IEEE Region 8 Life Member Committee

Magdalena Salazar-Palma, Chair, R8 LM Coordinator, m.salazar-palma@ieee.org

Commitee Members:

Peter Magyar, Past Chair, Ex-officio Member, peter.magyar@ieee.org

TBD

Preamble

It is a privilege to be an IEEE Life Member (LM) with so much to contribute back to the engineering community and to the public in general. You are entitled to become a LM when your age is at least 65 and the sum of your age and of your active membership duration reaches 100. Life Members are exempted of IEEE membership fees and pay lower fees at IEEE Conferences (at most – IEEE Student fees).

Most Life Member activities are performed by Life Member Affinity Groups (LMAG), similar to Chapters, established as part of an IEEE Section.

In summary the mission of Life Members Groups is to:

• Enhance and encourage interest in electrical and electronic engineering at secondary and tertiary (college) levels.
• Utilize the vast experience of LMs to impact the general public’s knowledge of electrical and electronic engineering and increase understanding of the role of engineers.
• Foster collaborations in pre-university education and encourage students to consider taking up engineering as a career.
• Promulgate the history of electrical engineering together with information and related technologies.

Please visit the website of the IEEE Life Members Committee (life.ieee.org) for more details.

Posted PM, Jan 01, 2021

Recognition of 2024 LMAG Activity

LMC Chair´s Email

Two highest activities 2024 per Region on basis of submitted vTools event reports, more than or equal to 12

R1   New Jersey LMAG  19

R2   –

R3   Atlanta LMAG  26

Canaveral LMAG, Costal South Carolina LMAG, NW Florida LMAG   18 each

R4   –

R5   Lone Star LMAG   75

Central Texas LMAG  26

R6   –

R7   –

R8   North Macedonia LMAG  43

Israel LMAG  19

R9   –

R10  Delhi LMAG  96

Kerala LMAG  69

Posted PM, Aug 24, 2025

R8 HA and LM Joint Meeting 2025

Final Program __ R8 HA & LM Joint Meeting 2025

Posted PM, Aug 24, 2025

2025 IEEE Life Member Individual Service Award

R8 recipient

Patrick Dewilde, Benelux Section LMAG

-For the exceptional and continuous service to IEEE, to the Benelux Section Life Member Affinity Group, advancing engineering education, fostering mentorship, innovation, research and interdisciplinary collaboration.

2025 IEEE Life Member Affinity Group Achievement Award

R8 recipient

Switzerland Section LMAG

Hugo Wyss, Chair 2024

-For actively promoting cooperation among national and international peer-groups and organizing meetings on urgent issues facing the industry.

Posted PM, Aug 23, 2025

In Memoriam Tony Davies (1936-2025)

With deep sorrow we report that Professor Anthony  (Tony) C. Davies of the King´s College London, died on March 22^nd 2025 from heart failure. Tony was a Life Fellow of IEEE, and was an active member of the United Kingdom and Ireland Section LMAG until his death.

Tony held many volunteer positions in IEEE, beginning in 1975 as UK&I Section Secretary. He was elected as Region 8 Director 2003-04, served as Past Director 2005-06 and was particularly active in developing IEEE activities in the countries of Eastern Europe and Russia. He served as a Vice President of the IEEE Circuit &Systems Society. As a Life Member he organized IEEE activities in the History of Technology.

Tony was member of the R8 Life Member Committee 2021-24. He supported the R8 LM activity very intensively. He was also more times speaker in LM and also in joint LM & YP & Student & Society activities.

With his seemingly tireless energy, good humor, and gregariousness, Tony stood out at every meeting he attended, from student meetings right up to the Board of Directors.  Working with Tony was always an enjoyable and rewarding experience widely appreciated by his IEEE colleagues.

His passing has left a large gap in IEEE’s volunteer resources and in the Region 8 Life member activity.

Posted PM, Jul 01, 2025

IEEE Region 8 Life Member Affinity Groups (LMAGs)

Status: 2025-07-29

LMAG Map 

Posted PM, Dec 31, 2024

IEEE Region 8 Life Members Committee 2023-2024

Chair:

Péter Magyar  Germany Section

Corresponding Members:

Anthony C. Davies, UK & Ireland Section

Goce L. Arsov, North Macedonia Section

Rima Fathallah, Tunisia Section

Samir I. Shaheen, Egypt Section

Shmuel Auster, Israel Section

Life Member Award Program 2024

2024 Award Recipients

R8 Award Recipients

Region 8 LMAG Achievement Award

North Macedonia Section LMAG, Chair: Goce L. Arsov

Citation: For exceptional contribution to the IEEE community in North Macedonia

Region 8 Individual LM Service Award

Hugo F. Wyss, Life Fellow, Switzerland Section LMAG Chair

Citation: To recognize 20 years of promotion of IEEE activities in Region 8 and for major contributions to IEEE milestones and the history of Electrical Engineering

R8 LM Activities 2023

Life Member Award Program 2023

2023 Award Recipients

R8 Award Recipients

Region 8 LMAG Achievement Award

UK & Ireland Section LMAG, Charles  W. Turner, Life Fellow, Chair 2022

Citation: For the motivation of Life Members and Students in IEEE activities by the planning and delivery of a comprehensive series of Milestone events and symposia

Region 8 Individual LM Service Award

Wim van Etten, Life Senior, Benelux Section LMAG,Chair 2022

Citation: Recognizing Wim van Etten’s leadership in establishing and driving the IEEE Benelux Life Member Affinity Group, culminating in three IEEE Milestones commemorating important historical developments in the Benelux

Hungary Section LMAG and R8 LMAG Group and R8 HA Committee Joint Meeting

Hosts

IEEE R8 Hungary Section LMAG

IEEE R8 History Activity Committee

IEEE R8 Life Members Committee

Venue:

Obuda University (OU), Budapest University of Technology and Economy (BUTE) and Budapest Public Transportation Company (BKV)

Date: December 5-6, 2023

Sponsors: OU, R8 MA, LMC, BKV

Technical Program

Dec 4 Welcome Dinner

Dec 5

09:00 -10:00 Opening Session (OU, R8. R8 MA)

10:00 -12:00 LMAG Session (R8 LM Committee and 10 R8 LMAGs)

13:00 -15:00 History Activity & Milestone Session (R8 HA Committee and 10 R8 LMAGs)

15:00 -17:00 Visit the University Research and Innovation Center of OU

17:00  Networking, Reception, Dinner

Dec 6

10:00 -11:00 Visit the Modular Hybrid Drive System Laboratory of BUTE

13:00 -14:00 Guided Tour in the Historical Ferenc Substation “Ferenc Áramátalakitó” of BKV

14:00 -15:30 Visit the 1st Hungarian Milesone in the Millenium Underground Railway Museum of BKV

19:00 Closing Social Event

Participants:

Hungary Section LMAG members (40 invited), Hosts representatives (~10), Local organizers (~10), R8 LMAG Chairs (10)

Registration:

Free of charge for registered participants

Preliminary registration closed on Oct 15, 2023

Final registration closed on Nov 10, 2023

Photo´s of the Meeting, taken by Luc Claesen, Benelux Section LMAG Chair

Science Award to Ulrich Reimers, Germany Section LMAG Chair

Science Award to Ulrich Reimers, Germany Section LMAG Chair

Prof. a. D. Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Reimers, University of Technology Braunschweig, Germany, Chair of the Germany Section LMAG received the Science Award for Information and Communication Technology from the VDE ITG   “In recognition of his relevant pioneering achievements in the field of digital video broadcasting (DVB), which were recognized by the entire professional world, as well as for his scientific leadership in the merger of mobile communications and television and the resulting 5G broadcasting.”

Journal of LMAG Events

2023-02-28 GERMANY Section LMAG – Technical and Administrative Meeting 2023 Q1

Meeting Minutes

2023-05-30 GERMANY Section LMAG – Technical and Administrative Meeting 2023 Q2

2023-05-30_ Germany LMAG Meeting_Screenshot

2023-03-24 Informative Meeting on LMAG Petition Preparation in conjunction with the R8 Committee Meeting

Invitation

LMAG Petition Step by Step Training

Publications of R8 LMs

Newsletters:

• LMC Newsletter
  • Online submission: https://life.ieee.org/news-events/submit-news-item/
  • Email submission: Charles Turner, Newsletter Editor and David Bondurant, LMC Regional Activity Coordinator
  • LMC Newsletter Archive
• R8 News
  • Submission deadlines
    • 15 July 2023 – for the September 2023 Issue
    • 15 October 2023 – for the December 2023 Issue
    • 15 January 2024 – for the March 2024 issue
  • Online submission: IEEE R8 PnC Submission Form
  • Email submission opportunities: 
    • Editors
    • Adeel Sultan, R8 Publication & Communications (PnC) Chair
    • Maja Matijasevic, R8 News, Editor in Chief
    • Fatma Alzamel, Region8 Today, Editor in Chief
  • Region8 Today
  • Region8 News_Mar2023
  • Region8 News_Jun2023
  • Region8 News_Sept2023
• Post on the R8 LM website (see below)
  • Send PDF to R8 LM Committee Chair

Benelux Section LMAG

• Symposium Book – String galvanometer by Wim van Etten, Past Chair Benelux Section LMAG, Cees Swenne and Enno van der Velde. Published as an Open Access Book for free download, https://hartlongcentrum.nl/over-ons/geschiedenis/ieee-milestone-award-string-galvanometer/

Bulgaria Section LMAG

• 2023-05-31 Bulgaria Section LMAG – new and active  by Jordan Kolev, Bulagaria Section LMAG, Submitted to R8 News, issue Aug 2023

Germany Section LMAG

• 2023-05-31 IEEE Life Members Affinity Group Germany , Activity Report by Ulrich Reimers, Germany Section LMAG Chair
• Germany LMAG meets quarterly , by Ulrich Reimers, Germany Section LMAG Chair. Submitted to R8 News, issue Aug 2023

Lebanon Section LMAG

• 2023-05-31 Lebanon LMAG performs Souqe Taqa , by Usamah O. Farrukh, Chair of the lebanon Section LMAG. Submitted to R8 News, issue Aug 2023

North Macedonia Section LMAG

• IEEE North Macedonia LMAG activities by Goce Arsov, Chair, North Macedonia Section LMAG. Sumbitted to LMC Newsletter, issue Aug 2023

Switzerland Section LMAG

• Switzerland Section LMAG is sponsoring and contributing to the extension of the ENTER National Museum of Consumer Electronics, opening in new premises by the end of 2023 in Derendingen , by Hugo Wyss, Switzerland Section LMAG Chair, Sumbitted to LMC Newsletter, issue Feb 2023
• 75th anniversary of the transistor at EPFL Neuchâtel  by Michael Bron, Vice Chair, Switzerland Section LMAG, Sumbitted to LMC Newsletter, issue Aug 2023

UK & Ireland Section LMAG

• Eynsham_Milestone Brochure 
• Manchester_Milestone Brochure
• CT X-Ray Scanners _ Milestone Brochure

R8 LM Committee

• Cooperation and Support Published in R8 News, March 2023
• The current YPs are the future LMs – Mixed LM and YP Meeting in Prague, Published in R8 News, March 2023 & LMC Newsletter, April 2023
• Life members in R8 _ an Overview , Submitted to R8 News, May 2023
• Eleven new LMAGs in the largest LMAG regional group , LMC Newsletter submission, 2023-05-31
• Life Member Award Winners, R8 News submission, 2023-06-18

General Information

Website of the IEEE Life Members Committee

life.ieee.org

LMAG Funds 

• Funding of activities is provided by Life Members Committee (LMC), Region 8 and IEEE Foundation
• A rebate of $200 to the Section is provided annually from IEEE Member and Geographic Activities Board
• Groups that report at least two meetings annually will receive the $200 rebate. The rebate is increased to $275 for groups with six or more reports annually.
• Groups are authorized by the IEEE Life Members Committee an annual budget not exceeding $2,000 towards meetings or activities approved in advance by the Regional LM Coordinator. The funding will be provided upon actual expenses.

Approval and Reimbursing Process

1. The funding request pre-approval of the R8 LM Coordinator by using the LMAG Fund Request Form _ Pre-approval Form
2. Submission of expense report incl. the signed pre-approval form and invoices, 

• • either via Concur ( http://https://corporate.ieee.org/resources/travel-medical-and-insurance/ieee-expense-report ) for out of pocket expenses; the money will be transferred to the personal bank account
  • or via Expense Report Form 2022 , signed by R8 LM Coordinator, submitted according to the instructions; the money will be transferred to the Section 

Types of activities of Life Member Affinity Groups

• Technical Lectures, joint activities with parent Section, visits to museums and technical sites, social gathering, luncheons
• Using existing groups’ experience, typical activities can range from: invited talks and seminars, technology-oriented meetings, history workshops and conferences, oral histories, and dialogue with other professional institutions, to initiating technical milestones, monitoring outside technical archives, museum projects, and social activities.
• In their Sections, LM Groups should cooperate with other Society chapters, affinity groups (YP and WIE) as well as with student branches – on common projects. They can work together in IEEE Foundation Grants Program, which are supported by LMC Life Members Committee. We encourage the forming of “History teams” to preserve the History of technological developments in which people participated through the use of the IEEE Global History Network (www.ieeeghn.org) and Engineering and Technology History Wiki – ethw.org
• For any advice or question, please contact Péter Magyar, IEEE Region 8 Life Members Coordinator

To form a new Affinity Group

• look at the full list of affinity groups above to see if you are already part of it
• find out if there is already an existing IEEE Section in your country – full list can be found here
• a petition to establish a LM Group requires the signature of 6 IEEE Members, including at least 2 Life Members
• if there is an IEEE Section in your country but not a LM AG, you are eligible to submit a petition – check the Guide to establish a new LMAG

Practical Advices in Administration and Holding Meetings

For finding the list of names of your LMAG members

• go to IEEE OU Analytics (login and password of member IEEE)
• choose “Memberships, subscriptions and more”
• under “Products” dropdown menu, choose only Life Members category and click apply
• see the “Details” tab
• the list of your members appears (you can export as table)
• you can also contact your Section or R8 Ad-hoc Subcommittee Chair Péter Magyar

For declaring the names of officers of your LMAG

• Go to https://officers.vtools.ieee.org
• If you are the present chair, you can add or change the officers by going to the concerned position, then go on “Add officer”. A window will be opened to asking you to give your N° of membership IEEE and the date of the start of your function. Go then on “Validate” and “Submit”
• If you are the new elected chair, go on “Chapter chair” and apply the same procedure..

For declaring your LMAG activities (event report)

• go to  https://events.vtools.ieee.org/events/search
• login as IEEE member
• go to Event/Report Administration
• go to File >> Report for a Past Event
• OR go to Create an event
• two reports at least are required each year from any category (technical, professional, social, administrative)

For organizing elections

• go to: http://sites.ieee.org/vtools/category/vtools-voting

For sending a message by e-Notice

• go to: https://enotice.vtools.ieee.org

For reserving a teleconference on Webex

• go to: http://sites.ieee.org/vtools/tools-ok/webex/webex-registration
  
• send your request to IEEE staff at least 5 days before the event

R8 LM Activities 2021-2022

R8 Life Members Subcommittee 2021-2022

Péter Magyar Chair Germany Section	Victor Fouad Hanna Corresponding Member France Section	Tony Davies Corresponding Member UK & Ireland Section	Charles Turner Corresponding Member UK & Ireland Section	Vinko Lesic Corresponding Member Croatia Section

LMAG development efforts

New LMAGs 2021-22

2021 Germany Section

2021 Czechoslovakia Section

2022 North Macedonia Section

2022 Jordan Section

2022 Turkey Section

2022 Poland Section

LMAG formation in progress, 2022

Russia Section

Finland Section

Life Member Awards 2022

LM Individual Service Award:

• More details: LM Individual Service Award Description
• Nomination form: LM Individual Service Award Nomination Form

LMAG Achievement Award:

• More details: LMAG Achievement Award Description
• Nomination form: LMAG Achievement Award Nomination Form

R8 Winners

Regional Life Member Individual Service Award 2022

Georgi Dimirovski, North Macedonia Section

Regional Life Member Affinity Group Achievement Award 2022

Germany Section LMAG, Chaired by Hagen Hultzsch

R8 Life Members Subcommittee Activity 2021-2022

LM Subcommittee Chair´s Report 2021-22

2022-12-30 R8 LM Subcommittee _ Closing Report

R8 LM Subcommittee Reports

2021-03-21 LifeMembers_116th R8C Meeting Online

2021-11-05 LifeMembers_117th R8C Meeting Frankfurt

2022-04-02 LifeMembers_118th R8C Meeting Warsaw

2022-09-21 LifeMembers_119th R8C Meeting Cairo

Article submissions – LM Newsletter, Dec 2022, printed issue

Switzerland Section LMAG is sponsoring and contributing to the extension of the ENTER National Museum of Consumer Electronics, opening in new premises by the end of 2023 in Derendingen

New LMAG in North Macedonia

Life Members at Region 8 Strategy Retreat 2022

Cooperation & Support – Important Components of the LM Activity in R8

R8 LMAG In-person Meeting Prague

Hosted by Czechoslovakia Section LMAG, Chair: Andre Sopczak

Venue: Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, Czech Technical University in Prague (CVUT), Czech Republic

Motto: The current YPs are the future LMs

Program:

26.10.2022

Arrival, Social Dinner

27.10.2022.

• Opening Session
• Opening Address, Peter Magyar, LM SC Chair
• Welcome Address, Matej Pacha, Czechoslovakia Section Chair
• Welcome Address and Introduction of CVUT, Andre Sopczak, Czechoslovakia Section LMAG Chair
• IEEE Session
• IEEE and IEEE Region 8 Update: an Overview, Magdalena Salazar Palma, R8 Past Director
• IEEE Region 8 Member Activities, Sara Barros, R8 VC Member Activities
• R8 LM Overview, Peter Magyar, LM SC Chair
• IEEE R8 History Activities Committee & IEEE Milestones, Martin J. Bastiaans, R8 HA Committee Chair, Representative of the Benelux Section LMAG
• France Section LMAG contribution to IEEE Milestone activities , Bernadette Bouchon-Meunier, Sorbonne University, France Section LMAG Chair on behalf of Victor Fouda Hanna, France Section LMAG Past Chair
• Activity highlights of the Hungary Section LMAG, Rudas J. Imre, Hungary Section LMAG Chair
• North Macedonia Milestone Experience, Goce Arsov, North Macedonia Section LMAG Chair
• North Macedonia – Milestone Proposal, Goce Arsov, North Macedonia Section LMAG Chair
• LMAG Technical Session
• Fuzzy Approaches to Explainable Artificial Intelligence, Bernadette Bouchon-Meunier, Sorbonne University, France Section LMAG Chair
• Finite-time-convergence Attitude Tracking Control for Rigid Spacecraft Using Chebyshev ANN and Fast-NTSM Manifold, Georgi Dimirovski, Cyril & Methodius University Skopje, North Macedonia Section LMAG Vice Chair
• Discussion
• Award Ceremony
• 
• Awardee is Georgi Dimirovski, North Macedonia Section, R8 Winner of the IEEE Life Members Service Award 2022
• Award will be presented by Magdalena Salazar Palma, R8 Past Director & Sara Barros, R8 VC Members Activities & Goce Arsov, North Macedonia LMAG Chair & Peter Magyar, R8 LM Coordinator
• Lunch
• Group Picture
• 
• YP Technical Session
• A Comparative Analysis of Using Distributed Ledger Technologies for Transactive Energy Systems,   Kim Krawiec, IEEE YP, Dortmund University, Germany
• Validation of real-time simulation model of a three-phase active-front-end (AFE) rectifier, MD Moshiur Rahman Chowdhury, IEEE YP, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary
• Utilization of Additive Manufacturing in Nuclear Power Industry, Stepan Jedlan, IEEE YP; Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic
• City Walk
• Social Dinner

27.10.2022

Departure

R8 Section Chairs and LM Subcommittee Joint Meeting, April 08, 2021

Date and Time:

Thursday, April 08, 17:00-18:00 CEST (Central European Summer Time, UTC+2).

Please use the time zone converter https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/ to determine your local time.

Region 8 Section Chairs, Region 8 OpCom Members and LM AHC Members are kindly invited.

WebEx Meeting
Join from the meeting link: https://ieeemeetings.webex.com/ieeemeetings/j.php?MTID=m00fb20576adbe7af296e2baad8d9c333
Join by meeting number (access code): 130 571 0190

Agenda:

• 17:00 Opening Address, Roll Call (Peter Magyar, LM AHC Chair)
• 17:05 LM Overview and R8 Opportunities (Peter Magyar, LM AHC Chair)
• 17:30:
  • R8 Director´s Comment (Antonio Luque, R8 Director)
  • R8 Vice Chair MA´s Comment (Sara Barros, R8 VC MA)
  • Success Stories (Short reports of Organizers of new LMAGs)
    • Andre Sopczak, Czechoslovakia Section
    • TBD
• 17:45 Q&A Session (All participants, moderated by Vinko Lesic, R8 LM AHC Member)
• 18:00 End

Presentation: Life Members – Overview – R8 Opportunities

Group photo of the participants at R8 Section Chairs and LM Subcommittee Joint Meeting, April 08, 2021

HA and LM Joint Committee Meeting, March 16, 2021

Date and Time:

Tuesday, March 16, 16:00-17:00 CET (Central European Time, UTC+1).

Please use the time zone converter https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/ to determine your local time.

Agenda:

• 16:00 Opening Address (Peter Magyar, LM AHC Chair)
• 16:01 History Activities (Martin Bastiaans, HA AHC Chair)
• 16:15 History Activities & Life Members (Anthony C. Davies, LM AHC Corresponding Member, HA AHC Member)
• 16:20 LM AHC Introduction (P. Magyar)
• 16:30 What do we expect from the LMAGs and Sections (P. Magyar)
• 16:40 LMAG and LMC Connection (Charles W. Turner, LMC, LM AHC Ex-officio Member)
• 16:45 R8 LMAG Activity Highlights (Victor Fouad Hanna, LM AHC Past Chair, LM AHC Corresponding Member)
• 16:50 Connection to YPs and other Affinity Groups (Vinko Lesic, YP, LM AHC Corresponding Member)
• 16:55 Q&A Session (P. Magyar)
• 17:00 End

LMAG Chairs´ Meeting, February 23, 2021

Date and Time:

Tuesday, Feb 23, 17:00-18:00 CET (Central European Time, UTC+1) / 16:00-17:00 GMT (Greenwich Mean Time, UTC+0).

Please use the time zone converter https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/ to determine your local time.

Agenda:

• 17:00 Opening Address, Roll Call (Peter Magyar, LMAHC Chair, Germany Section)
• 17:05 LM Presentation (P. Magyar)
• 17:15 LMAG and LMC Connection (Charles W. Turner, LMC, LMAHC Ex-officio Member, UK & Ireland Section)
• 17:20 R8 LMAG Activity Highlights (Victor Fouad Hanna, LMAHC Past Chair, LMAHC Corresponding Member, France Section)
• 17:25 Connection to the History Committee (Anthony C. Davies, LMAHC Corresponding Member, France Section)
• 17:30 Connection to YPs and other Affinity Groups (Vinko Lesic, R8 YP, LMAHC Corresponding Member, Croatia Section)
• 17:35 What we expect from the LMAGs (P. Magyar)
• 17:45 Q&A Session (Moderator: Victor Fouad Hanna)
• 18:00 Closing Address (P. Magyar)

R8 Life Members Subcommittee 2019-2020

Chair: Victor Fouad Hanna, France Section

2020: Online LM CC Meeting

• See the report here: 2020 Report Life Members Activities

2019: Valencia, Spain, October 11, agenda:

• Welcome, Magdalena Salazar Palma, (R8 Director).
• Why Don’t Sections Give More Support to Life Members and LMAGs?, Charles Turner (Chair LMC)
• Report for R8 LMAGs Activities, Victor Fouad Hanna, R8 LMs Coordinator.
• Benelux LMAG report, Wim van Etten (Chair).
• Egypt LMAG report, Vice Chair.
• Coffee Break.
• Proposal for future, some projects for future implementation, Hugo Wyss, Switzerland LMAG Chair.
• France LMAG report, Jean Gabriel Remy, Officer .
• Hungary LMAG report, Imre J. Rudas (Chair).
• Italy LMAG report, Antonio Savini (Chair).
• Lunch (12h30 – 14h00).
• A Possible Development of IEEE Life Membership, Charles Turner (Chair LMC)
• FRANCE contribution to IEEE Milestones : A valuable task for Life Members, Jean Gabriel Remy.
• Lebanon LMAG report, Usamah O. Farrukh, (Chair).
• Slovenia LMAG report, Baldomir Zajc, (Chair).
• Coffee Break.
• Practical Advices in Administration and Holding Meetings, Victor Fouad Hanna, R8 LMs Coordinator.
• Spain LMAG report, Jesús “Fraile Ardanuy, (Spain Section Chair).
• Switzerland LMAG report, Hugo Wyss (Chair).
• United Kingdom and Ireland LMAG report, Charles Turner (Chair).
• Debate and Conclusions.

Notes from the meeting :

Charles Turner raised the question of the lack of support for Life member activities from the Section Committees. The two main problems were the poor state of Section websites and the low level of funding from the Section for LMAG activities. The increase of the Life member Fund budget to $90K this year is a bonus, but it was agreed that the Section Chairs need to be reminded about their responsibilities towards their Life members, especially if they have an LMAG.

Victor Fouad Hanna reviewed the status of LMAGs in Region 8. A new LMAG had been formed in Egypt this year and there were good prospects for more to be formed, especially in Poland and Sweden.

Wim van Etten reported that the Benelux Section had 115 active Life members, based on a recent survey. An EXCOM had been formed to manage the LMAG which had its own website, created using the IEEE template to be found at www.site(s).ieee.org/benelux.

Meetings were split between the Netherlands and Belgium and were open to all IEEE members. The average attendance was around 24.

An e-newsletter was sent to all LMAG members.

A Milestone ceremony to celebrate the first demonstration of WiFi would take place on October 29^th at Nieuwegein, Holland.

Hugo Wyss reviewed the history of the Switzerland LMAG which had to deal with the two languages spoken in the country. He highlighted the production by Robert Weiss of a ‘tapestry’ of the history of computers. The poster would be translated from the German into French and English, and distributed to IEEE entities across the world, if funding could be secured. The LMAG worked closely with the. Section and a new Chair would be appointed shortly.

Jean Gabriel Remy reported on the Life member activities in France. The very successful technical tour held in Paris, Geneva, and Munich in 2015 had boosted LM activities in the France Section. New Milestone projects were being explored, such as the Transatlantic cable from France to Newfoundland, at an event being planned in Orleans.

Imre Rudas mentioned a strong link between the LMAG and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The relatively small number of Life members in the Section was a limiting factor.

Antonio Savini reported on the wide range of topics pursued by the Italy Section LMAG which had about 100 members. These included the history of technology, Milestone, joint meetings with the Switzerland LMAG, and a visit to the Museum of Technology in Pavia. Attracting members to meetings was a priority perhaps by introducing a social dimension, but more Life members were needed.

Usamah Farrukh reported that the Lebanon Section has only a small number of Life members but had managed to organise some successful events, including introducing robotics to schools.

Baldomir Zaic reported that there was a need to get an updated list of Life members and other retired or older members. Holding meetings via Webex would be helpful, as for other small LMAGs.

Conclusions

1. The Life Member Coordinator should write to the Chair of every Section that has an LMAGA, asking them to increase financial support for their LMAG and to provide a webpage for Life member activities and news of events.
2. A top priority is to facilitate the use of Webex for Life member meetings, to reduce the running costs and make it easier to connect members living away from the main urban centres.
3. LMAGs should make greater use of the larger allocations for Life member activities, up to a maximum of $2,000 each year.
4. LMAGs should encourage members to apply for the special projects grants available from the Life Member Fund and the IEEE Foundation.

Outlook:

• Increased collaboration between LMAGs and other IEEE Operation Units in their Sections is very important as the Section can make use of the knowledge and experience of Life Members and also from the more time that they can devote for IEEE Section activities.
• It is agreed that the inclusion of older members approaching LM status, together with retired members, would transform the viability of the smaller LMAGs.
• Resources from MGA (Life Member Committee and R8) are now reasonable to make and expand  LMAGs activities.
• Sponsorship from industry and Government organizations could be available for certain types of projects.

Group picture of the latest in-presence LMAG meeting, Valencia, 2019