Last update 25-01-2025
Team
Martin
Tony
Antonio
Evgen
Mathini
Sergei
The History Activities Committee is looking forward to assist you in your history-related activities. The 2025 committee consists of:
- Martin Bastiaans, History Activities Coordinator (2021-2025)
- Tony Davies, Past History Activities Coordinator (2013-2020)
- Antonio Savini, current IEEE History Committee member (2022-2025)
- Evgen Pichkalyov, past IEEE History Committee member (2022-2023)
- Mathini Sellathurai, current IEEE History Committee member (2024-2025)
- Sergei Prokhorov, current IEEE History Committee member (2022-2025)
Feel free to contact us at [email protected], but include [email protected] in CC, just in case the email alias may not work properly.
- List of Region 8 Section history officers (.xlsx)
- List of Region 8 History Network subscribers (.xlsx)
IEEE Region 8 History webpage
The Region 8 History webpage is updated whenever new information becomes available.
News
- The website for HISTELCON 2025, Knowing the past for preparing the future: History of technology for meaningful goals in the age of AI, which will be held in Bonn, Germany, 30 September – 2 October 2025, is live at https://2025.ieee-histelcon.org/. Instructions regarding Paper submission, with submission deadline 14 March 2025, can be found under the relevant tab.
HISTELCON is a flagship conference series of IEEE Region 8 held every two years and is dedicated to any aspects of the history of electrical engineering, electronics, computing, and their impact on social and economical development. - Recently added Oral Histories:
The List of Oral Histories related to Region 8 (.xlsx) on the Region 8 History webpage has been updated by adding the transcripts of interviews with- Alex Acero, an oral history conducted in June 2023 by Mary Ann Hellrigel, IEEE History Center, Piscataway, NJ, USA,
- Archie Campbell, an oral history conducted in September 2019 by Mary Ann Hellrigel, IEEE History Center, Piscataway, NJ, USA,
- John Clarke, an oral history conducted in September 2016 by Mary Ann Hellrigel, IEEE History Center, Piscataway, NJ, USA,
- Linda_Katehi, an oral history conducted in February 2021 by Kate Kuisel and Allison Marsh, IEEE History Center, Piscataway, NJ, USA.
- IEEE Milestones approved but not yet dedicated:
- UK and Ireland: Anderson bridge, 1891
Dedication ceremony to be decided - France/Italy: Integrated circuits for satellite digital radio, 1996-1997
Dedication ceremonies to be decided - Germany, Long distance transmission of electrical power using three-phase alternating current, 1891
Dedication ceremony in Berlin in preparation - Israel: Intel 8087 Math Coprocessor, 1980
Dedication ceremony in Haifa planned but postponed
- UK and Ireland: Anderson bridge, 1891
- IEEE Milestone proposals under consideration by the IEEE History Committee
- Benelux: ADSL: expediting broadband internet access for society, 1993-1997
- Benelux: Design of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) Rijndael, 1995-1998
- Germany: Unipolar conduction of metal-semiconductor junctions, 1874
- Italy: Northern cross radio telescope, 1964
- Germany: The Deutsches Museum, Special citation in history, 1903
- News Archive — News items about Milestones and Conferences are ordered by year: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2019, 2017, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2010.
Highlights from 2024 – see also News Archive: 2024
- IEEE Milestones dedicated in 2024:
Birmingham, England: Development of the cavity magnetron, 1939-1941
Dedication ceremony 4 June 2024 – IEEE UK and Ireland Section
In this building from 1939 to 1941, University of Birmingham researchers John Randall, Harry Boot, and James Sayers conceived and demonstrated fundamental ways to improve the output power, efficiency, and frequency stability of cavity magnetrons. Further developed and refined by others, these advances facilitated the Allies’ deployment of microwave radar systems in World War II. Cavity magnetrons were later adapted for use in industrial heating and microwave ovens. - Proceedings of HISTELCON
The proceedings of HISTELCON 1 through 7, available at IEEE Xplore, are now freely accessible for everyone without any payment; see also the HISTELCON entry on ETHW.- Paris, France, 11–12 September 2008
- Madrid, Spain, 3–5 November 2010
- Pavia, Italy, 5–7 September 2012
- Tel Aviv, Israel, 16–21 August 2015, held jointly with the 42nd annual meeting of ICOHTEC, the International Committee for the History of Technology: History of High-Technologies and Their Socio-Cultural Contexts
- Kobe, Japan, 7–8 August 2017, together with IEEE Region 10
- Glasgow, United Kingdom, 18–19 September 2019
- Moscow, Russia, 10-12 November 2021
- Florence, Italy, 7-9 September 2023 (not yet freely accessible)
- Minutes of the IEEE Region 8 Committee meetings
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) – we have (scanned) versions of all meeting minutes; and of the above-mentioned meetings in Leuven and Tel Aviv, we have the agendas. The (scanned) versions 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). - Old issues of IEEE Region 8 News
Digital versions of IEEE Region 8 News from 2002 onward can be found in the Region 8 News archive of back issues. All older issues of IEEE Region 8 News and its predecessors — IEEE Region 8 newsletter (1967-1986; issues 1-76) and IEEE Region EIGHT News (1987-1989; issues 77-85) — have now been scanned: 1092 pages with a total size of about 0.7 GB. Note that volume numbers were introduced in Region 8 News in 1998 with the August issue (Volume 1, Number 1); until then, the numbering was consecutively from 1 till 122.
The scanned versions can be downloaded by clicking on the links in the table that can be found here. In addition to news about the IEEE and the activities that took place on the Region level, these old issues contain lots of information about our Sections and may thus form a valuable source of information, especially for those Sections who want to fill the gaps in their history. To help Sections, an index has been created to direct Section leaders to the relevant pages in the issues 1-122 (December 1967 – May 1998) where news about their Section can be found.
IEEE Milestones
- The IEEE Milestones Program honors significant technical achievements in all areas associated with IEEE. It is a program of the IEEE History Committee, administered through the IEEE History Center.
- List of IEEE Milestones worldwide
- List of IEEE Milestones in Region 8 (.xlsx) with links to ETHW and to their locations on Google maps
- Status report of Milestones under consideration by the IEEE History Committee
- List of achievements suitable for Milestones
- List of achievements suitable for Milestones featuring women
- List of candidate Milestones in Region 8 approaching major anniversaries (.xlsx)
Engineering and Technology History Wiki
- The Engineering and Technology History Wiki 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).
- List of Region 8 Section histories (.xlsx)
- List of Oral Histories worldwide
- List of Oral Histories related to Region 8 (.xlsx)
- List of First-Hand Histories worldwide
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.
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. - More information about the history of Region 8 can be found on ieeer8.org/history/
Documents archive
- History Activities Operations Manual
- Current report of the History Activities Coordinator (.pdf)
- Previous report of the History Activities Coordinator (.pdf)
- Region 8 History Activities – Final Report 2021-2022) (.pdf)
- Previous reports of the History Activities Coordinator (Martin Bastiaans, 2021-2024) (.pdf) in reverse order
- Previous reports of the History Activities Coordinator (Tony Davies, 2013-2020) (.pdf) in reverse order
- Previous reports of the History Activities Coordinator (Jacob Baal-Schem, 2007-2010) (.pdf) in reverse order
IEEE History Center – a selection of additional weblinks
- IEEE History Center Programs & Projects
- IEEE History Center Publications
- IEEE History Center Newsletters
- REACH – Raising Engineering Awareness through the Conduit of History
- IEEE Life Members’ Fellowship in the History of Electrical and Computing Technology
- Elizabeth & Emerson Pugh Young Scholar in Residence at the IEEE History Center
- IEEE William and Joyce Middleton Electrical Engineering History Award
- Bernard S. Finn IEEE History Prize