IEEE Travels In Japan, Australia And Taiwan

In late August and early September as IEEE President, I visited Japan, Australia and Taiwan. The corporate visits in Tokyo Japan were to 9 companies and one government ministry and also to attend a series of meetings around the IEEE Region 10 (Asia) Student, Young Professional, Women in Engineering and Life Members Conference. After leaving Japan I went to Canberra, Australia for an IEEE Special History Citation and from Australia, I went to Taiwan to participate in the Taiwan Semicon. More details below.

I visited NEC, Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric (twice), Toshiba, TMEIC, IBM Japan, Rapidus, Line Yahoo, MinebeaMitsumi and Axelspace as well as a Japanese government ministry for Agriculture (called NARO). My priorities as IEEE President is to see if we can keep more of our younger member as we get a lot of student members but many of them don’t convert to higher grade IEEE members and make IEEE their professional home. Since many of these student members end up working in industry it makes sense that better engagement with industry and with those working on the practical implementation of technology could help us find ways to retain more of these younger members. The image below was a commemoration of the discovery of carbon nanotubes at NEC.

My talks at these companies and others I have been visiting over this year focused on all the things that IEEE is doing, particularly those that could be of interest to industry. IEEE has global standards which enable interoperability and mass markets, it publishs leading technical content and put on events focusing on the latest developments, there are local section activities that companies can participate in, it is involved in public service work that can be a part of a company’s community outreach and it honors people in industry for exceptional work. The image below is from IBM Japan with me in front of their quantum computer.

During this visit I was championing a broader engagement with industry, particularly with companies who already engage with us in one way or another. The IEEE Industry Engagement Committee is working to implement this broader engagement with industry. Also, I spoke with the Japanese companies about possible participation in the 2025 IEEE Honors Ceremony, which will be in Tokyo for the first time as well as sponsoring outstanding younger technologists from industry, government and academia who have made valuable contributions to network with IEEE medal winners (including our Medal of Honor winners) before the IEEE Honors Ceremony. The image below shows me at the MinebeaMitsumi exhibit in their headquarters posing with their X Team at the X Tech Museum (which is a great STEM/STEAM experience for kids).

While in Tokyo I also participated in the Region 10 Student, Young Professional, Women in Engineering and Life Members Conference (SYWL) conference. I spoke in several meetings on the value of being part of a professional organization such as the IEEE for younger technologists and about how we need to engage with industry in order for IEEE to be relevant to our younger members, who often go on to work in industry after college. I also attended an amazing robotics competition with students participating from throughout Asia and enjoyed the sake barrel opening event for the conference (wearing a Happi coat) and some traditional Japanese theatre that included a Lion going out into the audience. Kathleen Kramer (2025 IEEE President) and I also had our pictures taken, wearing our Happi coats in the IEEE Japan Office, this is the photo at the start of this story.

From Japan, I flew down to Australia to participate in a special IEEE history special citation for the solar observation work at the Mt. Strombo observatory near Canberra. Takako Hashimoto (the Region 10 Director Elect) was on the same flight with me. When we landed in Sydney the flight to Canberra was canceled due to high wind and a couple of IEEE volunteers from Sydney who were going to drive up to Canberra gave us a ride. It was interesting to have a chance to drive through the Australian countryside versus flying over it.

We were able to visit a local university and see their big heavy ion accelerator and their engineering and science buildings. We also participated in an event celebrating the solar observation work at the Strombo observatory. The hill where the observatories are experienced a severe wildfire in 2003 that destroyed the old observatories and the equipment that was inside them. There has been a rebuilding since of a science center and equipment development laboratory, but astronomical work is now located further from Canberra to avoid city lights.

The image below shows me at the Mount Strombo visitors center, where our commemorative event took place, next to the IEEE plaque for the citation and holding a book written about the observatory. In addition to participating in the event I was also able to see some kangaroos, who live up on the mountain, in the wild, next to the visitor’s center.

From Australia I made a quick trip to Taiwan to talk at and attend the 2024 Taiwan Semicon put on by the industry trade group, SEMI (see image below). I have been to the Semicon West events held annually in San Francisco, but this is the first time attending on in Taiwan. Since Taiwan is a major center for semiconductor manufacturing, since it hosts large semiconductor companies such as TSMC it was a big event with many attendees and a large exhibit area with lots of vendors. I spoke with SEMI members about possible collaborative efforts between IEEE, SEMI and companies in the semiconductor industry, including workforce development training to support creating more local semiconductor supply chains to support global semiconductor efforts.

Late August and early September I visited companies and participated in the IEEE Region 10 SYWL conference in the Tokyo area. I also participated in an IEEE special citation for the Mount Strombo observatory in Australia and spoke at the Taiwan Semicon.