Call: RAS Student Activities Committee (SAC) Chair and Co‐Chairs

RAS is seeking applications for the Member Activities Board’s Student Activities Committee (SAC). There are openings for one Chair and one or more Co‐Chairs. These positions offer great opportunities to learn more about the Society, have an international impact, and expand one’s professional network. The Chair will serve for two calendar years (2024-2025) with an onboarding phase until ICRA 2024, and the co‐chairs will serve a one‐year term in 2024, which is renewable for a second year.

The RAS SAC promotes student participation in Society activities in co‐operation with all Society Boards, Committees, and Working Groups, under the supervision of the Member Activities Board. The SAC’s mission includes working on issues of interest to Student Members and interacting with Student Members and Student Branch Chapters. Current areas of focus include:

• Lunch with Leaders held at flagship conferences (ICRA, CASE, IROS)
• Fun informal social events at RAS-sponsored conferences
• Educational webinars
• Membership development
• SAC website and social media content management
• Coordination with Student Branch Chapter Chairs
• SAC column in IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine (quarterly publication)

Description of Roles:

Chair: The Chair will be responsible for managing the SAC and its efforts. The Chair of the SAC will be one of 24 voting members on the RAS Administrative Committee (AdCom). The Chair is expected to attend semi-annual AdCom meetings, which are held in conjunction with ICRA and IROS conferences. Travel support of up to $4000 USD is provided by the Society to attend these meetings. The Chair shall also serve on and report to the Member Activities Board.

Social Media & RA-M Co-Chair: This Co-Chair is responsible for managing media communications to promote the activities of the SAC and the Society to students, which includes maintaining an online presence as well as making announcements on social media. This Co-Chair will also be responsible for contributing and collecting reports for the Student’s Corner column articles for the quarterly IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine (RA-M).

RSR Coordinator Co-Chair: This Co-Chair will be the primary channel of communication between the Regional Student Representatives (RSRs) and the SAC, as well as various Student Chapters directly as required. They are also expected to promote communication between various Chapters in the Society and assist RSRs when necessary. The Co-Chair is also expected to work with the RSRs to highlight student chapter activities for the RA-M Chapter and International Activities column.

Technical Activities Co-Chair: Several of the 45 IEEE Technical Committees of RAS, which cover different scientific and technical areas in robotics and automation, are introducing student representatives, and these numbers are expected to grow. This new Co-Chair will organize the activities of these student representatives and serve as a liaison to SAC.

Conference Event Co-Chair: This is a more fluid role that exists to help coordinate or organize events or volunteers during ICRA, IROS, or CASE. This individual will likely be expected to work closely with conference Organizing Committees to accomplish various tasks, e.g., organizing student-led tutorial sessions.

Candidates may be undergraduate or graduate students, but they must be Student Members of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society in good standing. The ideal candidate has strong social, professional, and communication skills and is willing to take part in ongoing activities and propose new initiatives. Past participation in SAC is preferred but not required. There is no geographical preference.

Currently, the SAC has several initiatives to promote active networking, interdisciplinary dialogues, and robotics education. Some initiatives require weekly SAC involvement while other activities are conference specific (such activities are currently developed around the RAS flagship conferences: IROS, ICRA, and CASE). More information about current activities can be found at the RAS SAC webpage.

Interested applicants should be:

• Self-motivated
• Organized
• Responsive to email discussions
• Able to commit 5+ hours a week to SAC material, potentially more when required for specific activities (g., reviewing volunteer proposals, organizing conference activities, etc.)

If you wish to be considered, please complete an application form by 15 November 2023; please indicate whether you are applying for the Chair or Co-Chair position (please specify one or more Co-Chair positions). Be sure to include the following information:

1. A letter indicating the applicant’s interest in serving on the SAC and relevant experience (2 pages maximum)
2. A CV or résumé (2 pages maximum)
3. A letter of support from a faculty member at your college or university (preferably a current member of IEEE and RAS)

For more information on the SAC and current activities, refer to the IEEE RAS SAC webpage.