IEEE Russia (Northwest) Section History

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IEEE Russia (Northwest) Section History
Established date 2003-02-13
IEEE Region 8
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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.

Section officers

Russia (Northwest) Section Officers
Year Chair Vice chair Secretary Treasurer
2003 Dmitry Puzankov Alexand Mikerov Alexander Korotkov Yurij Sepp
2004 Dmitry Puzankov Alexand Mikerov Alexander Korotkov Yurij Sepp
2005 Dmitry Puzankov Alexand Mikerov Maxim Sokolov Yurij Sepp
2006 Dmitry Puzankov Alexand Mikerov Maxim Sokolov Yurij Sepp
2007 Dmitry Puzankov Alexand Mikerov Maxim Sokolov Yurij Sepp
2008 Dmitry Puzankov Alexand Mikerov Maxim Sokolov Yurij Sepp
2009 Dmitry Puzankov Alexand Mikerov Maxim Sokolov Yurij Sepp
2010 Vladimir Kutuzov Sergey Shaposhnikov Maxim Sokolov Yurij Sepp
2011 Vladimir Kutuzov Sergey Shaposhnikov Maxim Sokolov Yurij Sepp
2012 Vladimir Kutuzov Sergey Shaposhnikov Maxim Sokolov Yurij Sepp
2013 Vladimir Kutuzov Sergey Shaposhnikov Maxim Sokolov Yurij Sepp
2014 Vladimir Kutuzov Sergey Shaposhnikov Maxim Sokolov Yurij Sepp
2015 Sergey Shaposhnikov Dmitry Samokhvalov Maxim Sokolov Yurij Sepp
2016 Sergey Shaposhnikov Dmitry Samokhvalov Maxim Sokolov Yurij Sepp
2017 Mikhail Shestopalov Dmitry Kholodnyak Maxim Sokolov Yurij Sepp
2018 Mikhail Shestopalov Dmitry Kholodnyak Maxim Sokolov Yurij Sepp
2019 Mikhail Shestopalov Dmitry Kholodnyak Maxim Sokolov Yurij Sepp
2020 Mikhail Shestopalov Dmitry Kholodnyak Maxim Sokolov Yurij Sepp
2021 Victor Sheludko Dmitry Kholodnyak Maxim Sokolov Yurij Sepp

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

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
Nw russia 005.jpg
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)

Archival Documents