As you read this message you should have received voting ballots including the statements and biographies of the candidates running in the IEEE Annual Election. I urge you to exercise your opportunity to determine the new leadership of IEEE. As a member of the SMC Society you are eligible to vote for IEEE President-Elect and IEEE Division X Director-Elect. We are very pleased that Jim Tien, past president of the SMC Society, is a candidate for IEEE President-Elect. I encourage you to exercise your right to vote either by electronic ballot that can be accessed at https://www.directvote.net/IEEE, or by mailing a paper ballot. Remember that IEEE must receive your vote by November 1.

I just returned from China where I participated in the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the Beijing Section as a keynote speaker and the Fourth Annual International Conference on Machine Learning and Cybernetics in Guangzhou as Honorary Chair. In a short span of 4 years, this conference has become one of the largest international events for machine learning with more 2,600 submissions, 700 accepted papers, and 1,000 attendees. During this trip I also had an opportunity to present certificates honoring four new SMC chapters in Beijing, Baoding, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong, and their chapter chairs Jian Chen, Xizhao Wang, Xiaolong Wang, and Daniel Yeung. I would like to thank Daniel Yeung (VP Technical Activities) for his contribution to making all of these new chapters a reality.

Due to the efforts of Dorian Sabaz (Web Editor) and Cash Wang (Webmaster), the SMC Society has completed the initial development of a new web site that will be brought on-line this month. Please visit the new site (http://www.ieeesmc.org) and send your comments and suggestions for improvements using the "Contact SMC” tab on the top bar of the web site.

With leadership from SMC Board members Irv Engelson and Keith Hipel, we have been engaged in an extensive effort to develop and implement a Strategic Plan for the Society. After completing the analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats with a committee consisting of officers and Board members, we created vision, mission and values statements for the Society and a detailed action plan for presentation to the SMC Board of Governors at our next meeting in Hawaii. Please read the draft statements on the Home page of the new SMC web site and send your comments before they are finalized in October.

I look forward to meeting you at the 2005 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics being held in the Big Island of Hawaii. Mo Jamshidi (VP Conferences and SMC05 General Chair), and Eddie Tunstal and Gary Anderson (Program Co-Chairs), have organized an outstanding event with high quality technical presentations, plenary lectures by leaders in systems engineering, and located in one of the most beautiful natural environments in the world.

Sincerely,

Bill Gruver
President
IEEE SMC Society
w.gruver@ieee.org

Vancouver, September 1, 2005