IMS2024: A Q&A With General Co-Chairs Scott Barker And Sanjay Raman
By John Oncea, Editor
With IMS2024 in full swing we share our conversation with General Co-Chairs Scott Barker of the University of Virginia and Sanjay Raman of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Q: What is new, improved, or just plain exciting at IMS this year?
IMS2024 will feature a variety of important thematic areas that highlight the symposium’s focus on “Capitalizing Across the Spectrum.” In addition to showcasing a broad spectrum of engaging technical topics, IMS2024 will celebrate the diversity of contributions, talents, and accomplishments across our community’s “human spectrum” throughout the week. Moreover, the major technical themes of the conference will emphasize the role our host city of Washington, D.C. has played in supporting the use and management of the RF-to-THz spectrum, including Systems and Applications, Aerospace and Security, Spectrum Coexistence and Sustainability – each as a thematic day – and Emerging Technologies and Directions. The Future Directions theme for this year’s IMS is Wireless Power Transfer, with a boot camp, workshops, and a collection of special, focus, and panel sessions on this emerging topic area. On Wednesday, we also will be co-locating with the industry-focused FutureG Summit, which we are jointly sponsoring with the IEEE MTT, Antennas & Propagation, Communications, and Photonics Societies.
We are emphasizing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging, cutting across all aspects of the symposium. This effort starts with the creation of a new Executive Committee level position – the Outreach and Inclusion Chair taken on by Dr. Kavita Goverdhanam of U.S. Army CERDEC. We are also very fortunate to have on our executive committee the current chair of the IEEE Technical Advisory Board (TAB) Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Dr. Dalma Novak, VP of Engineering at Octane Wireless. We have started collecting additional optional demographic information from our attendees so that we can understand and appreciate the great diversity that already exists within our community as well as identify those areas where we need to be more inclusive. In addition, we have updated our selection processes to ensure that our conference events are representative of the diversity of our community.
IMS2024 is announcing a PostDeadline Paper Session that will be a major new feature and technical highlight of the conference. This is a prime opportunity to submit your best, late-breaking results, and innovations for consideration for inclusion in the symposium program. PostDeadline papers will follow the same submission and review criteria as regular contributed papers to IMS2024. They should describe new and significant material in rapidly advancing areas of the various IMS technical fields. A limited number of PostDeadline papers will be selected for presentation, and only those judged to be truly outstanding and compelling in their timeliness will be accepted. The PostDeadline Paper Session will take place immediately before the Closing Session on Thursday, 20 June 2024 at 13:30. Each PostDeadline paper presentation will be 12 minutes in duration with a 3-minute Q&A period.
Also of note for IMS2024 is the return of the Startup Pavilion, which was first featured during IMS2019. This year, we will be highlighting up-and-coming RF/microwave startups, which will be co located close to the MicroApps Theater and the Networking Lounge. We also will be hosting several associated events, including an entrepreneurship panel as well as a funding panel with representatives from the venture capital and small business innovation research communities.
Q: What topics are trending at IMS2024?
WPT and FutureG, Spectrum Coexistence, Aerospace systems, microwave/mm-wave ICs, and heterogenous integration.
There are dozens of special events on the schedule – which ones are the “can’t miss” and why?
The Industry-Sponsored reception is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon on the show floor. The interactive forum poster session will wrap up immediately beforehand and the Top Start-up pitch competition will take place at the MicroApps theater. FutureG Summit attendees also will be welcomed at the reception.
What are you offering attendees in terms of professional development, family care, advocacy, equity, diversity, and inclusion opportunities?
We are excited to announce that IMS2024 will be providing childcare during the week of IMS through KiddieCorp! Our goal is to provide your children with a program they want to attend while providing them with that critical “peace of mind” feeling so they can attend sessions and events taking place during the event.
We are emphasizing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging, cutting across all aspects of the symposium. This effort starts with the creation of a new Executive Committee level position – the Outreach and Inclusion Chair. We also have started collecting additional optional demographic information from our attendees so that we can understand and appreciate the great diversity that already exists within our community as well as identify those areas where we need to be more inclusive. In addition, we have updated our selection processes to ensure that our conference events are representative of the diversity of our community.
What are some highlighted topics and themes this year?
Systems and Applications, Aerospace and Security, Spectrum Coexistence and Sustainability.
Will there be any workshops, short courses, or tutorials offered?
- https://ims-ieee.org/technical-program/workshops?date=2024-06-16
- https://ims-ieee.org/technical-program-overview
How can I connect with other attendees before/during the event?
How many exhibitors and vendors are expected?
With ~550 companies at the exhibition, the IMS is the world’s largest gathering of the RF and microwave community. The IMS2024 Exhibition will be held in Halls A&B of the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, with more than 340,000 sq. feet of dedicated space. The exhibition will be open through the afternoon of Thursday, June 20th.