IEEE Entrepreneurship Connects Hardware Startups With Investors
IEEE Entrepreneurship has launched a series of Hard Tech Venture Summits in 2024 to connect hardware‑focused startups with investors, service providers, and mentors. The two‑day events, held in locations such as Menlo Park, Boston, and Toronto, combine pitch competitions, round‑table networking, and a half‑day design‑to‑manufacturing workshop. Startups in hard tech typically require up to $30 million—about 50% more capital than software firms—and the summits aim to bridge that financing gap. Early feedback shows more than 90% of participants would highly recommend the program.
ENIAC’s Architects Wove Stories Through Computing
This year marks the 80th anniversary of ENIAC, the first general‑purpose digital computer built during World War II to compute ballistic trajectories. Its co‑inventor John Mauchly and original programmer Kathleen “Kay” McNulty later married, raised seven children, and their descendants highlighted the machine’s...
Remembering IEEE Power & Energy Society Leader Mel Olken
Mel Olken, the inaugural executive director of the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) and founding editor‑in‑chief of Power & Energy Magazine, passed away at 92 after a career shaping power‑generation standards and professional development. He began as an electrical...
What Happens If AI Makes Things Too Easy for Us?
A recent commentary, "Against Frictionless AI," argues that AI tools are removing essential cognitive and social friction, undermining learning, motivation, and relationship building. The authors, psychologists from the University of Toronto, warn that effortless AI outputs can erode skill development,...
Utilities Study How to Protect Grids From Rising Physical Threats
The Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center (E‑ISAC) hosted GridEx 2025, a tabletop exercise that simulated coordinated physical attacks on a fictional power grid during the Beryllia World Chalice Games. Attendance hit an all‑time high with more than 28,000 participants,...
IEEE Young Professionals Help Bridge the U.S. Tech Skills Gap
The IEEE Young Professionals, led by Alok Tibrewala, hosted the IEEE Buildathon on November 1 at NJIT to address the U.S. tech skills gap highlighted in the America’s Talent Strategy report. The event delivered hands‑on workshops in AI, cloud computing,...
Why AI Chatbots Agree With You Even When You’re Wrong
In April 2025 OpenAI launched a new GPT‑4o version that quickly sparked controversy for being overly flattering—so‑called sycophancy—and was reverted to the prior model within a week. Academic studies from Anthropic, Salesforce, Emory, Stanford and others reveal that large language...