The final NPSS Administrative Committee general meeting of 2025 was held at the Pacifico Conference Center in Yokohama, Japan on November 8^th at the end of a very successful NSS/MIC/RTSD Conference. The Finance and Communications committee meetings were also held at the conference center on November 7^th. The general meeting was hybrid with 35 in-person members and 19 remote attendees. Total participation was around 90% of the AdCom membership.

One significant theme of this year’s meeting was revisions of constitution and bylaws both for NPSS and for three of the society technical committees (FTC, NMISC and PAST). At the beginning of this year Vice President Lorenzo Fabris formed a review committee (Peter Clout, Steve Gold, Steve Meikle, Vesna Sossi and Stefan Ritt) to review the current NPSS C&BL and recommend updates. There have been a number of changes in the society since the last review. One significant change that was made in 2023 was a reduction in the minimum number of members required to form an elected technical committee. It was changed from 16 members to nine. Additional updates to the C&BL included the addition of two new functional committees, EduCom and the Fellow Search Committee, as well as a change in the name of the Diversity and Inclusion liaison as per guidance from IEEE. D&I will now be referred to as Collaboration and Engagement (C&E). Jane Lehr will remain our C&E representative.

Another important change in the NPSS bylaws was the removal of the Transnational Committee (TNC) as a functional committee. There was a general feeling that TNC over the course of its existence had been incredibly successful in its mission to better engage countries outside of IEEEs North American regions, but many of its activities have now been captured within the efforts of the new Education Committee as well as Women in Engineering and Young Professionals. The expectation now is that TNC will wind down existing activities and officially sunset by the end of the current chair’s term in 2028.

AdCom did vote to approve all updates to the new NPSS C&BL. The final revision still needs to be approved by the IEEE Technical Activities Board; however, the revision committee has been in regular contact with TAB this past year during the update process. No further changes are anticipated. It was noted during the general meeting that all NPSS technical committee’s C&BLs should be consistent with the NPSS bylaws, and it would be good for them to review their current bylaws.

Another theme of the meeting was how we, as a society, can best take advantage of the new budgetary model that is being implemented by IEEE. With the elimination of the watchlist for societies who have too often engaged in “deficit” operations spending, it appears now we can deficit spend without consequence. NPSS has generally been fiscally strong year over year. We also have the NPSS Foundation Fund and substantial reserves to draw upon to bolster expanded Project/Initiative spending with minimal operational risk. FinCom ranked the Project list for 2026. It was presented at the general meeting and approved by AdCom. It totaled around $575K in spending. When combined with existing funded projects, the total costs reach over $1.3M. Under the new IEEE budget model, we may be in a good position to fund all of it. Stay tuned! 

A few other items of note from the general meeting, President Sara Pozzi announced plans to review and update the NPSS strategic plan in 2026. This is something the society must do every five years. In addition, it is once again time to survey NPSS membership on their technical and research interests. This information is used to redistribute elected representation on AdCom with regards to the research and technology focus of the eight TCs. The plan is to hold the survey in early 2026 and have results for presentation and discussion at the AdCom retreat in March. Finally, Awards Chair Steve Meikle reminded everyone that the nominations deadline for NPSS level awards is coming up quickly. All nominations must be in by January 31, 2026. It does take some time to develop a quality nomination. If you have good candidates in mind, please do not delay (See https://ieee-npss.org/awards/npss-awards/ for more information).

Actions taken by AdCom since the June general meeting:

Business conducted between meetings: Because of delays by technical committees in submitting required information for some candidates in TC specific elected positions, IEEE had to delay the voting period. The new period (October 6, 2025 – November 19, 2025) required an approval from AdCom to proceed. The motion was submitted by Vesna Sossi and seconded by David Abbott and votes were collected by email. The results were, 21Y, 0N, 0A. The motion passed.

Actions taken at the November general meeting:

• AdCom moved to approve the revised NPSS Constitution and Bylaws. The result of the voting was 22Y, 0N, 1A. The motion passed.
• FTC moved that AdCom approve the revised FTC Constitution and Bylaws. The result of the voting was 24Y, 0N, 0A. The motion passed.
• NMISC moved that AdCom approve the revised NMISC Constitution and Bylaws. The result of the voting was 19Y, 0N, 1A. The motion passed.
• PAST moved that AdCom approve the revised PAST Constitution and Bylaws. The result of the voting was 20Y, 0N, 1A. The motion passed.
• RITC moved that AdCom approve paying the technical co-sponsorship fees of $1495 for the SCINT2026 conference. The result of the voting was 22Y, 0N, 0A. The motion passed.
• FinCom moved that AdCom approve the presented 2026 Project rankings. The result of the voting was 22Y, 0N, 0A. The motion passed.
• The Publication Committee moved that AdCom endorse the appointment of Dimitris Visvikis to an additional term as Editor in Chief of TRPMS. The result of the voting was 22Y, 0N, 0A. The motion passed.

David Abbott can be reached by email at [email protected]