Sam McConoughey

The IEEE Vehicular Technology Society is in the "wireless" communication business?

Ya betcha, and it is the first, and foremost!!

Vehicular Technology, how does this relate to wireless?

One of the best kept "secrets" is that the Vehicular Technology Society is the Society for persons engaged in "wireless", also known as, mobile radio, motor vehicles, and transportation electronics. This includes, but is not limited to: 2-way radio, cellular communications, personal communications, multi-media communications, paging, related networks, antennas, propagation, mobile satellite, aeronautical radio, etc. The VTS scope also includes vehicular electronics, including control, navigation, and communication systems. The VTS scope also embraces transportation electronics for railway systems including signaling, and communications.

The Society has been in the business of holding annual conferences since 1950. Our first international conference was held in 1983, and it has held several since, including Canada, Sweden, Holland, and most recently, Japan. Conference papers today number in the hundreds, and comprise several volumes. The VTS also publishes the IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, the premier journal on wireless communications, with 2500 pages to be published this year. The VTS also publishes a quarterly VTS News to keep its members informed on non-technical Society matters. The VTS has also published an IEEE Press Book. The VTS membership is over 5,500. You can also find us on the web at: <www.vtsociety.org>

So if you are interested in "wireless", you have found it in the Vehicular Technology Society.

Sorry, our name confused you.

But if you want to know how it all came about, read on.

At the end of World War II, the then Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) saw an explosion of technology. Radio, radar, television, to name a few. It encouraged its members to form Professional Groups. One of the groups that was formed in Detroit in 1949, was the Professional Group on Vehicular Communications (PGVC), headed by James Evans of the Michigan State Police. Its members were all involved with 2-way radio, or what is termed Land Mobile Radio Services. One of the members was from Chrysler Corp. and involved with radio installed in vehicles. Thus, the term "vehicular" was included in the group's name.

In 1963, the IRE and the AIEE merged to become the IEEE. The PGVC, became the

Vehicular Technology Society (VTS).

The VTS remained small, having on the order of 2,000 members in the 1950 - 1983 era. But land mobile began to change as transistors replaced vacuum tubes, and it became possible to have a land mobile radio that did not need to be installed in a vehicle. The advent of cellular radio changed the picture radically. The public could enjoy the advantages of "wireless" telephones. From cellular radio's start in late 1983, membership has grown to over 5,500 today.

Rev. 2. 2/28/2000