Milestones in IAS history

IEEE was formed by the merger of the former American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) and Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) in 1963. Two years later, several of the Technical Committees that had previously been part of the AIEE General Applications Industry Divisions came together to form the Industry and General Applications Group. The IGA Group became the Industry Application Society in 1972. Today, the IEEE Industry Application Society is the organizational home to twenty Technical Committees. Some of these Committees have been around for a very long time; two (Power System Engineering and Industrial Lighting and Displays) were recognized at the 2009 IAS Annual Meeting on the occasional of their 100th anniversaries. Other Committees are relatively new - the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Conversion Systems and Transportation Systems Committees came into existence in 2010, while the Electrical Safety Committee was formed in October 2011. While the technical focus of these Committees varies considerably, they share a common interest in the application of their respective technologies in industrial settings. And that is the ´glue´ that has held IAS together for nearly half a century.