The world's largest professional association for the advancement of technology.

Potentials Chair / Editor-in-Chief
Sharad Sinha - India
Student Editor
Rishabh Jain - India
Associate Editor
Christopher James - United Kingdom
Associate Editor
Catia Bandeiras - Ireland
Associate Editor
Dario Schor - Canada
Associate Editor
Cristian Quintero - Colombia
Associate Editor
Teng Joon Lim - Australia
Associate Editor
Mahshid Iraniparast - United States
SAC Chair
Hossam Ali - Australia
Corresponding Editor
Thanos Kakarountas - Greece
Corresponding Editor
John Benedict Boggala - India
Corresponding Editor
Syrine Ferjaoui - Tunisia
Corresponding Editor
Vaughan Clarkson - Australia
Corresponding Editor
Ray Floyd - United States
Corresponding Editor
Sachin Seth - United States
Corresponding Editor
Greg Linton - Canada
Corresponding Editor
Jacquelyn Adams - United States
Corresponding Editor
Michael Salem - Lebanon
Staff Managing Editor
Craig Causer - United States
Potentials Magazine
Potentials Magazine provides 140,000 undergraduate and graduate students members of IEEE with a publication to address global issues, technology trends, and career development topics.
Bi-monthly publication focuses on educational and industry themes such as:
- Careers/graduate Education
- Internet of Things
- Smart Cities
- Drone Technology
- Student and YP Entrepreneurship
IEEE Potentials Magazine is a publication dedicated to undergraduate and graduate students and young professionals. IEEE Potentials explores career strategies, the latest in research, and important technical developments. Through its articles, it also relates theories to practical applications, highlights technology’s global impact, and generates international forums that foster the sharing of diverse ideas about the profession.
Call For Papers
Submission of Papers: Prospective authors are invited to submit articles of up to 4,000 words. Articles should be aimed at a student audience and should not represent original research. The Potentials style requires no abstract, no citations from within the main text and minimal equations, but liberal use of relevant, captioned illustrations and photographs is encouraged.
For more information, refer to the Magazine’s Information for Authors. Articles for consideration should be uploaded to mc.manuscriptcentral.com/pot-ieee .
Theme Issue: Smart Cities: Review and Challenges Ahead
Release: January/February 2021
Lead Editors:
Sharad Sinha—sharad_sinha@ieee.org
Cátia Bandeiras—catiafmbandeiras@gmail.com
John Benedict Boggala—john.benedict.007@gmail.com
Syrine Ferjaoui—syrine.ferjaoui.eng@ieee.org
“Smart Cities: Review and Challenges Ahead” will explore the current state of smart cities around the world and the challenges in their implementation and realization. It also examines the question: What makes a city smart? Authors should discuss the scientific and/or commercial benefits of current and future technologies using concepts suitable for a student audience.
Topics include but are not limited to:
■ An introduction to smart cities
■ Case studies of smart cities
■ Public transportation – tech/systems and mobility
■ Economics of a smart city
■ Sustainability aspects
■ Energy and buildings
■ Health care and security
■ Security of Smart Infrastructure
■ Smart power grids, smart hospitals, and smart schools
Items
Manuscript submission
Notification of paper acceptance
Accepted manuscript upload
Publication date
Dates
1 July 2020
3 August 2020
1 September 2020
January 2021
Theme Issue: The Future of Education
Release: March/April 2021
Lead Editors: Dario Schor – schor@ieee.org
Teng Joon Lim— tj.lim@sydney.edu.au
Witold Kinsner—w.kinsner@ieee.org
A theme issue on the “Future of Engineering Education” will take a step back from the traditional models and explore how education helps mold worldview, impacts the way society works, and shapes our future. Authors are encouraged to discuss pedagogical ideas and practices for teaching sustainable and responsible skills such as collaboration, lifelong learning and design thinking, so that future engineers will be prepared to solve humanity’s biggest challenges, ranging from climate change to disease prevention and response. Topics include but are not limited to:
■ Experiential learning
■ Physical, virtual, and interactive laboratories
■ Interdisciplinary education
■ Transdisciplinary education
■ Personalized curricula
■ Exams at a distance
■ Cognitive digital twins in education
■ Collecting data on learning
■ Privacy in education at a distance
■ Accreditation
■ Online learning
■ Mentorship
Items
Manuscript submission
Notification of paper acceptance
Accepted manuscript upload
Publication date
Dates
1 October 2020
1 November 2020
1 December 2020
March 2021
Theme Issue: Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Release: May/June 2021
Lead Editors: Pamela Bhatti – pamela.bhatti@ece.gatech.edu
Witold Kinsner—sharad_sinha@ieee.org
This theme issue will cover aspects of engineering innovation and entrepreneurship from perspectives in the academic world and the startup world. Authors are encouraged to discuss the benefits of engineering innovation and entrepreneurship training in an academic setting. Topical coverage from recent startups as well as experiences in startup incubators and accelerators is encouraged. Content addressing changes and challenges to entrepreneurship in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic is also of interest. Topics include but are not limited to:
■ Privacy in education at a distance
■ Accreditation Courses in innovation and entrepreneurship with course outcomes
■ How to foster an entrepreneurial mindset
■ Advice and best practices for student entrepreneurs and cofounders
■ Successes and challenges in technology translation from an academic setting
■ Case studies on engineering innovation including examples of innovation with social impact
■ Entrepreneurship on today’s world (influence of COVID-19)
Items
Manuscript submission
Notification of paper acceptance
Accepted manuscript upload
Publication date
Dates
1 December 2020
1 January 2021
1 February 2021
May 2021
Theme Issue: Engineering Design Competitions
Release: July/August 2021
Lead Editors: Dario Schor – schor@ieee.org
Thanos Kakarountas— kakarountas@ieee.org
A theme issue on “Engineering Design Competitions” will highlight projects, learning experiences, and lessons from thousands of engineering students who participate in design competitions every year. Authors are encouraged to discuss how these competitions expose students to the full lifecycle of a project, to learn about real-world constraints, work in a team environment, and impact careers and professional development. Additional tips or recommendations for successful teams will also be considered. Topics include but are not limited to:
■ Experiential learning
■ Teamwork and collaboration
■ Interdisciplinary teams
■ Project lifecycle
■ Student time management
■ Industrial Mentors
Items
Manuscript submission
Notification of paper acceptance
Accepted manuscript upload
Publication date
Dates
1 February 2021
1 March 2021
1 April 2021
July 2021
Theme Issue: Careers and Graduate Education
Release: September/October 2021
Lead Editors: Cátia Bandeiras — catiafmb@ieee.org
Jacquelyn Adams — jacquelyn.r.adams@gmail.com
The annual theme issue of Careers and Graduate Education will be focused on a prominent effect of the COVID-19 pandemic: the need for advancing remote work, education, and career development. Authors are encouraged to discuss technology for remote work and education and how their workplaces or classrooms adapted to the constraints posed by social distancing. Topics include but are not limited to:
■ Technologies for remote work and education
■ Long-distance laboratories
■ Platforms for continuous education
■ Changes in job market dynamics
■ Conducting grad school research in a remote environment
■ Time and project management
■ Organization of online events
■ Job interviewing and job onboarding remotely
■ Various IEEE resources for grad students and young professionals
Submission of Papers: Prospective authors are invited to submit articles of up to 4,000 words. Articles should be aimed at a student audience and should not include original research. IEEE Potentials style requires no abstract, no citations within the main text, and minimal equations but the use of relevant, captioned illustrations and photographs is encouraged. For more information, refer to the magazine’s information for authors. Articles for consideration should be uploaded to mc.manuscriptcentral.com/pot-ieee.
Items
Manuscript submission
Notification of paper acceptance
Accepted manuscript upload
Publication date
Dates
1 April 2021
1 May 2021
1 June 2021
September 2021
Theme Issue: Drone Technology
Release: January/February 2022
Lead Editors: Vaughan Clarkson — v.clarkson@ieee.org
Felipe Gonzalez — felipe.gonzalez@qut.edu.au
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also commonly known as drones, are reshaping our world: from traffic surveillance to crop monitoring photography to parcel delivery. The best is yet to come, however. Drone technology is advancing on all fronts to have more endurance, longer range, wider application, and more capability while becoming safer than ever. In this theme issue, these breakthroughs will be explained to our student audience by the leading researchers and practitioners.
Topics include but are not limited to:
■ Sensors for UAVs
■ Autonomy
■ Navigation, path-planning, and on-board decision making
■ Standards
■ Mechanical design
■ Counter-drone technology
■ Legal and regulatory aspects
■ Networking and coordination (“swarming”)
■ UAV-based change detection
■ Sense and avoid
■ UAV onboard data storage, transmission, and retrieval
■ UAV applications including traffic management, agriculture, environmental monitoring, and search and rescue
Submission of Papers: Prospective authors are invited to submit articles of up to 4,000 words. Articles should be aimed at a student audience and should not include original research. IEEE Potentials style requires no abstract, no citations within the main text, and minimal equations but the use of relevant, captioned illustrations and photographs is encouraged. For more information, refer to the magazine’s information for authors. Articles for consideration should be uploaded to mc.manuscriptcentral.com/pot-ieee.
Items
Manuscript submission
Notification of paper acceptance
Accepted manuscript upload
Publication date
Dates
1 June 2021
1 July 2021
2 August 2021
January 2022