IEEE Foundation

Meet the IEEE Foundation Board: Dr. Nim Cheung

For more than three decades, Dr. Nim Cheung has been at the leading edge of the technologies reshaping our world — from high-speed optical communications to 5G/6G, the Internet of Things, and smart cities.

Nim is Chairman and CEO of AIquanta Limited, a company he founded specializing in 3D photography, LIDAR, and artificial intelligence. He previously completed a six-year term as CEO of the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI 香港應用科技研究院).

A pioneer in high-speed optical communications, Nim established three world-class research programs at Bellcore and has held research and management roles at Bell Labs and Telcordia Technologies. Over his career he has won major DARPA and NSF contracts and created influential R&D programs in gigabit and optical networking, wireless, and smart cities. Nim has served as Chair of the IEEE Fellow Committee and Chair of the IEEE Awards Board. He is currently Chair of the IEEE Medal of Honor Committee.

He earned his B.Sc. from the The University of Hong Kong and his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). A Fellow of IEEE, Nim is an honorary professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and a former consulting professor at Stanford University.

We're grateful for the vision and research leadership Nim brings to advancing the Foundation's mission.

📡 Congratulations to Zheng Xuezhi, the 2026 recipient of the IEEE AP-S Leopold B. Felsen Research Grant in Electromagnetics!

This donor-funded grant supports researchers advancing the science behind wireless, radar, and sensing technology. 👏

Link to learn more in the comments.

Your legacy can power the next generation of engineers. 💡

August is National Make A Will Month — a perfect time to think about your lasting impact. Through the IEEE Goldsmith Legacy League, including the IEEE Foundation in your estate plans helps ensure future innovators have the support they need.

Learn how to leave a lasting legacy 👇

IEEE TryEngineering OnCampus just expanded to seven universities, giving pre-university students hands-on experience in AI, robotics, and emerging tech!

Workshops, skills, confidence — and a glimpse of an engineering future. 🚀

Learn more in the comments.

Meet the IEEE Foundation Board: Karen Panetta

Karen serves as vice president of programs on the IEEE Foundation Board — and her career is a masterclass in turning engineering expertise into impact.

An IEEE Fellow, Karen is Dean of Graduate Engineering Education and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Tufts University, where she directs the Dr. Panetta Vision and Sensing System Laboratory. She is also CEO and Co-founder of Tessera Intelligence Inc.

Her honors include the IEEE Ethical Practices Award, the Harriet B. Rigas Award, and the Presidential Award for Engineering and Science Education and Mentoring. Within IEEE, she is a past IEEE Eta Kappa Nu (IEEE-HKN) President, past IEEE Awards Board Chair, and current Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine.

Most recently, Karen was awarded the prestigious 2026 IEEE Mildred Dresselhaus Medal at the IEEE Honors Ceremony in New York, NY, USA, and the 2025 Robert S. Walleigh Distinguished Contributions to Engineering Professionalism Award from IEEE-USA: The Organization for U.S. IEEE Members. She is also a member of both the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Inventors.

Through her leadership on the Foundation Board, Karen helps translate donor generosity into programs that change lives.

💡 Did you know?

The IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) Scholarship Plus Initiative doubled its 2024 award count — supporting 244 undergraduate engineering students across 108 universities in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico in 2025.

The next generation of power and energy leaders, in the making.

You can explore more impact in the IEEE Foundation 2025 Annual Report - link in the comments.

Meet the IEEE Foundation Board: Philip Krein

Philip joined the IEEE Foundation Board in 2025 as a Director at Large, bringing decades of leadership in power electronics, clean energy, and engineering education.

Philip holds the Grainger Endowed Chair Emeritus in Electric Machinery and Electromechanics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and is an Adjunct Distinguished Professor at Zhejiang University. As co-founder of SolarBridge Technologies, he helped pioneer AC photovoltaic panels — a meaningful leap forward for solar energy. He holds 42 U.S. patents.

Philip's honors include the IEEE Foundation William E. Newell Power Electronics Award and the IEEE Transportation Technologies Award. He is a Fellow of the U.S. National Academy of Inventors, a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, and a past president of the IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS).

We are grateful for the vision and expertise he brings to advancing the IEEE Foundation's mission.

We're in Montreal, Canada, for the IEEE Power & Energy Society General Meeting!

Thousands of engineers, researchers, and students are here advancing the field of power and energy.

Many — especially the students — are here thanks to donor-supported programs. Engineers fueling engineers. ⚡


IEEE Power & Energy Society

💡 Did you know?

Thanks to the Jon C. Taenzer Memorial Fund, IEEE Smart Village seed funded a solar-powered milling unit and bakery along the DRC–Rwanda border is helping feed a community of 500,000 people.

Technology, meet humanity.

You can explore more impact in the IEEE Foundation 2025 Annual Report - link in the comments.

Conferences shape careers.

For graduate students, attending a major symposium means meeting mentors, finding collaborators, and gaining the confidence that comes from presenting work in front of peers. But conference attendance also comes with very real costs — costs that can put it out of reach for many.

The IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society C.J. Reddy Travel Grant for Graduate Students helps close that gap.

Congratulations to the 2026 recipients! Your research is part of what makes meetings like the AP-S Symposium worth attending.

🔗 Read more: https://ieeeaps.org/2026-cjrtg-awardees