IEEE NZ South Section Networking Evening with the 2026 IEEE President
Meet IEEE President Mary Ellen Randall and Humanitarian Technologies Board Chair Grayson Randall in Christchurch — networking, refreshments and short addresses at Te Pae.
The IEEE New Zealand South Section invites members, students and the wider engineering and technology community to a networking evening with three senior IEEE visitors, hosted at Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre.
Mary Ellen Randall, 2026 IEEE President and CEO, will be in Christchurch as part of a New Zealand tour taking in the North, Central and South Sections. She is joined by Grayson Randall, Chair of the IEEE Humanitarian Technologies Board and operations lead for the IEEE MOVE programme, and Leo Hwa Chiang, Head of IEEE's Asia-Pacific staff office in Singapore.
This is a rare opportunity to meet IEEE's global leadership in person and to hear directly about the organisation's humanitarian technology work, including MOVE, which deploys equipment and volunteers to restore power and communications after disasters — a theme with obvious resonance in Christchurch.
The evening is deliberately informal: an hour and a half of conversation over light refreshments, with brief welcomes and a short address from the President. Attendees from local industry are very welcome whether or not they are IEEE members, and we particularly encourage students and young professionals to come along.
Registration is free but essential, as numbers and catering are limited.
Date and Time
Location
Hosts
Registration
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- Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre
- 188 Oxford Terrace
- Christchurch, South Island
- New Zealand 8011
Speakers
Mary Ellen
Biography:
2026 IEEE President and CEO. An IEEE Fellow and member of IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu, she held technical and management roles at IBM and is founder and CEO of Ascot Technologies. She has served as IEEE Treasurer, Vice President of Member and Geographic Activities, Region 3 Director and Chair of IEEE Women in Engineering, and founded the IEEE MOVE community outreach programme for disaster relief and STEM education. She received the IEEE Haraden Pratt Award for this work.
Grayson
Biography:
2025–26 Chair of the IEEE Humanitarian Technologies Board and IEEE MOVE operations lead in the United States, responsible for the emergency response vehicles deployed to disaster sites to support communications. His professional background spans digital communications, robotics, public safety and emergency response.
Agenda
5:00pm Arrival, refreshments and networking
5:30pm Welcome to Te Pae
5:35pm Welcome from IEEE NZ South Section — Andrew Lapthorn / Emma Lloyd
5:45pm Christchurch's growth sectors — [ChristchurchNZ speaker]
5:55pm Address from the 2026 IEEE President — Mary Ellen Randall
6:10pm Networking continues