Institute of Radio Engineers. Vancouver Section

1950-1963

The Institute of Radio Engineers, Vancouver Section, was established in 1950. It was a branch of a larger society extending in the United States and in Canada. This society originated in 1912 from the merging of two other organizations (the Society of Wireless and Telegraph Engineers and the Wireless Institute) and became an international society for scientists and engineers involved in the development of wireless communications, the IRE. The objects of the Institute were scientific, literary and educational. Its aims included the advancement of the theory and practice of radio, and allied branches of engineering and of the related arts and sciences, their application to human needs, and the maintenance of a high professional standing among its members. The nature of radio technology meant that the interests of the IRE went beyond national boundaries. Therefore the new organization established units in several areas throughout the world. The structure of this society was extremely centralised as testified by the fact that every minutes had to be produced in double copy so that one could be sent to the central New York. The Institute of Radio Engineers was structured into professional groups under a centralised body and geographical as well as students branches and units were formed. Meeting for the reading and discussion of professional papers and the publication of papers, discussion and communications were regularly held. The society merged with the AIEE officially in 1 January 1963, to constitute the IEEE.