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Conference Organizer Profile: May 2008
Mislav enjoyed being a member but found a wealth of new opportunities once he began to volunteer. With the encouragement of his colleagues, Mislav established a new IEEE GOLD Affinity Group in the Croatia Section. “This was a really nice experience,” Mislav says, “from browsing through the IEEE website for volunteers, learning how to use the SAMIEEE database, contacting other young GOLD members in my Section, signing the petition, contacting IEEE staff in Piscataway, to the benefit we all received from the activities organized within our GOLD Affinity Group.” Establishing the GOLD group led to a role on the IEEE Region 8 GOLD subcommittee, coordinating activities and new GOLD group formations in six neighboring countries. Here Mislav was exposed to the workings of IEEE volunteer positions on the regional level. “It is a real pleasure working with such outstanding volunteers,” Mislav says. Inspired by these outstanding volunteers, Mislav continued his service to IEEE through a variety of other Croatia Section volunteer positions, including section’s secretary, chapter coordinator and conference coordinator. “I am really happy working with other IEEE members on various technical, professional, and social activities.” With his history of volunteering with IEEE, it was only natural Mislav would become involved in conference organization. Since first joining IEEE as a student in 1994, Mislav has been involved in the organization of more than twenty conferences around the world, including Program Chair of ten different conferences since in the last seven years. Most of those conferences were technically co-sponsored by at least one IEEE organizational unit. “My experience with conference services that IEEE offers to all conference organizers is excellent. I also witness that these services are expanding and improving every year, such as the conference information schedule and publication forms which are now completely online.” Several of the eleven conference proceedings Mislav co-edited have been included in the IEEE Xplore database. “I am sure this significantly increased the quality of those conferences,” Mislav says, “because IEEE Xplore is one of the key points for all electrical engineers and computer scientists.” Of all the conferences Mislav has organized, one stands out: ELMAR, an annual IEEE technically co-sponsored conference in Zadar, Croatia, on the beautiful Adriatic coast. Mislav has chaired ELMAR since 2004. “The ELMAR conference helped me to learn all conference organizing steps from the very beginning.” In 2008, ELMAR will celebrate its fiftieth anniversary, making it one of the oldest conferences in Europe. Mislav is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Zagreb. “I am certain that being a Program Chair of these conferences helped me with my university career.” For more information on ELMAR, visit http://www.elmar-zadar.org/2008/ top of page |
Conference Organizer Profile: April 2008
Wayne first became involved as a reviewer for the IMS Technical Program Committee, then as a member of the Education Committee and finally was given complete responsibility for the Undergraduate Scholarship Program. When he was appointed to serve as the AdCom Secretary in 2001, Wayne says, “It instilled in me an even deeper level of commitment. In each of these cases, an experienced, dedicated mentor took the time to encourage me, guide me, and then infuse me with the culture of selfless dedication and volunteer spirit that we know is so common among all IEEE volunteers.” This mentoring process left a lasting impression on Wayne and helped guide him as the IMS 2007 General Chair, and in his career as a university professor. “I earnestly seek out and encourage willing and able volunteers, guide them with a very loose leash, and in the process let them unleash their own potential,” Wayne says. “As one who has experienced it myself, I strongly believe that MTT can continue to grow its level of dedicated volunteers by following this proactive mentoring-based philosophy.” Wayne may not have known much about IEEE as a student but he did know about the IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium, held in a different city each year. In 1989, it came to Long Beach, CA. Wayne jumped at the chance to attend. “Attending that conference was a pivotal point in my career. It was quite inspirational to see the leaders in my field and the authors of my textbooks all in one place. It elevated my interest in microwave engineering to a whole new level, and soon after I found myself in a PhD program pursuing further studies in this field. I had no clue back in 1989 that I’d be chairing this very conference 18 years later.” When Wayne joined the University of Hawaii as a faculty member in 1996, he volunteered to get on the board of the MTT-S Conference Committee. The committee was already discussing bringing the conference to Hawaii and the idea appealed to Wayne, not only because of the impact the conference had on determining his career path, but because it offered a chance to give back to his home state of Hawaii. IMS typically draws more than 10,000 participants each year, and the idea of locating it in Hawaii was a daunting one. But it all worked out. “In the end, IMS 2007 attracted the second highest number of technical paper submissions in the 50-year history of the conference and broke the record for accompanying guests,” Wayne says. “I can honestly look back and say that organizing IMS 2007 was one of my top five lifetime accomplishments.” For more information on IMS, please visit http://www.ims2008.org/.top of page |
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