POSITION: 2012 Vice President-Elect, Technical Activities
BIOGRAPHY:
Bob Hebner is Director of the Center for Electromechanics, University of Texas, Austin. Previously, he was acting Director of the US National Institute of Standards and Technology. In addition, he directed NIST’s electrical engineering laboratory, with a staff of more than 250. He also worked at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Office of Management and Budget. He was a founding Director of the company OpenAlgae and of the eight-university Electric Ship Research and Development Consortium. He was Board chairman of the Center for Transportation and the Environment and is a Senior Advisor to a venture capital firm.
Dr. Hebner authored more than one hundred technical papers and reports. He has extensive experience in international technology programs. He has testified before the US Congress, worked with committees of the European Commission, and organizations in the Americas and Asia on the connections among technology, trade, and economic growth.
IEEE ACTIVITIES AND SERVICES:
SOCIETIES:
CONFERENCES:
Serving on the Board of Directors, provided extensive involvement into how the IEEE is to be managed in the future and insights as to how to succeed within the anticipated structure. Chairing the IEEE Audit Committee provided good insight into the financial workings of the entire organization, an important skill for the TAB VP. Work in Societies, conferences, and standards provided operational experience to understand the issues that arise.
STATEMENT:
TAB is a critical part of the IEEE, so it is important following are nurtured:
- Conferences and publications are both a primary approach to strengthening our technical communities and a primary source of income for the IEEE. So, we must continue to maximize incentives for Societies and Councils to preserve and expand these activities.
- Autonomy and diversity are strengths in TAB. Societies and Councils are different sizes and serve different technical communities around the globe. This diversity is critical and its preservation requires a high degree of autonomy by the Societies and Councils.
In addition to preserving these attributes, goals I would address during my term include:
- The IEEE business model has focused too much TAB attention on revenue. We need to also empower Societies and Councils to conduct activities that are important to Society members beyond conferences and publications.
- TAB meetings focus on resolving conflicts but do little to foster collaboration. This balance must be changed.
- We must change our notion of TAB from a meeting presidents attend to protect their Societies and Councils to a community that is excited about fostering and expanding IEEE’s technical activities.
Comments or questions: r.hebner@ieee.org
