MGA Scoop
June 2020
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Important Information: IEEE has established a single platform for all #COVID19 related resources to support our members during the pandemic. Access the latest virtual educational opportunities, free e-books, virtual networking, and more in one place by visiting https://covid19.ieee.org/.
Upcoming Events
- IEEE Conference Payments - Overview
Join us to learn everything there is to know about making payments for your IEEE conference. You will learn about the different methods of payment at your disposal, including IEEE Payment Manager, and get guidance to ensure all payments are made as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Session #1: 30 June 2020 | 11am EDT (New York, GMT -04:00)
Register for Session 1Session #2: 30 June 2020 | 3pm EDT (New York, GMT -04:00)
Register for Session 2
The IEEE Virtual Events Calendar provides an up-to-date listing of major upcoming events and those now available on demand.
Announcing a New IEEE Medal - the
IEEE Frances E. Allen Medal
Computer scientist and IBM Fellow made seminal contributions to computing
A new IEEE Medal is announced, named for computing pioneer Frances E. Allen. IBM sponsors this medal, which will be presented for the first time at the 2022 IEEE Honors Ceremony. “Fran,” as she is known, was also an IEEE Fellow, an ACM Fellow, and the first woman to receive the Turing Award for her work in high-performance computing.
The Allen Medal recognizes innovative work in computing leading to lasting impact on other fields of engineering, technology, or science and may be awarded to an individual or to a team of recipients or multiple recipients up to three in number. The prize consists of a gold medal, bronze replica, a certificate, and a cash prize. Nominations for this award will open in December 2020.
To learn more about Allen’s life and career, you can read a transcript of an oral history conducted with her in 2001 by the IEEE History Center.

“Professionally, Fran spent a lifetime working to advance the field of computing and pioneer new breakthroughs. Personally, she was equally focused on inspiring and motivating young people – especially women – to do the same. Fran would be honored to accept this honor in the hopes that it would celebrate and inspire young men and women to pursue the next generation of challenges.” - Mr. Ryan McKee, for the family of Fran Allen
Apply for the VoLT Program Today
The Volunteer Leadership Training (VoLT) Program is currently accepting applications for the 2020 class. Volunteers who have a desire to continue growing as IEEE volunteers and lead their local local units are invited to apply for the program. The deadline to apply is 17 July 2020.
2020 IEEE Medal & Recognition Recipients Honored Online
This year, in light of the global health emergency and pervasive travel restrictions, IEEE made the difficult decision not to hold the in-person IEEE Honors Ceremony. Instead, the 23 diverse 2020 IEEE Medal and Recognition recipients will be honored in a series of online promotions:
- Visit the Awards’ Facebook and Twitter social media platforms to see a continuing series of posts highlighting each 2020 recipient.
- Watch videos about each award recipient and learn more about their accomplishments on the Awards Channel on IEEE.tv.
- Flip through the digital 2020 IEEE Awards Booklet.
- The Awards Program is also partnering with the IEEE History Center to promote the 2020 recipients on their Engineering and Technology Wiki. Q&As with these recipients will be posted there in the months to come.
- Plans are being made to recognize the 2020 recipients at the 2021 IEEE Vision, Innovation, and Challenges Summit & Honors Ceremony.
Did you know?
Learn about IEEE members who are working on projects to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Visit IEEE On the Front Lines to read about them.
Free Resources from IEEE Spectrum includes a wide variety of offerings at no cost to support you through the pandemic.
IEEE MGA Call for Nominations
The IEEE Member and Geographic Activities (MGA) Nominations and Appointments (N&A) Committee is soliciting nominations for 2021 MGA committee member and liaison positions.
Each IEEE Region is encouraged to submit nominations to help ensure that MGA is globally balanced. Self-nominations are encouraged.
The deadline to submit nominations is 1 August 2020.
Sign in with your IEEE account username and password to view "My Nominations" under the “Login” tab.
IEEE New Initiatives Program is looking for Bright Ideas!
The IEEE New Initiatives Committee (NIC) helps bring great ideas to light. If you have a particular program, product, or service offering that can make a significant impact on IEEE members, the public, or a technical community, share your vision with the IEEE New Initiatives Committee (NIC). The New Initiatives Program can provide either seed funding or higher levels of funding.
2020 Focus Areas
- Increasing our connection to industry
- Engaging and recruiting members
- Creating innovative educational opportunities
- Increasing the visibility of IEEE and demonstrating its relevance to different communities
Who can Submit
One or more IEEE members, volunteers, or IEEE Organizational Units (OUs). We encourage IEEE OUs to cooperate with each other on proposal submissions.
When to Submit
There are no deadlines for submitting ideas.
How to Submit
You can submit your idea to New Initiatives Committee via newinitatives@ieee.org.
Member Benefits of Using IEEE DataPort
Given the prominence of data-based research in today’s world, IEEE believes it is necessary to provide members the opportunity to utilize IEEE DataPort. All IEEE members that log in to IEEE DataPort are automatically subscribed to IEEE DataPort and all researchers and authors can use IEEE DataPort to store your datasets and create exposure for your research. With more than 350,000 users and over 1,400 datasets currently and growing, IEEE DataPort can be used to store, share, manage, and analyze data in one trusted, central location. To give users more extensive information on the various benefits of IEEE DataPort, the IEEE DataPort team has created articles on important benefits members gain when using IEEE DataPort.
Some of the topics include:
- Support for Open Data Initiatives
- Gaining More Citations
- Linking Datasets to Manuscripts
- Accessing COVID-19 Datasets
- And more...
Users can always upload non-Open Access Datasets to IEEE DataPort at no cost (up to 2TB) and Open-Access datasets can also be uploaded for free, using the coupon code OPENACCESS1. All are invited to upload your research datasets today!
IEEE Resource Centers Announce New Feature Available Soon
Did you know that 22 of the 39 IEEE Societies have an active Resource Center? All Resource Centers now have a new feature to make it easier for society members to view webinars and tutorial videos and download PDF documents. Most content on the Resource Centers is provided free to society members and, with the new feature, if you are recognized as a society member and a video or PDF is free to you, you will immediately be able to play the video or download the PDF. There will no longer be a need to go through the cart to purchase a free product!
As an IEEE Society member, you have free or very low cost access to all of the Resource Center content offered by your society. Consolidating all valuable content such as tutorials, conference videos, and slides in one, single location, the IEEE Resource Centers are user-friendly and provide a search function so content is easy to find. If you aren’t already a society member, please consider joining a society today to get free access to a large amount of valuable technical content! Visit the IEEE Society Memberships page to become a member of an IEEE Society today and start exploring how to expand your knowledge base!
New Hands-on Activity Video from
IEEE REACH

Looking for a fun hands-on activity for young students to try at home? Check out How to Make a Light Bulb with Cardboard and Pencil Lead, a new video from IEEE REACH. In the video a student explains how to make a light bulb using basic materials, which is one of the program’s hands-on activities, in this case from the Electric Lighting unit.
IEEE REACH provides free lesson plans, hands-on activities, primary sources, and short videos that focus on the history of technology. The goal of the program is to improve technological and engineering literacy of all students. Technology and engineering education are more than just design; analysis of technological development is also fundamental to quality STEM education, and history provides a fun and exciting way for students to understand not only how tools and systems advance, but also how technology, throughout time, impacts our lives. Interwoven in every aspect of society, technology and engineering can influence politics, economics, and culture.
Before trying the hands-on activity, have students watch one of the REACH history videos about the development of electric lighting, or have them peruse the primary source documents associated with the topic, doing so will give them a deeper understanding of how electric lighting began and advanced.

Resources for Volunteers
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Webex Event User Guide available here
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Interested in using Google Meet? Find out more at http://meet.google.com or send us an email at mga-im@ieee.org.
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IEEE Center for Leadership Excellence (CLE)
Find volunteer training and resources in the IEEE CLE. -
IEEE Learning Network
The IEEE Learning Network (ILN) gives members easy access to online learning content from across IEEE, all in one place. Browse hundreds of courses on core and emerging technologies, leadership skills, and more. Check out the weekly selection of courses that active IEEE members can purchase for US$10 each! See our discounted courses -
Additional IEEE Virtual Events Resources
The following IEEE resources can also be useful for organizers looking to virtualize their events:- IEEE.tv’s video on Recording Your Presentation with Zoom
- MGA’s vTools resources