Two years ago, I didn’t even know that the IEEE-History group existed, let alone IEEE-Milestones. Being an EE I of course knew about all the famous names and events that we learned about in school that shaped where we are today; what I didn’t know was there was a record of so many other events.

Last year I became the PES-YP Committee Chair and had been working to learn the ropes of everything that went along with the position when I was contacted by a friend at the IEEE foundation who was helping with the IEEE-History group and was looking for ways to promote the IEEE-Milestones and getting people to visit them. They were asking primarily for help promoting a campaign to visit the Milestones, this eventually turned into the #Milestelfie photo contest. The contest consisted of the simply finding the plaque that commemorated the event, taking a selfie with the plaque, and posting it to twitter. The winner won an Apple Watch2.

The end of last year I found myself in Hawaii, as soon as I get here I find out that IEEE-Hawaii ExCom have been working on an IEEE Milestone for the Lighting of Honolulu, I really didn’t get to play a part in the process, as they were pretty much just waiting for the approval when I arrived.

The approval happened, and I was then asked to attend the presentation of the Milestone as a representative of the IEEE-Foundation. This event allowed me to tour the Iolani Palace and learn all the history of the events that led to the Lighting of Honolulu.I found it especially interesting to hear how King Kalakaua spent a day with Edison. You can learn all about this milestone by visiting http://ethw.org/Milestones:Electric_Lighting_Of_The_Kingdom_of_Hawaii_1886-1888

At the ceremony I had the opportunity to take the first #Milestelfie of 2018 and the first onefor the new Hawaii milestone with IEEE President Jim Jeffries and IEEE-USA President Elect Tom Coughlin.

This year’s #Milestelfie runs from May 1 to Sept. 15 so start making your plans now. The competition is open to all IEEE members across the globe. The task is both educative and exploratory. To win, one must venture beyond the confines of their work desks to discover momentous objects, buildings, and milestones associated with the history of electrical and power engineering. After a participant has discovered an object, they must take a selfie with milestone, and post it on either Facebook or twitter. The individual with most number of #Milestelfies wins a glamorous Apple Watch3 or a Fitbit Blaze. The contest is designed to raise awareness about the history of IEEE, and role it has played to modernize society.

J. HOFMAN
IEEE-PES YP COMMITTEE CHAIR