American Institute of Electrical Engineers. Vancouver Section

1911-1963

The American Institute of Electrical Engineers - Vancouver Section, was established in 1911. The Institute, however, was founded in New York City on 13 May 1884 and was incorporated in the State of New York in 1896. The object of the Institute, as stated in the Institute Constitution, Article I, was "the advancement of the theory and practice of Electrical Engineering and of the allied Arts and Sciences and the maintenance of a high professional standing among its members." In the '80s, an international Electrical Exhibition held by the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia at the presence of twenty-five of America's most prominent electrical engineers, including Thomas Edison, Elihu Thomson, and Edwin Houston had raised a call for the formation of a society to promote engineering.

For the purpose of the administration, the membership in the United States and Canada was divided into ten districts. In order to make the members meet and discuss technical matters and to advance the engineering profession through closer cooperation with other engineering societies, a number of local Sections were organized in the leading industrial cities of the United States, Canada and Mexico. The Vancouver section is one of these. In particular, the Vancouver Section aims to provide for electrical engineers in British Columbia and all others interested, a meeting place and forum for the exchange of views. At the beginning the Vancouver Section was part of District 10 (Canada); then, in 1948 the Section decided to be part of the District 9, which embraced sections in the Northwest States. The transfer was opposed by District 10 executives on various counts and caused a second vote on the question that finally was resolved for the transfer from District 10 to District 9. The Sections reported to the Board of Directors, through the Secretary of the Institute. All matters pertaining to membership, appropriations, prizes, etc. were handled between the Section and the Institute Headquarters. Section activities were headed by a chairman and a secretary treasurer and were governed by an executive committee elected by the local membership. These officers were assisted in their administrative duties by Standing Committees. The Executive Meeting was the governing body of the Section and directed the management of its affairs. The Committee consisted of the effective officers including the Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, and any other officers of the Section. Sometimes it included one or more recent Past Chairmen. The Chairman of the Section is the Chairman of the Executive Committee, as well as the Secretary of the Section is the Secretary of the Executive Committee. This committee was responsible for the operations ad progress of the Section and for the expenditure and accounting of all funds. The Chairman was elected for a term of one year as well as the Secretary. It was the Secretary's responsibility to attend all Section meetings and to record the minutes of each meeting. He had then to forward the report of each Section Meeting to the Secretary of the Institute. He was also responsible for securing a copy of the minutes of other meetings from the Secretary of Subsections, Technical Groups, etc. and for forwarding a report of such meetings to the Secretary of the Institute. These reports of meetings were made on special form No. 41, furnished by the Institute. All meetings had to be reported promptly since the money rebated from Headquarters to the Section depended partly on the number of meetings. The Secretary, amongst many other duties, was also responsible for the maintenance of the Section mailing lists and was the custodian of all records of the Section including copies of reports to Headquarters, annual reports of Secretary, Treasurer, etc. The Treasurer was responsible for the payments of all bills and had to prepare an annual report on the finances of the Section. This role was often combined with that of Secretary into Secretary-Treasurer. The Section was responsible for conducting monthly meetings devoted to the presentation and discussion of technical papers, as well as demonstration, inspections or social activities. The Section had also to organise inspection trips occasionally, as well as general social events; basically it coordinated the local activities with the national and international administration. Sections could establish Subsections and Student Branches.

The society merged with the IRE officially in 1 January 1963, to constitute the IEEE.