The Institute - June 2021 - 53

EDITOR'S NOTE
excitement about engineering and technology
through IEEE's preuniversity
STEM education programs.
Delivering STEM outreach
programs builds an appreciation in
students for what engineering and technological
professionals do and how they
impact our lives, while also generating
an understanding of and enthusiasm
about STEM careers. The many IEEE
members who volunteer to network,
mentor, and participate in these
programs provide a direct connection
between these professions and
students. IEEE's TryEngineering.org
Volunteer STEM Portal is designed
to make it easier to participate in this
important mission.
Go-to resource
IEEE's TryEngineering.org Volunteer
STEM Portal is the go-to resource for
IEEE volunteers and operating units-
student branches, chapters, sections,
and technical societies and councils.
It allows access to a searchable
library of STEM programs developed
by IEEE members. The portal
includes how-to resources and best
practices to make it easier to develop
and implement STEM outreach
programs. The portal also provides a
place to collect data and understand
the impact the IEEE community is
having on preuniversity students and
educators around the globe.
I encourage all members to look at
the portal and see what opportunities
exist. Together, we can demonstrate
the collective impact IEEE is making
in inspiring the STEM professionals
of tomorrow. As stewards of these
fields, IEEE and its members are
central to this mission. If you know of
a STEM outreach program that might
be useful to IEEE volunteers, consider
requesting that it be included in the
portal's catalog of programs. Working
together, we can draw on the experiences
of others to help make all IEEE
programs more successful.
- SUSAN K. " KATHY " LAND
IEEE president and CEO
Share your thoughts with me at
president@ieee.org.
Redesigning Data Centers
and Magazines
How computer systems, bar codes, and
The Institute have been reimagined
IN THIS ISSUE you'll learn
about Luiz André Barroso,
the architect behind Google's
warehouse-scale data centers
[page 56]. The massive
buildings, which house
hundreds of thousands
of computer servers, have
brought us cloud computing,
powerful search engines,
and faster Internet services.
The IEEE senior member is
vice president of engineering
at Google.
As a child, Mercy
Chelangat saw firsthand
how having reliable electricity
could improve lives
in Kenya [page 59]. The
experience inspired the
IEEE member to become a
power engineer. Today the
IEEE Smart Village director
is helping to provide power
and Internet connectivity to
underserved communities.
QR (quick response)
codes, invented in 1994 by
IEEE Member Masahiro
Hara as a way to track car
parts, seem to be everywhere
today. They have
become even more popular
during the COVID-19
pandemic as a contactless
method for pickup, delivery,
and payment.
A QR code is detected
by an image sensor and
then digitally analyzed by
a programmed processor,
like the one in your mobile
phone's camera. On page
61, learn about the technology,
which was recently
named an IEEE Milestone.
Use of LabsLand's
hands-on online laboratories
[page 65] have
spiked during the pandemic
because many students
around the world are taking
classes remotely.
The startup, founded
by IEEE Senior Members
Pablo Orduña and Luis
Rodriguez-Gil, provides
colleges and preuniversity
schools with access
to a network of university
labs. Students employ
cameras, sensors, and other
equipment to conduct
experiments using actual
hardware and software.
Also in this issue, on
page 54, learn about IEEE's
revised reporting process
for professional ethics
violations. A centralized
location and new procedures
help standardize the
process and reinforce the
organization's commitment
to professional ethics.
We hope you like our new
design. You'll notice the pages
are now printed on tinted
paper, and The Institute's
section has a more prominent
place in IEEE Spectrum.
We'll continue to republish a
selection of our most popular
online articles about IEEE
members and offerings.
Just like IEEE Spectrum,
The Institute's website
and mobile edition are
being revamped. Both are
scheduled to launch next
month. The redesigns have
been made possible with
funding from the IEEE New
Initiatives Committee.
-KATHY PRETZ
Editor in chief, The Institute
For updates about IEEE and its
members, visit us at
spectrum.ieee.org/the-institute
JUNE 2021
THE INSTITUTE
53
http://www.TryEngineering.org http://www.TryEngineering.org http://spectrum.ieee.org/the-institute
The Institute - June 2021

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