The IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (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 (2026 – 2027) with an onboarding phase until ICRA 2026, and the co‐chairs for a one‐year term in 2026 and renewable for a second year.
The IEEE‐RAS Student Activities Committee promotes student participation in the Society activities in co‐operation with all Society Boards, Committees and Working Groups, under the supervision of the Member Activities Board. The mission of the committee includes working on issues of interest to student members and interacting with student members and student chapter branches. 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
- 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 Administrative Committee meetings, held in conjunction with ICRA and IROS conferences. The Chair shall also serve on and report to the Member Activities Board.
Social Media 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.
RA-M Co-Chair: This co-chair will be responsible for contributing and collecting reports for the Student’s Corner column articles for the quarterly IEEE Robots and 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 IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine (RA-M) Chapter and International Activities column.
Technical Activities Co-Chair: Several of the 45 IEEE Technical Committees of RAS which are covering different scientific and technical areas in robotics and automation, are introducing student representatives, with numbers expected to grow. This co-chair will organize 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 must be student members of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society in good standing. The ideal candidate has strong social, professional, and communication skills, is willing to take part in ongoing activities and propose new initiatives. Past participation in SAC is requested 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 (currently developed around the RAS flagship conferences: IROS, ICRA, and CASE).
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 (e.g. reviewing volunteer proposals, organizing conference activities, etc.)
If you wish to be considered, please complete an Application Form by 10 November 2025 and indicate whether you are applying for the Chair or Co-Chair position (please specify one or more co-chair positions): <https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/34d80302a349487d9fc2ec02c53a3c36>, and include the following information:
- A letter indicating applicant’s interest in serving on the SAC and relevant experience (2 pages maximum)
- A CV or résumé (2 pages maximum)
- 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, check out their social media handles:
Instagram: @ieee_ras_sac
Bluesky: IEEE RAS SAC at ieee-ras-sac.bsky.social
X: @ieee_ras_sac
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/ieee-ras-sac
