Massimo Guarnieri, Giuseppe Pelosi, Stefano Selleri, Sean Hum, Meisong Tong, Ajay Poddar, Weng C. Chew, Anisha Apte, C. J. Reddy, Payam Nayeri
Report by: Massimo Guarnieri, Giuseppe Pelosi, and Stefano Selleri
The IEEE History of Electrotechnology Conference (HISTELCON) is a flagship conference series of IEEE Region 8 that is held every two years and dedicated to every aspect of the history of electrical, electronic, and computing engineering and their impact on social and economic development.
HISTELCON 2023 was the eighth edition of the conference, returning to Italy after the 2012 Pavia edition. The 2023 conference was hosted, on 7–9 September, in the magnificent city of Florence and co-organized by the University of Florence, IEEE Region 8, and the IEEE Italy Section, with the technical sponsorship of the IEEE History Committee, IEEE Italy Section Life Members Affinity Group, and Science and Technology Foundation of Florence and with the patronage of the University of Padua, Italian Electronics Society, and Italian Electromagnetics Society.
The leading theme of the conference consisted of this rhetorical question, which has its answer within itself. New technological feats promote new scientific interests and discoveries, and each new scientific discovery sooner or later leads to some technological implementation.
In this view, the case of gravitational interferometers is paradigmatic. Gravitational waves foreseen by Heaviside and Poincaré, and finally predicted by Einstein in 1916, needed exactly one century of technological advancements to be detected with some of the most sophisticated instruments ever built: the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory and Virgo. About at the same time, theoretical research in quantum mechanics paved the way to the revolution of solid-state electronics.
Both one-page abstracts and full papers two to four pages long could be submitted for being reviewed by at least two anonymous reviewers. A selection of the full papers, which achieved a fully positive score from the reviewers, has been chosen for publication in IEEE Xplore.
Eighty-four papers were accepted, written by 152 authors; their geographical distribution is highlighted in Figure 1. Seventy-seven authors registered to attend the conference, most of them in person and a few remotely.
Figure 1. The nationality distribution of the 152 authors.
HISTELCON 2023 took place in two separate locations in the heart of Florence. The opening ceremony and plenary talks were held in the Sala Rossa di Villa Ruspoli (Figure 2), in Piazza dell’Indipendenza, on 7 September. Plenary talks were given by world-class scientists on both science and technology topics, ranging from Nobel Prizes to Einstein and gravitational interferometers, from the invention and preservation of instruments to the emerging of patent laws in the Renaissance.
Figure 2. Massimo Guarnieri, HISTELCON 2023 cochair and IEEE History Activity Committee coordinator, Italy Section, delivers the opening speech in the Sala Rossa di Villa Ruspoli, in the center of Florence, the site of the Study Center for the History of Modern Legal Thought, University of Florence.
The technical sessions, both regular and special, were held in the Antica Canonica di San Giovanni, in Florence’s Cathedral Square, on 8 and 9 September. They took place on 8 September in 12 presentation slots, three by three in parallel, and on 9 September in four presentation slots, two by two in parallel. Some sessions extended over one slot and some over two.
In addition, a panel meeting, “Women Step Into Technology: How It May Change History,” was organized by the Women in Engineering Affinity Group, Italy Section.
The next nineth HISTELCON, to be held in Bonn, Germany, in 2025, will be again organized by IEEE Region 8.
As a final remark, we are happy to announce that the interest attracted by the seven past editions of HISTELCON and the success attained by this eighth edition have triggered an upgrade process within Region 8, which, after the nineth HISTELCON, will lead the conference series to become multiregional in IEEE, boosting its importance at a global level.
Committee Chair: Sean Hum
The IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S) Education Committee is pleased to announce the winners of the 2022 competition for AP-S Doctoral Research Grants and the Eugene F. Knott Memorial Pre-Doctoral Research Awards. In total, there were 49 doctoral submissions and 17 predoctoral submissions. Here are some interesting statistics from the competition:
We express our immense gratitude to the members of the AP-S Education Committee for their commitment and dedication to reviewing the applications and to Prof. John Young for managing the competition.
The doctoral fellowship winners are as follows:
The Eugene F. Knott Memorial Pre-Doctoral Research Awards winners are as follows:
Committee Chair: Ajay Poddar
Report by: Meisong Tong and Ajay Poddar
This is the last issue of 2023. This year, a dozen-plus new AP-S Chapters formed, and several petitions are in the processing stage. We recently approved petitions received from the 1) University of Texas at Dallas AP-S/IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology Society (MTT-S) Student Branch Chapter, IEEE Dallas Section, on 7 September 2023, and 2) AP-S/MTT-S Joint Chapter, IEEE Bangladesh Section, on 17 September 2023.
If any of you reside in a location where you do not have access to an existing AP-S Chapter and are interested in establishing a new one, please contact the Chapter Activity Committee (CAC) chair, Dr. Ajay Poddar (akpoddar@ieee.org), and Region coordinators for guidance through the petition process. Start by researching your area, then decide which route will best suit your needs and support a healthy active Society/Technical Council Chapter environment. Additional information is available at https://mga.ieee.org/resources-operations/geographic-unit/chapters/how-to-create-a-new-ieee-chapter.
The AP-S Chapter Chairs Meeting (CCM), held on 27 July 2023 during the 2023 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and U.S. National Committee (USNC) of the International Union of Radio Science (URSI) Radio Science Meeting, was very successful, attended by global Chapter officers, AP-S leadership, and committee chairs. The next CCM is scheduled jointly with the MTT-S during the IEEE Microwaves, Antennas, and Propagation Conference, in Ahmedabad, India, on 10–14 December 2023. For details, visit https://ieeemapcon.org/.
It is very important for an active Chapter to submit its annual report to be eligible to receive financial support for 2024 events (technical meetings, workshops, and special projects) and for Chapter chair travel grants to attend the CCM at AP-S flagship and supported regional conferences. As of 18 September 2023, there are 38 Independent Chapters, 110 Joint Chapters, and 78 Student Branch Chapters, for a total of 226 Chapters (https://tblanalytics.ieee.org/), as indicated in Figure 3, which shows the distribution of AP-S Chapters by IEEE Region.
Figure 3. The distribution of AP-S Chapters by IEEE Region as of 18 September 2023.
Many Chapters have organized numerous technical seminars, workshops, outreach drives, IEEE Committee on Promoting Equality (COPE) projects (http://aps-cope.org/), IEEE Special Interest Group on Humanitarian Technology (SIGHT) projects (https://sight.ieee.org/), and social events at the Chapter and Regional levels. We would like to welcome and express gratitude to new Chapter officers for their time and hard work for the benefit of IEEE Members.
Figure 4 gives the distribution of the AP-S membership by IEEE Region. As of 20 July 2022, there are 10,645 Society members (https://tblanalytics.ieee.org/).
Figure 4. The distribution of AP-S members by IEEE Region as of 20 July 2023.
The AP-S is partnering with Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) in IEEE to bring US$50,000 to support AP-S community projects. EPICS in IEEE service–learning projects are an opportunity for students to work with IEEE Members and community organizations to address the local environmental and climate change technological needs in their communities. Through their service–learning projects, students also develop critical knowledge and skills to help them succeed in their future engineering careers.
The EPICS in IEEE fall call for proposals is supporting IEEE Climate Change initiatives. Check out the call for proposals webpage (https://epics.ieee.org/fall-environmental-call-for-projects/) for more information about how AP-S members can create a team and submit a project proposal. All projects should have AP-S members involved, and AP-S-relevant technology should be used in the proposed solution to address the environmental challenge. Selected projects will receive up to US$10,000, mentorship, and resources.
SIGHT/Humanitarian Activities Committee (HAC) project call for proposals: IEEE AP-S Ulrich L. Rohde Humanitarian Technical Field Projects Award proposals consisting of project details and a budget can be submitted to Dr. Poddar and Dr. Jawad Siddiqui, AP-S SIGHT committee chair (jys@ieee.org). The submission deadline is 31 March 2024. The project selection process is in line with SIGHT and HAC project awards. The evaluation of proposals will be based primarily on technical content. After project completion, the Awards Committee will explore follow-up activities for low-cost production of the proposed technology, which is the key requirement for humanitarian needs.
We would like to remind our Chapter officers of the coming deadlines for submitting 2023 annual reports and requests for activity funding and Chapter chair travel support for 2024. The submission deadline for 2023 Chapter annual reports is 15 March 2024. The report template and preparation guidelines are posted on the AP-S Chapter webpage (https://ieeeaps.org/chapters/chapters). Requests for annual support and special project funding can be sent to Dr. Poddar; the deadline is 31 March 2024. Chapter chairs may also want to apply for travel grants to attend the CCM at the 2024 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and USNC–URSI Radio Science Meeting, in Florence, from 14 to 19 July (https://2024.apsursi.org/). This conference will be an exciting and informative event that will bring together leading researchers, engineers, and practitioners from around the world to share their knowledge and expertise on the latest advances in antennas and propagation, radio science, and electromagnetic engineering. The event will be cosponsored by the AP-S, the Italian National Committee of URSI, and USNC–URSI. The AP-S has only recently begun holding its flagship conference outside North America every three years, and the 2024 conference organizers are will be honored to host it in one of the most culturally rich cities in Europe and the world. We look forward to welcoming you to participate in the CCM in Florence.
Committee Chair: Weng C. Chew
Report by: Anisha Apte
We are excited to share with you the following report.
Report by: Weng C. Chew
At the beginning of our whirlwind trip, we were greeted at the Verona, Italy, airport by a colleague, Paolo Rocca, from the University of Trento, in Trentino, Italy. He was kind enough to drive us from Verona to Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, about a 40-mi ride and about 5,000 ft above sea level. The drive up the Alps was rich with tiny villages of a few hundred people dotting the mountainous landscape. Moreover, we got to see the Dolomite Mountains, which were beautiful.
The next day, I was blessed to give an inaugural lecture on quantum electromagnetics. There were 20 people on site, and perhaps another 50 online. After the lecture and lunch at the Cerana Hotel, we were driven for 5 h by Nicola Anselmi to Florence, arriving at round 7 p.m. We were pleased to be able to join the Administrative Committee (AdCom) dinner at 8 p.m. and socialized with many colleagues from all over the world.
The next morning, I attended the AdCom meeting and listened to many reports. Everyone was enthused and seemed to have much to say, more than their allotted times. I gave a short presentation about our COPE initiative and activities. The slides on IEEE Smart Village piqued the interest of AP-S President Stefano Maci.
I told him that we should push to grow wireless communications around the world, and this falls under the purview of the AP-S and the dream of Guglielmo Marconi. After all, Marconi was Italian, and two recent AP-S presidents, Gianluca Lazzi and Maci, are Italians. Our Society, among the IEEE Societies, has the most expertise in this area.
After the Florence AdCom meeting, we took a flight to Frankfurt, Germany, from where we took a flight to Astana, Kazakhstan, very much to the north of Central Asia. It took about 7 to 8 h to fly there—Central Asia is huge! At Nazarbayev University (NU), we met my former colleague Ilesanmi Adesida from the University of Illinois Urban-Champaign, who is now a provost at NU. We also met my wife Chew Chin’s brother Kai Hong Phua, who has volunteered to teach at NU from Singapore: he teaches public health/policy. We met with many professors of electrical engineering as well as professors of physics and math. We had lunch and dinner with many deans from different schools of NU. (I was formerly a dean of engineering at the University of Hong Kong, and Adesida thought I had some experience to share with these deans.) NU is an interesting university in an area that has drawn talent from different parts of the world because it has oil and mineral wealth.
Adesida took me on a tour of the School of Engineering, where he has set up many equipment facilities in microelectronics and electromagnetics. (Adesida was formerly in the area of microelectronics at Illinois, and he was also a dean of engineering at Illinois.) They have a vector network analyzer. Here, I saw the power of knowledge sharing. Adesida, because of his background, knows what equipment to get and also how to set up a strong engineering school, especially in areas related to microelectronics.
In total, I gave three talks at NU. One was in a Ph.D. forum, where I emphasized the importance of a Ph.D. program in a comprehensive university. I also emphasized three important points for a research university’s Ph.D. program: 1) outside and international engagement, 2) having postdocs to work with in addition to graduate students, and 3) an ability to pick important problems to work on.
The second talk was like the AP-S Master Class I gave at the 2021 International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation, in Singapore, entitled “Electromagnetics: From Classical to Quantum.” The subject is low-level enough that undergraduate students can understand it.
The third talk I gave was on IEEE and IEEE Chapter activities (Figure 5), with the help of slides from Dr. Poddar and Anisha Apte. One way for knowledge to flow into Kazakhstan is via the IEEE Chapter network, which is almost like throwing a knowledge lifeline via IEEE Chapter formation. They have a local IEEE Chapter, but I was told that many students do not join because of the cost of membership (after all, this is a developing country with a per capita income of about US$10,000). It is the richest of the central Asian countries because of oil and mineral wealth.
Figure 5. A group photo after the author (front row of four people, second from left) gave a lecture on IEEE Chapters. To his right is Muhammad Akhtar, from Iran. Akhtar mentors the IEEE Chapter at NU. To the author’s left is Annie Ng, a teacher from Hong Kong University of Engineering who also teaches at NU, and farthest to the author’s left is Gulsim Kulsharova, a teacher who also studied at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The tall man to the author’s far right is Didier Talamona, from France. He worked in Singapore before going to NU. Nursultan Nazarbayez, the previous president of Kazakhstan, admires the rapid rise of Singapore and would like to emulate its growth. Hence, many Singaporean expatriates work at NU.
The Kazakhs, numbering about 20 million, are an interesting nomadic people. Nomads have lived in Eastern Europe, including Ukraine, and all the way to China, including Manchuria. They lived in Central Asia for a few millennia, and they first domesticated horses around 3,500 BC. I read that the region was first dominated by Iranian/Persian culture, and later by Turkic culture. They speak a language related to the Ural/Altaic family, where an object is placed after a verb, like French. This language structure also prevails in North Asia, including Korean and Japanese. I could have mistaken these people as being from Korea: Asian with a tinge of Caucasian. They are beautiful people. In their history, sedentary people like those in China or Europe are noted for their penchant for raiding for resources. This is understandable given the wealth inequality in this part of the world and the ascetic life of nomadic people. Their cavalry skill is unmatched. In the west of Central Asia, they were related to the Turks and Cossacks, and in the east, they were related to the Mongols and Manchus. They worship God, which is the blue eternal sky. I hope they can acquire a technology-based economy so that they can use God’s most unusual gift, the brain, as a natural resource.
When we left Astana, we had to fly Turkish Airlines to Istanbul, Turkey, then from Istanbul to London, U.K. On the flight from Istanbul to London, there were many people coughing in the airplane. That’s where we caught COVID-19. We had to wait over 2 h to cross the security line in London. Security was beefed up in London Heathrow Airport because of the Ukraine War. Since we missed our flight, we had to stay over one night in Heathrow.
We had COVID-19 after returning. We self-isolated for two weeks and are pretty much back to normal now.
AP-S COPE aims to fund projects that provide good use of IEEE expertise exhibiting a strong technological component, with clear engagement with the community, indicating that a proposed solution is both desired and feasible. Project funding requests should demonstrate established relationships, ideally documented, with stakeholders who will be involved in project implementation, with a clear, detailed, and credible project assessment matrix; project implementation plan; and budget. The team should demonstrate combined experience to credibly execute the project and identify and address potential risks, and the project should have a tangible impact. If a proposal misses the mark on two or more of these areas, it might not be ready for funding.
AP-S COPE prioritizes immediate impact on poverty mitigation and inequality reduction through the following project areas:
Projects must be successfully completed and submitted to the AP-S through final reporting indicating the status of the project and utilization of funds at the end of each calendar year. Expense vouchers should be submitted as supporting documents for audits. A spreadsheet, “APS COPE Project Budget Template 2024,” should be submitted for a budget proposal during application, as should an expense report on completion of the project. Fund utilization should be clearly indicated. Each AP-S Chapter/Joint Chapter/Student Branch Chapter may submit multiple proposals. Proposals are subject to review and scrutiny, and the total project funding will not exceed US$3,000 for any calendar year. For additional funding, project members are encouraged to submit proposals to AP-S SIGHT and the AP-S CAC.
AP-S Chapter officers/members can fill out and submit the AP-S COPE “Special Project Funding Request Form 2024” by using the online submission link. Please use the link to the Google Form given below to submit your project proposals under the COPE mission: 2023 AP-S COPE Special-Project Funding Request Application (Google Form) https://forms.gle/QAJ4b7EEptLin84M7.
If Google Forms is not available in your region, you may use “AP-S Special Project Request Form” (MS Word or PDF) or “2024 AP-S COPE Special Purpose Fund Request Form” (MS Word) on the AP-S website. Chapter officers can submit write-ups, photos, and videos of COPE events to be uploaded to the COPE website (https://aps-cope.org/) and/or to be published in the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine “COPE Corner” column.
Committee Chair: C. J. Reddy
Report by: Payam Nayeri
The 2023 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and USNC–URSI Radio Science Meeting (AP-S/URSI) was held in Portland, OR, USA, on 23–28 July. All events and almost all technical presentations were held in person, which was a great experience for Students and Young Professionals (S&YP) who attended the symposium, given the past years of virtual or hybrid conferences. The 2023 AP-S/URSI YP chairs, Prof. Payam Nayeri and Prof. Peiyuan Qin, in collaboration with the 2023 AP-S YP ambassadors, organized several networking and educational activities at the conference, which were well attended by S&YP. The following are highlights of the YP activities at this symposium (Figure 6).
Figure 6. Various YP activities at the 2023 AP-S/URSI. (a) The YPC meeting on 24 July. A YP lapel pin featuring the 2023 AP-S/URSI logo is visible at the top left. (b) The YP booth in the exhibit hall, managed by AP-S YP ambassadors. (c) AP-S awardees who participated in the panel discussion with YP ambassadors on 27 July. (d) AP-S leaders who participated in Career and Growth Conversations with S&YP on 28 July.
The AP-S YP Committee (YPC), along with AP-S YP ambassadors and 2023 and 2024 AP-S YP chairs, met on the morning of 24 July to discuss activities at the event as well as future plans for the YPC. Dr. C. J. Reddy, chair of the AP-S YPC, explained the scope of the current planned activities and led the discussions on future directions and activities.
The 2023 AP-S/URSI Organizing Committee provided a booth in the exhibition hall to YP in order to promote YP activities among S&YP participating at the event. Shirts, hats, and 500 lapel pins were handed out to YP as souvenirs. The pins, with the logo of the symposium, were very well received and worn by YP as well as many veterans of the AP-S, providing awareness of YP at the symposium. The booth was hosted by YP ambassadors, YP chairs, and YPC members, who publicized information about YP activities and opportunities, including a call for nominations for the YP ambassador program and YP webinar series.
For the first time, a networking and recruitment opportunity was introduced for S&YP who attended the conference. This opportunity was established in collaboration with the 2023 AP-S/URSI sponsors and exhibits chairs. An online form allowed attendees to enter personal information, upload resumes, and select companies they were interested in, and these data were directly shared with exhibitors and recruiters, who arranged interviews with interested S&YP. An interview room was also made available for the participants.
The traditional S&YP reception was held on the evening of 25 July at Punch Bowl Portland. Sponsored by the AP-S Education Committee, this fun event provided a perfect opportunity for networking and socializing as well as entertainment activities, such as bowling, billiards, and darts. The event was attended by a great number of YP, students, academics, and professionals.
The AP-S YP of the Year Award was established by the YPC to recognize one YP member of the AP-S for significant service to the Society during a one-year term as a YP ambassador. The first recipient of the award was Prof. Zhijiao Chen, of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. Prof. Chen’s graduate student Xuewen Jiang received the award certificate on her behalf from Prof. Maci, AP-S president; Prof. Branislav Notaros, AP-S president-elect; and Dr. Reddy at the awards ceremony during the conference (Figure 7).
Figure 7. The first recipient of AP-S YP of the Year Award was Prof. Zhijiao Chen. Prof. Chen’s graduate student Xuewen Jiang received the award certificate on her behalf from Prof. Maci (left), Dr. C.J. Reddy (third from left), and Prof. Notaros (right), at the awards ceremony during the conference.
A panel session with AP-S awardees was held on 27 July, which provided an educational opportunity for YP. This interactive educational panel and Q&A session provided an opportunity for students to learn about the career and life paths of the awardees and their technical achievements, with reflections and guidance. The event was moderated by AP-S YP ambassadors Prof. Gangil Byun and Dr. Gaurangi Gupta. The following awardees participated in the panel:
We are grateful to these award winners for participating in this event and to Prof. Cynthia Furse, AP-S Awards Committee chair, for providing this great opportunity for S&YP.
Following a successful event in Denver, CO, USA, Career Development and Growth Conversations was held on 28 July with industry, government, and academic leaders in an informal and personalized format. This event provided a great opportunity for YP to learn from leaders in the field, discuss their career goals, and exchange ideas to formulate their own career growth and development. We are grateful to these leaders who participated in this event:
We are also grateful to Prof. Yahia Antar, Prof. Ahmed Kishk, Dr. Siddiqui, Prof. Claire Migliaccio, Dr. Apte, Dr. Chinmoy Saha, Dr. Amit Kumar Singh, Dr. Kit August, and others who participated and interacted with the S&YP.
The AP-S YP are grateful to the AP-S leadership, 2023 AP-S/URSI Organizing Committee, and Education, Member Benefits, Chapter Activities, Industry Initiatives, and Award Committees for their collaboration and assistance. We are looking to organize even more exciting activities at the 2024 AP-S/URSI, in Florence, from 14 to 19 July.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MAP.2023.3331516