1. Student Member
2. Associate
3. Member
4. Senior Member
5. Fellow
6. Honorary Member
7. Affiliate
A Student Member must carry at least 50% of a normal full-time academic program as a registered undergraduate or graduate student in a regular course of study in IEEE designated fields.
Student Members, upon graduation with at least a baccalaureate degree or its equivalent from a program on the Reference List of Educational Programs (See Item 10 of the IEEE Bylaws), shall be transferred to Member grade.
Student Members, other than those qualifying under the above subparagraph, upon graduation with at least a two-year degree shall be transferred to Associate grade.
Student members transferring to a higher grade upon attaining their first professional degree pay reduced IEEE dues, assessments and society membership fees in the year following their graduation.
The grade of Associate is designed for technical and non technical applicants who do not presently meet the qualifications for Member grade, but who would benefit through membership and participation in the IEEE, and for those who are progressing, through continuing education and work experience, towards the qualifications for Member grade.
The grade of Member is limited to those who have satisfied IEEE-specified educational requirements and/or who have demonstrated professional competence in IEEE-designated fields of interest. For admission or transfer to the grade of Member, a candidate shall be either:
• An individual who shall have received a baccalaureate (or equivalent) or higher degree from an institution, and in an IEEE-designated field, which is included in the REP (Reference List of Educational Programs) List defined in IEEE Bylaw 1-104.10 or
• An individual who shall have received a baccalaureate (or equivalent) or higher degree from an institution not included in the REP List and who has at least three years of professional work experience engaged in teaching, creating, developing, practicing or managing in an IEEE-designated field(s) included in the REP List, or
• An individual who, through at least six years of, professional work experience in an IEEE-designated field(s) included in the REP List, has demonstrated competence in teaching, creating, developing, practicing or managing in that field(s), or
• An executive who, for at least six years, has had under his/her direction important technical, engineering, or research work in IEEE-designated fields included in the REP List.
The grade of Senior Member is the highest for which application may be made and shall require experience reflecting professional maturity. For admission or transfer to the grade of Senior Member, a candidate shall be an engineer, scientist, educator, technical executive, or originator in IEEE-designated fields. The candidate shall have been in professional practice for at least ten years and shall have shown significant performance over a period of at least five of those years, such performance including one or more of the following:
• Substantial engineering responsibility or achievement
• Publication of engineering or scientific papers, books, or inventions
• Technical direction or management of important scientific or engineering work with evidence of accomplishment
• Recognized contributions to the welfare of the scientific or engineering profession
• Development or furtherance of important scientific or engineering courses in a program on the “reference list of educational programs” (REP list) Contributions equivalent to those of (a) to (e) in areas such as technical editing, patent prosecution, or patent law, provided these contributions serve to advance progress substantially in IEEE-designated fields.
For more details, see Senior Member Program. Prospective members who would like to apply directly for Senior Member grade should submit a Member Application along with a Senior Member elevation form.
The grade of Fellow recognizes unusual distinction in the profession and shall be conferred only by invitation of the Board of Directors upon a person of outstanding and extraordinary qualifications and experience in IEEE-designated fields, and who has made important individual contributions to one or more of these fields. The year of election to the grade of Fellow is the year following affirmative action by the Board of Directors in conferring the grade of Fellow.
The candidate shall hold Senior Member grade at the time the nomination is submitted. Normally, the candidate shall have been a member in any grade for a period of five years or more preceding January 1 of the year of election; however, the five-year membership requirement may be waived for a Fellow candidate who has been engaged in professional practice (as needed to qualify for Senior Member grade) in a geographical area where, in the judgment of the Board of Directors, it was difficult to become a member previously, as evidenced by the absence of a Section previously and the recent formation of a new Section to cover that geographical area. In such cases, membership of five years or more in a recognized local electrical, electronics, or computer engineering society may substitute for the five-year IEEE membership requirement, when the nomination is submitted within four years after the formation of the new Section.
For more information, see the Fellow Program website.
Honorary Members are elected by the Board of Directors from among those individuals, not members of IEEE, who have rendered meritorious service to humanity in IEEE’s designated fields of interest. An affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members of the Board of Directors present at the time of the vote, provided a quorum is present, is required for election at a regularly constituted meeting.
Honorary Members shall be entitled to all rights and privileges of the IEEE except the right to hold office therein, including the use of IEEE or IEEE Honorary Member in their signature blocks, and on business cards, letterheads and such.
A Society Affiliate is a non-IEEE professional who is generally a member of another professional Society and wishes to affiliate with one of IEEE’s Societies. For an annual Affiliate fee paid to IEEE plus the individual Society’s membership dues, the affiliate is admitted to membership in a specific IEEE Society.
Society Affiliates are not IEEE members and are not entitled to any IEEE benefits or services that are reserved solely for IEEE members. All affiliate benefits and services come directly from the individual IEEE Society offering affiliation. For each and every Society affiliated with, the applicant pays a separate annual affiliate fee plus that IEEE Society’s annual membership dues. Affiliate applications are provided by individual IEEE Societies offering affiliation. Visit the Society main website for information on all the IEEE Societies.
Current Society affiliates may convert to full IEEE membership by filling out the Affiliate to Member conversion application form.
Senior Member is the highest grade for which IEEE members can apply. Any regular members with sufficient experience can apply for senior member status. To be eligible, candidates must:
• be engineers, scientists, educators, technical executives, or originators in IEEE-designated fields;
• have experience reflecting professional maturity;
• have been in professional practice for at least ten years;
• show “significant performance” over a period of at least five of their years in professional practice.
The ten years in the profession can include education (e.g. a masters degree counts as 4 years, a PhD as 5). Significant performance can be manager of a big project, responsible for development of a product, published papers or reports,…
You need to apply yourself (IEEE Senior member protal), and 3 references must support your application. These references must be senior, fellow, life senior or life fellow member and need to write write a few lines about how experienced you are, and how significant your performance was. Alternatively, you ask your section to nominate you, and you will only need two other references. The section can also help you identifying these references (past colleagues, former professors,…). When in doubt, contact your section, or you can contact us at ieee-r8md@ieee.org