radio Communications at the IEEE Historical Conference in the UK

2006

• Students E.Lysenko and V.Kudryavtseva took part in the IEEE R8 Student Branch Congress in Paris
• Students E.Lysenko and V.Kudryavtseva took part in the International Conference of the IEEE Baltic Branch (Tallinn, Estonia)
• The First Student Conference of the IEEE Russia NW Section in St.Petersburg

2010

• Student members English speaking Club started
• English speaking student section in the frames of the annual Conference at St.Petersburg State Electrotechnical University “LETI” (25 student reports)

IEEE Russia Northwest Section Photos

2006-First TEP group

2008-TEP tutorial in Renaissance Hotel

Problem solving with Moshe Kam

2005-Conference on 110 Anniversary of Radio Invention

2005-Popov’s Milestone Plough

2009-Shilling’s Milestone Plough

Cover page of the Proceedings of the IEEE Russia North West Section (vol.1, 2011)

Further Reading

Link to Section Homepage

IEEE Geographic Unit Organizing Document - Russia Northwest