IEEE One-Hundred Twenty-Fifth Birthday Celebration in Philly
Indigo was the sky and bright was the mood in Ben’s home town as the EMC Society celebrated the one hundred and twenty fifth anniversary of the beginning of the IEEE. The Philadelphia EMC Society chapter hosted a gathering of the EMC community that included several of the founders of the EMC Society and the EMC Society Board of Directors.
- View from the Top of the Ben Franklin Institute
One hundred guests attended the event at the Ben Franklin museum in downtown Philly to enjoy presentations about the origins of the IEEE and the important contributions its members have made over the years.
The IEEE was formed when the two original engineering societies, the Institute of Radio Engineers and the American Institute of Electrical Engineers merged. The IEEE has been associated with the work of many famous scientists, engineers and inventors, including Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell and Nikolai Tesla, to name a few of many. Considering that these minds were able to elaborate complex physical electrical engineering theories and devices using wood, wire, feathers and fur, it is a cause for celebration. More interesting is digging under and around some of the personalities of the scientific glitterati and the jealousies that inflamed the great early discoverers of induction, radiation and other unseen behavior.
Tesla, for example, despised Edision. Apparently Edison had promised the Serbian wunderkind a bonus of some kind, but shorted him. This incident became part of a life-long feud between the two men whose views of AC and DC were out of phase, so to speak.
But there was no such enmity at our little gathering last month. Old friends and colleagues celebrated a reunion.
- Future and Past Presidents Francesca Maradei and Andy Drozd
The EMC Society was formed just over fifty years ago to address the concerns of radio interference. Since its inception, it has grown to over 4,000 members worldwide, and counts on its roster engineers from every major company in the world.
The meeting was presided over by Graham Kilshaw and Finn O’Connor, chairs of the Philadelphia chapter, and included welcome remarks from Elya Joffee, President of the EMC Society, and Dr Lew Terman, past president of the IEEE.
- Robert Goldblum and Elya Joffe
The event began with a rooftop reception overlooking the heart of Downtown Philadelphia. In attendance were several past presidents and founding members of the society, including Bob Goldblum, Warren Kesselman, Dan Hoolihan, Don Heirman, Dr. Ralph Showers and Andy Drozd.
- Dan Hoolihan welcomes Ralph Showers and Warren Kesselman
After the presentations the Philadelphia chapter received the Philadelphia section’s Chapter of the Year Award from President Joffee, and the Philadelphia IEEE section Chairman – Mr. Jack Nachamkin.
- Philly Chapter gets Chapter of the Year Award from the Section
Washington Laboratories would like to congratulate the IEEE for one hundred and twenty five years of success and congratulates the Philadelphia Chapter of the EMC Society on being selected local chapter of the year.
