The idea of endowing Puerto Rico with a School of Agriculture appeared for the first time in the year 1907. This idea originated from Don Carmelo Alemar, secretary of the first director of the Federal Experimental Station, adjacent to the Mayagüez Campus of the University of Puerto Rico. He found out about the contents of the Morril Act, which was a law passed on in the year 1862 by President Lincoln. It provided funds for the creation of Schools of Agriculture and mechanic arts in the entire national area of the United States.

He convinced his superior Don David W. May and then the Director of the House of Representatives, Don José de Diego on this matter. With the unionist leader’s great influence they managed for our legislative chambers to agree in requesting the government of the United States to extend the Morril Act to Puerto Rico on March 12, 1908.

This extension of the Morril Act to Puerto Rico was known as the Nelson Act. It destined $30,000 for the construction of buildings and $10,000 for the acquisition of lands. Don David W. May made it possible for the school to be established in the area adjacent to the Federal Experimental Station in 20 acres of land that belonged to Don J. Cartagena. The architect Holmes was employed by the Insular Government for the construction of the buildings. This School of Agriculture, now mainly known as “El Colegio”, was founded in the year 1911.

The initialization of the formal education in Electrical Engineering in the University of Puerto Rico hasn’t been adequately registered. All efforts destined to determining the origin takes us back to CAAM (“Colegio de Agricultura y Artes Mecánicas” which means School of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts). After 1911 this School was recognized as the School of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts of the University of Puerto Rico and is at present known as RUM (Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez) which means in English the Mayagüez Campus of the University of Puerto Rico.

The first students were admitted to the CAAM on September of 1912. For those times the interest in electricity was very limited. It is very probable that the first courses of electricity were related to the uses of electrical energy and the execution of tasks related to agriculture.

In 1922, the Engineering division was formally established. It offered 13 different courses in the fields of Electrical Engineering as support to the other specializations in the curriculum, especially to the Civil and Mechanical Engineering branches.

In 1928 the degree in Electrical Engineering was first offered, which was to be completed in four years. In 1932 Julio Oms and Eduardo Di Cristina were registered as the first graduates.

The student organization, which will later on turn into our IEEE student branch, was founded in CAAM on December 6 of 1932. At those times this student organization was named as the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE). Donald A. Charles was the president during this time. The Dean at that time was Professor Carlos A. Figueroa, and he was in that position from 1927 to 1933.

The Electrical Engineering Department was officially approved in the year 1936. Its first director and first AIEE counselor was Professor George W. Anton. He shared his work with two other professors, Dr. Braulio Dueño Leary and Osvaldo Porrata Doria. The AIEE has had a continuous existence up until today.

In 1952, while being Counselor, Dr. José Luis García de Quevedo initiated in the CAAM AIEE. He also was international vice-president for the IEEE Regional Activities Committee and was also president and treasurer of the Puerto Rico and Caribbean Section. In 1954, while Carlos Galanes was president for the IEEE, Luis T. Gandía took the position of vice-president.

On the second of January of the year 1963, as a result of the fusion between the old AIEE and the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE), the IEEE was officially created. Our new constitutive letter appears to be signed by Lynn Weber (illegible).

Between 1964-1965 the president of the branch was Raul Colón Santiago. Other counselors after 1965 were professors Luis E. Fiol, Aníbal Acosta Ayala Alejo Rivera Irizarry.

Included in these documents that have been saved from being discarded by the Electrical Engineering Department and have been safely kept up until today in the IEEE office, we found the identity of some of the presidents of the branch. In the years 1967 to 1968 Daniel Ramirez Henk was the one who occupied this position. For the period between 1969 to 1970 we have no record of who was the president but we do know that the Counselor was Dr. Teodoro Mercado. Between 1970 and 1971 Carlos Rivera Abrams took on the task of the presidency.

Carlos Rivera Abrams was initiated in the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) at Michigan in the year 1954. When he returned to Puerto Rico in 1958 he joined the AIEE as a professional member. Engineer Abrams has been one of the persons who has given the most support to our branch. He has been president, secretary and treasurer of the Puerto Rican and Caribbean Section, as well as the International Director of the IEEE Latino American Region.

From 1971 to 1972 this branch’s President was Professor Roberto Pérez Colón, who also was Counselor during 1976 and 1977, period during which the President was Luis A. Feliciano. During this last year the first official activity took place. It was called “Electro 1977” and it was an electro-technology fair which was carried out with the support of Professor Carlos J. Alcaide. He was the Department Director in the Gymnasium Angel F. Espada. We have no records of the period between 1977 to 1978.

Unfortunately we have no records of who took the presidency in the year 1979, but we do know that the Electro event was carried out once again obviously as “Electro 1979” also with the support of Professor Alcaide. By this year the Counselor position was still taken by Professor Pérez Colón. In 1980-1981 Luis Ramirez took on the presidency of IEEE at the same time as he was also President of the SIEPR (“Sociedad de Ingenieros Electricistas de Puerto Rico” which means Society of Electrician Engineers of Puerto Rico). Since it was losing membership it fused with IEEE and was initiated in RUM in the year 1969.

In the period between 1981 and 1982 Ralph Kreil was the president and also started out as Dr. Manuel Rodriguez Perazza’s Counselor. In 1982 to 1983 the president was Mary B. Uzdavinis and in 1984 – 1985 it was Miguel Vélez, who now a days is a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering. With his presidency the first Fiber Optic Video Conference for Telecommunications took place. Also the Electro 85 event was carried out with the leadership of William Rodriguez as president of the Organizing Committee.

Angel E. Román was elected president for 1985 to 1986, but could not complete this task because he left his studies in August of 1985. The vice-president, William Rodriguez passed on to take this presidency. On this year our IEEE branch managed to obtain the office it currently still has thanks to William’s diligence. Also in this period Luis T. Gandia was the President of the Puerto Rico and Caribbean Section and the President of the Technical Activities Committee was Carmen D. Rodriguez Perazza.

In 1986-1987 the presidency was taken by Javier Maysonet. Also our branch made its first newspaper named “La Chispa Eléctrica” (The Electric Spark) and its second Video Conference “Light Emitting Diodes for Telecommunications”. Additional to this year’s achievements the Counselor was recognized by the Institute of Electrical Engineers of Puerto Rico as the Engineer of the Year and was also named as the Administration Dean.

During 1987-1988 Nancy Figueroa Medero took on the presidency. But this year an unusual event occurred. After the elections, the president and the vice president switched positions. So at the end Manuel Fuentes was the one who turned out to be the President. During his presidency, Israel Ortiz was also the president of the DOMCOM 88 Organizing Committee. This was a competition in which many universities in Puerto Rico participated. During 1988-1989 the president was Pascual Muñoz.

In 1989-1990 the President was Julio E. Chardón who organized NASATECH 90. This was the first spatial fair outside of the United States. It took place in the Rafael Mangual Coliseum in the RUM campus. Around the year 1990 an oath was written by an unidentified author for the purpose of using them in the initiations and such kind of activities for the IEEE. The following is the current version:
 

OATH

I ___________, promise
as member (of the Board) of the Student Branch
of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
of the Mayagüez Campus,
to carry out my duty, with honesty and fortitude,
with all the norms that the ethics of a good engineer composes.

I promise to continue the way of honesty and improvement
in all the aspects of my own person,
to develop myself to my maximum capacity,
to help our Branch to comply with its mission
of technical and professional formation,
and with God's help,
to be a perfect example of excellence.
for our community

In 1990-1991 Angel M. Torres was the President and Julio E. Chardón was the representative for the International Committee of Student Matters. The counselor was recognized by the IEEE Latin-American Region as Most Eminent Engineer of the year.
Angel M. Torres was re-elected as president for the next year also. In this year the second spatial fair was carried out and named “Encounter 92”. This time it was an even greater success than the previous attempts, especially because our IEEE branch was already known by NASA from the previous fair. Also this year The Western Puerto Rico Section was created and our branch integrated itself to it. Its President was Engineer Manuel Silva. The Puerto Rico and Caribbean Counsel was also created in this year and its President was Engineer Jaime López Molina.

In 1992 – 1993 the presidency was occupied by Felipe Luyanda, who organized our branch’s 60th Anniversary celebration. The recruiting activity of this board made possible the opening of a Technical Chapter in our IEEE Branch, which in this case was the Computer Society.

The President of our Western Puerto Rico Section for this period of time was Dr. Juan Arratia, who also was the Counselor of the Student Branch in the Interamerican University of San Germán. He organized the first Training Workshop for student leaders of Puerto Rico. The President of The Puerto Rico and Caribbean Counsel that year was Engineer José Carlos Mangual and the Vice-President was Dr. Manuel Rodríguez Perazza.

This year was also a complicated one for our Counselor. He was recognized as International Vice-President of the IEEE Student Matters Committee. This was an event of great pride for this Branch because it was the first time that someone outside of the continental United States or Canada took on this position. He was also a member of the Special Team for Technical Activities of the IEEE Transactional Committee and Coordinator for the IEEE Latin American Region.

During the academia year of 1993 to 1994, Nilda R. Rodriguez Ocasio took on the presidency of our IEEE Branch. She was the daughter of Dr. Manuel Rodríguez Perazza and Dr. Nilda Ocasio Negrón, a professor of our University Campus.

In the period of 1994 to 1995, the presidency was occupied by William M. Vélez. The Student Board was composed by the following members: Jorge Badillo- Vice-President, William Alers- Treasurer, Jetzabeth Deliz- Secretary, Carlos Aponte- President of Technical Activities and Amayra Marrero- President of Socio-Cultural Activities. This student board took the initiative to make remodeling plans for the IEEE office which were carried out three years later.

This academic year stood out from others because in its month of November the IEEE Computer Society chapter at our University was inaugurated. Also Carlos Aponte successfully organized the first Student-Professional Awareness Conference (SPAC) in Puerto Rico. Another activity that stood out in this year was the one called "bIEEEnvenidos” (‘Bienvenidos’ means Welcome). Each month appetizers and refreshments were given free of cost to members of the IEEE in the office facilities. This made itself popular making it possible for informal communication between students and professors of the department. Also in November the new members’ initiation was simultaneously celebrated with the first SPAC.

In a larger scale, there were three activities that transcended the university. This student board also organized the first Student and Professional Congress, Borintek, which counted on the participation of exponents of all parts of the education system in Puerto Rico as well as the Industry. In September the "Electrocution Mega Party" was celebrated in the local called “Club de Leones” in Mayagüez. Thanks to the promotions that took place in radio stations across the entire island, a lot of people from different villages around Puerto Rico went to the activity.

United with the Data Processing Management Association (DPMA), the IEEE organized the exhibition named "Compu Expo" in the Coliseum Rafael Mangual in our campus. This consisted on the participation of over 30 different companies of the computer industry from Puerto Rico and United States.

During 1995 to 1996 Jetzabeth Deliz was the President of our Branch. Her student board successfully organized a variety of local activities, especially sports events with other Engineering Associations. This time around William M. Vélez started as Web Page Administrator of the Latin American Region 9. The student board made it possible to obtain the server, with the help of Ramón Vásquez and the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, where the web page resided for the following three years. This placed this IEEE Branch in a recognized position throughout the region

During 1996 to 1997 Sandra Padilla took on the position of President and during her term the office redecoration finally was carried out. William M. Vélez organized the first Engineering Workshop and it was a total success with more than 225 high school students from all around the island participating in the activity. This first workshop established the base for its annual continuation. Sandra Padilla represented the IEEE Branch at RUM when she assisted to the first Leader Training Workshop in Region 9 celebrated in Lima, Peru on March of 1997.

On April of 1997 our Student Branch took on new life when the President for that time Rafael Pérez initiated a massive membership campaign where 150 new student members were inscribed. This made our Student Branch the largest in Latin America. The president of Technical Activities for that year, Rolando Torres, organized the second Engineering Workshop and also, with the help of Mariano Colón, the "Student Professional Awareness Conference". The Computer Society chapter was reactivated and its President was Iomar Vargas. Then the preparation of another student chapter was initiated; the Power Engineering Society.

In December of 1997 a new student board had to be selected because Rafael Pérez accepted a COOP opportunity at IBM and half of the rest of the student board graduated. In this new board Dr. José Luis Cruz was the Counselor and the presidency was taken by Nadgie Figueroa. She also had a COOP opportunity for the second semester of 1998. But the efforts of both presidents succeeded in making our branch recognized as "The 1998 most Oustanding Student Branch" in Latin America.

In 1998 to 1999 Manuel López took the position of presidency of the IEEE, César Santiago of the Computer Society and Jorge Vélez of the Power Engineering Society. At this time some of the activities that were celebrated were the Second Homepage Challenge, the first Short Circuit Award and the third Engineering Workshop. Manuel accepted a COOP job offer and Carlos Hernández continued in his position. In December Jorge Vélez graduated and Glorian Rivera assumed the presidency position. Tommy de Jesús was the Treasurer and started the creation of the third student chapter, the Communication Society.

Tommy de Jesús was elected president for the 1999-2000 student board, Eric LaFountain for 2000-2001, Yahvé García for 2001-2002 and Luis Alexis González for 2002-2003. In Luis Alexis’s board three activities were created. These were the Night Live Show, The IEEE Week and the Genius Trap. Luis Alexis was substituted by Juan Lugo on the second semester. On the first year he was counselor of our current counselor, José Cedeño. The presidents for the sub-societies were the following: Rosa Nivea Rodriguez – Computer Society, Omar Rubert – Communications Society, Luis Alberto Gonzalez – Circuits and Systems Society, Luis Cabrera – Control Systems Society, Carlos Davila – Power Engineering Society.

The following year stood out because of various videoconferences that were carried out in alliance with NASA and Boeing Co. from the University. The IEEE President was Omar Rubert and the sub-society presidents were Sergio Couttolenc Valdes / Jose Azor - CAS, Karlo Ramos - PES, Javier Villafane / Jerry Colon - Communications, Mario A. Velez - Computer, Antonio Irizarry / Mariam Ramos - Control.

In the 2004-2005 year the presidency was occupied by Mario A. Vélez. The student board was restructured and amplified substantially, with the creation of three teams: Operational Industrial Team, Operation Association Team and Operational Technical Team. A database was prepared for the organization of the member information and the amount of recruiting activities. Felix Noble was elected president 2005-2006 academic year, and Adolfo Torres in 2006-2007. Also, in 2006 we had the opportunity to travel to Mexico for the RRR.

In 2007, Ricardo Alfaro was elected as president for the 2007-2008 academic year. During the past year we've had many technical activites, including: UPRM Solar Decathlon Project Exposition, 5 Seminars, and a field trip to the Arecibo Observatory. Under Ricardo's presidency the IEEE enjoyed an all-time high in its membership count with over 200 registered and active student members.

Our members have enjoyed numerous social activities like: IEEE Inauguration Ceremony, IEEE Night live, Party of Three (in a joint effort with SIE and IICOM), IEEE Release weekend, IEEE Game Show Night and the IEEE short Circuit awards. The 2007-08 IEEE Night Live show was celebrated in the Spring semester and marked the 75th anniversary of our student chapter. Silverio Perez, UPRM alumnus and Puerto Rican comedian, hosted the activity. We also celebrated the Western Puerto Rico Section Dinner Event with the local section and organized our outreach activity to high school students, the Engineering Workshop.

The IEEE-RUM Student Branch is currently involved in the development and organization of the National Branch Meeting alongside other Puerto Rican-based student branches. We are also in the process of offering a variety of services to our student membership through our website such as their own personalized "@ieeepr.org" alias as well as an Online Digital Library with local course reviews and educational material.

This year we have mainly put our efforts in increasing the members' participation in the organization of activities, increasing our cooperation with other student organizations and with the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, and letting ourselves be known in our section as the largest and most active branch in Latin America.

Manuel Rodríguez Perazza, 1961
Carlos Rivera Abrams, 1988
Laura Cruz, 2008