Content Gazette - March 2020 - Cover2

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Ali H. Sayed | IEEE Signal Processing Society President | ali.sayed@epfl.ch

If You Cannot Come to Us, We Will Go to You...

have made a concerted effort in my
previous editorials to cover topics that
embrace our humanity and diversity
and touch on issues of social value, the
environment, the universe, our history,
and science. In it all, I hope that you were
able to see the reach and impact of our
discipline into the depths of our existence.
Our technologies enable discoveries and
interactions with our surroundings. They
also place a heavy weight on our shoulders to make sure we promote solutions
that enrich and preserve our existence
rather than limit it.
In my parting message as your Society president, I will step back and share
with you a summary of the initiatives
we have pursued and policies we have
put in place to serve our members. I
would not have been able to act on these
ideas without the support of exceptional
colleagues serving as volunteer leaders
on the Society's Executive Committee
and as members of the Society's Board
of Governors (BoG). To all of them, including to those who may have had opposing views on certain issues, I express
my deepest gratitude. Your perspectives
helped enrich our discourse and sharpen
our focus.
Our aim has always been the same: to
build and sustain a stronger IEEE Signal
Processing Society that is up to the times
and serves its members in innovative
ways, including those from disadvanDigital Object Identifier 10.1109/MSP.2019.2952965
Date of current version: 15 January 2020

taged regions. By working together, we
have been able to make a difference for
the betterment of our discipline. There is,
of course, more to be accomplished, and
I move on with a sense of optimism. Our
Society is forward-looking and will continue to flourish under the able leadership
of Ahmed Tewfik, our new president,
(2020-2021), and Athina Petropulu, his
successor as president-elect (2022-2023).
I have interacted with both of them over
many years, as well as with our predecessors including Past-President Rabab
Ward, now leading our Awards Board.
All of these colleagues care deeply about
our Society and its members. We are in
good hands.
One of my main focus areas during my years as your president-elect
(2016-2017) and president (2018-2019)
has been to make our Society more inclusive and to structure its activities in
ways that make it more agile and more
appealing to the younger generation. We
launched direct elections to president,
established a standing US$1 annual
membership for all students, approved
reduced membership fees for individuals from disadvantaged Regions, established a new flat rate for students
attending our conferences, launched
regional meetings worldwide to reach
local members, launched an open access journal with reduced fees, and established the position of vice-president
of education to strengthen our outreach
and educational activities, in addition to
several other initiatives.

www.signalprocessingsociety.org
IEEE SIGNAL PROCESSING MAGAZINE

Many new accomplishments happened in 2018 and 2019.
At the IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal
Processing (ICASSP) 2019 in Brighton,
United Kingdom, we launched the Society's new logo. It has a modern look
and reflects the broad reach of our discipline across the globe. Its flying and
intersecting lines show how we promote
a convergence of methods and ideas to
solve challenging problems on a grand
scale. We are a global organization representing a sophisticated discipline that
reaches all corners of the world. We care
about our planet and work incessantly to
contribute to a better life cycle through
our devices and methods.
In the same year 2019, we elected
our first president by direct vote from
the Society's membership. We had two
exceptional candidates, Athina Petropulu and John Mathews. For years, both
of these colleagues have been dedicated
volunteer leaders of the highest caliber. I have served with them on many
committees and have witnessed their
dedication firsthand. In my opinion, the
direct election is a significant step forward because it strongly involves you in
Society affairs. Your opinion is an asset and direct voting is both a right and
privilege that I hope you will cherish for
years to come.
In 2018, we instituted a new standing
policy for student membership. Students
can join our Society for only US$1 annually; tell your students and your friends!

cov22020
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2020
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http://www.signalprocessingsociety.org

Content Gazette - March 2020

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