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Photo: IEEE-HKN

IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu students are among the top 33 percent of their senior class and top 25 percent of their junior class earning their first academic degree.

THE INSTITUTE With their merger on 1 September 2010, IEEE and the honor society Eta Kappa Nu created a pathway to identify and develop future leaders in the IEEE fields of interest. Ten years, 48 new chapters, 26,000 inductees, and hundreds of thousands of community service hours later, IEEE-HKN is an engine for innovation and excellence.

“The leadership of IEEE realized the potential of this merger, and many people worked tirelessly to make it happen,” says Bruce Eisenstein, 2000 IEEE president and 2010 IEEE-HKN president. “We can look with pride at the result today.”

With 265 chapters in 19 countries, the honor society has provided IEEE a way to reach—and bring into its volunteer and leadership ranks—bright students, industry professionals, and academics. Some 23 IEEE presidents, including every one since the merger, are members of the honor society.

IEEE-HKN offers a strong feeder system for IEEE societies because it is populated with ready and willing volunteers for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education-outreach programs, tutoring, humanitarian activities, and committee- and board-level positions throughout IEEE.

In turn, the honor society gained the resources it needed to grow and transform into a multifaceted, global organization. All of its international growth has occurred since the merger. The honor society now has 26 chapters in IEEE Regions 7–10. About 3,000 new members from all IEEE regions are inducted each year.

“IEEE-HKN embraces its roots as an American university honor society, but it has grown into a global professional organization that brings professional development, career development, life skills development, and leadership skills development to our members throughout their careers,” says Edward A. Rezek, 2020 IEEE-HKN president.

Programs and services, such as the Student Leadership Conference, the Pathways to Industry professional-development series, and the annual awards programs, have been added or improved to better meet the needs of members and the communities they impact.

Leadership training, networking opportunities, a career center, and chapter mentoring programs are offered to help develop “the complete technical professional,” says IEEE-HKN Director Nancy Ostin, who recently celebrated her eighth year with IEEE and has led the society through a period of solid growth and transformation.

The honor society is celebrating the anniversary of the successful partnership through the rest of this year, encouraging all members—students and professionals—to raise the profile of IEEE-HKN through social media, coordinated service projects with IEEE student branches and within IEEE regions and sections.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-institute/ieee-news/ieeeeta-kappa-nu-has-expanded-its-reach-in-the-last-decade