IEEE Industrial Electronics Society History

From ETHW

Looking Back at 60 Years of IES

Originally published in the September 2011 Issue of Industrial Electronics Magazine, by Okyay Kaynak

The year 2011 is a very special year for the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (IES): it is our 60th anniversary. You may be surprised that our history goes as far back as the early 1950s. Careful preparations were made to celebrate this very special occasion.

Past President Gerald Cook informed me that more information can be found in a message that he published in IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics in 1984[1] about the history of our Society. Thinking that many of our members, especially those who are relatively new to the Society, might welcome such historical facts, I reiterate a few interesting points that he made in his original article. I’ve also added a few.

  • The first conference of the Society was held in 1975 in Philadelphia with the acronym IECI’75. Until then, only a session was being sponsored at the annual conferences of the IEEE Industry Applications Society.
  • The first annual event outside the United States was held in Tokyo. The acronym IECON was used for the first time for this event in 1984.
  • Fumio Harashima served as the IEEE secretary during 1990; Fernando Aldana served as the IEEE vice president for technical activities in 1991; and Troy Nagle made it right to the very top of IEEE and served as the president during 1994.
  • Quite a few number of our past presidents (and members in general) received awards at the institute level (Harold Edgerton received the Leeds Award in 1965 and Harry Mergler the Lamme Award in 1978).

Many of our members from academia, such as Xavier Uceda, Imre Rudas, Ren Luo, Fumio Harashima, and Jose Rodriguez reached the highest academic positions, serving as the presidents of universities.

We have always been very internationalized. Fumio Harashima became the third IEEE Society president from outside the United States in 1986 (after the IEEE Signal Processing Society President R.A. Kaenel from Switzerland in 1971–1972 and the IEEE Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society President Ray Bartnikas from Canada in 1977–1978).

The IES always had a remarkable aptitude for identifying promising emerging technologies and focused its technical activities on them in a timely manner. The technologies include:

  • microprocessors in the 1970s
  • robotics in the 1980s
  • mechatronics and factory automation in the early 1990s
  • industrial information technology in the late 1990s.

IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics and IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics were direct outcomes of these activities. Our publication portfolio has these in addition to our most senior publication, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, and the youngest one, IEEE Industrial Electronics Magazine.

In our 60th year, it is appropriate to extend our thanks and appreciation to all the past officers of the Society, the names of whom are listed in ‘‘Past Officers of IES.’’ The dates and locations of the annual meeting are also listed.

In conclusion, a cordial and warm invitation is extended to you to come and join us in Melbourne on 7–10 November for the special celebrations planned in connection with IECON 2011.

Timeline of important events

  • February 21, 1951 - First meeting of the IRE Industrial Electronics Group
  • May 8, 1951 - Name change to IRE Professional Group on Industrial Electronics (PG-IE)
  • August 1953 - Published the first volume of the Transactions on Professional Group on Industrial Electronics
  • August 21, 1963 - IRE merged with AIEE and become IEEE. The PG-IE approved the merger of IRE's PG-IE and AIEE's group on control instrumentation (GCI)
  • August 22, 1963 - The merger of the PG-IE and the GCI into Professional Group on Industrial Electronics and Control Instrumentation (PG-IECI) was approved by the IEEE Executive Committee
  • October 14, 1964 - Name change to Group on Industrial Electronics and Control Instrumentation (PG-IECI)
  • Year 1975 - First IECON was held in Philadelphia. Until then there had been only a sponsored session at the Industry Aplications Society Conference
  • March 20, 1978 - Name change to Industrial Electronics and Control Instrumentation Society (IECIS)
  • June, 1982 - Name change to Industrial Electronics Society

Society Officers

Year President (Until 1971 Chair) Vice President(s) Secretary Treasurer Transaction(s) Editor Newsletter/Magazine Editor Annual Meeting
1951 Eugene Mittelmann Carl E. Smith C.A. Priest C.A. Priest N/A N/A N/A
1952 Eugene Mittelmann Carl E. Smith C.A. Priest C.A. Priest N/A N/A N/A
1953 Eugene Mittelmann Carl E. Smith C.A. Priest C.A. Priest Carl E. Smith N/A N/A
1954 George P. Bosomworth Carl E. Smith C.A. Priest C.A. Priest Carl E. Smith N/A N/A
1955 George P. Bosomworth Carl E. Smith C.A. Priest C.A. Priest Carl E. Smith N/A N/A
1956 George P. Bosomworth Carl E. Smith C.A. Priest C.A. Priest Carl E. Smith N/A N/A
1957 Carl E. Smith William R. Thurston J.E. Eiselein J.E. Eiselein Carl E. Smith N/A N/A
1958 William R. Thurston J.E. Eiselein C.A. Priest C.A. Priest E.A. Roberts N/A N/A
1959 William R. Thurston J.E. Eiselein C.A. Priest C.A. Priest E.A. Roberts N/A N/A
1960 J.E.Eiselein E.A. Roberts Robert J. Roman Robert J. Roman R.W. Bull N/A N/A
1961 J.E. Eiselein E.A. Roberts Robert J. Roman Robert J. Roman R.W. Bull N/A N/A
1962 J.E. Eiselein E.A. Roberts Robert J. Roman Robert J. Roman R.W. Bull N/A N/A
1963 J.E. Eiselein E.A. Roberts Robert J. Roman Robert J. Roman R.W. Bull N/A N/A
1964 E.A. Roberts J.P. Leinesch and H.W. Patton Robert J. Roman Robert J. Roman J.E. Casey N/A N/A
1965 E.A. Roberts J.P. Leinesch and A.J. Hornfeck Robert J. Roman Robert J. Roman J.E. Casey N/A N/A
1966 J.P. Lienesch J. Keithley and A.J. Hornfeck Robert J. Roman Robert J. Roman J.E. Casey N/A N/A
1967 J.P. Lienesch C.W. Frick, A.J. Hornfeck, and J.E. Casey Robert J. Roman Robert J. Roman R. Mayer A. Steensen N/A
1968 Anthony J. Hornfeck J.E. Casey and E. Mittelmann Robert J. Roman Robert J. Roman R. Spooner A. Steensen N/A
1969 Anthony J. Hornfeck J.E. Casey and E. Mittelmann Robert J. Roman Robert J. Roman R. Spooner A. Steensen N/A
1970 J.E. Casey E. Mittelmann and R.A. Dambach Robert J. Roman Robert J. Roman R. Spooner A. Steensen N/A
1971 J.E. Casey J.E. Tensin, R.H. MacPherson, and R. Gentile J.B. Carolus Robert J. Roman R. Spooner A. Steensen N/A
1972 R.B. Spooner R. Gentile, A.C. Jones, and E.S. McVey J.B. Carolus Robert J. Roman Roger W. Bolz A. Steensen N/A
1973 R.B. Spooner R. Gentile J.B. Carolus Robert J. Roman Roger W. Bolz A. Steensen N/A
1974 Robert Mayer R. Gentile J.B. Carolus Robert J. Roman Roger W. Bolz A. Steensen N/A
1975 Robert Mayer R.W. Bolz Gerald Cook Robert J. Roman Roger W. Bolz Joseph R. Mallon 11–12 March 1975, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1976 Roger W. Bolz J. Giachino and W. Koepsel Gerald Cook Robert J. Roman Roger W. Bolz Joseph R. Mallon 8–10 March 1976, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1977 Harry W. Mergler J. Giachino, W. Koepsel, and S. Vahaviolos Gerald Cook Robert J. Roman Roger W. Bolz Victor Huang 21–23 March 1977, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1978 Harry W. Mergler J. Giachino and S. Vahaviolos Gerald Cook Robert J. Roman Sotirios J. Vahaviolos Victor Huang 20–22 March 1978, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1979 Harry W. Mergler R. Gentile and G. Cook Charles Einolf Robert J. Roman Sotirios J. Vahaviolos Victor Huang 19–21 March 1979, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1980 J. David Irwin P.M. Russo and G. Cook Charles Einolf Robert J. Roman Sotirios J. Vahaviolos Victor Huang 17–20 March 1980, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1981 J. David Irwin P.M. Russo, G. Cook, and H.T. Nagle Charles Einolf Robert J. Roman Sotirios J. Vahaviolos Victor Huang 15–19 November 1981, San Francisco, California
1982 Gerald Cook P.M. Russo, P.P. Fasang, and H.T. Nagle Charles Einolf Robert J. Roman J. David Irwin Victor Huang 15–19 November 1982, Palo Alto, California
1983 Gerald Cook P.M. Russo, P.P. Fasang, and H.T. Nagle Charles Einolf Robert J. Roman J. David Irwin Antony E. Pietrzykoski 7–11 November 1983, San Francisco, California
1984 H. Troy Nagle R. Begun, P.P. Fasang, and H. Van Landingham Charles Einolf Robert J. Roman Gerald Cook Antony E. Pietrzykoski 23–26 October 1984, Tokyo, Japan
1985 H. Troy Nagle R. Begun, P.P. Fasang, and H. Van Landingham Charles Einolf Robert J. Roman Gerald Cook Antony E. Pietrzykoski 18—22 November 1985, San Francisco, California
1986 Fumio Harashima V.K.L. Huang, G.O. Beale, A.C. Weaver, and R.A. Begun Charles Einolf Robert J. Roman Gerald Cook Antony E. Pietrzykoski 29 September–3 October 1986, Milwauke, Wisconsin
1987 Fumio Harashima P.P. Fasang, G.O. Beale, A.C. Weaver, and R.C. Born Charles Einolf Robert J. Roman Gerald Cook Antony E. Pietrzykoski 2–6 November 1987, Cambridge, Massachusetts
1988 Fernando Aldana R.A. Begun, G.O. Beale, A.C. Weaver, R.C. Born Charles Einolf Robert J. Roman Gerald Cook Antony E. Pietrzykoski 24–28 October 1988, Singapore
1989 Fernando Aldana R.A. Begun, G.O. Beale, A.C. Weaver, R.C. Born Charles Einolf Robert J. Roman Gerald Cook Antony E. Pietrzykoski 6–10 November 1989, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1990 Robert Begun T. Hori, H.T. Wo, A.C. Weaver, R.C. Born Charles Einolf Robert J. Roman Gerald Cook Philip W. Gold 27–30 November 1990, Pacific Grove, California
1991 Robert Begun J. Uceda, H. Wo, A.C. Weaver, and T. Fukuda Charles Einolf Robert J. Roman James C. Hung Philip W. Gold 28 October–1 November 1991, Kobe, Japan
1992 Hubert Y.K. Wo J. Uceda, R.J. Niederjohn, A.C. Weaver, and T. Fukuda Charles Einolf Robert J. Roman James C. Hung Philip W. Gold 9–13 November 1992, San Diego, California
1993 Hubert Y.K. Wo R.J. Niederjohn, A.C. Weaver, and T. Fukuda Charles Einolf Robert J. Roman James C. Hung Philip W. Gold 15–19 November 1993, Lahaina, Hawaii
1994 Alfred Weaver R. Niederjohn, H. Haneda, R. Zurawski, R.C. Luo, O. Kaynak, T. Fukuda Charles Einolf Robert J. Roman James C. Hung Philip W. Gold 5–9 September 1994, Bologna, Italy
1995 Alfred Weaver R. Niederjohn, H. Haneda, R. Zurawski, R.C. Luo, O. Kaynak, and T. Fukuda Charles Einolf Robert J. Roman James C. Hung Philip W. Gold 6–10 November 1995, Orlando, Florida
1996 Russell J. Niederjohn (until May 1996), Hiro Haneda (acting as of May 1996) H. Haneda, R. Zurawski, J.C. Hung, R.C. Luo, T.S. Low, O. Kaynak, and T. Fukuda Charles Einolf Robert J. Roman Joachim Holtz Philip W. Gold 5–10 August 1996, Taipei, Taiwan
1997 Hiro Haneda R.C. Luo, R. Zurawski, T.S. Low, O. Kaynak, T. Fukuda, and G. Buja Charles Einolf Robert J. Roman Joachim Holtz Philip W. Gold 9–14 November 1997, New Orleans, Louisiana
1998 James Hung O. Kaynak, R. Ishii, G. Buja, K.W. Lim, T.S. Low, T. Fukuda, and T. Hori Charles Einolf Robert J. Roman Joachim Holtz Bogdan M. Wilamowski 31 August–4 September 1998, Aachen, Germany
1999 James Hung O. Kaynak, R. Ishii, G. Buja, T. Hori, K.W. Lim, T.S. Low, and T. Fukuda Charles Einolf Bogdan M. Wilamowski Joachim Holtz Mo-Yuen Chow 29 November–3 December 1999, San Jose, California
2000 Ren C. Luo M.Y. Chow, H. Hashimoto, K. Ohnishi, I. Rudas, P. Drews, and M.P. Kazmierkowski Charles Einolf Bogdan M. Wilamowski Joachim Holtz Carlos Couto 22–28 October 2000, Nagoya, Japan
2001 Ren C. Luo M.Y. Chow, H. Hashimoto, K. Ohnishi, I. Rudas, P. Drews, and M.P. Kazmierkowski Charles Einolf Bogdan M. Wilamowski Fumio Harashima Carlos Couto 29 November–2 December 2001, Denver, Colarado
2002 M. Okyay Kaynak C. Couto, H. Hashimoto, K. Ohnishi, R. Krishnan, K. Jezernik, and P. Drews Charles Einolf John Y. Hung Fumio Harashima Aleksander Malinowski 5–8 November 2002, Sevilla, Spain
2003 M. Okyay Kaynak R. Krishnan, K. Ohnishi, C. Couto, K. Jezernik, P. Drews, and H. Hashimoto Charles Einolf John Y. Hung Fumio Harashima Aleksander Malinowski 2–6 November 2003, Roanoke, Virginia
2004 Bogdan M. Wilamowski C.W. Einolf, L.G. Franquelo, R. Ishii, C. Couto, R. Krishnan, K. Jezernik, K. Ohnishi Gerhard P. Hancke John Y. Hung Marian P. Kazmierkowski Alexander Malinowski, Marco Liserre 2–6 November 2004, Busan, South Korea
2005 Bogdan M. Wilamowski C.W. Einolf, L.G. Franquelo, R. Ishii, K. Jezernik, R. Krishnan, C. Cecati, and K. Ohnishi Gerhard P. Hancke John Y. Hung Marian P. Kazmierkowski, O. Kaynak, and R. Zurawski Marco Liserre 6–10 November 2005, Raleigh, North Carolina
2006 Charles W. Einolf, Jr. K. Ohnishi, L.G. Franquelo, S. Bogosyan, K. Jezernik, M.-Y. Chow, K.F. Man, C. Cecati, and G.A. Capalino Gerhard P. Hancke John Y. Hung, Terry Martin B.M. Wilamowski, O. Kaynak, and R. Zurawski Marco Liserre 7–10 November 2006, Paris, France
2007 Charles W. Einolf, Jr. K. Ohnishi, L.G. Franquelo, S. Bogosyan, G.A. Capalino, M.-Y. Chow, K.F. Man, and L. Gomes Gerhard P. Hancke John Y. Hung, and Terry Martin B.M. Wilamowski and R. Zurawski Marco Liserre 5–8 November 2007, Taipei, Taiwan
2008 Kouhei Ohnishi L.G. Franquelo, G.A. Capalino, R. Schoop, K.F. Man, J.Y. Hung, L. Gomes, and

K. Al-Haddad

Gerhard P. Hancke Terry Martin B.M. Wilamowski and R. Zurawski Marco Liserre 10–13 November 2008, Orlando, Florida
2009 Kouhei Ohnishi L.G. Franquelo, G.A. Capalino, R. Schoop, K.F. Man, J.Y. Hung, L. Gomes, and

K. Al-Haddad

Gerhard P. Hancke Terry Martin B.M.Wilamowski and R. Zurawski Marco Liserre 3–5 November 2009, Porto, Portugal
2010 L.G. Franquelo G.A. Capalino, M. Valla, X. Yu, K. Al-Haddad, J.Y. Hung, L. Gomes, and M. Liserre Gerhard P. Hancke Terry Martin M.Y. Chow and R. Zurawski Mariusz Malinowski 7–10 November 2010, Glendale, Arizona
2011 L.G. Franquelo G.A. Capalino, M. Valla, X. Yu, K. Al-Haddad, L. Gomes, Y. Ibrahim, and M. Liserre Gerhard P. Hancke Terry Martin M.Y. Chow and B.M. Wilamowski Mariusz Malinowski 7–10 November 2011, Melbourne, Australia

Newsletters

References

  1. Reference [1] G. Cook, ‘‘Message from the past president: A brief history of the Industrial Electronics Society of IEEE,’’ IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron., vol. IE-31, pp. 1–2, Feb. 1984.

Further Reading

Link to IEEE Industrial Electronics Society

List of Historical Articles in IEEE Industrial Electronics Magazine