IEEE Student Project Funding

IEEE student branches provide a way to get money and guidance for projects so that engineering students can develop their research, development, project management and entrepreneurial skills while having a really interesting and informative time. It is often to your advantage to find several sponsors (sources of funds) and present a sound financial plan. Typical sources of funding are; your department, your faculty, a research group that is relevant to your project, your engineering society, your local IEEE Section, and the IEEE Canadian Foundation.

  • The IEEE Lasers & Electro-Optics Society has funds to encourage and support students’ active participation in a team effort to conceptualize, plan, and implement a photonics systems project. The program provides three annual awards of $1500 each to support the development and demonstration of the project – full details
  • The IEEE Canadian Foundation has funds under the category of “special grants” to partially underwrite the costs of interesting student projects. Applicants are required to plan carefully and complete a detailed proposal which is required in order to assist students in developing successful project management skills – full details
    Example    : A re-enactment of Marconi’s first transatlantic wireless experiment more details
  • IEEE Student Enterprise Award provides funding up to US $1500 for projects, the topics of which may be of a technical or non-technical nature ranging from research on state-of-the-art technology to community service programs. Submission deadline is Nov 15 to IEEE Student Services – more details
  •  Darrel Chong Student Activity Award provides funding for projects that serve to change the mind set of our student groups from being number-driven to become value-driven and acknowledge exemplary student activities around the world. Application by any branch representative to IEEE Student Services – more details


 

IEEE Student Conferences

IEEE student branches provide a unique opportunity for engineering students to develop organizational skills and access information that will become invaluable in their professional lives. You develop a financial plan to be able to cover your speakers’ expenses and those for the room(s) to hold your event, publicity, speaker gifts, etc. Many IEEE related speakers can arrange for someone else to cover their expenses. Another IEEE connection is the GOLD program for young professionals – if you have a GOLD Chapter in your local IEEE Section, they may be able to provide you with ideas and contacts.

  • Student Professional Awareness Conferences
    The IEEE USA S-PAC website is a great resource to use when you decide to run one of these conferences – the key topics are; career growth, working, professional ethics and social responsibility, self-management, engineers and public policy, and the role of the professional society. These are topics which augment the technical skills one learns at university or college. Your Branch Counselor and local IEEE Section chair are usually able to offer practical advice and assistance – funds to partially offset expenses are sometimes available if you prepare ahead of time and develop a sound financial plan. It is also a good idea to discuss your event with both your department chair and your faculty dean as this type of conference is relevant to all engineering students. By broadening your audience, you tend to increase attendance and can make a sizable surplus for your student branch.
  • Student Technical Conferences
    This is an opportunity to bring local (and not so local) engineers from industry to discuss practical as well as theoretical aspects of technology. Find out which technical chapters are operating in your local IEEE Section and see if you can arrange a co-sponsored event. IEEE Chapters are links to their related IEEE Technical Societies, many of which have “distinguished speaker” programs that cover the speaker’s travel expenses. You can use this connection to reduce your costs and get really great speakers by utilizing the financial help available to chapters.