IEEE

ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION GROUP

VOLUME 15 - NUMBER 1 EDITOR: RALPH E. HlATT ASSOCIATE EDITOR: K. K. ME1 MARCH 1973

THE ~ E ~ ~ I E N T S MESSAGE Improving G-AP Symposia

Carlyle J. Sletten

Afte r the exhilarating week at the Williamsburg meet- ing it hardly seems appropriate to critique that excellent exposition. The planners, organizers, and performers all did their jobs very well. The planners of our next two conferences, Professor Maley of the University of Colorado and Professor Paris of Georgia Tech., were both in atten- dance taking notes on the masterful handling of details dis- played by Bill Croswell and Cal Swift and other members of the Virginia team. Measured by any criterion the 1972 International IEEE/G-AP Symposium and Fall URSI Meeting was successful. still, in the corridors and business meet- ing of G-AP AdCom there were expressions of doubt about the effectiveness of many oral papers.

This issue and controversy centers around the accept- ance ratio of papers submitted, the length of oral papers, disadvantages of multiple sessions, and the quality of the presentations. The paper selection committees are guided generally by considerations such as the following:

1) Eachsymposiumseeks first of all to present the discoveries, new ideas, and successful new applications in

the field of antennas and propagation.

2) The organizers want to encourage attendees by accepting their submissions.

3) The planners strive to reduce multiple sessions especially on closely related themes.

4) And of course the committees hope each paper will be presented clearly and stimulate listeners with its scientific significance.

It is clear that these objectives are often conflicting and the actual presentations a re beyond the control of the paper selection committee.

A t the meeting I intercepted some good suggestions from Jim Wait, Leon Schwartzman, Bob Hansen, John Damonte and others designed to optimize the information exchange in the technical sessions. These ideas seemed worthwhile to me. I offer them to you here in a blend not entirely attributable to any of the gentlemen mentioned above.

Continued. . . DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION TO N E X T ISSUE IS APRJL 10, 1973

MARCH 19 7 3

1) Build sessions around 10 to 15 minute papers; make these short papers effective by distilling out the significant new accomplishment, stating the result clearly, and illustrating the findings with good, readable slides.

2) Put the session chairmen to work to critically evaluate the papers and at the end of the session giving his view of the significance of each paper. He would also be asked to act as advocate for the auditors and comment adversely on bad slides and poor oral presentations. He might also recommend that the particularly good oral papers be prepared for publication in the G-AP Transactions.

3) Restrict the number of talks given by any one author to one per meeting.

4) Screen papers being careful to (a) accept new topics, new authors, and especially the application and de- sign papers, and (b) rejecting topics repeated by authors o r without sufficient significance or usefulness.

5) Insist that authors read the IEEE Brochure "Tech- niques for Better Talks", available for $. 10 by writing IEEE Headquarters in New York o r by calling IEEE Head- quarters, Number 212-752-6800 and asking for Mr. MacDonald.

The application of these guide lines might achieve some benefits. The younger engineer would feel encouraged to attend the symposium, submit his paper, and perhaps join GAP. Keeping the acceptance ratio of papers high increases the young authors' odds for presenting his paper. With 10-15 synopsized papers per session the number of multiple sessions could be reduced. Auditors can remem- ber and hopefully make use of the several significant re- sults of the short papers and compare his opinion with both the Author and Chairman as to the relative merits of the alleged advance. By encouraging and accepting a large number of papers, attendance to symposia will surely be larger. The larger audience will attract top quality per- formers in our field to the meeting. By deliberately tilting the acceptance of applications papers one of the pri- mary aims of G A P (which was clearly articulated at WiUiamsburg) will be served -- namely, the search, recog- nition and acclaims of more useful papers. A special Ad Hoc Committee of AdCom has been commissioned to seek out and stimulate the writing of such Applications papers. The Fellow Grade and Senior Members could serve as Session Chairmen which is hardly an innovation. But the new roles as session chairmen would be more challenging than just timekeeping and their criticism would tend to up-grade the quality of papers and stimulate audience discussion.

In conclusion, our annual symposium is the major event of our organization, By innovative management this conclave can advance the main goals of G-AP which are effective (even pleasurable) information exchange, re- cruitment of new members, and the conferring of recog- nition on our ablest scientists.

C. J. Sletten 3 Januarv 1973

-1EEE ANTENNAS A N D PROPAGATION GROUP Newsletter

G-AP NEWSLETTER

MESSAGE FROM THE OUTGOING PRESIDENT

John B. Damonte

1972 has come t o an end and so has my term of office as President of G-AP. I think it appropriate t o summarize fo r you some of the highlights of the year.

1.

2.

3 .

Finances G-AP is i n extremely good financial health. Over the past seven years, w e have developed a surplus of approximately $51,000 (44 percent of 1 year 's expenses) i n accordance with IEEE recommendations. We are now i n a pos i t ion to expand our ac t iv i t i e s i n important areas such as the Transactions, Chapter Affairs, Education, etc. Thanks are due our Treasurer, Tetsu Morita, and AdCom fo r t he i r judicious and f'rugal use of o m resources.

Transactions

The SEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation continue t o be ranked as the top publication in our f ie ld . Our Editor, Leon J. Ricardi, h is Associate Editors and Reviewers a r e t o be congra- tulated for their exceptional performance. I n 1972 we published 850 pages and we plan t o publish 900 pages i n 1973.

Symposiums The 1972 G-AP/URSI Symposium i n Williamsburg was an extraordinary affair . The registration proce- dure was well organized and ef for t less on the par t of the attendee. The technical sessions were well planned and extremely informative. The Williams- burg se t t ing was magnificant. Never has G-AP met i n such picturesque and luxurious surroundings. The symposium banquet was another master touch. Never before had w e been pr iv i leged to sample such a superb Colonial dinner. A l l of the comments tha t I heard were lav ish in the i r p ra i se of the technical program and the Symposium. Bill Crosswell, C a l Swift and their hard working symposium committees deserve our hea r t f e l t thanks and g ra t i t ude fo r t he i r e f fo r t s .

Meetings Chairman, Wolfgang Kummer, has the future well i n hand with meetings scheduled as follows:

Date Location Sympos. Chairman

1973 A u g 21-24 Bodder, Colo. Sam Maley 1974 Jun 10-14 Atlanta, Ga. 1975 Jun 2-6

D. T. Par is Urbana. Ill. G. A. Deschamos

is published quarterly by the Antennas and Propagation Groop of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. - Headquarters address: 345 East 47th Street, New York, N. Y. RALPH E. HIATT 10017. Sent automatically and without additional cost to each 1519 Brooklyn Avenue member of the Antennas and Propagation Group.

Application to mail at Second class postage rates i s pending at New York, New York.

EDITOR: ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Prof. KENNETH K. ME1 Department of Electrical Engineerin!

Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104 and Computer Sciences University of California Berkeley, California 94720