Global Communications Newsletter

Abstract

Since our last CAA and CoY awards in 2015, The Austin Chapter strived to a greater level in serving our membership and the local community, and extending our reach within the region, to North America and, when opportunities opened, internationally.Through focused vision, high energy and passion, the core team led by Fawzi Behmann exhibited high capacity in executing many activities and programs. Such efforts were not only recognized by the Society but also by the region where the Chapter Chair received an outstanding member Award for three consecutive years 2013-2014 and 2015.Our core focus is fulfilling the mission of IEEE and tailoring it to the societies we are privileged to serve. The ComSoc Chapter had the opportunity as a joint chapter with the Signal Processing Chapter to bring intriguing topics and speakers to broaden the advancement in technology, research and use cases in different vertical markets.In 2016, the ComSoc (Austin) chapter carried out core activities that included conducting 19 sessions (11 technical and eight non-technical/professional/administrative), capitalizing on the DLT/DSP program, engaging with student activities, reaching out to the community for membership development, participating and supporting technical events, and supporting one member to a senior level. Among the interesting talks was one related to drones given by Robert Youens on the topic, "New FAA Drone Regulations."Among the Distinguished Lecturers we hosted were: Dr.