Call for Nominations: Distinguished Industry Speakers and Distinguished Lecturers

Rabab Ward
Awards Board Chair

Deadline:  31 May 2020

The IEEE Signal Processing Society would like to express our concern and support for the members of our global community and all affected by the current COVID-19 pandemic. We appreciate your continued patience and support as we work together to navigate these unforeseen and uncertain circumstances. We hope that you, your families, and your communities are safe!

In an effort to continue our programs and services during this difficult time, the IEEE Signal Processing Society invites nominations for the SPS Distinguished Industry Speaker (DIS) Program and the Distinguished Lecturer (DL) Program. Please note that the Distinguished Industry Speaker positions will supplement the regular Distinguished Lecturer Program.  The Distinguished Industry Speaker Program will closely mirror the DL Program. However, the main difference and goal of the DIS Program is to educate and interact with Society members about topics that are of primary importance to industry and the signal processing community-at-large.  The speakers will focus their presentations on industrial applications in the signal processing area of interest to practicing engineers and stress practical issues. The DISs will be available to all SPS Chapters, as are DLs, but lectures will be focused on current and future issues, applications and/or activities in industry. The deadline for nominations for the DL and DIS positions is 31 May 2020.  Both the DL and DIS nomination forms can be found here.

Manage Collaborators on Nomination:  There is a Manage Collaborators button in the top right corner of the nomination page.  The Primary Collaborator, who is the person who started the nomination, can add additional collaborators on the nomination by clicking the Add Collaborator button.  Once a Collaborator is added, the application can be transferred to a new Primary Collaborator by clicking Make Primary next to the name.  Access can also be removed from a collaborator by clicking Remove Access next to the name.  Only the Primary Collaborator can submit or finalize the application, as well as add other Collaborators.  All Collaborators can view and edit the application.  However, only one user can be editing the nomination at a time to avoid accidental overwriting of another's information.

Candidates for the Distinguished Lecturer and Distinguished Industry Speaker Programs should be members of the IEEE and IEEE Signal Processing Society, who are recognized experts and who are capable of delivering a message of importance to the technical community, as well as to the Society’s members organized in chapters around the world. Distinguished Industry Speakers should also have a background in industrial applications in the signal processing area and are well versed in the ongoing issues/activities in industry.

Each year, up to ten (10) technically diverse and geographically dispersed individuals from each category will serve as IEEE Signal Processing Society Distinguished Lecturers and Distinguished Industry Speakers. Up to five (5) new individuals from each category will be appointed each year, and their formal term of appointment will be two calendar years. The nomination and selection process is handled by the Society’s Awards Board with the eventual concurrence of the Board of Governors.

The SP Society’s Distinguished Lecturer Program and Distinguished Industry Speaker Program provides means for chapters to have access to individuals who are recognized experts to lecture at Chapter meetings. While many IEEE Societies have similar programs, the SPS provides financial support for the SPS Chapters to take advantage of the service. The Society provides an allotment per category up to $3,500 per SPS Chapter annually to use towards scheduling Society appointed Distinguished Lecturers and Distinguished Industry Speakers, provided they are pre-approved by the Program Coordinator. More details regarding speaker expenses and how to request a speaker can be found here.

This year, nominations should be submitted through the online nomination system, which can be found here. When making your nomination, please provide the following information:

• Name of candidate, member number, affiliation, title, contact information;
• Brief biography or link to the candidate’s web page; information about current SP, IEEE, or other Society activities;
• The preferred geographic coverage of the lectures and lecture topics;
• Succinct statement supporting the nomination.

Nominations must be received no later than 31 May 2020.

This global pandemic is a unique challenge that has impacted many members of the IEEE family. These are difficult times, but we will get through them by working together. Thank you for your support of our shared mission to advance technology for humanity.

Regards,
Rabab Ward,
Awards Board Chair