By Jackey Locke

Dr. Octavia Dobre, associate professor, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, has been elected as a member of the Administrative Committee of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Instrumentation and Measurement (I&M) Society.

The IEEE committee manages and governs the IEEE I&M Society. It plans and oversees all of the society’s publications, conferences and workshops, assesses society’s services, financial affairs, as well as the membership and activities of its standing committees. It also evaluates the society’s technical committees, along with candidates for Fellow grade and awards on behalf of the society, and promotes society membership in conjunction with the various society activities.

The election process includes nominations by the nomination sub-committee of the IEEE I&M Society prior to elections. Six nominees are chosen and based on votes, four of the six nominees are elected as new members of the administrative committee. All nominees must be active members of IEEE and recognized internationally for their contributions to engineering, publications in high impact IEEE journals and at flagship conferences and awards.

“I am honored to be elected by my peers as a member of the administrative committee of the IEEE I&M Society,” said Dr. Dobre. “This shows the trust that my peers have placed in my capacity to contribute to the prosperity of the society through its activities, membership, and publications, among others. I am enthusiastic about this opportunity and looking forward to a great experience over the next three years.”

Dr. Dobre joined Memorial in 2005. She is currently an associate professor. In 2013, she was a visiting professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, and the Université de Bretagne Ocidentale, France. Previously, she was with the New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA and Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest, Romania.

She is the recipient of the 2015 President's Outstanding Research Award at Memorial. In 2001, she was awarded a Fulbright fellowship at Stevens Institute of Technology, USA.

Her general research interests focus on wireless and optical communications. She has published more than 170 journal and conference papers in these areas, and has given more than 40 invited talks to industry and academia around the world. Her research has been funded by federal, regional and provincial agencies, as well as by governmental laboratories and industry.

"I am delighted that IEEE has recognized Dr. Dobre's exceptional contributions to the technical society, her leadership in the field of communications research and service to the engineering profession," said Dr. Greg Naterer, dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science. "Her role on the committee is a well deserved honour for her and will also raise Memorial engineering's profile internationally."

Dr. Dobre has served as technical chair for numerous IEEE flagship conferences, as well as chair and vice-chair of various IEEE Technical and Standing Committees. She was recently the conference chair of the 2015 Canadian Workshop on Information Theory in St. John’s.