Section History

Our Section was established on April 5, 1957, as the Idaho Section. It was nearly disbanded in 1985 when local interest waned, but was saved by the yeoman efforts of one very active volunteer.  The arrival and active participation of two new highly-motivated Section members in 1989 revitalized the Section, and it was subsequently renamed the Eastern Idaho Section (affectionally referred to as the palindromic “IEEEEI”) in 2002. IEEEEI currently thrives with over 200 active members in the 16 counties of Eastern Idaho.

Meetings

  • Executive Committee meetings are on the third Wednesday of odd-numbered months.
  • Section meetings are conducted as needed, usually during lunch or dinner, and are rotated among the cities of Pocatello, Idaho Falls, and Blackfoot.  Many are conducted jointly with other area technical societies.
  • Section ExCom members regularly attend IEEE Region 6 OpCom and Northeast Area meetings.

Professional Activities

  • We continue to support the local MathCounts competition through advertising and providing volunteers.
  • We are also actively involved in the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Network.
  • Other Professional Activities have included:
    • Hosting workshops focused on technical presentations and resumes
    • Organizing tours of sites and businesses of interest to members
    • Regular technical presentations for Section members

Membership Development

  • The Section recruits new members at Section meetings, and provides forms and information to prospective members.
  • The Section conducts a yearly campaign to elevate Members to Senior Member level and Senior Members to Fellow.

PES Chapter

We are proud to host a local chapter of the IEEE Power Engineering Society.

Electrical Engineering Milestone

IEEE-EI is proud to have been the nominating and sponsoring entity for establishment of the EBR-1 reactor facility, near Arco, as an IEEE Milestone in Electrical Engineering and Computing.  This is the facility where electricity was first generated by a nuclear reactor.

Where Do We Fit In?

IEEE divides the world into 10 “Regions” for administrative purposes, as shown on the map below.

Our sections resides in Region 6, which encompasses all or part of 12 states in the western US – from Alaska to New Mexico, and Montana to Hawaii.

Within Region 6, there are 5 “Areas” – Northeast, Northwest, Central, Southern, and Southwest, roughly defined as shown below. We are in the “Northeast Area.”

Within the Northeast Area are six “Sections” – Boise (violet), Eastern Idaho (orange), Western Montana (yellow), Central Montana (blue), Eastern Montana (green), and Utah (pink), as shown below. Our Section is the “Eastern Idaho Section.”