IEEE Newfoundland & Labrador Section History

From ETHW

IEEE Newfoundland & Labrador Section History
Established date 1978-12-01
IEEE Region 7
IEEE Council
Geographic region Newfoundland-Labrador
Region area
Principal cities
Home page
List of Subsections in this Section

The Newfoundland & Labrador (NL) Section began as a subsection in 1974. Full section status was achieved by 1978. Since then, membership has steadily grown and the Section continues to play an active role in the growth of IEEE and in particular, IEEE Canada (Region 7). The Section received (along with the London Section) the IEEE Canada award for Best Small Section in 1998.

An annual success for the Section has been the Newfoundland and Labrador Electrical and Computer Engineering Conference (NECEC), which completed its 18th year in 2008. Held in cooperation with Memorial University (MUN), NECEC provides a forum where professionals from electrical, electronic and computer engineering along with information specialists from business and academia present their work to the local community.

The NL Section enjoys an active relationship with the Student Branch at MUN; each hosts complementary technical and social events that bring the community together on a periodic basis. In 1998, the Branch received an IEEE Foundation award to help create a McNaughton Resource Centre focused on audio engineering and signal processing.

The Section is active at the Regional level, planning and hosting many national and international conferences. Among these is the Canadian Conference on Computer and Electrical Engineering (CCECE). The Section has successfully hosted this conference in 1997 and 2009.

Newfoundland’s electrotechnical community shares a rich and active history in the development of Canada's international presence. Since inception of the IEEE International Milestones of Electrical Engineering program in 1984, the NL Section has had the privilege of dedicating three Milestones; of which two were among the first.

The first honors the landing of the first transatlantic telegraph cable in 1866 at the Heart's Content Cable Station. This station and many subsequent cables served communications between the old and new worlds for almost 100 years.

The second recognizes the reception of the first transatlantic wireless communication by Guglielmo Marconi on the 12th of December 1901 at Signal Hill, St. John’s, Newfoundland. A century later, the IEEE, ITRE (Tasmania) and Memorial University of Newfoundland along with Poldhu Amateur Radio Club and the Marconi Radio Club of Newfoundland hosted dignitaries and student competitors in a special centenary meeting and crystal radio contest to mark the occasion of the wireless experiment.

Newfoundland’s third IEEE Milestone honors the completion of the first transatlantic undersea telephone system, TAT-1, in September 1956 operating between Oban, Scotland and Clarenville, Newfoundland. The system operated until 1978.

Newfoundland & Labrador Section Officers
Year Chair Vice chair Secretary Treasurer
2000 Yves Fontaine Dennis Peters Michael Janes
2001 Yves Fontaine Dennis Peters Michael Janes Douglas Squires
2002 Dennis Peters Michael Janes Kathleen Chafe Douglas Squires
2003 Dennis Peters Michael Janes Kathleen Chafe J Thorburn
2004 Michael Janes Kathleen Chafe Brenda Coombes J Thorburn
2005 Michael Janes Kathleen Chafe Brenda Coombes J Thorburn
2006 Kathleen Chafe Eric Gill John Pitt J Thorburn
2007 Kathleen Chafe Eric Gill John Pitt J Thorburn
2008 Eric Gill Lori Hogan Stephen Smith Cheng Li
2009 Eric Gill Lori Hogan David Tilley Cheng Li
2010 Lori Hogan Cheng Li David Tilley Geoffrey Holden
2011 Lori Hogan Cheng Li David Tilley Geoffrey Holden
2012 Cheng Li Brian Kidney Andrew Cook Geoffrey Holden
2013 Cheng Li Brian Kidney Andrew Cook Geoffrey Holden
2014 Brian Kidney Andrew Cook Susan Ryan Weimin Huang
2015 Brian Kidney Andrew Cook Susan Ryan Weimin Huang
2016 Andrew Cook Mohamed Shehata Geoffrey Holden Jonathan Anderson
2017 Andrew Cook Mohamed Shehata Geoffrey Holden Jonathan Anderson
2018 Mohamed Shehata Weimin Huang David Green Geoffrey Holden
2019 Mohamed Shehata Weimin Huang David Green Samuel Cove
2020 Weimin Huang Samuel Cove
2021 David Green Bentotage De Silva Samuel Cove Younes Salami

Archival documents

Further Reading

Link to Section Homepage