IEEE VTS

The IEEE Vehicular Technology Society (VTS) is an IEEE society with technical activities concentrated around three pillars: Wireless Communications, Automotive Electronics and Motor Vehicles, and Land Transportation.VTS was first established in 1949 as the Professional Group on Vehicular Communications (PGVC) of the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE). The IRE and AIEE merged in 1963 to become the IEEE, and the PGVC then became the Vehicular Technology Society (VTS).

VTS membership has been relatively steady at around 4200 members. VTS activities are mainly carried out by volunteers, with the society affairs being managed by a set of elected volunteers, the Board of Governors (BoG). VTS sponsors a number of yearly awards to formally recognize exceptional individuals, volunteers, chapters, and writings. The Society has a number of local chapters throughout the world: 55% of our members belong to one of our local chapters, which collectively hold on the order of 200 to 250 meetings per year. The VTS Distinguished Lecturer program is one of the largest in IEEE, with approximately 50 world-class speakers ready to provide lectures to VTS chapters around the world. The VTS DL program is available to VTS local chapters, and from 2015 to Connected Vehicle events. VTS also regularly releases educational video modules for our members.

All VTS members receive a free quarterly print copy of the IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazine, containing not only technical, and survey and tutorial articles, but also quarterly columns on the different areas of interest to our members. The IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazine is a Q2 (second quartile) publication in the Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports with an impact factor of 1.567. VTS also publishes the IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, a Q1 (first quartile) journal in JCR with an impact factor of 2.642. VTS is also a co-sponsor of several other publications, including the IEEE Wireless Communications Letters and the new IEEE Transactions on Big Data.

VTS sponsors the flagship IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC) that is held twice a year, with the Fall edition typically hosted in North America, and the Spring edition outside of North America. The Vehicle Power and Propulsion Conference is our flagship conference in the area of motor vehicles, with a strong emphasis on clean and electric vehicles. The Joint Rail Conference is co-organized with partner organizations in civil (ASCE) and mechanical engineering (ASME). WiVec (the International Symposium on Wireless Vehicular Communications) is the VTS connected vehicles event.

VTS is a key contributor to the world of IEEE standards, for instance in the domain of signaling for rail transportation, leading working groups in Rail Transportation Standards and Intelligent Transportation Systems. Of particular relevance to connected vehicles, is VTS leadership in sponsoring the establishment of DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication) and the IEEE 1609 Family of Standards for Wireless Access in Vehicular Environments (WAVE).

It has been a deliberate choice of the Board of Governors to keep membership fees low (currently $18). So don’t miss the chance, join the IEEE Vehicular Technology Society, and participate in the development of connected vehicle technologies, systems and applications. To join, please visit this IEEE web site.

If you are already an IEEE VTS, you should consider volunteering with IEEE VTS as it is an opportunity to take on leadership roles, grow your professional network, and gain recognition from your peers.