Inside View Of IMS2011: Up Close And Personal
By Ramesh K. Gupta, IMS2011 Technical Program Chair
For the past 30 years, I have rarely missed attending the IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium (IMS). I have attended in various roles, including as an attendee, author, technical session organizer, steering committee member, technical committee member, workshop organizer/speaker, panel session organizer/speaker, paper reviewer, and a few times as an exhibitor. Serving in these capacities has given me a unique perspective on the world's largest and most prestigious IEEE microwave conference. Each time, I came home energized, enthused, and inspired by the new insights and knowledge gained through meetings with new and old friends and colleagues. This year, my role as Technical Program Committee (TPC) chair has added a new dimension to my experience and excitement.
We are proud to host IMS2011 at the Baltimore Convention Center, adjacent to Baltimore's beautiful Inner Harbor. Microwave Week, which runs from June 5-10, is actually three events wrapped in to one: IMS2011, the Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuit Symposium (RFIC), and the 77th Automatic Radio-Frequency Techniques Group Conference (ARFTG). Our biggest challenge has been to build on Baltimore's past legacy of successful symposia in 1986 and 1998 and make the excellent program of previous symposia even better. We carefully evaluated the innovations introduced during the past few years and developed the following actionable goals for IMS2011: enhance the IMS scope while maintaining technical excellence and quality, enhance interactivity, create a symposium that is inclusive and participatory, foster a global perspective, and follow eco-friendly practices.
As you review the IMS0211 technical program and attend the symposium, you will find that these guiding principles are embedded into each component of our technical program, starting with the IMS2011 logo. We will showcase original RF, microwave, and millimeter-wave research, developments, and applications that continue to benefit and enrich the lives of people around the globe, as declared in our symposium theme — Microwaves for the World. Our theme celebrates the diversity within MTT-S community and recognizes that more than half of MTT-S membership is indeed globally based. Our Monday (June 6) evening plenary session, Migration of 4G LTE into Existing Cellular Networks by eminent Professor J. David Rhodes, will highlight the role microwave technologies have played in continuing the telecommunications revolution.
For me and the IMS2011 TPC, organizing this year's technical program has been a gratifying experience. Attendees will have the opportunity to listen to more than 1,000 technical presentations during the Microwave Week, representing an estimated millennium+ worth of man-year effort. IMS2011 will cover current developments and research in microwave technology including nanodevices, RFID technologies, energy transmission through microwaves, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and many other system and circuit applications, device techniques, as well as active and passive circuits. Papers this year have been selected by the Technical Paper Review Committee (TPRC) through a double-blind review process, which preserved anonymity for both authors and reviewers, eliminated any perception of a bias, and resulted in a selection based on merit. Student papers were evaluated with each subcommittee recommending no more than one paper for the Student Paper Competition, to be held on Tuesday. I think you will be fascinated by all the student papers, as well as by the seven Student Design Competitions and a Graduate Student Challenge, introduced for the first time in IMS2011.
Technical paper sessions, interactive forums, plenary and panel sessions, workshops, short courses, industrial exhibits, application seminars, historical exhibits, and a wide array of other technical activities will be offered. To enhance interactivity, the technical papers are organized in to two 100-minute and two 80-minute sessions, leaving more than two hours for technical interaction at the lunch hour. In this mid-day time slot, all the Interactive Forum (IF) papers, student competition papers, and lunchtime panel sessions are organized. We hope that this time will also offer significant networking opportunities for the attendees.
Special sessions will honor the memory of three of our microwave industry leaders — Ted Saad, Roger Sudbury, and Nathan Marcuvitz — who passed away during the past year. Special sessions will highlight 100 years of superconductivity and historical contributions to the microwave discipline from the Washington, DC/Baltimore area. Eight focus sessions will address the specialized technical areas such as microwave technology needs for space, carbon nanoelectronics, microwave photonics, high-field MRI, computational microwave engineering, and handset impedance tuning. Two of these focus sessions illuminate the significant microwave research and developments currently underway in traditionally under-represented regions of the world in two Microwaves around the World sessions, consistent with our symposium theme.
A total of 33 workshops provide in-depth presentations from industry experts on various popular topics, such as GaN MMICs, digital receivers, RFID-enabled sensors, MRI systems, and amplifier efficiency enhancement techniques, just to name a few. These workshops will provide enhanced interactivity with significant and quality time spent on audience participation. Short courses were selected on the basis of both their instructional material as well as hands-on exercises, which should enhance the learning experience. For example, three out of six courses being offered at the IMS2011 will have hands-on practical content. In addition, a course will be offered on the national and international spectrum management considerations for emerging broadband wireless applications.
The Awards Banquet and Crab Feast are but two of the highlights of the many social activities planned. Not only are we arranging a great guest program, but there are many activities and attractions within Baltimore and the surrounding area that are sure to entice you to extend your visit. Some of Baltimore's beautiful Inner Harbor attractions that might be of interest to attendees, family, and friends are: the National Aquarium, Port Discovery (a hands-on children's museum), the Maryland Science Center, Johns Hopkins University, and Baltimore Orioles Major League Baseball games, which are scheduled every day of Microwave Week except Thursday. You will experience the charm of microwaves supplemented with the sights, sounds, and excitement of the "Charm City" — appropriate to our slogan for the symposium, IMS2011 in Baltimore: A Perfect Match. Also, remember all the attractions in Washington, DC, the nation's capital, are only 50 miles away.
Our TPC has worked very hard to create an innovative and exciting technical program that will surpass the excellent legacy of previous IMS symposia hosted in Baltimore in 1986 and 1998. We have organized sessions to minimize conflict among parallel presentations between papers, workshops, short courses, and the RFIC Symposium and ARFTG Conference. The technical program should appeal to novices, undergraduate and graduate students, practitioners, as well as researchers in the microwave and millimeter wave fields through short courses, workshops, panel sessions, Micro-Apps presentations, and, of course, the leading-edge research papers of the world. We are confident that your experience at the IMS2011 in Baltimore will be both personally and professionally rewarding.
We need your energy, enthusiasm, and willingness to contribute, participate, and interact at IMS2011, as you attend a vast array of technical sessions and activities at the symposium. I am confident that you will feel quite at home at IMS2011 in Baltimore and enjoy the experience!
About The Author
Dr. Ramesh K. Gupta is VP of next-generation satellite system planning and engineering at Lightsquared (Reston, VA) and serves as chair of Technical Program Committee (TPC) for IMS2011 in Baltimore. Previously, he served on the Steering Committee for IMS1998 in Baltimore and also served as chapter chair for the Washington/NV IEEE MTT-S chapter. He has held senior management positions as VP of advanced business and technology at AMCOM Communications, and managing director at COMSAT Laboratories and Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications. His work has included the integration of large satellite/wireless systems, business planning, and strategic management in a high technology business environment.
He holds a Ph.D. and an M.S. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Alberta, Canada; an MBA degree from the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania; and a B.S. degree (with honors) in electronics and communications engineering from India. He has published extensively and holds four U.S. patents. He has received many honors and awards including Alberta Government Telephone's Centennial Fellowship for graduate research in telecommunications and COMSAT Laboratories' Research Award. He was co-recipient of the Best Paper Award at the 9th International Digital Satellites Communications Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. He has served as an adjunct associate professor of strategic management and technology planning at the University of Maryland (College Park, MD). Dr. Gupta has published more than 80 papers on satellite and wireless RF technology and systems in AIAA and IEEE conferences and technical journals. In January 2007, Dr. Gupta was named a Fellow of the IEEE.