Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine January 2018 - 3

From the AESS President
JANUARY 2018

DOI. No. 10.1109/MAES.2018.181002

G REETINGS!
I have the great honour to have been elected President of IEEE
AESS for 2018-2019. My background is as a radar engineer: I
have mostly worked in Government, specifically with the Australian Defence Science and Technology Group, on a variety of radar
engineering problems - in high frequency over-the-horizon radar,
particularly electronic warfare, and, more recently, in microwave
radar technologies and systems for aerospace, maritime and land
applications.
I would like to thank Dr. Teresa Pace, the outgoing AESS President, for the stellar job she has done in leading the Society over
the past two years. Her brilliant stewardship has guided the AESS
through some important changes to the governance of the Society
and steered several essential initiatives to fruition, notably establishing the AESS Resource Centre, starting new AESS chapters
internationally, forming a Navigation Systems technical panel, and
expanding our education and award programs, including the AESS
Professional Networking and Mentoring Program, the Robert Hill
Best Dissertation Award, and, most recently, the new AESS Engineering Scholarships, among other notable achievements.
The future of the Society is inspired by its core purpose to best
serve the most valued requirements of the AESS community. Member feedback has highlighted a number of areas where the AESS can
improve, and this important input has shaped the goals and objectives of our strategic plan covering the next three years. Key drivers in
moving the AESS from "good to great" include expanding and strengthening relations with Industry, where we have a larger percentage of
members than any other IEEE Society, implementing new initiatives that attract and retain younger members, reinvigorating AESS chapters
and member participation, and offering targeted education and training opportunities to fulfil the professional development needs of diverse
AESS member groups. The AESS has a worldwide scope: we aim to be relevant to people in all countries, and we seek to establish new AES
chapters in new countries.
I am excited to work with the AESS Executive Vice President, Mr. Walt Downing, the AESS Board of Governors, and the international
AESS community towards a shared future vision we call "AESS Vision 2020". As we continue to improve existing services that assist members to accelerate professional development and career advancement, we also strive to deliver new offerings that provide greater advantages
to members in areas of publications, chapter activities, conferences, industry relations, education, technical operations and others. The
cornerstone themes of our strategic planning are to be more innovative and collaborative with emphasis on delivering valued outcomes to
the professional community working in AESS fields of interest. This will be through deeper member engagement across a more connected
Society, and you should start to see the results of this plan over the coming months.
The Board and our assistant staff are a remarkable team, which continues to be responsive to the comments and concerns of AESS
members who have customer or contributor perspectives on the Society, so please do not hesitate to contact us with your viewpoints, either
directly or through your local chapter chair. A simple example would be to let us know the professional development activities (e.g., specific
education and training initiatives) that would be most valued by the AESS community in your local area at this time. Expanding the membership of AESS is an aspiration that we can hold in common, so please do your part in spreading the message and recruiting new members to
help grow our Society.
It is a privilege for me to serve as your President. I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible in person.
- With thanks and best wishes,
-Joe Fabrizio

JANUARY 2018

IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine January 2018