First efforts will focus on Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Moldova

The Society of Broadcast Engineers has given its blessing to a new chapter that will serve engineers in eastern Europe.

Ten people in the Republic of Georgia recently became SBE members with the intent to form a chapter serving Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Moldova.

The effort began early this year when Davit Robakidze, an engineer in Georgia, contacted the society. He subsequently met with SBE representatives at the spring NAB Show and attended the SBE National Meeting in New York state last month.

The new group becomes Chapter 148 Eastern Europe. It has incorporated in Georgia as the Incorporation of Eastern Europe Broadcast Engineers, or IEEBE, and has held organizational meetings.

It also named its officers: Davit Robakidze as chair, Zurab Gegenava as vice chair and Nino Koberidze as secretary/treasurer. The chapter plans a conference in December in Tbilisi.

“The group is applying for a grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development for the purpose of establishing a broadcast engineering training program with the Georgian Technical University,” SBE said in its announcement. “As the group grows, it hopes to include engineers from other neighboring Eastern European countries.”

Most SBE chapters are in the United States, but Chapter 144 is in Hong Kong and has a student chapter associated with it.