Edward C. Niehenke 

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As your Ombuds Officer, I received 27 inquiries (12 non-U.S.) from IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology Society (MTT-S) members from 1 July to 31 October 2022. All inquiries were typically acted upon within one week, and replies were sent to all MTT-S members.

Technical Questions and Information

One member was interested in designing gallium arsenide power amplifiers. I directed the member to https://mtt.org/mtt-s-webinars-schedule/, where many such topics are presented, such as GaN Power Amplifier Design Part 1 (11 December 2018) and Part 2 (12 March 2019), which I presented. Also, many others are found on specific applications. Another member wanted information on a specific millimeter-wave course similar to the one that he described. I located such a course and gave the member the information.

A member was approached by AT&T to place a 5G cell tower on the member’s six floor concrete building and was interested in documentation on the health safety of such an installation. I provided the member many publications concerning this situation. Additionally, I reached out to our Technical Comittee Organization, and additional relevant publications were provided on this topic to the inquirer. Another member requested a technical question on terahertz patterns from Peter H. Siegel, who responded. A member requested information to opt out of cookies. I told the member to contact privacy@ieee.org and also to look at https://www.wikihow.com/Disable-Cookies.

A member was interested in purchasing surplus test equipment. I informed the member that the MTT-S does not provide this service and requested the member to do a web search. A student member was interested in attending an MTT-S-sponsored conference at a discount. I contacted IEEE and determined that the student member needs to pay his annual dues. This information with the price was sent to the student member. Finally a member was interested in when the MTT-S will be providing the 70th anniversary souvenir. I informed the member that this will happen in November 2022.

Publishing Articles and Periodicals

A member was having difficulty in unloading his extended article to a special issue (“International Workshop on Mobile Terahertz Systems” Mini Special Issue). I requested our publications chair George Ponchak to assist the member. Another member was concerned that his article was not received, and I forwarded this input to George Ponchak.

A member was having trouble uploading his article to IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques (T-MTT) because of slow speed. I tried to do an operation, which was quite speedy, and reported this to the member. The member later did upload the article with good speed. Finally, a member requested information on publishing an article in T-MTT. I requested that the member visit https://mtt.org/publications/transactions/author-information-transactions/. A member was missing an IEEE Microwave Magazine issue, which was mailed to the member.

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MTT-S Web

A member noticed that if one clicks on the name of a person on our website, nothing happens. I contacted the webmaster, Anding Zhu, who corrected this situation. An inquirer requested to put advertisements on www.mtt.org. I told the inquirer that this is not done, which was confirmed by our webmaster. A member requested that the Tatsuo Itoh memorial recording presented at the European Microwave Symposium be included on our website, which was done. Finally, a member requested that the call for papers for the 2023 Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Symposium be placed on the website, and this was done.

Various MTT-S Symposia

The following inquiries were received with replies.

  1. A member requested the due date for the 2023 International Microwave Symposium (IMS) paper submission:
  2. it was 6 December 2022.
  3. An inquirer wants to photograph future IMSs;
  4. the IMS already has a photography team.
  5. A request was made to provide professional assistance to the 23rd IEEE Wireless and Microwave Technology Conference:
  6. the request was submitted to the conference chair.
  7. A professional organization wants to provide assistance to the 2023 Asia–Pacific Microwave Conference:
  8. this offer was submitted to the conference chair.
  9. A professional organization wants to provide assistance to the future Asia–Pacific Microwave Conference in Sydney:
  10. this offer was submitted to the conference chair.
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MTT-S Webinars

A member was having difficulty accessing a particular webinar. I contacted the webinar chair, Xun Gong, who assisted the member.

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MTT-S Webpage and Help Line

Additional IEEE contact information is as follows: toll-free in the United States and Canada at +1 800 678 4333 or worldwide at +1 732 981 0060, fax at +1 732 562 5445, attention member services; e-mail: contactcenter@ieee.org. To add a new service electronically, please visit IEEE at www.ieee.org and click on “Renew.” To purchase an IEEE product by e-mail, contact customercenter@ieee.org or call the numbers listed previously.

Please feel free to contact me by letter, telephone, or e-mail concerning any complaint you may have or any assistance you may need in obtaining membership services from IEEE and the MTT-S (mtt-s-org). My contact information can be found on the first page of this column.