History

For a first introduction to the history of IEEE Region 8, you are advised to consult the following sources. Do not forget to check on a regular basis the History Activities that are currently going on in Region 8.

Region 8 history book

• The book A short history of IRE Region 9 / IEEE Region 8 (.pdf) presents a history of IEEE Region 8 spanning its origins from the IRE Region in Europe, through the IRE/AIEE merger forming the IEEE and subsequently to the present day Region 8 consisting of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Included are personal reflections of past directors, committee meetings and conferences, student activities, award recipients from Region 8, and Region 8 history papers presented at HISTELCON 2012. A number of archival documents are attached as appendices, including ephemera and minutes from early Region 8 Committee meetings. [See also IEEE History Center Newsletter 90, Nov. 2012, p. 9 (.pdf).]
  Note that if you click on the link above and open the Document Outline in the left-hand side bar, you can immediately jump to any section of the book and easily navigate through it.
• The early history of our Region is adequately described by its initiator (Bruce B. Barrow) in the article The Benelux Section and Early IRE/IEEE Activity in Europe (.pdf) by Jan Biemond and Bruce B. Barrow, presented at the 2009 IEEE Conference on the History of Technical Societies, Philadelphia, PA, 5–7 August 2009; the article is available in IEEEXplore. The important parts are section III IRE Region in Europe, section IV IRE/AIEE Merger, and the appendix Why in the World in Europe? See also Sections 1.2 and 1.5 in the book. You may also want to read the article by Robert C. Winton, The start of Region 8 and its Sections (see Section 1.4 of the book), which is taken from the Region 8 Centennial Review (.pdf), published on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of IEEE, 1984.
• Sections 2.1-3 describe the later history of Region 8 (.pdf): 2.1 The creation of IEEE Region 10 and the extension of Region 8, 2.2 The Eastward spread of Sections in Region 8, prepared by Tony Davies, and 2.3 Yugoslavia Section from 1971 to 1992, prepared by Baldomir Zajc.
• The book contains four history papers presented at HISTELCON 2012 in Pavia, Italy, 5–7 September 2012. Note that the papers by Jean D. Lebel and Jacob Baal-Schem as they appear in IEEEXplore are NOT the final versions that have been submitted to the conference organizers; the two papers that are included in the book are the actual final versions.
  • Martin J. Bastiaans, Researching the roots of IEEE Region 8 (.pdf)
  • Jean D. Lebel, Setting up the basis for Region 8 (.pdf)
  • Jacob Baal–Schem, Conferences, technical societies and development – A history of synergy (.pdf)
  • Anthony C. Davies, “… Go East, Region 8, Go East …” (.pdf)
• The book also contains personal reflections by some Past Region 8 Directors: Jean D. Lebel (Director 1965–1966), Rolf Remshardt (Treasurer 1983–1998, Director 1999–2000), Anthony C. Davies (Director 2003–2004), and Baldomir Zajc (Director 2005–2006). Moreover, it provides links to transcripts, available on the Engineering and Technology History Wiki (ETHW), of oral history interviews that were held with some Past Region 8 Directors.
  • Founder 1959–1962: Bruce B. Barrow was seminal in the foundation of IRE Region 9, which became IEEE Region 8 after the merger in 1963.
  • Director 1965–1966: Jean D. Lebel
  • Director 1967–1968: Robert C.G. Williams, together with Gordon H. (Mick) Byford and Bob Winton: Early history of Region 8 and the UKRI Section
  • Director 1973–1974: C. Reginald Russell
  • Director 1981–1982: Walter Proebster
  • Director 1985–1986: Basil W. Osborne
  • Director 1991–1992: Kurt Richter
  • Director 1995–1996: Peer Martin Larsen
  • Director 1999–2000: Rolf A. Remshardt
  • Director 2001–2002: Levent Onural
  • Director 2005–2006: Baldomir Zajc
• Chronological list of Region 8 Sections and Subsections (.xlsx) See also Section 2.4 in the Region 8 history book with several additional remarks.
• Geographic Unit statistics at year end (.xlsx) See also Section 2.5 in the Region 8 history book with several additional remarks.
• Membership statistics at year end (.xlsx) See also Section 2.6 in the Region 8 history book.
• Chronological list of Region 8 Directors (.xlsx) See Section 3.1 in the Region 8 history book for other members of the Region 8 Operating Committee.
• Chronological list of Region 8 Committee meetings (.xlsx) See also Chapter 5 in the Region 8 history book. (Scanned) versions of the minutes are available for download; see below under Other sources on the Region 8 website.
• Chronological list of Region 8 Conferences (.xlsx) See also Chapter 6 in the Region 8 history book.
• Chronological list of Region 8 Student Paper Contest finals (.xlsx) See Section 7.5 in the Region 8 history book for the details.
• Chronological list of Region 8 Award Recipients (.xlsx) See Chapter 8 in the Region 8 history book for the citations. See also at the Awards & Contest History webpage.
• Chronological list of IEEE Milestones in Region 8 (.xlsx) with links to ETHW and to their locations on Google maps. See Section 9.2 in the Region 8 history book for the citations.

Engineering and Technology History Wiki

• The Engineering and Technology History Wiki (ETHW) is a wiki-based platform that allows IEEE members and Organizational Units to collaboratively preserve and share their history (including, for instance, the history of individual IEEE Sections). ETHW hosts the Milestones, Oral Histories, and Archives programs, and also allows IEEE members to contribute to Wikipedia-style topic articles or to preserve their own first-hand histories.
• IEEE Region 8 (Europe, Middle East, & Africa) history by Tony Davies, 8 June 2008
• List of Region 8 Section histories (.xlsx) with links to ETHW
• List of IEEE Milestones in Region 8 (.xlsx) with links to ETHW and to their locations on Google maps
• List of Oral Histories related to Region 8 (.xlsx) with links to ETHW

Other sources on the Region 8 website

• IEEE Region 8 News, our newsletter that started in 1967, provides a valuable source of information of what happened in Region 8. IEEE Region 8 News is aiming to showcase events, achievements and news items from across the Region. As each issue is produced with specific deadlines throughout the year, it is an ideal medium for reporting on past events, meetings or stories — with the ability to promote future events. The archive of back issues is available online from 2002 onwards; scanned versions of older issues of Region 8 News and its predecessors can be found here.
• IEEE Region 8 Today provides an advanced search option to find previous posts. IEEE Region 8 Today was founded on May 2018, aiming to bring to you the latest news of the active members within our Region; moreover, it shares technological information from the IEEE. A large variety of Tech News, IEEE volunteers news, Interviews of people who have contributed a lot to our Region, and many more interesting fields, can be found on our news web portal.
• You may also want to check the (scanned) minutes of the Region 8 Committee meetings (and the agenda books of the more recent ones). With the exception of four Region 8 Committee meetings — in Geneva (7 September 1965), Leuven (16 September 1966), Tel Aviv (24 October 1968), and Dubrovnik (25-26 October 1974) — the minutes have been collected in five pdf files, which are available for download:
  1962-1970 (.pdf), 1971-1983 (.pdf), 1984-1993 (.pdf), 1994-2009 (.pdf), and 2010-2022 (.pdf).
• Previous posts about Region 8 History Activities can be found in the History Activities News Archive.

Miscellaneous weblinks

• Region 8 Centennial Review (.pdf), published on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of IEEE (actually of one of IEEE’s predecessors, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, AIEE), 1984
• Region 8 and East Europe — History, Development and future Strategy (.pdf) by R.C. Winton, Region 8 Forward Planning Co-ordinator, 12 April 1995
• IEEE timeline from 1963 to 1984
• IEEE timeline from 1984 to 2012
• History of IEEE since 1984