HKN Lewis H Latimer Ceremony USDIITA Careers in Tech Read the Math

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IEEE ISAIA Montclair State University 9 October 2026

https://www.ieeeisaia.com/ 

IEEE HKN Lewis Howard Latimer Honorary Eminent Member

Ceremony at Dinner Banquet and

earlier activities with Documentary, Special Guests and Panel.

 USDIITA Event together with Careers in Tech, Workshop: Read the Math: 

Making Equations Speak, Think, and Connect Us All with Role Models

150 years of the Telephone Patent, Alexander Graham Bell, Lewis H Latimer HKN Honorary Eminent Members 

We also gather in celebration of the 150-year arc of innovation sparked by the telephone patent, honoring the spirit of communication breakthroughs that continue to shape how we connect ideas, systems, and people.

This workshop launches the first USDIITA forum, aligned with the spirit of INDIITA and AUDIITA, creating a shared space for Dignity, Inclusion, Identity, Trust, and Agency in Technology. Together, we explore how mathematical communication can become more human-centered, machine-ready, and globally inclusive.

“Read the Math” proposes a joyful shift remembering our Role Models:

Equations that can be read, spoken, understood, and computed as one shared language between people and machines.

Yet Mathematical content, subtly altered, can completely change a system's behavior.

 Why This Workshop Matters

Mathematical expression is at the heart of engineering, science, AI, ML, Generative, Quantum, Optical and communication systems but today it often feels locked in formats that are:

• Hard to speak consistently across disciplines and languages
• Difficult for machines to interpret reliably
• Challenging for learners entering STEM fields
• Inaccessible to many who rely on assistive technologies

AI/ML/Generative/Quantum/Optical systems are ready for something new: structured, expressive, and semantically rich mathematical communication that can be shared, reasoned about, and built upon collaboratively.

 In our modern society, many people feel pressure to keep up with the rapid pace of AI, and some worry about being displaced or left behind by it. This can create emotional stress as individuals navigate constant technological change, evolving healthcare systems, and the need to prepare themselves and their families for an uncertain future. There is also growing concern about what it means to be “on the wrong side” of AI/ML/Generative/Quantum systems whether in access, opportunity, or understanding rather than fully participating in their benefits.

The Telephone Patent is an innovation that transformed and continues to shape our world, how we connect ideas, systems, and people. The organizations founded as a result, and their innovations, produced a significant body of work, classic papers, publications, and patents. What if mathematics could be read aloud as naturally as a story, understood clearly by humans everywhere, and directly interpreted by machines without friction or ambiguity?

“Read the Math” is a lively, hands-on workshop designed to bring together researchers, students, educators, role models, and innovators who believe that equations, formulas, and technical expressions should be as accessible as spoken language and as powerful as computation itself.

 

 

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Lunch available for purchase

3:00–4:30 PM
Session 3 Workshop: Read the Math
University Hall, 1070

4:30–5:00 PM
Social Networking, Break and Refreshments
Tea and coffee
University Hall, Conference Center Ballroom

5:00–6:30 PM
Conference Inauguration and Plenary Talk

Dr. Victor Lawrence, recipient of the 2025 U.S. National Medal of Technology and Innovation

A 45-minute conference inauguration followed by a 45-minute plenary talk.

University Hall, Conference Center Ballroom

6:30–7:30 PM
Poster Presentation & Interactive Session – All Tracks

Posters will remain on display throughout both conference days, October 9–10.

University Hall, First-Floor Hallway

7:30–8:00 PM
IEEE HKN Honorary Eminent Member Recognition
University Hall, Conference Center Ballroom

Victor B. Lawrence, PhD, Introduces the Ceremony

7:30–7:40 PM
IEEE President's Address by Mary Ellen Randall (Recorded)
University Hall, Conference Center Ballroom

7:40–7:50 PM
IEEE AP-S President General Keynote by Dr. C. J. Reddy (Recorded)
University Hall, Conference Center Ballroom

7:50–8:00 PM
IEEE MTT-S Past President Dr. Richard Snyder, RS Microwave (Recorded)
University Hall, Conference Center Ballroom

7:30 PM onward
Dinner
University Hall, Conference Center Ballroom

Banquet Dinner with IEEE HKN Honorary Eminent Member Lewis Howard Latimer Ceremony

90 minutes

Includes "The Idea Factory" documentary sizzle about the innovators of Bell Labs and classical papers to "Read the Math"; "The First Call," marking the 150th year of the telephone, from Alexander Graham Bell to the present and on to the future; and the premiere of "Reclaiming the Light," the documentary about Lewis H. Latimer, patent draftsman of the telephone patent and recognized in 2026 as an IEEE HKN Honorary Eminent Member.

Structure

Documentary premieres.

Talk and discussion with documentarians, students, mentors, and community.

This workshop will have three sections.

The first begins with "The Idea Factory" sizzle and an introduction by panelists describing classical papers in the tradition of Bell Labs role models that play a significant part in our modern world, integrating these achievements with AI, ML, Agentic Technologies, and Quantum. This will be followed by an open discussion led by the moderators.

The second section will discuss the 150th anniversary of the Telephone Patent, with a video of "The First Call," followed by discussion with expert panelists mapping the first patent through the future of the field, connecting the unconnected and advancing technology for the benefit of humanity.

The third section premieres "Reclaiming the Light," a documentary about Lewis H. Latimer, IEEE HKN Honorary Eminent Member, recognized this year during the 150th anniversary of the Telephone Patent, for which he served as draftsman.

Student presentations and panel.

Organizers and Panelists Include:

Kit August, PhD
Jelena Komitas
Thomas M. Willis III, PhD
Paula Muller, PhD, Founder, MyCareLink360
Eamon J. Wall, Esq., Patent Attorney, Partner, Meagher Emanuel Laks Goldberg & Liao, LLP
Dov Kruger, PhD
Satrajit Ghosh
Joyce Henry
Melissa Knoll, AT&T Labs Archivist
Nadine Patterson, Documentarian
Theodore Sizer, PhD, Nokia Bell Labs EVP, Optical Research
J. Jenny Li, PhD
Demetrios Lambropoulos, PhD
Fariha Abedin

 

 

 

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USDIITA Careers in Tech

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