Stéphane Bila and Dominique Baillargeat
The meeting brought together experts and practitioners of electromagnetic- and multiphysics-based modeling; simulation; and optimization for RF, microwave, terahertz, and other applications for three days of activities, discussion, and networking. The conference was an ideal forum for the sharing of new ideas on techniques for electromagnetic and multiphysics modeling; proposals for efficient design algorithms and tools; and the anticipation of modeling/analysis needs for future technologies and applications.
The event was held at the University of Limoges. NEMO2022 was organized with the support of the XLIM Research Institute. The organizing committee and the conference were chaired by Prof. Dominique Baillargeat.
NEMO2022 was financially sponsored by the MTT-S and technically cosponsored by the University of Limoges; IEEE France Section; the Nouvelle Aquitaine region; and the city of Limoges. All financial and registration matters were managed by Julien Lintignat, Patricia Leroy, and the administrative staff of the University of Limoges. Elise Guyot managed communications for the conference, keeping attendees informed and ensuring an enjoyable conference.
The conference featured an exciting technical program, with invited talks given by internationally recognized experts in electromagnetic and multiphysics modeling; simulation; and optimization. All of the papers submitted to the conference were thoroughly reviewed by the NEMO Technical Program Committee (TPC), which was chaired and cochaired by Stéphane Bila and Cédric Quendo, respectively. The TPC was composed of a diverse international group from academia and industry. Despite the effects of the pandemic, 83 papers from 30 countries were submitted, and 73 were accepted. There were 121 attendees (Figures 1 and 2).
Five half-day sessions were proposed by the organizing committee, comprising technical and special sessions; keynote speeches; and one focused session. There were 16 technical sessions.
There were 10 special sessions.
Figure 1. A group photo of the NEMO2022 attendees.
Figure 2. (a) The opening ceremony with the President of the University of Limoges; the Mayor of Limoges City; Dr. Stéphane Bila; and Prof. Dominique Baillargeat. (b) Participants at a session. (c) A coffee break. (d) Participants at a session. (e) Information panel for the day’s sessions. (f) Participants at a session. (g) A group photo of volunteer Ph.D. students from XLIM. (h) A lunch among attendees.
With the help of Raphaël Sommet, Christophe Guiffaut and Thomas Fromentèze organized six keynote speeches by distinguished researchers with a high level of expertise. The talks were delivered by:
All accepted papers were published in a proceedings and were made available to the participants via the conference website, which was managed by Olivier Tantot and Arnaud Beaumont. The accepted papers were also made available for archiving on IEEE Xplore. To conclude NEMO2022, the authors were invited to submit extended articles to a special mini-issue of IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.
A good conference incorporates multiple opportunities to network and meet informally over refreshments. Two social events stand out, both of which were organized by Laure Huitéma and Audrey Martin.
Figure 3. (a) The welcome reception at Limoges City Hall. (b) Dr. Stéphane Bila (at microphone) with the Mayor of Limoges City (left) and Prof. Dominique Baillargeat.
Figure 4. From left: Prof. Dominique Baillargeat (NEMO2022 chair); Dr. Stéphane Bila (NEMO2022 TPC chair); Prof. Rashaunda Henderson (2022 MTT-S president); and Dr. Qi-Jun Zhang (NEMO ExCom chair) at City Hall of Limoges for the welcome reception.
The mayor of Limoges invited all participants to a welcome reception at City Hall. He gave a speech that expressed his pride in hosting an international conference like NEMO in Limoges. He also presented some historical moments of the city of Limoges (Figure 3). At the welcome reception, we had the pleasure of having Prof. Rashaunda Henderson, the 2022 MTT-S president, for a short visit. We deeply thank her for coming to Limoges under difficult travel conditions. It was a pleasure to take her to dinner and to share a very pleasant moment with her (Figure 4).
Figure 5. (a) and (b) The conference banquet at the Pôle de Lanaud.
The second special social event, held at the Pôle de Lanaud, allowed attendees to discover the countryside surrounding Limoges and the culinary specialties of the Limousin region during the very pleasant conference banquet (Figure 5). This event was the occasion for Dr. Qi-Jun Zhang, as the chair of the NEMO ExCom, to present the organizer certificate to Prof. Dominique Baillargeat, as the chair of NEMO2022 (Figure 6). All attendees were delighted by these two events.
A student paper competition was organized by Nicolas Delhote with a jury of experts. They challenged Ph.D. students technically and in terms of their presentation skills. The prize for the Best Student Paper of NEMO2022 was awarded to Nastaran Soleimani with her cosupervisors, Riccardo Trinchero and Flavio Canavero of Politecnico di Torino, Italy, for the paper titled “Vector-Valued Kernel Ridge Regression for the Modeling of High-Speed Links.” A sum of €1,000 was associated with the prize, which rewarded a research work of high scientific quality highlighted by a very good oral presentation (Figure 7).
Figure 7. The Best Paper Award ceremony. From left: Dr. Stéphane Bila; Nastaran Soleimani (the awarded Ph.D. student); Dr. Nicolas Delhote (the president of the jury of experts); and Prof. Dominique Baillargeat.
NEMO will be back in June 2023 and will be held from 28 to 30 June in Winnipeg, Canada, with Prof. Vladimir Okhmatovski as general chair. The conference will be held in a hybrid format. The deadline to submit conference papers for technical review is 15 February 2023 at https://nemo-ieee.org/.
We hope to see you at NEMO2023!
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2022.3226633