IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2016 - 33

WIE from Around the World

IEEE and HKN-
Perfect Together
A closer look at the Honor Society of IEEE

IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu (IEEE-HKN) is the
honor society of IEEE. Eta Kappa Nu
(HKN) was founded in 1904 on the campus of the University of Illinois, UrbanaChampaign. The vision of the founders
was to create an organization to both
recognize the scholastic success of students and to help electrical engineering
graduates find employment and support
in their careers. The guiding principles
remain the same-the invitation to join
HKN is an early recognition of success
based on the scholarship, attitude, and
character of its members.
IEEE and HKN officially merged
in 2010, and we celebrate five years as
IEEE-HKN. IEEE and HKN have a long
history of cooperation-sponsor joint
programs, shared memberships, and
a commitment to advancing the engineering profession and offering educational opportunities.
To be invited to join, students (both
undergraduate and graduate) must meet
strict academic criteria and make a
commitment to work with their school
chapter. School chapters are established
under rigorous guidelines and approved
and chartered by the IEEE-HKN Board
of Governors. To learn about the criteria

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MWIE.2016.2535843
Date of publication: 9 May 2016

for students and chapters, visit www.
hkn.org.
Professionals may also join IEEEHKN, either by invitation of an established active school chapter
or by sponsorship from an
IEEE-HKN member, subject
to approval by the Board of
Governors and based on the
candidate's meritorious work
in an area that falls within
one of IEEE's fields of interest.
All students inducted into
IEEE-HK N become IEEE
Members. All professionals
inducted must be or become
IEEE Members; both pay a
one-time fee to IEEE-HKN. The designation is lifetime. Once you are inducted into IEEE-HKN (or HKN), you are
always HKN.
IEEE-HKN has established 236
chapters around the world; currently
182 chapters are active. Eight of these
chapters are outside Regions 1-6 and
are the result of volunteer efforts to
expand IEEE-HKN worldwide-one of
the goals of the merger. Early indicators
show that students joining IEEE-HKN
have a higher membership retention
rate. The merger of IEEE and HKN has
created increased recognition among
students and professionals.

June 2016

IEEE-HKN chapters and IEEE Student Branches have the opportunity to
work together on almost all projects,
based on the structure that works best
at their university. IEEE Sections and
Regions are encouraged to work with
their local IEEE-HKN chapters to foster the relationships between all parts
of IEEE.
IEEE-HKN has a pilot project in
place to work with IEEE Technical
Activities Board Societies and all technical groups. If your group is interested
in connecting with IEEE-HKN, you
are encouraged to contact IEEE-HKN
Director Nancy Ostin at info@hkn.org.
IEEE-HK N also produces THE
BRIDGE magazine. Digitally published
three times a year (February, May, and October), it is
e-mailed to lifetime subscribers and current Members. It is
also available as open content
on the IEEE-HKN website,
www.hkn.org. THE BRIDGE
has been the official publication of HKN since 1909.
Each issue features a technical theme, chapter news, a
Society spotlight, Member
profiles, and much more.
Remember, if you were ever inducted into HKN, you are always HKN.
Currently, IEEE-HKN has contact
information for 32,000 people; it is
estimated that there have been over
200,000 people inducted. If your IEEE
membership card or record does not
reflect your HKN status, please contact us to verify and add IEEE-HKN
to your profile (a Member cannot selfservice this option). You can submit
our alumni reconnect form at http://
fs25.formsite.com /ieeevcep/form14/
index.html.
To learn more about IEEE-HKN,
visit www.hkn.org. If you have any

iEEE women in engineering magazine

http://www.hkn.org http://www.hkn.org http://http:// http://fs25.formsite.com/ieeevcep/form14/ http://www.hkn.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2016