Across the Atlantic: Networks of friendship: Region 8 has been immensely successful in building networks of friendship that transcend national, cultural, religious, and educational boundaries

Unlike the homogeneous personality that is prevalent among IEEE Regions in the United States, Region 8, which encompasses Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, is marked by differences in language, culture, religion, and education. Thus, initiating and then maintaining a high level of interest in IEEE student activities has always been a challenge requiring considerable time and energy. Our task has been further burdened by the challenge from national engineering societies that already represent the electrical engineering profession, and student organizations that already exist within the various engineering schools. Nevertheless, our efforts have paid off, and Region 8 has grown from one Branch in 1961 to 42 in 1984 and from a student membership of 200 in 1965 to more than 2000 presently.