PISCATAWAY, N.J.—IEEE has named Stephen Welby as its next executive director and chief operating officer, starting Jan. 2.

According to the announcement, Welby served as the U.S. assistant secretary of defense for research and engineering, where he had the role of chief technology officer for the U.S. Department of Defense. His technical experience includes development of aeronautical and space systems, robotics, machine learning, high-performance software and sensor systems.

IEEE President and CEO Karen Bartleson tasked Welby with ensuring the organization is “recognized as the voice of the global technical community” as well as “an essential contributor to the development and implementation of emerging and disruptive technologies.”