Kathy Pretz

2 weeks ago | spectrum.ieee.org | Kathy Pretz

The flu, measles, pneumonia, and other microbial infections once were easy to treat with antibiotic, antifungal, and antiviral medications. The conditions have become more resistant to drugs, however, increasing the chances of deadly outcomes caused by bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic infections. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) caused more than in 2021, according to a 2024 report published in The Lancet. The World Health Organization declared in 2023 that .

2 weeks ago | spectrum.ieee.org | Kathy Pretz

It can be a bit of a bumpy road from leaving a secure job in academia to launching a startup based on your research. That’s what IEEE Fellow Dalma Novak experienced. An expert in developing technology to transmit microwave and millimeter-wave signals over long distances using optical fibers, she left a tenured position at the University of Melbourne, in Parkville, Australia, to join a venture-backed U.S. optical network equipment firm.

1 month ago | spectrum.ieee.org | Kathy Pretz

It’s been a busy three years since IEEE Women in Engineering celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2022. WIE facilitates the recruitment and retention of women in technical disciplines around the world. It also works to inspire girls to pursue an engineering career. There are student chapters at universities around the globe. Men may join the affinity group as well. Women make up less than a third of the world’s workforce in technology-related fields, according to a report by the World Bank Group.

2 months ago | spectrum.ieee.org | Kathy Pretz

IEEE continues to raise its visibility as a trusted voice on mitigating the effects of climate change. Last year Saifur Rahman, the 2023 IEEE president, represented the organization in several sessions at the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP29). Representatives from more than 200 countries attended the November event, held in Baku, Azerbaijan. Rahman, a power expert, is a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Virginia Tech.

Feb 7, 2025 | spectrum.ieee.org | Kathy Pretz

If you have an implanted medical device, have been hooked up to a machine in a hospital, or have accessed your electronic medical records, you might assume the infrastructure and data are secure and protected against hackers. That isn’t necessarily the case, though. Connected medical devices and systems are vulnerable to cyberattacks, which could reveal sensitive data, delay critical care, and physically harm patients.