Prepared by: Donald Bailey, Chair for IEEE New Zealand Council
History
The IEEE New Zealand Section was formed in 1968, shortly after the formation of Region 10. In 1980, it was reorganized as a New Zealand Council, with two sections: New Zealand North and New Zealand South. The New Zealand Central Section was formed in 2007, and the Fiji Subsection was formed under New Zealand North in 2015.
About Us
The IEEE New Zealand (NZ) Council is a small administrative body, which exists at the pleasure of its constituent sections for the express purpose of:
- Providing a common voice for IEEE within New Zealand, when requested by its constituent sections. This includes coordinating with other professional engineering organizations within New Zealand (IET, and Engineering New Zealand).
- Providing an initial point of contact to IEEE and to help direct enquiries to the appropriate units of the organization.
- To help coordinate activities between the Sections. This is important because many of the technical society Chapters are joint between the Sections within New Zealand.
The Council consists of the Chairs of the New Zealand Sections, and the Chair of the Fiji Subsection. The Council is hosted on a rotation basis with the host Section electing the Council Chair who is usually a former Section Chair.
The Council is a fully volunteer run unit and has no accounts or budgets. Extraordinary expenses of the Council are met by an equal levy on the Sections, when required and as agreed. The business of the Council is largely conducted by its Chair, with tasks delegated to other volunteers.
Recent and Current Activities
- In July 2019, the IEEE University of Canterbury Student Branch hosted a small but successful ANZSCon (Australia New Zealand Student and Young Professionals Congress)
- NZ South hosted and provided hospitality for the R10 Executive committee meeting in Queenstown in January 2020.
- An on-going project is the registration of IEEE New Zealand. This project has currently stalled while sorting out a number of legal and financial issues.
- The former national society agreement with IPENZ has expired. The council is in the process of negotiating renewed agreements with both IET New Zealand, and Engineering New Zealand (formerly IPENZ).
- NZ Council is planning an activity for IEEE New Zealand Day. Our calendars are generally relatively quiet at the start of the year, and fill up with a number of activities in the latter half of the year. An event is planned in March 2021, probably in the form of a webinar, with participation from each of the Sections within NZ, to celebrate IEEE in New Zealand.
- On behalf of IEEE NZ, the NZ North Section put in a bid to host TENCON 2021, which was accepted. Planning is now underway to hold this flagship conference in Auckland in December 2021.