G’day from Down Under! The IEEE Australian Capital Territory ComSoc Chapter is nestled in Canberra, the capital of Australia. The majority of ComSoc members work/study at Universities or work for State or Australian Government agencies. The IEEE ACT Section is a very small section with fewer than 500 members, and we are constantly proactive in membership development activities. On 16 April 2025, we held our first membership drive of the year at the University of Canberra.
Our year kicked off by hosting Mr Pit Hofmann from Germany at the Australian National University. He is working in the area of Molecular Communications and delivered a talk on “Engineering Molecular Communication: Implementation and Testbed Activities” for our members.
Last year, the IEEE ACT Section hosted the IEEE Milestone and Special Citation 2024. The first was the Deep Space Station—43, and the second was the Commonwealth Solar—Mount Stromlo Observatory. The IEEE President and IEEE Region 10 Director were present for both ceremonies, and several members from our ComSoc/SPS joint chapter were present, too.
For more than 50 years, Deep Space Station 43 has been an invaluable tool for space probes as they explore our solar system and push into the beyond. The DSS-43 radio antenna, located at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex near Canberra, Australia, keeps the line of communication open between humans and probes during NASA missions.
Today, more than 40 percent of all data retrieved by celestial explorers, including Voyagers, New Horizons, and the Mars Curiosity rover, comes through DSS-43.
“As Australia’s largest antenna, DSS-43 has provided two-way communication with dozens of robotic spacecraft,” IEEE President-Elect Kathleen Kramer said during a ceremony where the antenna was recognized as an IEEE Milestone. It has supported missions, Kramer noted, “from the Apollo program and NASA’s Mars exploration rovers such as Spirit and Opportunity to the Voyagers’ grand tour of the solar system. “In fact, on 06 March 2024, during the IEEE Milestone celebration,” she said, “it is the only antenna remaining on Earth capable of communicating with Voyager 2.”
On 3 September 2024, the IEEE Special Citation Ceremony at the Mount Stromlo Observatory, organized by the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Section in Canberra, Australia, was held successfully. This event marked a significant milestone in recognizing the historical importance of the Commonwealth Solar Observatory (CSO) and the engineers who played pivotal roles in its development. The ceremony celebrated the Observatory’s century-long contribution to solar research and the engineering achievements that have sustained it.
Our planned activities for the remainder of the year include an Industry DL visit and a membership drive for our chapter at the Australian National University. Our chapter and the Kolkata chapter have been chosen as part of the sister chapter program run by ComSoc.
He looks forward to engaging with the Kolkata chapter in delivering on our planned joint activities. We have also put in a petition for a student branch chapter, and we hope to have this student branch chapter up and running soon this year. Our section is also leading the bid for hosting the IEEE GLOBECOM 2029 conference in Melbourne. So, our small chapter is doing big things in the coming year.