 | |
| Founded | 1912 |
|---|---|
| Defunct | 1963 |
The Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) was a professional organization which existed from 1912 until December 31, 1962. On January 1, 1963, it merged with the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) to form the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). [1]
Following several attempts to form a technical organization of wireless practitioners in 1908–1912, the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) was finally established in 1912 in New York City. Among its founding organizations were the Society of Wireless Telegraph Engineers (SWTE) and the Wireless Institute (TWI). At the time, the dominant organization of electrical engineers was the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE). Many of the founding members of IRE considered AIEE too conservative and too focused on electric power. Moreover, the founders of the IRE sought to establish an international organization (unlike the “American” AIEE), and adopted a tradition of electing some of the IRE's officers from outside the United States.
In the first half of the 20th century, radio communications had experienced great expansion, and the growing professional community of developers and operators of radio systems required standardization, research, and authoritative dissemination of new results among practitioners and researchers. To meet these needs, the IRE established professional journals (most notably the Proceedings of the IRE , established 1913 and edited for 41 years by Alfred N. Goldsmith); participated actively in all aspects of standardization and regulations of the frequency spectrum, modulation techniques, testing methods, and radio equipment; and organized regional and professional groups (starting in 1914 and 1948, respectively) for cooperation and exchange between members. The IRE was a major participant in planning of the Federal Radio Commission (established 1927; later the Federal Communications Commission), and worked in close cooperation with the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, the Radio Manufacturers Association, the Radio and Television Manufacturers Association, and the National Television System Committee on Standards. The IRE also started (in 1914) a program of professional recognition, through the membership grade of IRE Fellow. The first Fellow was Jonathan Zenneck (1871–1959), a pioneer of wireless telegraphy.
Until the early 1940s IRE was a relatively small engineering organization, but the growing importance of electronic communications and the emergence of the discipline of electronics in the 1940s have increased its appeal to practitioners. Students of electrical engineering and young electrical engineers favored IRE over its older rival, the AIEE, and in 1957 IRE (with 57,000 members) was the larger organization. Negotiations about merging the two organizations started that year and continued until a new joint organization, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) was established in 1963. Several new professional organizations (such as the Society of Broadcast Engineers), were founded shortly thereafter by IRE and AIEE members who opposed the merger.
The first president of IRE was Robert H. Marriott, chief engineer of the Wireless Company of America. Other notable presidents of the IRE included Irving Langmuir (1923), John H. Morecroft (1924), Lee deForest (1930), Louis A. Hazeltine (1936), Frederick E. Terman (1941), Arthur F. Van Dyck (1942), [2] [3] William R. Hewlett (1954), Ernst Weber (1959; also first president of IEEE, 1963) and Patrick E. Haggerty (1962). [4]
The IRE issued the IRE Medal of Honor each year which is now the IEEE Medal of Honor.
Charles Proteus Steinmetz was a German-American mathematician and electrical engineer and professor at Union College. He fostered the development of alternating current that made possible the expansion of the electric power industry in the United States, formulating mathematical theories for engineers. He made ground-breaking discoveries in the understanding of hysteresis that enabled engineers to design better electromagnetic apparatus equipment, especially electric motors for use in industry.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronics engineering, electrical engineering, and other related disciplines with its corporate office in New York City and its operations center in Piscataway, New Jersey. The IEEE was formed from the amalgamation of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and the Institute of Radio Engineers in 1963.
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The American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) was a United States-based organization of electrical engineers that existed from 1884 through 1962. On January 1, 1963, it merged with the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) to form the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
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Walter Ransom Gail Baker was an American electrical engineer. He was a vice president of General Electric, and was Director of Engineering for the Radio Manufacturers Association. At the urging of James Lawrence Fly, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Baker founded the National Television System Committee, or NTSC, in 1940. He served as president of the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) in 1947.
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The IEEE Medal of Honor is the highest recognition of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). It has been awarded since 1917, when its first recipient was Major Edwin H. Armstrong. It is given for an exceptional contribution or an extraordinary career in the IEEE fields of interest. The award consists of a gold medal, bronze replica, certificate, and honorarium. The Medal of Honor may only be awarded to an individual.
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Alfred Norton Goldsmith was a noted American electrical engineer.
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Dr. Leonard F. Fuller was a noted American radio pioneer. In 1919, Fuller earned a PhD degree at the Stanford Department of Electrical Engineering. In World War I, he was part of the antisubmarine group of the National Research Council, and charged with the design and installation of the "high-power transoceanic radio telegraph stations" built by the United States Army and Navy. He held 24 patients for inventions before his death. He spent time as chair of the electrical engineering department at University of California, Berkeley, and then was acting professor of electrical engineering at Stanford University from 1946 until he retired in 1954.
Donald Glen Fink was an American electrical engineer, a pioneer in the development of radio navigation systems and television standards, vice president for research of Philco, president of the Institute of Radio Engineers, General Manager of the IEEE, and an editor of many important publications in electrical engineering.
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Robert Henry Marriott (1879-1951) was an American electrical engineer, and one of the first persons to work in the field of radio communication. In 1902 he engineered the first commercial radiotelegraph link established in the United States by a U.S. company, connecting the island of Santa Catalina with the California mainland. He founded the Wireless Institute professional society in 1909, which was merged in 1912 with the Society of Wireless Telegraph Engineers to form the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE), and served as the IRE's first president.
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