Chapter Activities

Welcome to CSS Chapter Activities!

To better serve the needs for technical interaction of its global membership CSS has established a number of Chapters in various parts of the world. These Chapters provide resources and opportunities for control engineers from a particular geographical area, thus complementing the several CSS activities that have an international scope.

Chapters have considerable autonomy in their operation. Among the popular activities are the following:

• Holding regular meetings allowing members to meet each other and network.
• Contributing and disseminating "best practices." Dissemination can be done via a Web site, for example, thereby allowing inter-chapter information sharing.
• Facilitating academic/industry collaboration and soliciting local government/academic support of Chapter activities.
• Creating and maintaining a Chapter meeting database/speakers bureau with the names of speakers, topics, and other searchable data.
• Organizing joint meetings between Chapters and other entities, such as national societies outside the U.S., Chapters from other IEEE societies, and other proximate CSS Chapters.
• Identifying technical needs of Chapter members through surveys and interviews.
• Arranging seminars by high-profile speakers on topics of broad interest.

Chapters have considerable autonomy in their operation.

Among the popular activities are the following:

• Holding regular meetings allowing members to meet each other and network.
• Contributing and disseminating "best practices." Dissemination can be done via a website, for example, thereby allowing inter-chapter information sharing.
• Facilitating academic/industry collaboration and soliciting local government/academic support of Chapter activities.
• Creating and maintaining a Chapter meeting database/speakers bureau with the names of speakers, topics, and other searchable data.
• Organizing joint meetings between Chapters and other entities, such as national societies outside the U.S., Chapters from other IEEE Societies, and other proximate CSS Chapters.
• Identifying technical needs of Chapter members through surveys and interviews.
• Arranging seminars by high-profile speakers on topics of broad interest.

CSS can provide financial assistance for several types of Chapter activities.

We note two examples here:

• The "Local Area Support System" (LASS) program provides support for a maximum of one event per local Chapter per year by offsetting justifiable expenses incurred by the organizers to a maximum of USD $1,000 per event. Approval for such events must be granted by the Vice President for Member Activities prior to the event.
• Through the Distinguished Lecturer program, a local Chapter and CSS share reimbursement of travel expenses incurred by a lecturer invited by the Chapter. CSS can reimburse a maximum of USD $1000 for travel within a continent and USD $2,000 for intercontinental travel, subject to approval by the Vice President for Member Activities.