For most of its more than 140-year existence, IEEE has been a leader in preserving the far-reaching implications of the history behind the electrical, electronic, and computing fields and related areas of science and technology that underpin modern society. This history showcases a continuous and dynamic cycle wherein scientific understanding fuels innovation, and technological advancements enable new avenues for scientific exploration. This fascinating journey continues to hold vast implicat...| IEEE Spectrum
Belting your favorite song over prerecorded music into a microphone in front of friends and strangers at karaoke is a popular way for people around the world to destress after work or celebrate a friend’s birthday. The idea for the karaoke machine didn’t come from a singer or a large entertainment company but from Nichiden Kogyo, a small electronics assembly company in Tokyo. The company’s founder, Shigeichi Negishi, was singing to himself at work one day in 1967 when an employee joking...| IEEE Spectrum
Coral reefs are vital to marine ecosystems, supporting more species than any other ocean environment. More than 80 percent of the planet’s coral reefs have been bleached due to rising ocean temperatures and pollution, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The reef damage threatens marine biodiversity across the globe. High school student Sydney West built a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) designed to help preserve and sustain coral reefs. West, a graduate of...| IEEE Spectrum
CT scanning, streaming videos, and sending images over the Internet wouldn’t be possible without the Fast Fourier transform. Commonly known as FFT, the computer algorithm designed by researchers at Princeton University and IBM is found in just about every electronic device, according to an entry in the Engineering and Technology History Wiki. Demonstrated for the first time in 1964 by IEEE Fellows John Tukey and James W. Cooley, the algorithm breaks down a signal—a series of values over t...| IEEE Spectrum
In the 1980s, people weren’t wearing head-mounted cameras, displays, or computers. Except for high school student Steve Mann, who regularly wore his homemade electronic computer vision system (seeing aid). Back then, Mann attracted stares, questions, suspicion, and sometimes hostility. But it didn’t stop him from refining the technology he developed. It now underlies augmented-reality eyeglasses—including those by Google and Magic Leap—that are used in operating rooms and industrial s...| IEEE Spectrum
How did Kamal Rudra transform from a bored student to a semiconductor innovator? Dive into his journey and find out what sparked his passion.| IEEE Spectrum