Publish your work before starting any collaboration. You absolutely do not need to be affiliated with a University in order to submit anywhere. Many IEEE confer

Publish your work before starting any collaboration. You absolutely do not need to be affiliated with a University in order to submit anywhere. Many IEEE conferences encourage submissions from first-time authors so if there is one that is a good match for your paper you should submit there. It might also be useful to contact someone on the paper committee to find out if they have special guidance for first time authors. Good luck!