Prepared by: M.Sato, Chair for IEEE Sendai Section
IEEE Sendai Section was established in 1998, when the Tokyo Section which was founded in 1956, was divided into eight Sections covering all of Japan. Sendai City is located in the northern part of the main island of Japan. It is the largest city in this region, and the Section covers the northeast (Tohoku) region of Japan. There are strong academic activities as this region is home to several universities. More than 15% of the members in the Section are students. While many students leave the area upon graduation, new members join, and the number of members in the Section is steady at around 700 members.
Due to the relatively large number of student and graduate student members, the Sendai Section emphasizes educational activities. Every August, there is the Tohoku region joint convention of the Institute of Electrical Information Engineers, Japan, to which IEEE Sendai Section gives technical support. At this convention, since 2002, the Sendai Section has organized a student session, wherein students present their work in English. Around 30 to 40 papers have been submitted to this session every year, and IEEE Sendai Section Student Awards are also awarded to selected papers. At this convention, the Section hosts one seminar on writing technical papers in English, and another on making technical presentations at international conferences.
North Japan was devastated by the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, and most members suffered from this massive natural disaster. The tsunami destroyed the social infrastructure, including electric power supplies and electrical communication systems. At the same time, it presented us with many tasks to be solved, and IEEE members began to prepare to face the next disaster. IEEE Sendai Section started a series of special lectures introducing these activities. For example, the title of the lecture in 2019 was “Toward an idealized resilient communication system”. Membership promotion is a very important part of the Section’s activities. At the annual Section conference, members who have attained the grade of IEEE Fellow were invited to give lectures. New IEEE Senior Members are also recognized at this event.
The recent flurry of activities of affinity groups in the Sendai Section is remarkable. Sendai WIE was established in 2017 and hosts many meetings to encourage female members, and selects a best paper in an organized session for Sendai WIE Awards. IEEE Sendai Life Members Affinity Group (LMAG) organizes lectures, inviting specialists in related fields. This series of lectures is not only for members with rich experience, but also for young members. COVID-19 prevents us from enjoying face-to face meetings, but LMAG meetings have been held online to IEEE and non-IEEE members all over Japan and the participation sometimes exceeds 100. The IEEE Sendai Young Professionals (YP) Affinity Group was established in 2020, and has organized topical meetings to stimulate young engineers.
Recently, the Sendai Section has won several awards and recognitions. These include: