engineering

Institute of Radio Engineers

Institute of Radio Engineers is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Institute of Radio Engineers rather than just read about it. In short: The Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) was a professional organization which existed from 1912 until December 31, 1962. On January 1, 1963, it merged with the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) to form the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Key takeaways

Institute of Radio Engineers belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Institute of Radio Engineers to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Institute of Radio Engineers from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) was a professional organization which existed from 1912 until December 31, 1962. On January 1, 1963, it merged with the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) to form the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Founding Following several attempts to form a technical organization of wireless practitioners in 1908–1912, the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) was finally established in 1912 in New York City. Among its founding organizations were the Society of Wireless Telegraph Engineers (SWTE) and the Wireless Institute (TWI). At the time, the dominant organization of electrical engineers was the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE). Many of the founding members of IRE considered AIEE too conservative and too focused on electric power. Moreover, the founders of the IRE sought to establish an international organization (unlike the “American” AIEE), and adopted a tradition of electing some of the IRE's officers from outside the United States.

In the first half of the 20th century, radio communications had experienced great expansion, and the growing professional community of developers and operators of radio systems required standardization, research, and authoritative dissemination of new results among practitioners and researchers. To meet these needs, the IRE established professional journals (most notably the Proceedings of the IRE, established 1913 and edited for 41 years by Alfred N. Goldsmith); participated actively in all aspects of standardization and regulations of the frequency spectrum, modulation techniques, testing methods, and radio equipment; and organized regional and professional groups (starting in 1914 and 1948, respectively) for cooperation and exchange between members. The IRE was a major participant in planning of the Federal Radio Commission (established 1927; later the Federal Communications Commission), and worked in close cooperation with the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, the Radio Manufacturers Association, the Radio and Television Manufacturers Association, and the National Television System Committee on Standards. The IRE also started (in 1914) a program of professional recognition, through the membership grade of IRE Fellow. The first Fellow was Jonathan Zenneck (1871–1959), a pioneer of wireless telegraphy.

Merger Until the early 1940s IRE was a relatively small engineering organization, but the growing importance of electronic communications and the emergence of the discipline of electronics in the 1940s have increased its appeal to practitioners. Students of electrical engineering and young electrical engineers favored IRE over its older rival, the AIEE, and in 1957 IRE (with 57,000 members) was the larger organization. Negotiations about merging the two organizations started that year and continued until a new joint organization, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) was established in 1963. Several new professional organizations (such as the Society of Broadcast Engineers), were founded shortly thereafter by IRE and AIEE members who opposed the merger. The first president of IRE was Robert H. Marriott, chief engineer of the Wireless Company of America. Other notable presidents of the IRE included Irving Langmuir (1923), John H. Morecroft (1924), Lee deForest (1930), Louis A. Hazeltine (1936), Frederick E. Terman (1941), Arthur F. Van Dyck (1942), William R. Hewlett (1954), Ernst Weber (1959; also first president of IEEE, 1963) and Patrick E. Haggerty (1962).

Medal of Honor The IRE issued the IRE Medal of Honor each year which is now the IEEE Medal of Honor.

See also IRE Professional Group on Engineering Management

References

External links IEEE website Proceedings of the IRE Lloyd V. Berkner Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Institute of Radio Engineers

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Institute of Radio Engineers claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Institute of Radio Engineers before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Institute of Radio Engineers ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Institute of Radio Engineers

In research: Institute of Radio Engineers appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Institute of Radio Engineers in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Institute of Radio Engineers is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1912 establishments in New York City, American engineering organizations, Organizations established in 1912, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Institute of Radio Engineers outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Institute of Radio Engineers in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Institute of Radio Engineers means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Institute of Radio Engineers out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Institute of Radio Engineers in simple terms?

Why does Institute of Radio Engineers matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Institute of Radio Engineers?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Institute of Radio Engineers.