The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers  has appointed Professor Saurabh Sinha as one of four Vice-Presidents as part of its 2014 international leadership. Sinha’s appointment as Educational Activities Vice-President follows his recent move to University of Johannesburg’s (UJ) as the Executive Dean: Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment. 

IEEE is the world’s largest professional association for the advancement of technology with 425 000 members whose technical interests are rooted in electrical and computer sciences, engineering and related disciplines.

Sinha said: “It is with great appreciation that I accept the position as Educational Activities Vice-President. As the former Region 8 Technical Activities Vice-Chair, I have seen tremendous growth in IEEE activities internationally with particular focus across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. My focus on educational advancement lies in building technology capacity and establishing centres of excellence in partnership with professional bodies and civil society to bridge the current technology divide.

“In addition, a particular emphasis will be placed on the development of novel systems and innovations that will foster social development to address socio-economic related issues through capacity development, whilst simultaneously encouraging a culture of technology at grass root levels. IEEE educational activities will also act as catalyst for professional development.”

Sinha said results from the IEEE Assembly Election have confirmed the appointment of Ralph Ford as Vice-President: Member and Geographic Activities; Gianluca Setti as Vice-President: Publication Services and Products; Marko Delimar as Secretary and John Barr as Treasurer. Vincenzo Piuri, Vice-President: Technical Activities, was elected earlier in the year.

Sinha is an esteemed academic having published in more than 65 peer-reviewed journals internationally; his research has been supported by the National Research Foundation, Armscor, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Eskom, Square Kilometre Array as well as the private sector. He is a member of several boards and managing editor of SAIEE Africa Research Journal. His research involves mm-Wave integrated circuit (IC) design, and more generally, analogue and mixed-signal ICs.

Prior to joining UJ, Sinha served as the Director: Carl and Emily Fuchs Institute for Microelectronics at the Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering at University of Pretoria where he held academic and research management posts for over a decade. As an industrial consultant he is engaged in large-scale regional and international research projects including energy harvesting. Sinha holds a PhD in Electronic Engineering and is the recipient of the SAIEE Engineer of the Year and 2010 University of Pretoria Laureate awards.