About SAC

The Student Activities Committee of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (“SAC”) was formed in 2006 as an initiative by the Robotics and Automation Society AdCom to represent the students' voices. As part of the Member Activities Board, the SAC consists of a chair who serves a two year term and two co-chairs who serve one year terms. The goal of the SAC is to represent students in robotics worldwide.

The SAC is responsible for organizing and managing activities, promotions, and competitions to recruit students and keep members active. The SAC provides students with opportunities to advance their careers and improve their professional experience. In order to support students’ training, careers, and professional relationships, we believe that facilitating active networking, interdisciplinary dialogue, and robotics education at all levels are fundamental goals toward which the Committee should work. To achieve these goals, SAC organizes events to give students the chance to find high quality information, as well as to find the best places where robotics innovators and scientists meet to exchange their knowledge and experience.

The Student Activities Committee of the Robotics & Automation Society represents an exclusive resource for your career and knowledge. It offers occasions to meet and interact with leaders of academia and industry, and we may help find chances for mobility, jobs, internships, and financial support. General SAC Conference activities typically include a Photo Scavanger Hunt, Lunch with Leaders event, and Student's Evening. 


Current Projects

Student Activities at RAS Conferences

One of the major efforts of the SAC is organizing events and activities during the RAS flagship conferences. These events give students the opportunity to network with their peers, interact with leaders in our field, and have fun. The SAC organizes Lunch with Leaders events at ICRA, IROS, and CASE, which provide students with the opportunity to sit down with RAS and industry leaders. The SAC has also been organizing several new conference events, including coffee breaks where students can unload or work between sessions with access to Wi-Fi, coffee, and snacks, as well as social and networking opportunities just for students. If you have ideas for additional events for students at conferences or would like to organize an event, please send us an email at ras_sac@ieee.org!

Student Volunteers to RAS Boards

The SAC is actively working on getting more students involved in the Society. We are in the first few months of a new initiative in partnership with several of the RAS governing boards. More than a dozen student volunteers have recently started working directly with several boards, including the Industrial Activities Board, the Publications Activities Board, the Conference Activities Board, the Conference Editorial Board, and the Transactions on Automatic Science and Engineering Editorial Board. Student volunteers will act as liaisons between the SAC and the other governing boards, and will be involved with various areas of each board’s activities. Our student volunteers will, in turn, get the unique opportunity to see how the RAS conferences, publications, and industrial activities are planned and managed, to work directly with leaders in our field, and to work with the SAC. All volunteer positions have currently been filled, future opportunities will be announced as they arise.

Web-based Events and Competitions

The SAC organizes online contests and webinars periodically. Recently, we have hosted student video contests, SAC logo design competitions, and photo contests. (link to contests). If you have an idea for or would like to organize a web-based competition that would benefit the RAS student community, please let us know.

Chapter Outreach: The Regional Student Representative Program (RSR)

The SAC is introducing a new structure to facilitate better networking between the SAC and RAS Student Chapters across the world. The new system is set up with the aim to improve communications, encourage and support outstanding initiatives, and provide a platform for dedicated volunteers to be recognized for their efforts.
Project leads: Megan Emmons, Aswin Shibu


Easy Links