Message from the Technical Program Committee Chair

“The first symposium was held in New York City, on November 7, 1952, at the Western Union Auditorium. Attendance at the symposium was 210 people. Ten papers were presented.”

With these words [1], Ted Saad and James Wiltse describe the very first conference of what today, 60 years later, has become the International Microwave Symposium, the IMS. From New York City to Montreal, from several hundred to thousands of attendees, from 10 papers to hundreds of papers. We have come a long way and it has been one amazing trip.

The statistics for our 59^th anniversary IMS2011 in Baltimore [2], were outstanding, “The Technical Paper Review Committee … selected 444 papers out of 841 submitted, with 348 podium presented papers and 96 Interactive Forum papers. In addition the program will be supplemented by 33 workshops, 6 short courses, 4 panel sessions, 1 rump session, and 7 student design competitions, plus a graduate student challenge.” The good folks of IMS2011 have put an impressive program.  In January 2012, we will be selecting papers for our 60^th anniversary IMS. The IMS2012 will be held in Montreal ,June 17-22, 2012. We plan to maintain continuity with the past, with some simplification where ever possible. However, one major change is the venue:  we are holding the IMS2012 in Montreal, Canada, a vibrant taste of Europe right here in North America. This will be the first time most of us will experience such an event. Be sure to join us and enjoy this unique event.

The “I” in “IMS” is significant. There has always been a strong “International” presence.  For IMS2012,we expect the international presence to be even stronger due to the relaxed visa requirements typical of international travel to Canada. The increased international presence should then catalyze an increased presence from the United States as well. The interaction with colleagues from around the world who share similar interests is one of the most important aspects of the IMS. In short, because of the new venue, everyone who matters, everyone who cares, everyone who can be, will be there.

One of the most delightful experiences at the IMS is meeting and encouraging those new to our field. The student contests and events are of major importance. Students in the US who are on student visas will have no problem joining us, see http://www.canadavisa.com/us-international-student-travel.html.

We also want to encourage those who are new to publishing at the IMS, those who strive to present their new ideas to leading experts at the world’s premier microwave conference. To help leave no doubt that papers are considered purely on their merits, we are continuing the double blind review introduced in IMS2011. All prospective authors will be required to remove all personal and institutional identifying information from the papers they submit for review. Thus, to the best of our ability, decisions will be based entirely on the merits of each paper.

So, along with renewing old friendships, join us in friendly Montreal and experience new friends, new places, and new ideas. Join us in our journey.

Raafat Mansour

IMS2012 TPC Chair

[1] On line at http://mtt.org/society-history.html. Also, T. S. Saad, J. C. Wiltse, “50 Years of the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society”, IEEE Trans. on Microwave Theory and Tech., vol. 50, No. 3, pp. 612–624, March 2002.

[2] On line at http://ims2011.org/2011_Home/Program_Chair_Welcome.html