I encourage you to vote in the forthcoming election
for IEEE President-Elect. Ballots are being mailed this
month to all IEEE members. Jim Tien, a former SMC president
and strong supporter of the SMC Society, is a candidate.
I encourage you to vote in this important election.
More information on Jim and his candidacy can be viewed
in this Newsletter.
We
look forward to your participation in the 2004 IEEE
International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics
(SMC04) on October 10-13 at the Netherlands Congress
Center in The Hague, Netherlands. The organizers are
planning for more than 1,000 technical papers to be
presented. SMC04, the premier conference in systems
engineering and cybernetics, is expected to attract
1,500 attendees from more than 40 countries. I am confident
that you will not want to miss this important annual
event.
I
am writing this message from Shanghai, China, where
I am participating in the 2004 IEEE International Conference
on Machine Learning and Cybernetics, one of the many
regional conferences sponsored each year by the SMC
Society. ICMLC04 is being held in China for the third
consecutive year, this year with more than 500 registered
attendees. The high attendance at this very successful
regional conference is a prime example of the strong
and growing support that the Systems, Man, and Cybernetics
Society enjoys in Asia.
If
your missed reading my comments in the June Newsletter
due to a mixup in the links, I am repeating some of
the information from that article. Two months ago, a
committee consisting of SMC members from Canada, China,
and the United States met in Vancouver to conduct a
study of the SMC Society’s strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats. Under the capable leadership
of Keith Hipel and Irving Engelson, the committee developed
recommendations that will become the core of our Society’s
revised strategic plan. It was concluded that a major
strength of the SMC Society is its global presence.
The SMC Society is one of the most international societies
in the IEEE. As shown by the latest membership report,
72% of our members reside outside of North America.
For this reason, our annual conference alternates between
Europe, Asia, and North America: SMC04 in The Hague,
Netherlands; SMC05 in Hawaii, USA; SMC06 in Tapei; SMC07
in Montreal; and SMC08 in Singapore.
Another
important strength of the SMC Society is the increasing
number of members from industry. The latest membership
numbers indicate that 32% of our members have industrial
affiliations, compared with 57% belonging to academic
organizations. To provide greater service to our industrial
members we are developing new technical activities,
symposia and workshops, and publications that target
their application interests. We are providing application
sessions and tracks at SMC conferences and workshops
and we offer startup funding to organize these events.
We plan to publish more industrially oriented papers
in the IEEE Transactions on SMC, Part C: Applications
and Reviews. We are launching a new Distinguished Lecturer
Program that will provide SMC chapters throughout the
world with the opportunity to schedule prominent speakers
who are internationally recognized for their contributions
to theory and applications. The SMC Society’s
e-Newsletter features a section with positions available
at companies, universities, and research laboratories.
Please send ads for publication to the e-Newsletter
Editor, T.T. Lee. There is no cost for this service.
Finally, a major revision of the design and content
of the SMCS web site is in progress.
This
is a very exciting time for the SMC Society. Please
contact me by e-mail with your suggestions for improving
our Society and its services. I also would welcome hearing
from you if you would like to take an active role in
any of our activities.
Sincerely,
