2003 nuclear science symposium and medical...

2003 NUCLEAR SCIENCE SYMPOSIUM ANDMEDICAL IMAGING CONFERENCE

Including theSymposium on Nuclear Power Systems

and13th Room-Temperature Semiconductor X-Ray and

Gamma-Ray Detectors Workshop

DoubleTree Jantzen BeachDoubleTree Columbia River

Portland, OregonOctober 19-25, 2003

http://www.nss-mic.org/2003

The 2003 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposiumand Medical Imaging Conference (NSS/MIC)will be held from October 19-25, 2003 in

Portland, Oregon at the DoubleTree Jantzen Beachand Columbia River facilities. The NSS and MICmeetings will be chaired by Uwe Bratzler and Mi-chael King, respectively. Scientists and engineers inthe field of Nuclear Science and Medical Imagingwill participate and present original work in a varietyof subject areas. On October 22nd, the Symposiumon Nuclear Power Systems, chaired by Jay Forster,

will continue the tradition of meeting in conjunctionwith the NSS/MIC. From October 20-24 RalphJames and Paul Siffert will host the 13th Room Tem-perature Semiconductor X-Ray and Gamma-RayDetectors Workshop. Satellite workshops, such asHadron Therapy, Global Detector Network,Compton Camera, and others will take place duringthe week. The entire week should be technicallystimulating and foster collaboration among the nu-clear science and medical imaging communities.

N U C L E A R & P L A S M A S C I E N C E S S O C I E T Y September 2003 1

Uwe Bratzler

NSS Program ChairMichael King

MIC Program Chair

A Publication of the Instituteof Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Number 3 • September 2003 S O C I E T Y N E W S

CONFERENCES

Ralph James

NSS/MIC GeneralChair

Jay Forster

SNPS Program Chair

continued on page 3

2 September 2003 N U C L E A R & P L A S M A S C I E N C E S S O C I E T Y

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

2003 Nuclear Science Symposium and MedicalImaging Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Travel Alert for Visitors to the USA . . . . . . . 6

International Conference on Accelerator andLarge Experimental Physics Control Systems. . . 7

2004 NSREC Gearing Up! . . . . . . . . . 8

Announcement of the 2004 IEEE NSS/MIC/SNPS and RTSD Congress . . . . . . . . . . 9

President’s Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Secretary’s Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Wanted: NPSS Newsletter Editor. . . . . . . 17

Annual Report from the Radiation EffectsCommittee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Nuclear Medical and Imaging SciencesTechnical Committee (NMISTC) . . . . . . . 19

Radiation Instrumentation Technical CommitteeReport. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Report From Chapters and MembershipCommittee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Klaus G. Kerris Receives 2003 RadiationEffects Award . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Phelps Grant Awarded to Radiation EffectsStudents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Report on ICOPS 2003 in Korea . . . . . . . 25

2003 Particle Accelerator Conference . . . . 26

Report from NPSS Liaison to the Society forSocial Implications of Technology. . . . . . . 26

IEEE Elections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Cleon Anderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Michael Lightner . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

New Publication by NPSS Member. . . . . . 31

Disclosure of Intellectual Property AssignmentAggreements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Advanced Nuclear Power Research andDevelopment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

IEEE NUCLEAR AND PLASMA SCIENCESSOCIETY NEWS

is published three times per year by The Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers, Inc., 445 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08855.

NEWSLETTER EDITOR:

W. Kenneth DawsonTRIUMF, 4004 Wesbrook MallVancouver, British ColumbiaCanada, V6T-2A3.Tel: +1 604 222 7455: Fax: +1 604 222 7307.E-mail: [email protected]

ASSISTANT NEWSLETTER EDITOR:

Alberta Dawson-LarsenStanford Linear Accelerator CenterP.O. Box 4939, Standford, CA 94039Tel: +1 650 926 2748Fax: +1 650 926 5124E-mail: [email protected]

EDITOR EMERITUS:

John F. Osborn507 Elmhurst CircleSacramento, CA 95825Tel: +1 916 641 1627Fax: +1 916 641 2625

IEEE MAGAZINES AND NEWSLETTERS:Robert Smrek, Production ManagerPaul Doto, NewslettersContributors to this issue include, in alphabetical order: Igor Alexeff,Cleon Anderson, Uwe Bratzler, Bruce Brown, Alberto Del Guerra,Teresa Farris, Jay Forster, Ed Hoffman, Essam Hussein, RalphJames, Ron Jaszczak, Ron Keyser, Michael King, Albe Larsen, RayLarsen, Mike Lightner, Dale Platteter, Vern Price, Ron Schrimpf,Judy Sanders, Bonnie Sherwood, In Koo Soo.Publicity releases for forthcoming meetings, items of interest fromlocal chapters, committee reports, announcements, awards, orother materials requiring society publicity or relevant to NPSSshould be submitted to the Newsletter Editor by January 15, 2004.

CONTRIBUTED ARTICLESNews articles are actively solicited from contributing editors, par-ticularly related to important R&D activities, significant industrialapplications, early reports on technical break-throughs, accom-plishments at the big laboratories and similar subjects.The various Transactions, of course, deal with formal treatment indepth of technical subjects. News articles should have an elementof general interest or contribute to a general understanding oftechnical problems or fields of technical interest or could beassessments of important ongoing technical endeavors.Advice on possible authors or offers of such articles are invited bythe editor.Committee Chairpersons, Liaison Representatives, and otherAd Com members are particularly reminded that reports, awardannouncements, or observations on society interests are neededand should be submitted where possible before the copy dead-line of January 15, 2004.

© 2003 IEEE. Information contained in this newsletter may be copiedwithout permission provided that the copies are not made or distrib-uted for direct commercial advantage, and the title of the publicationand date appear.

Printed in U.S.A.

Portland has much to offer. The Pacific shore tothe west offers a spectacular, rugged coastline,sport fishing, and great opportunities forbeachcombing. Wineries and tasting rooms dotthe landscape. The Cascade Mountains provideextraordinary skiing (year-round at Mt. Hood),climbing, fishing, and picnicking. The ColumbiaRiver Gorge to the east of Portland offers stun-ning scenery of waterfalls and numerous opportu-nities to sample the fruits and wines produced inthe region. You might consider seeing Mount St.Helens and take notice of nature’s splendor and itsability to recover from catastrophic volcanic emis-sions, or visit Crater Lake to the south, Oregon’sbrilliantly blue showpiece and national park. Theparks beckon visitors from around the world withhiking, photography, river rafting, camping, and along list of other outdoor activities. The confer-ence will arrange a selection of programs for youand your companions that will provide an attrac-tive shopping bag of alternative activities.

Nuclear Science Symposium (NSS)The Nuclear Science Symposium offers an out-standing opportunity for scientists and engi-neers interested or actively working in thefields of nuclear science, radiation instrumenta-tion, software and their applications to meetand network with colleagues from around theworld. In addition to the regular NSS programthere will be a number of dedicated Work-shops and Educational Courses (ShortCourses) on specialized NSS topics. TheNSS is running together with the MIC,SNPS and RTSD and one important aspect isto further communication and discussionsamong these different disciplines.

Having received a record number of over 600contributions from colleagues working on nu-merous NSS topics from around the world (and1,200 contributions for the overall NSS/MIC),we have decided to expand the NSS program thisyear both in terms of days and content. While thetraditional NSS Parallel and Poster Sessions,Workshops and Short Courses offer the opportu-nity for very detailed, dedicated and highly spe-cialized presentations and discussions by worldexperts in the corresponding fields, Plenary Ses-sions have been added to provide overview andhelp to integrate the NSS program as eventswhere all attendees may participate, and also

meet with each other. The NSS Poster Sessionsare given special attention this year as there willbe no scheduled NSS oral sessions during the2-hour poster sessions. All conference partici-pants are invited to the Poster Sessions withposter authors present and available for discus-sions. Joint NSS/MIC and NSS/RTSD eventswill also be offered.

This year’s NSS will start on Monday, Octo-ber 20 and will run through Friday, October 24,2003. One of the true highlights will be the tra-ditional Tuesday NSS Opening Session(9:00-12:00) that includes very prominent ex-perts and leaders in our fields for exciting plenarypresentations on the most outstanding currentand planned research projects. The speakers willbe Prof. Yoji Totsuka, Director General of KEKJapan; Prof. Keith Hodgson, Director of theStanford Synchrotron Radiation LaboratoryUSA; and Prof. Edward Kolb, founding head ofthe NASA/Fermilab Astrophysics Group at theFermi National Accelerator Laboratory and aProfessor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at theUniversity of Chicago, USA. The Opening Ses-sion is then followed by the NSS Luncheon(12:00-14:00) during which Prof. HitoshiMurayama of the University of California,Berkeley, will tell us about the “Mysteries and Fu-ture Directions in Particle Physics”.

General information, including an onlineversion of the detailed NSS program, can befound on our conference website, www.nss-mic.org/2003, but please feel free to contact usat any time for feedback, suggestions, ques-tions or advice, and in particular if you feel thatwe can be of help to you – our e-mail address [email protected].

Uwe Bratzler is the NSS Program Chair andMaxim Titov the NSS Deputy Program Chair.

Medical Imaging Conference (MIC)The MIC program, chaired by Michael Kingand Stephen Glick from the University of Mas-sachusetts starts on Wednesday, October 22with an MIC Plenary session at which Dr.Roderick Pettigrew, Director of the new Na-tional Institute of Biomedical Imaging(NIBIB), will discuss the future of medical im-aging in relation NIBIB. This will be followedby plenary talks given by Dr. Benjamin Tsuiand Dr. Edward Hoffman, who will discuss the


CONFERENCES (cont’d)

Maxim Titov

NSS Deputy ProgramChair

Meeting ofminds

Committee: Agroup of peoplewho individuallycan do nothing,but as a groupdecides thatnothing can bedone.

Fred Allen

state-of-the-art and future directions forSPECT and PET imaging. Following the tradi-tion of the 2002 MIC, the second plenary ses-sion on Wednesday morning will be heldjointly with NSS and RTSD. At this sessionDr. William Moses will provide us with an up-date on scintillation detectors and their use inmedical imaging, and Dr. Harrison Barrett willdiscuss semiconductors and medical imaging.

Following these plenary sessions there willbe seven oral sessions and six poster sessions.The oral sessions will continue to be in singlesession format. Due to the phenomenalgrowth of MIC, the posters will only be able tobe up for approximately two days each. Posters1 through 177 will be placed in numerically as-cending order in the DoubleTree Ballroom ofthe Columbia River Hotel between 6 p.m. onTuesday, October 21, and 10 p.m. on Thurs-day, October 23. Similarly, posters 178through 354 will be in the Salon 1 East Ball-room of the Jantzen Beach Hotel between 6p.m. on Thursday, October 23, and 9 p.m. onSaturday, October 25. Posters are assigned tosessions such that every third poster shouldhave a presenter present during a session. Theposter hall will be open 24-hours per day to al-low off-hour viewing.

On Friday afternoon a third plenary sessionwill be held. Dr. Steve Webb, author of FromThe Watching Of Shadows, will review the fas-cinating historical foundations of tomographicimaging. This will be followed by an openbusiness meeting of the Nuclear Medicine andImaging Sciences Technical Committee(NMISTC) which sponsors MIC. At thismeeting the 2003 Young Investigator, StudentTravel, and other awards will be announced,and plans for future MIC’s will be discussed.

Friday night the MIC banquet will be a Co-lumbia River cruise on board the beautiful“Portland Spirit”. The ship will meet guests atthe Jantzen Beach DoubleTree boat dock andcruise up-river with a buffet dinner, wine tast-ing, and music. We encourage all interested tobuy their tickets early as seating will be limited.

There are also four exciting MIC shortcourses that will be held before the official startof the MIC. Additionally there will be twojoint oral sessions with NSS and RTSD onTuesday.

Micheal King is the MIC Program Chair andStephen Glick the Deputy MIC Program Chair.

13th Room Temperature SemiconductorX-ray and Gamma-Ray Detectors Workshop

It is our great pleasure to announce to youthe 13th International Workshop onRoom-Temperature Semiconductor X-Rayand Gamma-Ray Detectors. This bi-annualconference represents the largest forum of sci-entists and engineers working to develop newsolid-state radiation detectors and imaging ar-rays. As Chairs for the workshop, we are par-ticularly delighted to make the acquaintanceof new contributors, as there are many chal-lenges that lie ahead, some of which will besolved by those who are now relatively new tothe subject area.

It is our sincere hope that this conferencewill facilitate cross-fertilization of research andspawn creative ideas, and that these ideas willbe incarnated into knowledge, lending to newdirections and thrusts. We urge you to taketime at this meeting to build on the commonal-ity of your work with colleagues within theRTSD, NSS and MIC conferences, and toshare your data, energy and experience, and ex-plore ways to enhance cooperation and collab-oration with others.

We have chosen to hold this meeting in con-junction with the IEEE NSS and MIC meetingsfor the purpose of encouraging information ex-change between a much larger body of scientistsand engineers who have an in-depth knowledgeof detectors, instrumentation, nuclear scienceand technology, and medical imaging. Joint ses-sions between the NSS and Satellite on Inter-connect Technology are planned to help bringpeople together with common interests and of-fer the right environment for the creation ofnew and fruitful associations.

Ralph B. James and Paul Siffert are the RTSDProgram Co-Chairs

Symposium on Nuclear Power

Systems (SNPS)

The 2003 Symposium on Nuclear Power Sys-tems (SNPS) will again be held in conjunctionwith the Nuclear Science Symposium andMedical Imaging Conference. The Technicalpaper sessions on nuclear power systems coversubjects currently of major interest to the oper-ation of nuclear power stations and supportingservices and suppliers, including:

• Upgrading digital technology forreactor protection, I&C, andother systems

• Reliability-based maintenance and plantmodernization


Stephen Glick

MIC Deputy ProgramChair

Solution,Please!

But the difficultyof sustainingenthusiasmwithout givingmilitantsexcessive powerhas been one ofthe perennialproblems ofdemocraticgovernment.

Roy Jenkins

• New aspects on equipmentqualifications

• A special annual overview report ofmajor importance to nuclearpower utilities

• A panel session of major importance tooperating NPGS

• And moreFor further information please call Jay Forster,

SNPS Program Chairman,GE Nuclear Energy,M/C 334, 175 Curtner Ave., San Jose, CA95125: Phone: +1 408 925-5090; Fax: +1 408925-2923; E-mail [email protected]

Short CoursesAn excellent set of short courses will be given atthe start of the NSS/MIC program, covering awide range of nuclear and medical technology.The titles and lengths of these courses are:

• GEANT4 (8 hr)• Nuclear Science for Homeland Security

(8 hr)• Fundamentals of Medical Imaging

(8 hr)• Integrated Circuit Front Ends for Nu-

clear Pulse Processing (8 hr)• Dosimetry in Nuclear Medicine —

Importance and Necessity (8 hr)• Dynamic Imaging in Emission

Computed Tomography (4 hr)• Statistical Image Reconstruction

Methods (4 hr)All courses include refreshments, lecture

notes, and a certificate of completion as part ofthe registration fee. Full day courses also in-clude lunch. Detailed descriptions of thecourses may be found at www.nss-mic.org/2003/SC2003.html.

Steve Derenzo, Short Course Chair

RegistrationThis year, in addition to discounted registra-tion fees for students, we are offering dis-counted fees for the Continuing EducationProgram. Please check the NSS/MIC web site,www.nss-mic.org/2003/nsshome2003.html,for details about the courses, dates and fees.Note that the early registration deadline is Sep-tember 26. The special hotel conference ratesare available up to and including October 1.Advance registration savings are $110 for regu-lar registration, $50 for students, and $50 forretired or unemployed IEEE members. Ofcourse, there are the special rates for IEEEmembers, which are up to $110 less than those

for non-members. Student travel awards willalso be available, with preference given to thosewho are presenting at the NSS and MIC.

Judy Sanders, Registration Chair

Social EventsWelcome, Companions and Attendees! Treatyourself to our scenic day tours and experiencethe autumn beauty of the Pacific Northwest!One trip has been planned for each day fromOctober 19 – 25, including:

• Tour of Mt. Saint Helens• Tour of Multnomah Falls, Columbia

Gorge and Mt. Hood• Tour of Wine Country• Tour of Portland• Tour of Astoria and the Oregon Coast• Tour of Old-Town Aurora and outlet

shopping• Tour of Edgefield, a microbrewery and

outlet shoppingDetailed descriptions can be found at the

NSS/MIC web site.You are also cordially invited to attend the

two general interest talks that we have ar-ranged for the meeting:

• Wednesday, 5:45pm - Professor KathyCashman, Univ. Oregon: Mount St.Helens And Modern Studies Of Ac-tive Volcanoes: Volcanology For Be-ginners

• Thursday, 5:45pm - Professor StephenDow Beckham, Lewis and Clark Col-lege: The Lewis And Clark Expedi-tion: The First Commitment Of TheUnited States To Federally FundedScientific Research

Some of the trips into the mountains couldbe chilly and rainy so it is advisable to bringalong raingear, such as a raincoat, hat and um-brella. Bring along a sweater, jacket, scarf andgloves. If you find that you don’t need them,you can leave them on the bus during the tour.Wear sturdy walking shoes or sneakers.

If you register for the tours during pre-reg-istration you will receive a five-dollar discountfor each tour selected.

Marie James, Companion Program ChairOther activities to be held during the week

include an Exhibition Program that will beopen from Tuesday afternoon through Thurs-day afternoon. Many companies involved inNuclear Science and Medical Imaging Instru-mentation will be present to discuss the techni-cal details of their products. Tuesday evening


Stephen Derenzo

Short Course Chair

Right on!

All peoples havethe right tomisgovernthemselves, andit is a right thathas beenexercised moreoften than most.

Robert Blake

the exhibitors will host an opening receptionfrom 5:00pm – 7:00pm.

On Wednesday evening from 6:00pm to9:00pm, the conference will host the GeneralWelcome Reception for all attendees in theMt. St. Helens Ballroom; and, weather per-mitting, use of the outside deck adjacent tothe boat dock will also be available. The viewyou will see from this area of the hotel is thatof Mt. St. Helens, which is breathtaking, es-pecially at dusk.

Are you a member of IEEE?Now is the time to join the IEEE and the Nu-clear and Plasma Sciences Society (NPSS).Why? First of all, as an IEEE member, you getto be a member of the largest professional engi-neering society in the world. NPSS is one of 38societies within IEEE. About half of the atten-dees at the Nuclear Science Symposium areIEEE members and most of those are alsomembers of NPSS. Full membership in IEEEcosts $146 per year. NPSS membership is $20per year. NPSS members receive a free sub-scription to NPSS News and to Spectrum. Fur-ther, our members have an opportunity topurchase subscriptions to the Transactions onNuclear Science, the Transactions on PlasmaScience and the Transactions on MedicalImaging. These publications (separatelysubscribed to) are available in print form orthey may be subscribed in electronic form atwww.ieee.org/ieeexplore on the Web. For theelectronic version the subscriber arranges withIEEE to obtain a ‘web account’ for access witha PIN number. With a subscription to IEEEXplore, members can search and view digitalcopies of papers in the subscribed journalspublished since 1989.

You can join IEEE and NPSS on line by go-ing first to the NPSS home page located at:http://ehw.ieee.org/soc/nps

By selecting ‘Join NPSS’ you will jump to thepage with options for joining or renewing eitheras regular members or as students. Studentsplanning to come to the conference are particu-larly advised to join IEEE/NPSS prior to regis-tering for the conference. Considerable moneywill be saved by doing so. Students need the en-dorsement of their IEEE member faculty advisorfor acceptance as an IEEE Student Member.

Non-member registrants at the conferencewho wish to join IEEE will be given a promo-tional benefit of $50 toward their 2004 IEEEmembership fee, membership in NPSS for2004 and a subscription to either TNS or toTMI for 2004.

What are you waiting for? Apply for mem-bership today! See Vernon G. Price, the NPSSMembership Committee Chair, at the IEEEmembership desk.

Conference WebsiteInformation on registration, travel awards,conference sessions, publication in the IEEETransactions on Nuclear Science, the local edu-cational outreach program and other informa-tion are available on our website, http://www.nss-mic.org/2003/nsshome2003.html.

Ralph B. James, General Chair, can be reachedat Bldg. 460, Brookhaven National Laboratory,40 Brookhaven Avenue, Upton, New York11973; Phone: +1 631-344-8633; Fax: +1631-344-5584; E-mail: [email protected]; orBonnie Sherwood, Conference Coordinator, alsoat Brookhaven National Laboratory; Phone: +1631-344-7250; Fax: +1 631-344-5584; E-mail:[email protected].

Travel Alert for Visitors to the USANote that as of October 1, 2003, ma-

chine-readable passports will be required of allpersons entering the USA from countries withVisa-Waiver Programs. If you are from one ofthese countries and do not have a ma-chine-readable passport, a visa will be required.Obtaining a visa requires a personal visit to a

US Embassy. Visa processing has been slow. Ifyou plan to attend an NPSS conference it is ad-visable to either get a new, machine-readablepassport, or begin your visa application processas early as possible. For more details andup-to-the-minute information, see http://unitedstatesvisas.gov/visanews/index.html


Vernon Price

Chair, NPSSMembershipCommittee

9TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ONACCELERATOR AND LARGE

EXPERIMENTAL PHYSICS CONTROLSYSTEMS

Gyeongju, KoreaOctober 13-17, 2003

The ninth International Conference on Ac-celerator and Large Experimental PhysicsControl Systems (ICALEPCS2003) will

be held in October 13-17, 2003 at Hotel Hiltonin Gyeongju, Korea.

We are pleased to invite all those involvedworldwide in the field of controls and havingan interest in the challenging aspects of Experi-mental Physics Control Systems, i.e. controlsystems for sophisticated facilities such as parti-cle accelerators, particle detectors, telescopesand nuclear fusion devices. Both hardware andsoftware aspects of control systems will be ad-dressed. ICALEPCS2003 will provide aunique opportunity to hear about the latest de-velopments, the latest technologies, to ex-change experiences and to discuss with expertsin this field from world’s major laboratories.

ICALEPCS2003 is organized by thePohang Accelerator Laboratory, POSTECH,and co-organized by the European Physical So-ciety (EPS) Interdivisional Group on Experi-mental Physics Control Systems (EPCS) underauspices of the International Federation of Au-tomatic Controls (IFAC), the Institute of Elec-trical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)through its Nuclear and Plasma Science Soci-ety (NPSS), and the Association of Asia PacificPhysics Societies (AAPPS). The conference isalso co-organized by the Korea Basic ScienceInstitute, the Korea Atomic Energy ResearchInstitute, and the Center for High EnergyPhysics at Kyungpook National University.

The scientific program of the conferenceconsists of invited and contributed talks, all inplenary sessions from Monday to Friday morn-ing, and poster sessions with some live demos.An industrial exhibition will be held concur-

rently. On Friday afternoon, technical visits tothe Pohang Accelerator Laboratory andPOSCO, the world second largest steel pro-ducer, are planned.

Gyeongju is located in the southeastern areaof the Korean peninsula. It is placed 360 kmfrom Seoul, the Capital city of Korea, and 30km away from Pohang. On a fertile plain sur-rounded by mountains, Gyeongju was the cap-ital of the Silla Dynasty (57 BC - 935 AD). Ithas a great concentration of historic buildings,temples, grottos, royal tombs, and artifacts.Thus, this area is called a “Museum withoutWalls.” The UNESCO declared this area as a“Human Heritage.” A conference tour as wellas a companion program is planned on Satur-day, October 18 to visit many of these places.

Highlights of the Conference as well as thedetails of the program are provided at:http://icalepcs2003.postech.ac.kr.

ProgramICALEPCS2003 will emphasize the followingtopics:

• Internet enhanced operations andautomations

• Safety/high reliability criticaloperations

• Wireless technologies in control• Distributed knowledge management• Project management• Status reports of various facilities in the

world• Middleware/componentware• Advances in hardware design• Evaluation and use of industrial control

systems


Axel Daneels

ICALEPCS2003Co-Chair

In Soo Ko

ICALEPCS2003Co-Chair

• Process tuning and feedback system• Evolution of a control system, mainte-

nance, upgrading, and re-engineering• Front end technologies• Beam instrumentations• Software engineering• Industrial ExhibitionThere will be at least seven companies in the

industrial exhibition.

Social ProgramA welcome reception and a Banquet at HotelHilton have been planned to give Conference at-

tendees a chance to get better acquainted. Afterthe Banquet, Korean traditional performance willtake place to give more understanding of Koreanculture to all participants. In addition, local toursin Gyeongju and vicinities have been arranged forthe companions of attendees.

Additional InformationFor the most updated information (regis-

tration, program and industrial exhibition,conference and social program, hotel andtravel information, etc.), please visit theICALEPCS2003 website.

2004 NSREC GEARING UP!

The 2004 IEEE Nuclear and Space Radia-tion Effects Conference will be held July19-23, 2004 in Atlanta, Georgia, at the

Renaissance Waverly Hotel. The conferencefeatures a Technical Program consisting of tensessions of contributed papers that describe thelatest observations and research results in radia-tion effects, a Short Course focusing on hard-ness assurance and photonics challenges forspace systems that will be presented on July 19,a Radiation Effects Data Workshop, and an In-dustrial Exhibit. The Technical Program in-cludes oral and poster sessions.

The conference hotel is conveniently locatedin northwest suburban Atlanta at the intersec-tion of I-75 and I-285. A complete technicaland social program is being planned to maxi-mize opportunities for information exchangeand networking in the area of radiation effectson microelectronic and photonic devices, cir-cuits, and systems. Supporters of the Confer-ence include the Defense Threat ReductionAgency, Sandia National Laboratories, AirForce Research Laboratory, and the NASAElectronic Parts and Packaging Program.

Technical Program

Papers to be presented at this meeting will de-scribe the effects of space, terrestrial (yes, radia-tion effects have reached the desktop!), ornuclear radiation on electronic or photonic de-vices, circuits, sensors, materials and systems,as well as semiconductor processing technol-ogy and techniques for producing radia-tion-tolerant devices and integrated circuits.The Conference will be attended by engineers,scientists and managers who are concerned

with radiation effects. International participa-tion in the Conference is strongly encouraged.

We are soliciting papers describing signifi-cant new findings in the following or relatedareas:Basic Mechanisms of Radiation Effectsin Electronic Materials and Devices

• Ionizing radiation effects• Displacement damage effects• Radiation effects on materials• Single-event charge collection phenom-

ena and mechanisms• Processing-induced radiation effects• Radiation transport, energy deposition

and dosimetryRadiation Effects on Electronicand Photonic Devices and Circuits

• MOS, bipolar and advancedtechnologies

• SOI and SOS technologies• Optoelectronic and optical devices, and

optical systems• Novel devices structures, such as

MEMS• Single-event effects• Modeling of effects on devices, circuits

and systems• Methods for hardened design and

manufacturing• Radiation effects at cryogenic

temperatures• Particle detectors and associated

electronics at high-energy acceleratorsSpace, Atmospheric and TerrestrialRadiation Effects

• Characterization and modeling ofradiation environments

• Space weather effects


My kind ofboss

I am theDirector but Idon’t direct.

GerhardHerzberg(NobelLaureate)

• Spacecraft chargingHardness Assurance Technology andRadiation Testing

• Testing techniques and guidelines• Hardness assurance

Radiation Effects on CommercialSpace SystemsNew Developments of Interest to theRadiation Effects Community

Radiation Effects Data WorkshopThe Radiation Effects Data Workshop is a fo-rum for papers on radiation effects data onelectronic devices and systems. Workshop pa-pers are intended to provide radiation responsedata to scientists and engineers who use elec-tronic devices in a radiation environment, andfor designers of radiation-hardened or radia-tion-tolerant systems. Papers describing newsimulation facilities are also welcomed.

Paper SubmittalInformation on the submission of summariesto the 2004 NSREC for either the TechnicalSessions or the Data Workshop can be found atwww.nsrec.com. The deadline for submittingsummaries is February 6, 2004.

Short CourseAttendees will have the opportunity to partici-pate in a one-day Short Course on Monday,July 19. We are currently putting together ashort course that focuses on hardness assuranceand photonics challenges for space systems. Itwill consist of tutorial presentations that beginwith basic material, and develop a thoroughunderstanding of how advanced microelec-tronics and photonics are affected by radiation,as well as ways to select advanced microelec-tronics for space applications. The course willbe of interest both to radiation effects special-ists and newcomers to the field alike.

Industrial ExhibitAn Industrial Exhibit will be included as an in-tegral part of the Conference. The exhibit willbe held on Tuesday and Wednesday. It will in-clude exhibits from 35-40 exhibitors that rep-resent companies or agencies involved inmanufacturing electronic devices or systemsfor applications in space or nuclear environ-ments, modeling and analysis of radiation ef-fects at the device and system level, andradiation testing.

Conference CommitteeGeneral Chair: Dan Fleetwood

Vanderbilt University,+1 615 322-2498

Technical Program: Jim PickelPRT, Inc., +1 760 451-2256

Local Arrangements: Jim KinnisonJohns Hopkins/Applied PhysicsLaboratory, +1 240 228-6169

Short Course: Joe SrourNorthrup Grumman,+1 310 813-4569

Publicity: Teresa FarrisAeroflex, +1 719 594-8035

Finance: Robert ReedNASA/GSFC, +1 301 286-2153

Awards: Dave BeutlerSandia National Laboratories,+1 505 845-7068

Industrial Exhibits: David MeshelNorthrup Grumman,+1 301 454-9238

Guest Editor: Lewis CohnDTRA, +1 703 325-1156

For further information please contact TeresaFarris, the conference Publicity Chairman. Shecan be reached at Aeroflex UTMC, 4350 Centen-nial Blvd., Colorado Springs, CO 80907-3486;Phone +1 719 594-8035; Fax: +1 719594-8468; E-mail: [email protected].

Announcement of the2004 IEEE NSS/MIC/SNPS and RTSD

CongressRome, Italy - October 16-22, 2004

The Nuclear Science Symposium, MedicalImaging Conference, Symposium onNuclear Power Systems and 14th Inter-

national Workshop on Room Temperature

Semiconductor X- and Gamma-Ray Detectorswill be held for the first time in Italy, in theprestigious city of Rome, on October 16-22,2004. This conference represents a unique oc-


Help, Dr. Freud

You certainlywouldn’t call himnormal. He’sconsistentlyabnormal, butthat’s maybewhat makes himmore normal thanthe rest of us.

Nancy Nicholds(of RogerNeilson)

casion for scientists and engineers from all overthe world to participate and present their origi-nal works in a variety of subjects related to nu-clear science and medical imaging.

The Nuclear Science Symposium offers anoutstanding opportunity for scientists andengineers interested or actively working inthe field of nuclear science, radiation instru-mentation, software and their applications tomeet and network with colleagues fromaround the world.

The Medical Imaging Conference is themost productive international scientific meet-ing on the physics, engineering, and mathe-matical aspects of nuclear medicine basedimaging. In addition, significant contributionsin X-ray and other imaging modalities involv-ing ionizing radiation are an emerging area ofthe Medical Imaging Conference.

The Symposium on Nuclear Power Systemswill again be held in conjunction with the Nu-clear Science Symposium. The Technical papersessions on nuclear power systems cover sub-jects currently of major interest to the opera-tion of nuclear power stations and supportingservices and suppliers.

The Room Temperature Semiconductor X-and Gamma- Ray Detectors workshop repre-sents the largest forum of scientists and engi-neers working to develop new solid-stateradiation detectors and imaging arrays.

The venue of the conference is the ErgifePalace Hotel, one of the largest exhibitionand congress areas in Europe. Its complex isunique, combining the largest hotel in Italywith one of the most extensive exhibition fa-cilities in Europe on the same site. This pro-vides a remarkable opportunity to make thecongress activity pleasant and relaxing, sav-ing time and avoiding such things as thestress of traffic in the city. The Ergife PalaceHotel is located in a residential area of thecapital in a key position near S. Pietro andwithin a short distance of the historical cen-ter of the city. It is only 4 kilometers from themain Ring Road, and only 26 kilometersfrom Fiumicino’s Leonardo da Vinci Interna-tional Airport. It is within walking distanceof the underground station. Regular bus ser-vices provide connections with all of the im-portant cultural sites and commercial centersin Rome. Taxi services are constantly avail-able to guests and a shuttle service is pro-vided by the hotel on demand.

Additional information can be obtained by con-tacting Alberto Del Guerra, the 2004 IEEENSS/MIC General Chair. He can be reached at theUniversity of Pisa, Department of Physics "E.Fermi",Via Buonarroti 2, I-56127 Pisa, ITALY; Phone:+39-0502214942; Fax: +39-050 2214333;E-mail: [email protected]


Alberto Del Guerra

General Chair2004 NSS/MIC

Our self-imposed fate

We live at a time when man believes himself fabulouslycapable of creation, but he does not know how to create. Lordof all things, he is not lord of himself. He feels lost among hisown abundance. With more means at its disposal, moreknowledge, more technology than ever, it turns out that theworld today goes the same way as the worst of worlds thathave been: it simply drifts.

José Ortega y Gasset

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

The Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Societyunderwent the IEEE 5-year review thisspring. The final report will come out

later, but the informal feedback is that we didvery well. One area that was of concern is ourlack of a defined methodology for the succes-sion of editors and associate editors. There wasconcern that some editors held their positionsfor too long, then again, they realized that wehave quite a few special issues and these editorsheld their posts for too short a time. The publi-cations committee of the AdCom is workingon a response to this criticism.

In the meantime the outstanding editor ofthis Newsletter, Ken Dawson, has decidedthat it is time for someone else to take overthe reins of the NPSS Newsletter. As you willnote elsewhere in the Newsletter, we arelooking for individuals interested in helpingwith the Newsletter. In addition, we wouldlike to identify individuals who might bewilling to work at some level on our otherpublications. As we consider the concerns ex-pressed in the 5-year review, we need to knowif the manpower exists to implement a planfor editorial succession.

One area of concern was a low impact factorin 2001, which was right in the middle of ourreview period. I checked the ISI Web of

KnowledgeSM, where the various evaluationsfor almost all journals can be found. It seemsthe Impact Factors (IF) for both TPS and TNShad anomalous lows in 2001 and if we plot theIFs as a function of year and do a linear fit weget a nice progression the value of the IF, if weignore 2001. TPS is improving by 3% per yearand TNS by 7% per year. Our star is TMIwhich is improving at a rate of 15% per year.

In the table below components of the IFs for2001 and 2002 are listed for TNS, TPS and TMI.The numbers in parentheses are citations originat-ing in the same journal. The 2002 IFs are out-standing for TMI and good for TNS and TPS.

2001

Numberof

Citations

Numberof

Articles

ImapctFactor

TNS 615 798 0.771

TPS 548 489 .892

TMI 663 211 3.142

2002

TNS 1191(530) 832 1.431

TPS 502(125) 429 1.170

TMI 687(89) 236 2.911

We cannot compete with other journals on thetotal number of citations. Our Society and its fieldsof interest are too small. We must compete at thelevel of the IF. One way to help ourselves is to besure we do cite NPSS articles appropriately, notonly in NPSS papers but in manuscripts for otherjournals as well. As the editor of TNS:NMIS, I seemany submissions where the authors only cite theirown work or very few papers.

As you can see from the table, the total num-ber of citations is small enough, that appropri-ate due diligence in citation can make asignificant difference.

Ed Hoffman can be reached at the UCLA Schoolof Medicine, 10833 Le Conte Avenue, B2-096CHS, Los Angeles, CA 90095-6948; Phone +1310 825-8851; Fax: +1 310 825-4517; E-mail:[email protected]


NPSS GENERAL BUSINESS

Impact Factors for the NPSS Transactions as a

function of year. The IF is the total number of cita-

tions seen in one year for articles in a journal for

the previous 2 years divided by the number of arti-

cles. (e.g., If the IF is 1.0, then the average citation

per article is 1.0 per year.)

Edward J. Hoffman

NPSS President

Full coverage

[Electioncampaigns are]the graveyard ofreal ideas and thebirthplace ofempty promises.

Teresa HeinzKerry

SECRETARY’S REPORT

The AdCom met on 26 July 2003 at theDoubleTree Hotel, Fisherman’s Wharf,Monterey, California, following the very

successful 2003 NSREC conference. We wel-come Ron Schrimpf of Vanderbilt Universityas the new Radiation Effects Steering Groupchair, and thank Dale Platteter for his service inthis capacity. We also welcomed Tony Lavietesof LLNL, an active participant, sometime trea-surer and general chair of NSS/MIC, andRalph Wyndrum, IEEE-USA vice presidentTechnology Policy Activities.

Our Treasurer, Ed Lampo, once again ex-horted us to close conference accounts quickly.Loans should be repaid, available bills shouldbe paid, but outstanding bills, especially thosefrom, for example, IEEE Publications, can bepaid directly by IEEE. Get the bank accountsreconciled and closed, and submit your reportswithin 6 months of the conference. Time is stillneeded for an audit! Remember that fines forlate closures really do kick in and escalate prettyquickly.

Ed did note that we are making real progressin getting conferences closed in a more timelyway, so keep up the good work. Don’t let thoseoutstanding bills stand in your way. IEEE re-ally can handle them. Talk with Ed if you areconcerned ([email protected]).

We lost $496.2K in 2002. A large IEEE in-frastructure charge and lower conference andperiodicals income than expected are the causeof much of the problem. While we aretransitioning to a system of payment for ser-vices rendered, we are still picking up slackfrom less fiscally responsible societies. This isbeing adjusted year by year so that we shouldreach a point where we really are paying forwhat we ourselves get/use, and are no longersubsidizing some of our butterflies. IEEE itselfis working hard toward a consistently balancedbudget. Our 2003 budget projections will in-clude some income from jointly sponsoredpublications. For 2004, we hope to break even.There will be some changes in subscriptionrates, especially for paper copies of journals.Note that these increases still do not cover pro-duction and distribution costs. We are workingtoward a system where costs are covered.

Our president, Ed Hoffman, noted thatthere was a large drop in both conference atten-dance and income, much due to SARS and theIraqi war, and sales of publications to non-

members have also dropped faster than pro-jected. Hal Flescher, our finance chair and Di-vision IV director, noted that HQ hasreadjusted spending for the second half of2003 to compensate for these decreases. Healso noted that the new program in relation tointerest income has changed. If the market in-come is greater than 5%, we will see that por-tion above 5% on our reserve. He also notedthat IEEE administrative and infrastructurecharges from 1997-1999 were abnormally lowbecause these charges were absorbed by thehigh stock market income.

Ed Hoffman, in his President’s report,noted that he had attended the PAC meeting atBruce Brown’s invitation. He presented severalawards, and had several positive experiences,but also learned that NPSS is still being vilifiedby the PAC organizing committee, and treatedunequally in terms of member recruiting spaceand so on. Remember, NPSS members, this isthe conference that NPSS ran for 30 years,when APS wanted nothing to do with it. APShas been a partner for the last 8 years only, andwants the whole ball of wax on APS terms. Issomething wrong here?

Ed also attended the Editors’ Meeting inWashington, DC with Paul Dressendorfer andSteve Gitomer. The top brass of IEEE Pubsmet with Ed, Paul, and Steve, and are serious inwanting to resolve our publications problems,which include late and erratic delivery datesand quality control. Publication delivery hasimproved, but the June TNS was a month lateagain.

Ed noted that ICOPS, RT and PAC all suf-fered to greater or lesser degree from the SARSoutbreak.

The Publications and Society reviews wereheld by telephone, which was not wholly sat-isfactory. The principal criticism of our publi-cations is that we have no editorial depth. Weneed editors in training for all positions. Wealso need conference editors who are willingto accept more than a “one-shot” assignment.The impact factor for our journals has in-creased steadily. TNS publication is still notsufficiently reliably on time to reapply for In-dex Medicus listing, which should greatly in-crease the TNS impact factor. On the societyfront, we are again faulted on no formal pro-cess for strategic planning. In general, theAdCom has found our retreats and the out-


Alberta Dawson

Larsen

NPSS Secretary

Really!

The Californiacrunch really isthe result of notenoughpower-generatingplants and thennot enoughpower to powerthe power ofgenerating plants.

George W. Bush

come from them to work very well for plan-ning the society’s future.

Ed announced that Mike Unterweger hasbeen appointed co-liaison with Jay Forster tothe Standards Board.

Hal Flescher, as Division IV Director, re-viewed the structure of IEEE – TAB, RAB,EAB, Standards, and IEEE-USA, and the paidHQ staff. Each has its mission, but standardsand TAB are the principal entities that earnmoney for IEEE. IEEE Publications, whichpublishes society intellectual property as jour-nals and conference records, is also a large reve-nue source; the income from these has gone tosocieties since some time in the 1980s, al-though it had originally gone into the IEEEGeneral Fund, which was exhausted in 1999when it was used to meet IEEE’s unbalancedbudget in a year when expected stock marketrevenues did not materialize. In the same timeframe, dues were not increased and costs formembership items were heavily subsidized.IEEE still needs restructuring, especially in re-gard to financial matters and to “entitlements”expected by entities with no income stream.The Budget Committee of the Board of Direc-tors is addressing some of these matters.

Hal also noted that IEEE conferences tendto be good value for the charges, comparedwith many competitive conferences. We tendto price conferences on breakeven, not on thevalue or potential revenue stream. He alsonoted that there are a number of journals thatare poorly cited – have low impact numbers –and there is activity in the Publications depart-ment to eliminate some of these.

Technical Committee ReportsThe CANPS Committee chairman, ChristianBoulin of EMBL-Heidelberg, noted that theReal Time conference is the committee’s majorundertaking. The 2003 RT conference washeld in May in Montreal, where the CANPSCommittee, with some new members, met.Christian is eager to make this committee moreproactive and is developing a plan to approachother small conferences with overlapping inter-ests to bolster the community.

Christian and Jean-Pierre Martin of Univer-sity of Montreal, chair of RT2003 noted thatthis conference had been planned “by thebook” and that it received the highest numberof abstracts in many years. Based on the num-ber of abstracts and prior meeting attendancestatistics, an attendance of about 200 was pro-

jected. The conference then was struck by boththe SARS outbreak, with Toronto being aproblem city that, even though 400+ milesfrom Montreal, discouraged overseas and USattendance, and the 17% drop in the value ofthe US dollar vs. the Canadian dollar, wheremany charges, such as those from IEEE Con-ference Service were in US dollars, had a bigimpact on the projected costs. The organizersare to be commended highly in using strategiesto contain costs, and they have, most effi-ciently, already issued a CD of the ConferenceRecord. I think this may be a record. Paper pro-ceedings are in process.

They also used a detailed questionnaire atthe end of the conference to assess attendees’views. Overall, the conference got high marksfor venue, for quality and for a new session onmedical real-time computing. Poor marks (re-ally beyond control and plaguing all our con-ferences) were for poster no-shows, which isalso expensive since the price for renting posterboards is substantial, and for the low vendorturnout. Patrick LeDû, chair of the Beauneconference in 1997, noted that 60% of the pa-pers were from the HEP community. Diversifi-cation is definitely needed and papers from themedical, plasma fusion and astrophysics com-munities should be actively sought.

Richard Callis of GA reported for the Fu-sion Technical Committee. Rich will chair the2003 Symposium on Fusion Engineering inSan Diego this October. There have been 220abstracts received, which is twice expectation.There are 98 non-US submittals and Richnoted possible problems with the new US re-quirement for machine-readable passports, orfor visas, even from countries for which no vi-sas had been required for many years. To get avisa, one must visit the US Embassy in person,which also creates a time problem. The issu-ance of visas has also been very slow – so slowthat an award winner at one of our conferences,who had applied for a visa several months be-fore the travel date, received a visa so late thatconference attendance was impossible. TELLYOUR COLLEAGUES about this!!! Andcheck the US Department of State web sitehttp://unitedstatesvisas.gov/visanews/index.html for further information. Also, be carefulabout requests for letters of invitation. Don’tsend these until the conference registration feehas been received and the credit card numbervalidated or the funds actually deposited byelectronic transfer. There has been considerablefraud in this arena with requests coming from


Too true

The differencebetween a teamand a committeeis that a team ismade up ofpeople withdiverse views buta common goal,whereas acommittee isgenerallycomprised ofrepresentativeswhose job is tomake their voicesheard.

Margot Northey

individuals with no affiliation to our confer-ences or areas of technical interest.

Ron Keyser of ORTEC, chair of the NuclearInstruments and Detectors (read Standards)technical committee is working to reactivatethis group which has played an important rolein NPS history. Look for his note elsewhere inthis Newsletter.

Ron Jaszczak of Duke University MedicalCenter, chair of the Nuclear and Medical Imag-ing Sciences technical committee, noted thatthe revised NMIS constitution and bylaws hadbeen published in the June NPSS Newsletter.These should become official shortly. The In-ternational Symposium on Medical Imaginghas requested NSS/MIC to send a notice of thisconference to its attendees. This was, pendingagreement to a reciprocal arrangement forNSS/MIC, agreed by AdCom.

A question has arisen again about theNSS/MIC exhibit days. In general, MIC startson Thursday, and the exhibits close on Thurs-day. This year MIC opens on Wednesday sothere will be two days of exposure for the MICcommunity. More MIC-relevant exhibitors areneeded. Effort is being expended by severalpeople to identify appropriate companies andto woo them.

Bruce Brown of Fermilab, chair of the Par-ticle Accelerator Science and Technologytechnical committee, reported that PAC03had 1135 registered attendees, just short ofthe midline projection of 1150. Of the 1467abstracts received, it is expected that 1147papers will be published in the conference re-cord. He reported that the exhibit space inthe Portland, OR downtown Hilton was in aconverted garage and was not adequate.Many exhibitors complained. Ceilings weretoo low and so forth.

The PAC01 audit is in progress. Money hasbeen set aside for the electronic archiving pro-ject. The folks in Knoxville made a media eventof the contract signing for PAC05, to bechaired by Norbert Holtkamp of SNS, and thePAC07 hotel contract has been signed.

Bruce is working hard, and needs all thehelp he can get, to increase the number ofIEEE NPSS participants at PAC, and to en-courage those to join as senior members or, ifpossible, to move their status from member tosenior member. Remember, senior membersare eligible to become IEEE fellows!

Tom Hussey from the Air Force ResearchLab, Kirtland AFB, chair of the Plasma Scienceand Applications technical committee reported

that ICOPS 2003, held on Jeju Island, Korea,suffered from the SARS epidemic. Althoughconference abstract submittal was very high,with 678 abstracts, actual attendance was onlyabout 450, half of whom were students. Thenormal student attendance is about 10%, so in-come was substantially reduced. By scalingback social events, it was possible to breakeven, but without fully covering administrativecosts. Two special issues of the Transactions onPlasma Science will be forthcoming – one con-taining plenary and invited papers, and theother containing selected contributed papers.

ICOPS 2004 will be in Baltimore, Marylandand 2005 will be in Monterey, California, oncemore at the Fisherman’s Wharf DoubleTree andin sequence with Pulsed Power.

Bob Reinovsky of Los Alamos, chair of thePulsed Power technical committee, reportedthat the 2003 meeting had 584 registrantswith 69% from the US. The 477 abstracts rep-resent a 100% increase since Pulsed Power be-came an NPSS conference in the early 1990s!Good going. The drop in foreign participa-tion was related to the long delays by US em-bassies in issuing passports. While there areusually about 50 Russian delegates, there wereonly 22 this time, even though letters of invi-tation had been sent in February and personalattempts were made to speed the visa process.We need IEEE’s help in dealing with the StateDepartment and FBI to get visa clearancesprocessed speedily.

For the 2005 conference, Edl Schamilogluwill be program chair, so he’ll serve apprentice-ship before taking on chairmanship of the com-bined ICOPS/Pulsed Power conference in2007 in Albuquerque, where this joint confer-ence will be sequential with PAC07.

Steve Gitomer, editor of Transactions onPlasma Science, has been asked to join thePulsed Power technical committee as a nonvot-ing member to provide publications advice.

The committee is also looking toward affili-ation with several non-IEEE conferences andalso toward making Pulsed Power an electedtechnical committee. Committee terms and ro-tations, and an effort to attract younger mem-bers are part of the strategy toward the latter.

Ron Schrimpf of Vanderbilt University, thenew chair of the Radiation Effects SteeringGroup, introduced Alan Johnston, chair of the2003 NSREC that finished its last sessions onFriday. There was a 7% increase in attendanceover 2002, although the foreign attendance de-clined. There was also a drop in sponsorships,


The devil oneknows...

Still it is difficult tosay which isworse: a secretpolice chief with apredictable twistof vice, or onewho has no viceswhatsoever.

Richard Lourie

but the increased attendance offset that. Theshort course attendance represented 73% ofthe conference attendees, possibly spurred bythe excellent Quick-time CD of last year’scourse distributed to attendees.

Ron reported that the 2004 conference willbe held from 19-24 July in Atlanta with DanFleetwood as chair. The 2005 conference willbe at the Sheraton Hilton Towers, Seattle, WA.There is a proposal for 2006 for the SawgrassMarriott near Jacksonville, FL that is under re-view, and Lloyd Massengill, the general chair, islooking at sites for 2007 and should have a pro-posal in hand next spring. The Steering Grouphas voted to go to a three-year schedule forvenue selection since it is getting harder to findgood venues for their growing conference on atwo-year cycle.

Ron Keyser introduced Ralph James, theGeneral Chair of the 2003 NSS/MIC. The con-ference, to be held in Portland, OR is going tobe larger than it has been in several years. Therewas growth in both NSS and MIC abstractnumbers, with about 1200 total. There may beas many as 1400 attendees. The committee hasbeen working hard to promote the meeting.The Room Temperature Semiconductor De-tector workshop, with 120 papers, will bemeeting with them as will a number of smallersatellite meetings. Success has its problems andsessions will start on Monday; there will be anumber of parallel sessions, and a lot of post-ers. They are trying to expand the room block.There are quite a few European papers, andover half the RTSD papers are from overseas.Considerable effort will need to be expended inhelping to obtain visas with the new rulechange. (See above.)

Patrick LeDû reported on the continuingproblems with closing the 2000 conference inLyon. This has been a good learning experienceand Alberto Del Guerro, chair of the 2004NSS/MIC, to be held in Rome, will be a majorbeneficiary of the lessons learned. From a tech-nical and international, interactive view, theLyon conference was terrific and a new ven-ture. It has most probably had a significant rolein the conference growth seen in the last coupleof years. The Rome conference will be centeredat a hotel that has its own conference center sowill be more like an American conference inthat regard. The hotel and meeting spaces arebeing renovated now, so the space should bevery nice. The conference will run on the Euro-pean-style Monday to Friday schedule, with noweekend technical sessions. RTSD will once

again collocate and several satellite workshopsare also collocating, including one on breastimaging.

Tony Lavietes, who presented the abovematerial on the Rome meeting, also introduceda new, secure, web-based registration packagethat is now in beta test. It will go live shortlyfor 2003 NSS/MIC registration and for subse-quent years. The developers, for a very reason-able additional fee, will make the softwareavailable to all other NPSS conferences. Aftertesting by the 2003 NSS/MIC, AdCom willdecide how to proceed. Input is wanted fromTC and conference chairs. Assuming success,this package has the potential for considerablesavings to our conferences in the registrationfunction. Issues such as a maintenance contractremain open for discussion.

Erik Heijne of CERN, chair of the Transna-tional Committee, reported that the commit-tee now has 15 members representingradiation effects, radiation instrumentation,nuclear and medical imaging and plasma sci-ence. Other fields need representation. Theyhave been active in collaborating with chapters,and tried to get awards nominations in, butwere unable to comply with the May 15 dead-line. They will start working now for 2004awards. They are eager to get input from mem-bers and potential members on their view ofIEEE NPSS activities.

Functional Committees and

LiaisonsRay Larsen, chair of the Meeting Policies Com-mittee, noted that the terrific effort of our con-ference organizers in difficult and unpredictabletimes has earned our kudos. Ray and his com-mittee are working on guidelines for interna-tional meetings as a supplement to the NPSSmeeting planning document that is used in con-junction with the IEEE Meeting OrganizationManual.

Ray is also our liaison to the Society for SocialImplications of Technology (SSIT). His report ispresented in detail elsewhere in this issue.

Igor Alexeff announced the winners of theMerit and Shea awards who are, respectively,Joe Srour of TRW and Steve Gitomer ofLANL, our Transactions on Plasma Science ed-itor. No Early Achievement or graduate stu-dent awards were given this year.

Vernon Price reported that our membershipis down some 6.3% this year. Usually in Junethere is a surge of new student memberships


Thomas is thename

The scientist hasa lot ofexperience withignorance anddoubt anduncertainty, andthis experience isof very greatimportant, I think.

Richard P.Feynman

and that didn’t happen this year. At PAC,Vernon only recruited 4 new members, but didbetter at Radiation Effects with 18 new mem-bers. There were also 21 new members re-cruited at ICOPS. Vern also mentioned thatNPSS response to the member satisfaction sur-vey was 34% of the requests, which is good.The responses need to be evaluated.

Osamu Ishihara reported that we rankedand submitted 11 Fellow candidate applica-tions. It was a very good pool, so we’ll see howmany new Fellows are appointed from NPSS.In the past we have had 35 to 50% of our nom-inees elevated. The committee also needs freshmembers. A member can’t serve as a referee fora candidate, and all committee members mustbe Fellows. It makes things tough at times…

By the time you get this report, you shouldhave returned your AdCom ballots. PeterWinokur deserves applause for completing hisrole of Nominations Committee chair expedi-ently and months ahead of schedule.

Paul Dressendorfer, our Editor-in-Chief,and also TNS editor, expanded on EdHoffman’s report related to the Annual Panelof Editors’ meeting in Washington. IEEE pub-lishes 116 periodicals, supports 350 confer-ences and in total publishes about 30% of theinformation in its technical areas. In 2002, only42% of IEEE journals were out on time. WhileTNS publication has improved, the June 03 is-sue was mailed two weeks late. On the otherhand, TPS, which hasn’t been out on time for along, long time (does anyone remember thelast on-time issue?) was out on time. Could themeeting between our editors and senior Pubsstaff have had an effect? Limited guidelineshave also come down regarding papers frompolitically sensitive countries. Papers may bepublished, but communication with authors isdisallowed for now, so our journals are not ac-cepting articles from these countries since re-view and revision has been made impossible.

Peter Clout, chair of the Communicationscommittee, has announced the availability ofour new brochure and of a particle-accelera-tor-specific flyer. Contact Peter for copies foryour conferences ([email protected]).Leave adequate time for shipping. If you wantNewsletter copies, let Ken Dawson([email protected])know as early as possible be-cause they have to be printed with the majorrun. They are, according to Vernon Price, agood sales tool, well worth including in regis-tration packets.

Our booth is also available and can be ob-tained from Peter.

Our web site has improved, but we need in-put from Technical Committees to providelinks to relevant sites that discuss our technolo-gies and areas of interest. It is also importantthat NPSS conference literature and web sitessay that they are NPSS conferences! Use thelogo. Spell out the words, Remember to pro-vide Dick Kouzes with a hotlink to your webpage ([email protected]). Check outother web sites to get ideas to improve yours.

Our guest, Ralph Wyndrum, noted thatIEEE has many awards, but the candidate poolis small. The IEEE web site lists all awards andthe criteria on which they are awarded. Manyan NPSS member is eligible for some of them.We haven’t had a lot of recognition at the Insti-tute level, despite being an extremely active so-ciety. However, not all Societies, no matterhow big, can boast of having an IEEEEmberson Award winner in their ranks!

Ralph also discussed the IEEE-USA Techni-cal Policy Council’s activities. He is meetingwith eight IEEE societies to encourage mem-bers to participate in Council activities. Theyare working on the criteria for long-term tech-nical worker visas, some of which have beenused fraudulently. They encourage individualmember visits to Congress in support ofIEEE-USA positions in a number of areas, andthey also support four professional lobbyists inWashington. Areas of focus include energy pol-icy where we are well represented by NedSauthoff, utility restructuring, National Elec-trical Reliability and so on. Position papers arebeing prepared on Electric/Hybrid Cars;Advanced Nuclear Power R&D and others.Their priorities are broadband deploymentincluding DSL and fiber optic issues; SPAM;the public health information system; home-land security; genetic nondiscrimination;and nanotech R&D. They team with othertechnical societies when making presenta-tions. They are also soliciting grassrootsteams to visit congressmen, and support anumber of Congressional Visiting Days.

Other activities include regional technologyfora with three scheduled (Austin, San Diego,Boston). Globalization of technology is a con-cern, and they also support a Career PolicyCommittee.

If you have an interest in participating in theseactivities, contact Ralph ([email protected])about the possibilities. A number of us have


The rest profit

Fools makeresearches andwise men exploitthem.

H. G. Wells

Who does whatto whom?

Power does notcorrupt people.People corruptpower.

William Gaddis

served in the past as reviewers of position state-ments, but there are many opportunities.

Other ItemsAs XPLORE becomes used more routinely,there will be a switch in the paradigm for allo-cating publication revenue, which is now basedon the All-Society Periodicals Package. ForNPSS we expect to remain revenue neutral, butthere will be a big impact, both positive andnegative, on a number of societies, based on apreliminary study.

Corporate purchases of the IEL package,where employees have ready access electroni-cally to IEEE journals seem to be part of thereason that society memberships are dropping– the journal access isn’t needed. This will con-tinue to be monitored.

It is important to remember that there arespecific rules for conference sponsorships –don’t use the term lightly! And note that wemay e-mail something for another confer-ence or society, but mailing lists are notshared! This is a recurring issue as every con-ference chairman gets requests. Be carefuland check the rules. If you don’t know and

can’t find the answer, contact Ray Larsen([email protected])

Future MeetingsOctober 25, 2003Portland, ORAnnual Meeting with NSS/MIC

March 12, 13, 2004New Orleans, LARetreat and Meeting

July 24, 2004Atlanta, GeorgiaNSREC

October 23, 2004Rome, ItalyAnnual Meeting with NSS/MICAlbe Larsen, the NPSS Secretary, can be

reached at the Stanford Linear AcceleratorCenter, MS66, 2575 and Hill Road, Menlo Park,CA 94025; Phone: +1 650 926-2748; Fax: +1650 926-5124; E-mail: [email protected].

WANTED:

Have you seen or are YOU this person?NPSS NEWSLETTER EDITOR

Ken Dawson has informed AdCom of hiswish after nine years to turn the NPSS newslet-ter over to a fresh set of hands. If this importantjob interests you, contact the NPSS Edi-tor-in-Chief Paul Dressendorfer by e-mail [email protected].

DutiesSolicit and organize articles for three to fourNewsletters a year. Prepare the Annual Year-book and Directory.

• Collect material; check that it is right• Format material• Send proofs to authors• Correct as needed

• Send to IEEE Pubs in a format they canuse

• Maintain database of pictures used inNewsletter articles

• Maintan database of membership in allNPSS committees

• Prepare the annual Yearbook andDirectory for AdCom

This is an opportunity to put YOUR stampon this highly respected communication.

Ken will be available, if needed, for guid-ance to launch a new Editor. You can alsofind out more about what the editor's jobentails by getting in touch with Ken [email protected]. He would be happy tohear from you.


Pedal to themental (sic!)

It is a wrycommentary onthe value systemin the UnitedStates that onespeaks there of“teacher training”and “drivereducation.”

Peter Hilton

ANNUAL REPORT FROM THERADIATION EFFECTS COMMITTEE

The IEEE Radiation Effects Committee(REC) held its annual Open Meeting onJuly 24, 2003 at the Doubletree Hotel in

Monterey, California, during the 2003 Nuclearand Space Radiation Effects Conference(NSREC). The meeting included reports fromthe chairmen of the 2002 through 2004NSRECs.

An election was held during the Open Meet-ing for Junior Member-at-Large to the Radia-tion Effects Steering Group (RESG). TheRESG welcomes Steve Clark from the AirForce Research Laboratory as its newly electedJunior Member-at-Large.

During the Open Meeting, Ron Schrimpfintroduced the new members of the RESG.Janet Barth of NASA GSFC and LloydMassengill of Vanderbilt University are thenewly appointed General Chairs of the 2006and 2007 NSRECs, respectively. Tim Oldhamof NASA GSFC is the new Executive ViceChairman, Jeff Black of MRC is the new Secre-tary, and Marty Shaneyfelt of Sandia joins theRESG as the Vice-Chairman for Publications.

Klaus Kerris was honored for his service asExecutive Vice Chairman, Chairman, and PastChairman of the RESG. Dave Hiemstra ofMD Robotics was honored for completingthree years of service as Member-at-Large. Pe-ter Winokur of Sandia was recognized for hisdedicated service as our representative onNPSS AdCom. Dale Platteter, Ron Schrimpf,Teresa Farris, Robert Ecoffet, and PaulDressendorfer also were recognized, althoughall continue to serve on the RESG.

Ken Hunt of the Air Force Research Labo-ratory, 2002 Conference General Chairman,recognized each member of his committeewith an award plaque. Ken and his team tookthe NSREC to Phoenix in 2002, hosting agreat meeting in spite of the “dust storm of thecentury.”

Allan Johnston of JPL, 2003 ConferenceGeneral Chairman, summarized some statisticsfrom the 2003 conference. Total NSREC at-tendance was up by 14% over 2002, with 576people attending the technical sessions, theshort course, or both. In addition, we regis-

tered 58 additional people for the exhibits, fora grand total of 634 attendees. 130 papers werepresented during the 5-day conference (50orals, 52 posters, 28 data workshop). Interna-tional attendance was down by 16%, with 84attendees.

Dan Fleetwood, 2004 Conference GeneralChairman, announced that the Nuclear andSpace Radiation Effects Conference will be heldon 19-23 July 2004, at the Renaissance WaverlyHotel in Atlanta, Georgia. The Technical Pro-gram Chairman will be Jim Pickel from PRT,Inc. Joe Srour of Northrup Grumman is orga-nizing the tutorial Short Course. Once again,NSREC 2004 is planning a Radiation EffectsData Workshop and an Industrial Exhibit. JimKinnison of Johns Hopkins APL is assemblingthe social program, which will include a sam-pling of the many activities available in Atlanta,one of the most-visited and fastest-growing cit-ies in the US.

A special issue of the IEEE Transactions onNuclear Science commemorating the 40th an-niversary of the NSREC was distributed to allattendees. This special issue was edited by TimOldham, Fred Sexton, and Joe Srour and itcontained sixteen reviewed articles that sum-marize the technical history of the NSREC.

We are constantly looking for new ways toencourage NPSS membership in our commu-nity. This past winter, we distributed aQuickTime video recording of the 2002 ShortCourse on CDROM (playable on your PC),and provided this CD to each NPSS memberwho attended. We encouraged our NPSS mem-bers to show this Short Course video to theirnon-NPSS colleagues. The goal of this project isto provide members with “good opportunities”to recruit new members. Tim Holman ofVanderbilt University led this effort.

Minutes from the REC Open Meeting areavailable at www.nsrec.com. For the most cur-rent information on the Nuclear and SpaceRadiation Effects Conference, including in-formation on paper submission, please visitthis web site.


TECHNICAL COMMITTEES

Ronald D. Schrimpf

REC Chairman

Reality check

A mathematicianmay say anythinghe pleases, but aphysicist must beat least partiallysane.

Josiah WillardGibbs

Radiation Effects Steering Group

2003-2004

Elected Members:Chairman:Ron Schrimpf

Vanderbilt UniversityExecutive Vice-Chairman:Tim Oldham

NASA GSFCSecretary: Jeff Black

Mission Research CorporationSenior Member-at-Large: Ron Pease

RLP ResearchMember-at-Large: Gary Lum

Lockheed MartinJunior Member-at-Large: Steve Clark

Air Force Research LaboratoryPast Chairman: Dale Platteter

NAVSEA CraneAppointed Members:Vice-Chairman, Publications:

Marty ShaneyfeltSandia National Laboratories

Vice-Chairman, Publicity: Teresa FarrisAeroflex

RADECS Liaison:Robert EcoffetCNES

Editor, IEEE Trans Nuc. Sci.Paul DressendorferSandia National Laboratories

Vice-Chairman, 2003 Conference:Allan JohnstonJet Propulsion Laboratory

Vice-Chairman, 2004 Conference:Dan FleetwoodVanderbilt University

Vice-Chairman, 2005 Conference:Fred SextonSandia National Laboratories

Vice-Chairman, 2006 Conference:Janet BarthNASA GSFC

Vice-Chairman 2007 Conference:Lloyd MassengillVanderbilt University

Elected AdCom Members:Term expires: 12/03: Ken Galloway

Vanderbilt UniversityTerm expires: 12/05: Dennis Brown

NROTerm expires: 12/06: Joe Benedetto

Mission Research CorporationRon Schrimpf serves as Chairman of the Ra-

diation Effects Steering Group, which overseesthe NSREC Conference. He is technical chair ofthe NPSS Radiation Effects Committee. Roncan be reached at Vanderbilt University, 5635Stevenson Center, Nashville, TN 37232; Phone:+1 615 343-0507; Fax: +1 615 343-9550;E-mail: [email protected]

NUCLEAR MEDICAL AND IMAGINGSCIENCES TECHNICAL COMMITTEE

(NMISTC)

Final plans for the 2003 Nuclear ScienceSymposium and Medical Imaging Con-ference (NSS/MIC) are well underway.

Dr. Ralph James (Brookhaven National Labo-ratory) is the General Chair of the Conference.Dr. Uwe Bratzler (CERN) is the NSS ProgramChair. I would like to congratulate Ralph andhis colleagues for the outstanding job they havedone in organizing this year’s NSS/MIC meet-ing. The Conference will be held in Portland,Oregon at the two Doubletree Hotels, whichare located on the famous Columbia River.(Conference dates and more detailed informa-tion can be found in another article in this issueof the Newsletter.) Dr. Michael King (Univer-sity of Massachusetts) is MIC Program Chairthis year; he has been working very hard to en-sure that the MIC portion of the meeting will

be a great success - scientifically, educationallyand socially.

The NSS/MIC meeting is the premier nu-clear medical imaging conference in the world;this year it is continuing to grow, with nearly400 abstracts being submitted. The meetingpresents a wonderful opportunity to relax andvisit with old friends, and meet new colleagueson an informal basis. The Conference’s ShortCourses provide an excellent forum for thosethat are new to the field to quickly acquire thetools they need to perform more proficiently.This year we will be presenting the Young In-vestigator Medical Imaging Science Award.Mike will be introducing some innovative andexciting activities at this year’s MIC meeting.Perhaps one of the most innovative ideas willbe the venue for the traditional MIC Banquet:A Dinner Cruise along the Columbia River.


Ronald Jaszczak

NMISTC Chair

Rationale forirrationality

A governmentthat must holdSenate hearingsto discoverwhether it hasreason to go towar is agovernment thatdoesn’t know themeaning of war.

Lewis H. Lapham

There will be lots of on-board activities such aswine tasting, music, etc. The ship can carryabout 350 people. Since space is limited, I urgeeveryone who wants to attend the MIC Ban-quet to register and purchase their tickets assoon as possible.

In 2004, NSS/MIC will return to Europe forthe second time, this time to Rome. AlbertoDel Guerra (University of Pisa) is the GeneralChair of the Conference. Plans are progressingvery well and a web site has been established(http://nss-mic-rtsd-2004.df.unipi.it/). Pleasevisit this web site for further information. Therewill be enormous floor space for posters so thatthey can remain up for the entire MIC meeting.

In 2005, NSS/MIC will be held in PuertoRico; this will be the first time that the meetingwill be held in the Caribbean region. TomLewellen (University of Washington) is theGeneral Chair. The MIC Program Chair is Si-mon Cherry (University of California, Davis).They have selected a beautiful resort outside ofSan Juan, the El Conquistador; it has nearly ev-erything in the way of outstanding convention,dining and social facilities. It even has its ownprivate island! They hope to be able to offermany more student travel grants for the 2005NSS/MIC meeting. Both the Rome and thePuerto Rico meetings are exciting new venuesfor the NSS/MIC meetings. Be sure to markyour calendars early, submit an abstract andplan to attend.

The Nuclear Medical and Imaging SciencesTechnical Committee (NMISTC) includesNPSS members who are interested in scien-tific and educational activities that promotethe fields of nuclear medical and imaging sci-ences. The activities of the NMISTC are man-aged by the Nuclear and Medical ImagingSciences Council (NMISC), consisting of 15elected members-at-large that serve for three

years. Five new Council members are electedeach year.

I would like to take this opportunity to ac-knowledge the support and contributions ofthe following elected NMISC members whoseterms expire at the end of this year: Eric Frey,Marijana Ivanovic, Paul Marsden, Bradley Patt,and Lawrence Zeng. By now, you should havereceived your ballot for electing the five newmembers to the NMISC; please be sure to voteand return your ballot before the deadline date.

Finally, I would like to close on a personalnote. I will complete my tenure as NMISCChair at the end of this year. I would like tothank the members of the NMISC and of theentire membership of the nuclear and medicalimaging sciences community for their support,suggestions, and constructive criticism. I hopethat I will have the opportunity to serve ourmembers again in the not too distant future.The IEEE NPSS functions mainly with thehelp of its volunteer members. It is because ofthe hard work and active participation of vol-unteers from the medical imaging communitythat the NMISC has been able to organizemarkedly successful MIC meetings. Thesemeetings have attracted the best and brightestnuclear medical imaging engineers and scien-tists in the world.

Magnus Dahlbom (University of Califor-nia, Los Angeles) is NMISC Vice Chair andChair-Elect; I am confident that he will serveour medical imaging community effectively,and I wish him success during his term in officefor 2004 and 2005.

Ronald Jaszczak, Chair, NMISC, can bereached at the Department of Radiology,DUMC-3949, Duke University Medical Cen-ter, Durham, NC 27710; Phone: +1 919684-7685; Fax: +1 919 684-7122; E-mail:[email protected].

RADIATION INSTRUMENTATIONTECHNICAL COMMITTEE REPORT

You will soon receive the ballot for theselection of the new members of theRITC Steering Committee. The ballot

has highly qualified, motivated co-workerswilling to work on your behalf to continueto improve the field. The RISC has 15elected members, of which 5 are elected eachyear for a three-year term. Please returnyour ballot with your selections. It’s not too

early to volunteer for next year, so send me amessage if you want to be on the SteeringCommittee.

All interested NPSS members are invited toattend the RITC annual meeting at theNSS/MIC meeting. Look in the programguide or at the meeting for time and location.At this meeting you will have the chance to talkwith the Steering Committee (RISC) about


Ronald Keyser

RITC Chair

I told you so

Every greatscientific truthgoes throughthree stages.First, people say itconflicts with theBible. Next theysay it has beendiscovered before.Lastly, they saythey alwaysbelieved it.

Louis Agissiz(who said Darwinwas wrong!)

the meeting, the Society or any other topic.The Steering Committee oversees the opera-tion of the whole Committee and your input isimportant, so that we may do what you want.

If you haven’t made plans to attend the2003 meeting in Portland (Oct 19 to 25),do so now. This meeting is the premiermeeting for radiation detectors, processingelectronics, modeling, systems, and medi-cal imaging. Before and after the meetingare short courses and workshops, whereyou can learn about newest developments,the basics of radiation detection, or medicalimaging. The exhibits will showcase the lat-est products from many companies. Even ifyou have known some of these companiesfor many years, it is worth the time to inves-tigate their new products. Because of thequality of this meeting, many companiesmake the first public showing of producesat this exhibition. See the web sitewww.nss-mic.org for complete details andread the Newsletter articles by the Chair-men of the meeting.

The future NSS/MIC meetings are:• 2004

Oct 16 to 23, Rome, ItalyGeneral Chair: Alberto Del Guerra

• 2005Oct 23 to 29, San Juan, PRGeneral Chair: Tom Lewellen

• 2006Oct 29 to Nov 5, San DiegoGeneral Chair: Graham Smith

Mark these dates on your calendar. The ab-stract submission is usually in the late springfor the following meeting. This means youneed to be thinking about it soon. It’s nevertoo early to start the writing.

To the members in Universities, I put out acall for more student members. Vernon Pricehas done an outstanding job of getting newmembers, including students. However, manystudents are not receiving all the membershipbenefits they could obtain by attending meet-ings and association with others doing similarwork from around the world. If you need helpin explaining the benefits to potential studentmembers, Vernon will be happy to supply youwith the right materials.

Finally, vote and I look forward to seeingyou in Portland in October.

Ron Keyser, the Chair of RITC, can be reachedat ORTEC, 801 South Illinois Avenue, Oak Ridge,TN 37831; Phone: +1 865 483-2146; Fax: +1865 481-2438; E-mail: [email protected]


TLC?

We’re raising our children the same way we raise calves for veal.Keep them in boxes, feed them too much, allow them no exercise.The lifestyle of most American families is so unhealthy, so toxic,that we may be witnessing the first generation of kids ever whoselife expectancy is less than that of their parents.

Rich Killingsworth

Capital crime

Nothing is moredreadful than thedespicablemurder of abeautiful theoryby abominablefacts.

Roland Omnès

REPORT FROM CHAPTERS ANDMEMBERSHIP COMMITTEES

ChaptersThe present set of NPSS chapters includes 15units located in 6 of the 10 IEEE regions. Thechapters are described as follows:

Region 1. A chapter in Boston is under theleadership of Prof. Dikshitulu Kalluri and hasbeen organized for many years. It is strugglingbut at least it is somewhat active. A new chapterhas been established in Long Island NY. Thenucleus of this unit is located at BrookhavenNational Laboratory. At PAC 2003, I met thechair, Dr. Arlene Zhang and discussed progressshe is making with her new unit.

Region 2. A chapter is located in ClevelandOhio under the leadership of Dr. ZhenghongLee. Also, a chapter is located in the Washing-ton D.C., Northern Virginia and Baltimore ar-eas under the leadership of Harry Sauberman,P.E. It has been in existence for several years.

Region 4. A chapter is located in the Chicagoarea with its nucleus at Fermi National Lab. Ithas been organized for several years but is justnow being reactivated with Dr. Jack Shermanas its chair.

Region 6. Four chapters are located in Re-gion 6. One is located in Los Alamos under theleadership of Dr. Rickey Faehl. A second is lo-cated in Albuquerque chaired by Gerald Wood.A third chapter is located in the San Diego areawith David Strobel as chair. The fourth chapteris located in the Oakland East Bay area with JoeMauger as its leader. Each of these chapters isactive and is well organized. I met with eachchair at a recent PAC 2003 conference.

Region 8. Five Chapters are located in Re-gion 8. One of these is located in the Beneluxarea in Antwerp and is chaired by Dr. BenoitBrichard. I met with Benoit at the recentNSREC and discussed his effort in work withhis chapter. Another chapter is located inFrance and is well organized under the leader-ship of Dr.Jean-Luc LeRay. I met with himand other chapter leaders at NSREC 2003. Asusual, they held a chapter meeting at the con-ference. A third chapter is centered inErlangen Germany under the leadership ofDr. Klaus Frank. I met with his vice chair atPAC 2003. He reported that the chapter is

also organized and is active. A fourth chapteris located in Bari Italy. Its leader is AlessandroRizzo. The fifth chapter is located in Ukrainein the Kiev area under the leadership of Dr.Anatoly Kirilenko. It is jointly administeredwith several other societies.

Region 10. Our lone chapter in this region islocated in Japan under the leadership of Dr.Shozo Ishii. The nucleus of the chapter is in theKawasaki area.

MembershipAt the end of June this year, total membershipin IEEE was 330,923, a reduction of 16,509or 4.8% compared to the prior year. Part ofthe reason for this loss is a sharp reduction inthe expected influx of new students in June.Another factor was the loss of about 6000 Lifemembers. These people did not respond to re-quests regarding their membership and hencewere dropped from the rolls. About one thirdof IEEE members do not belong to any of the38 Societies that make up the technical activi-ties of IEEE. The rest belong to one ore moresocieties giving a total society membership361,066. Total membership in societies hasdropped 4.3% compared to last June. Onlythe Computer, Geo Remote Sensing and So-cial Implications of Technology societies hadpositive growth so far this year. All of theother societies lost members. The overall soci-ety growth for IEEE compared to last Junewas –5.5%.

At the end of June 2003, membership inNPSS was 2851, a decrease of 193 memberscompared to June of the prior year. This totalincludes 51 Affiliates. This membership maybe illustrated in several ways as follows:

Higher Grades 2533Students 267Affiliates 51Total 2851Loss compared to last year = - 6.3%

Another view of our membership is shownin the table.


FUNCTIONAL COMMITTEES

Vernon Price

Chair, NPSS Chapterand Membership

Committees

Hope for meyet!

Perhaps theunintelligentmachines cando even betterthan theintelligent ones.

Richard P.Feynman

Using a population of 2800 (value equalstotal minus affiliates), 9.3% of our membersare “Lifers”. The Fellows in NPSS amount to6% of our population compared to 1.7% forIEEE. We have 14% of our members classed asSeniors compared to 7.7% for IEEE. It is wellto note that the “Lifers” are not required to paythe annual fee for IEEE membership (thoughthey are strongly urged to donate to variousIEEE causes) nor do they pay an annual fee forNPSS membership if they have been a memberof our society for at least five years. They are re-quired to pay no more than the student rate forattendance at any IEEE conference. A newbenefit for the Lifers is to permit them web ac-cess to all journals published by IEEE. Suchbenefits should strongly encourage people toretain their membership throughout their use-ful life. Because life expectancy is increasingand the number of expected life members willgrow, IEEE is considering raising the entrylimit for life members from the present value(100 = age plus years of membership in IEEE)to some higher value.

Recruitment of IEEE/NPSS members atconferences so far this year has not been as pro-

ductive compared to previous years. Only fourpeople joined at the PAC 2003. It is reportedthat 21 people joined at the ICOPS but the ap-plication forms did not come to me and at themoment they are held up awaiting my comple-tion of the task. At the Pulsed Power confer-ence, I was able to recruit only eleven peopleeven though the conference was well attended.At the NSREC, 18 people joined includingmembers from France, England, Sweden, Ja-pan and Italy.

Senior Grade MembersThus far this year, eleven members of our

society have become senior members of IEEE.Nomination forms for elevation of severalmore people have been submitted to Head-quarters for evaluation and approval. Each isexpected to be approved. The following siteprovides information on the process used:<http://www.ieee,org/organizations/rab/md/smelev.htm>

Vernon G. Price can be contacted at 22151Berkeley Ct, Los Altos CA 94024-7452: Phone(408) 737-0778: Fax: (408) 737-1922: E-mail:[email protected]

KLAUS G. KERRIS RECEIVES2003 RADIATION EFFECTS AWARD

The 2003 Radiation Effects Award waspresented to Klaus G. Karris, U.S.Army Research Laboratory (retired),

during the opening ceremonies of the 40th

Annual Nuclear and Space Radiation EffectsConference (NSREC) in Monterey. DalePlatteter, past-chairman of the IEEE Radia-tion Effects Steering Group (RESG), madethe presentation.

The purpose of the award is to recognize in-dividuals who have had a sustained history of

outstanding and innovative technical and/orleadership contributions to the radiation ef-fects community.

Klaus Kerris received this year’s award witha citation “for contributions to the disseminationand advancement of radiation effects research byhis leadership in all aspects of the IEEE Nuclearand Space Radiation Effects Conference and theRadiation Effects Steering Group.”

Klaus was educated at UCLA with a BA inphysics (1957) and MA in physics (1959). He


Life Regular Student Affiliate Total

Fellows 67 100 167

Senior Members 74 307 381

Members 113 1661 267 51 2092

Associates 6 205 211

Total 260 2273 267 51 2851

AWARDS

Klaus G. Kerris

Self-correcting

Psychoanalysis isthat spiritualdisease of whichit considers itselfto be the cure.

Karl Kraus

worked 10 years for Hughes Aircraft, butsomehow made it to the east coast to put in an-other 31.5 years for the US Army ResearchLaboratory in Adelphi, MD.

He first published in the Transactions onNuclear Science in 1969, back when we wereholding the NSREC conference at universities.

Klaus Kerris was Short Course presenter attwo NSRECs. We all remember when the pro-jectionist dropped his slide canister in 1996 atour Short Course in Providence, RI. Klaus’35mm slides were sticking in the projector, sothe projectionist held up the carousel to seewhat was wrong. This was huge a mistake, asthe locking ring on the carousel was not inplace. A colleague tried to reassemble theKlaus’ slides (in real time), while Klaus restruc-tured his lecture in real time! At the NSRECshort course in New Orleans (1992), our weaklaser pointer could not be seen from the back ofthe room. Klaus became the first short courseinstructor to use a 10-foot long fishing pole asa pointer, immediately solving this problem.

Klaus was NSREC session chair in 1987and local arrangements chair in 1989 at MarcoIsland.

He spent 3 years as Member-at-Large on theRadiation Effects Steering Group (RESG), 3years as secretary for the RESG, and nine moreyears as Executive Vice-Chairman, Chairman,

and Past-Chairman of this group. That’s 15years on the steering group.

Klaus and his wife Paula currently live in Sil-ver Spring, MD. He has been retired for 2years (really retired), however Paula and Klausstill share their “family vacation” with theNSREC conference each year. Why would theydo that? Well, they have made many friends atthe NSREC, just like all of us have.

Klaus Kerris can be reached at 2701 ShanandaleDrive, Silver Spring, MD 20904; Phone: +1 301572-7535; E-mail: [email protected].

About the Radiation Effects

AwardThe prestigious Radiation Effects Award ispresented by NPSS on a yearly basis in recogni-tion of a “sustained history” of contributions tothe radiation effects community. It includes aplaque and a cash award of $2000. The nomi-nation process is open to any member of theIEEE/NPSS Radiation Effects Committee(REC). A nomination form is available atwww.nsrec.com/nominate.htm

This article was prepared by Dale Platteter, thepast chair of the RESG. He can be reached atNAVSEA Crane, Code 605, Building 3334,Crane, IN 47522; Phone: +1 812 854-1206; Fax:+1 812 854-1751; E-mail: [email protected]

PHELPS GRANT AWARDED TORADIATION EFFECTS STUDENTS

On behalf of NPSS, we are proud to an-nounce two recipients for the PaulPhelps Continuing Education Grant.

Younes Boulghassoul

Younes Boulghassoul received a Master in Elec-trical Engineering in 2000 from theMontpellier 2 University, Montpellier, Franceand a Master in Electrical Engineering in 2002from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN. Heis currently working on a Ph. D. degree in elec-trical engineering at Vanderbilt, continuingwork on fundamental studies of the analog sin-gle event transient (ASET) phenomenon in ad-vanced analog and mixed-signal circuits inaggressively-scaled fabrication technologies.As a master’s student, he has written or con-tributed to 7 published papers. He recentlypresented a paper titled “Applicability of Cir-

cuit Macromodeling to Analog Single-EventTransient Analysis,” at the 2003 Nuclear andSpace Radiation Effects Conference, Monterey,CA. Younes was nominated by his professor,Dr. Lloyd Massengill.

Iwan Cornelius

Iwan Cornelius is pursuing the Ph. D. degreeat the University of Wollongong, Wollongong,New South Wales, Australia. Iwan has workedon the detection of fast neutrons with siliconsensors and simulation of energy depositedfrom recoil protons in small silicon volumes.His PhD project is related to microdosimetryusing SOI devices. Iwan has performed experi-mental measurements and theoretical MonteCarlo simulations of energy deposition andcharge collection in SOI devices from heavyion microbeams. He has 5 published papers


Younes Boulghassoul

Iwan Cornelius

The art ofdebate

Give me thefacts, Ashley,and I will twistthem the way Iwant to suit myargument.

WinstonChurchill (to hisresearcher)

(first author on 4), is the recipient of the 2002Australian Institute of Physics (AIP) Award forPostgraduate Excellence and is a 2000-2003Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and En-gineering (AINSE) Scholar. Iwan recentlypresented two papers at the 2003 Nuclear andSpace Radiation Effects Conference, Monterey,CA. He was nominated by his professor, Dr.Anatoly Rosenfeld.

It should be noted that both students havesubmitted papers for publication in the De-cember 2003 issue of the Transactions on Nu-

clear Science. Both students are members ofIEEE and NPSS.

Professors should consider nominating theirmost promising students before May 15, 2004.Forms can be found on the NSREC web site atwww.nsrec.com.

Prepared by Teresa Farris, the RESG PublicityVice-Chairman. She can be reached at AeroflexUTMC, 4350 Centennial Blvd., ColoradoSprings, CO 80907-3486; Phone +1 719594-8035; Fax: +1 719 594-8468; E-mail:[email protected].

REPORT ON ICOPS 2003 IN KOREAThe ICOPS (International Conference on

Plasma Science) held its 30th meeting for thefirst time outside of North America in SouthKorea. The conference organizer was Kyu-SunChung, who did a great job, as well as thePlasma Science and applications Committeechairs, Dr. Robert K. Parker (past) and Dr.Thomas W. Hussey (present), who also did lotsof work. It was held on a resort island, Jeju, atthe Lotte Hotel. I counted 670 abstracts in theabstract book. The major group of attendeeswas from Korea, followed by Japan and theUSA. However, some papers were not pre-sented because of the SARS epidemic. In par-ticular, people from China, Hong Kong, andTaiwan cancelled their attendance.

The topics ranged from our past interests suchas Thermonuclear Fusion, basic plasma research,and microwave generation to newer topics suchas plasma discharges in air for plasma industrialapplications, medical applications, and steriliza-tion, so the conference demonstrates a healthyappreciation for newer fields as well as for theolder fields. I was personally very impressed bythe Korean work in Thermonuclear Fusion, withthe large superconducting TOKAMAK,KSTAR, now under construction, as well as theKorean work on large plasma display panels. Ingeneral, Korea has a large, active, and creativeplasma membership.

The Plenary Sessions were outstanding.One talk that impressed me, “The Physics of

Lightning” by Dr. John J. Lowke, presentedevidence that part of the lightning stroke is car-ried by an electron - free plasma of negative andpositive ions. Consideration of such elec-tron-free air plasmas generally has been consid-ered heresy in the past. He also made thesuggestion that ball lightning in the air is anelectrical image of a slowly-proceeding light-ning streamer underground.

There was also a special mini-course onplasma diagnostics, presented by 9 speakersfrom around the world, including The USA,Germany, The Netherlands, and Japan. Therewas an industrial exhibit in the hall leading tothe oral sessions. The IEEE had a nice booth inthe same hall.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics En-gineers, Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society (aninternational organization), is very pleased tohelp its members in Asia. The Pacific Rim has themost rapidly growing IEEE membership in theWorld, and these members must be acknowl-edged and aided. I personally look forward to re-turning to Asia, and Korea in particular.

Igor Alexeff, a past NPSS President, organizedthe first ICOPS conference in 1974 in Knoxville.He can be reached at the University of Tennessee,Electrical Engineering Department, Ferris Hall,Knoxville, TN 37996-2100; Phone +1 865974-5467; Fax: +1 865 974-5492; E-mail:[email protected]


CONFERENCE REPORTS

Igor Alexeff

To each his own

There are peoplewho must havetheir poisons orthey are notthemselves.

RobertsonDavies

2003 PARTICLE ACCELERATORCONFERENCE

PAC2003 was held in Portland Oregonon May 12-16. The scientific program,guided by Program Committee

Co-Chairs Alan Jackson and Ed Lee of Law-rence Berkeley National Laboratory, was a suc-cess in attracting presentations that coveredboth traditional and new topics in acceleratorscience, technology and applications. Dr. Rob-ert Siemann of the Stanford Linear AcceleratorCenter, who served as Conference Chair, andhis conference staff are completing conferenceactivities.

Despite a combination of budget stricturesat US Government sponsored labs and thetravel limitations from Asian labs due to theSARS epidemic, 1135 participants registeredat PAC03. 1,467 abstracts were submitted andwe expect to publish about 1,147 papers. Theaccompanying industrial exhibit provided op-

portunities to meet with vendors in various ac-celerator technologies.

The Particle Accelerator Science and Tech-nology Award for PAC2003 was presented toKeith Symon of the University of Wisconsinand to Stephen Milton of Argonne NationalLaboratory by our NPSS president, EdHoffman. Other accelerator prizes and studenttravel awards were also presented at the awardsceremony on May 14. Portland provided apleasant conference venue with only a brief, re-freshing shower to complement the otherwisesunny weather.

Bruce Brown, the Particle Accelerator Scienceand Technology Committee chair, can be reachedat the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory,MS221, P.O. Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510;Phone: +1 630 840-4404; Fax: +1 630840-6311; E-mail: [email protected].

REPORT FROM NPSS LIAISON TO THESOCIETY FOR SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF

TECHNOLOGYOnline Center for Ethics in

Engineering and Science

A small group of SSIT and IEEE members con-tinue to advise inquirers who send email queriesabout ethics concerns in the workplace to theOnline Center (http://www.onlineethics.org).The queries come from engineers employed bymany different industries, consulting engineers,professionally licensed engineers, students andgraduate students. One of the most commoncomplaints is from graduate students whose ad-visors plagiarize their work, or publish it undertheir own name with the student unawares untilit appears in print. A common complaint fromcivil and construction engineers is the customertrying to play loose with the laws concerningproper signoff of engineer-certified documenta-tion, including one case of forgery. Others havebeen asked by their employers to fudge test datathat in effect would falsely qualify faulty partsback to the customer, who is typically the gov-

ernment. Several cases of serious product prob-lems, when brought to the employer, resulted ina cover-up that the inquirer refused to be a partof, and in one case a lawsuit was brought by le-gal authorities to make the employer comply.

Often in these cases the inquirer is operat-ing from the position of having just beenfired for his ethical behavior. Many inquirerssimply want clarification of their optionswhen caught in these kinds of difficulties.The inquirers are never identified to the advi-sors nor the advisors back to the inquirer. Ad-visory opinions are solicited and a responsefrom the collective group crafted by the Di-rector of the Center, and approved by thegroup before responding. Overall the systemis doing a good service and has had no prob-lems. This is the same kind of operation thatthe IEEE Board of Directors killed a fewyears ago because of “legal liability con-cerns”, followed by a summary firing of the


LIAISON REPORTS

Ray Larsen

NPSS Liaison to SSIT

Bruce Brown

NPSS PASTTechnical Committee

Chair

core of the Ethics Committee halfwaythrough their terms, the author being one sohonored.

IEEE Ethics CommitteeIn addition to the Online Center, there is an ac-tive discussion group that continues to air eth-ics issues, and continues to track IEEE’s Ethicsefforts. Since the above-mentioned event theEthics Committee has been notably quiet anduncommunicative. Lately a few small personalopinion articles have appeared in The Institute.Last year the IEEE Ethics Committee wasmerged with the IEEE Member ConductCommittee, to make the EMCC, presumablyfor administrative streamlining purposes. Thisbody reports directly to the BoD. Some of theEMCC members are occasionally part of thediscussion group.

There are some hopefuls in the discussiongroup who believe EMCC can be swayed to douseful service. A recent Spectrum article byJack Casazza criticizing the power engineerswho colluded with Enron and others to devisecreative ways to rip off consumers and govern-ments, especially in California where it’s likelyto cause the governor his job, stirred a livelydiscussion. Some proposed that perhaps theEMCC should be given wider powers to pur-sue members in corporate positions for unethi-cal behavior toward the public trust that we allswear to uphold in our IEEE Code of Ethics. Alarge number of discussants, voicing a largenumber of opinions, some openly strident andhostile, eventually arrived at a consensus thatgiving expanded punitive powers to a commit-tee that in fact had fiercely resisted doing any-thing supportive -even as minor as givingfriendly advice - for people who did uphold theEthics code, should now be encouraged tohunt out offending members within corpora-tions with punishment in mind, seemed bizarrein the extreme. In the author’s opinion, theoutlook for any significant changes in the for-tress mentality of IEEE in regard to Ethics sup-port appears less than dim.

IEEE-USA and Engineering

EmploymentJust in the past couple of weeks there has been afuror developing over industry plans tooutsource millions of (mostly IT) jobs in thenext decade. For a summary of the problemsee the New York Times article of July 22,2003, online at http://www.nytimes.com2003/

07/22/technology/22JOBS.html?th regardingIBM’s particular plans and philosophy. This andsimilar news in the past few weeks caused thediscussion to veer off into ethical issues withinindustry, government and the IEEE overoutsourcing and bringing short term visitor em-ployees (“Guest Workers”) into the country.These short-termers are often the harbinger ofteaching the home industry techniques to a newgroup offshore, who then leave taking jobsalong with them, often followed by immediatecutbacks at home. There are obviously manydifficult issues and forces and counter-forces atwork. IEEE-USA fired a salvo this week aboutskilled worker job loss at home potentially crip-pling long-range competitiveness as well as na-tional security. Some of the discussion groupinstantly voted to circle the wagons, cancel theH1B and L1 visas, and pull up the drawbridges,and also bewailed IEEE-USA for doing noth-ing. One discussant from IEEE-USA staunchlydefended their efforts, and if they were too smallit was because of a lack of commitment of timeand money by the volunteers who are doing thecomplaining, as well as an apathetic IEEE man-agement and membership at large. The authoroffered an opinion first that a certain amount ofoutsourcing is entirely consistent with IEEE’stransnational goals, but that if people felt sostrongly about more effort by IEEE-USA ontheir behalf they should lobby IEEE-USA to setup a voluntary fund they could contribute to forlobbying efforts, and they could volunteer tohelp mobilize more people who care in a writingcampaign to their elected representatives.

Is There a Union in our Future?

The subject of professional unions also wasbrought up in discussion until cut off by somewho felt it out of order. Engineers react againstunions, but some say that if they want job pro-tection and better regulation of credentials etc.,this is what they need. This led to taking a lookat IEEE, which is so diverse that it’s very hard tofind a “PE” kind of engineer anymore, to askhow effective it could be as a kind of union if itso chose. This quickly died. Many members arefrom other scientific fields or from other coun-tries where rules about degrees and licensing areall over the map. It seems impossible to dragIEEE backwards to fit into a simpler picture ofwhat the “Electrical and Electronic” industrieslooked like forty years ago, as much as thatmight be welcomed by some of us old boys.Recognizing this, it seemed agreed that if one


Virtue out ofnecessity

Man’s capacityfor justice makesdemocracypossible; butman’s inclinationto injustice makesdemocracynecessary.

Reinhold Niebuhr

ever did want a “Professional Union”, that itwould have to be a new entity entirely outside ofIEEE. Incidentally there is an interestingwebsite for the “Oregon Association of Tech-nology Professionals”, http://www.ortech.org.This is an Association, not a union, and it ap-pears to have been started by a couple of soft-ware types. They mention IEEE as beinginadequate to represent the kind of concernsthey have. (I was all ready to sign up until I readthe part that rules out anyone with hire/fire au-thority.) Another organization mentioned in theNYTimes article is the “Washington Alliance ofTechnical Workers”, http://www.washtec.org,in the state of Washington, which is trying to or-ganize IT technology workers under the umbrellaof the 700,000-member “CommunicationsWorkers of America”, http://www.cwa-union.org,which clearly is a union and does not seem tostress the word “Professional.” Oregon Associa-tion of Technology Professionals claims to havebeen inspired by WATC, but is aimed at profes-sionals who want collaboration on workplace is-sues but not a union.

What About the Future?Listening to all of the somewhat strained con-versations of the past few weeks, and the clearworries that many have about job security, eth-ics support and the lack thereof, protectionism,the role of IEEE-USA to promote the needs of275,000 U.S. engineers preferentially to theglobal IEEE members etc., I posited the fol-lowing questions to myself:

What kind of professional organizations willbest serve the ever-more closely interconnectedglobal community and global public interests?

Can IEEE be adapted to serve well in a worldthat on the one hand espouses increased “Free

Trade” partnerships to promote peace and prosper-ity, and on the other hand pre-emptive warsagainst terrorism that identify other countries(and their IEEE members) as the epitome of eviland distrust?

I rather quickly concluded that we need anorganization that is truly international in orga-nization, representation and scope of interests,serving an international public with quality aswell as equality. The IEEE is a U.S. Corpora-tion that has been very successful in the globalmarketplace in terms of attracting members,but as an exclusively U.S. corporation it is con-strained transnationally in addressing profes-sional concerns like ethical conflict betweenmembers and their employers, professionalstanding in the public arena, professional em-ployment tensions between labor, governmentand business, and professional involvement inthe local and national debate. IEEE is a won-derful organization that serves well as a forcefor education, publication, standards and con-ferences involving cooperative effort amongpracticing engineers and scientists worldwide,but it cannot escape its U.S.-Centric roots andimage as an ally of U.S. business. It will con-tinue in its present role that it does very well,but some areas are out of reach.

I have begun a personal effort to write downsome of the features I would like to see in a Pro-fessional Engineer and Scientist organizationthat can address a winde range of transnational aswell as national issues. If anyone would like to bepart of this discussion, at your own risk, pleasecontact the author to get on an email list.

Ray Larsen can be reached at the Stanford Lin-ear Accelerator Center, MS 66, Stanford, CA94309; Phone +1 650 926-4907; Fax: +1 650926-5124; E-mail: [email protected]

IEEE ELECTIONSEditor's note: This year there are two Institute-wide elections of interest to NPSS members. They are for the

posts of 2004 IEEE President-Elect and for 2004 Technical Activities Vice President-Elect. As in the past Iasked all four candidates involved if they would be willing to prepare expanded (up to about 750 word)statements in which they could provide more details about their platform than is allowed in the election brochure.

The two IEEE President-Elect candidates, Cleon Anderson and Michael Lightner were pleased withthe opportunity and provided thoughtful descriptions of their goals and aspirations for IEEE.They deserve our thanks.

However, for the first time ever, the two Technical Activities Vice President-Elect candidates, CeliaDesmond and John Vig, decided that, since our Society consisted of less than 1% of the IEEE membership, itwasn't worth their time and effort to provide expanded statements. This despite the fact that I pointed outthere are other Societies willing and happy to publish such statements. Apparently finding out who theseSocieties were was also not worth their time and effort. I hope that whoever gets elected will be able to apply


Don’t give up!

One is frightenedonly when he stillthinks he has achance.

AlbertoSantos-Dumont

Politic

It is much safer tobe feared thanloved, if one hasto lack one of thetwo.

NiccoloMachiavelli

the time and effort necessary to properly and fairly run the Technical Activities Board and that smallSocieties will not be adversely affected by their actions or inaction.

W. Cleon Anderson

Thirty-four years ago, my Student BranchCounselor told the Senior Electrical En-gineering Class at the University of

Utah, “If you think your decision to be an engi-neer is important, if you want to succeed in thepractice of engineering, if you really care aboutyour profession, you will join the IEEE. Noteveryone will be accepted into this prestigiousorganization, but with my recommendation,you can become a student member.” I joined,and since that time, I have been continuouslyengaged in interesting projects. I used myIEEE affiliation to keep me in touch with thelarger engineering community. Access to tech-nical information from IEEE made me valu-able to both my employer and colleagues. Thenetwork of friends I found in IEEE helped mefind engineers to hire, and provided me with anassurance of future work even during difficulteconomic times. I am a longtime IEEE volun-teer, because I believe in the value of IEEE andits mission.

I am seeking the IEEE Presidency to:Ensure that the volunteer members drive

the entire IEEE organization. Our strength isthe dedication and experience of our members.In managing the affairs of the Institute, I willlisten to, and include, those members who vol-unteer in our planning and decision-making.There is a natural synergism between the orga-nizational units of IEEE, which volunteers canexploit and use to benefit IEEE members.

Make business decisions that will maximizethe IEEE membership-advantage in the work-place. Members have the right to expect amembership-advantage and other benefits fortheir dues. Service to the members of IEEEmust take precedence over non-members whenit comes to using the IEEE organization to im-prove the engineering workplace. I want to en-sure that IEEE is member friendly, only thenwill membership recruitment and retention ac-tivities be enhanced.

Push decision-making responsibility andauthority down the global organization tomake IEEE flexible and adaptable to the di-verse needs of our worldwide membership.The global nature of the Institute should not bemonolithic. IEEE should seek alliances withnational engineering organizations using Re-gional Activities and the IEEE Transnational

Committee. Regional organizations (sectionsand chapters) must be given wide latitude indeveloping and executing plans for the benefitof our culturally diverse membership.

Challenge the liaisons between IEEE andindustry, universities, and governments, to en-hance our profession in general and advancethe well-being of IEEE members in particular.

Ensure that our conferences, publications,and standards add value for members workingin our industrial/business/academic communi-ties worldwide. Technical Activities form thebasis of fulfilling the scientific and educationalmission of IEEE. Publications and Standardsprovide the greatest leverage and opportunityfor IEEE to prosper in the industrial/businesscommunity.

Put value into every business decision, sothat IEEE Standards and society publicationsand conferences strengthen the image of engi-neers, promote excellent employment, and in-crease membership-advantage. Whileacknowledging IEEE as a many-faceted globalassociation, the strategic benefits of IEEEmembership must be the central focus of eachIEEE organizational unit.

In IEEE we are not without problems tosolve, but I think it is the role of engineers tosolve problems. I recognize the high levels ofeducational achievement our members have at-tained. I respect our volunteers as the wise andeducated people they are. Together we musttake the challenge to build on these strengths,enhance IEEE volunteerism, foster industrialrelations, and promote the importance ofIEEE products and services. These are thethree main needs of the Institute and its mem-bers today.

I have demonstrated management skills inindustry. I understand financial managementas required by corporations. Working as an en-gineer in industry, and as an engineering man-ager, has given me the experience and fiscaldiscipline for developing plans, setting priori-ties, and completing projects. I understandhow to evaluate programs for both theshort-term benefits and long-term implicationson income and growth. I have considerable ex-perience in working with volunteers innot-for-profit organizations. I can delegate.


W. Cleon Anderson

Candidate for 2004IEEE President-Elect

Why not both?

Single womanlooking for abachelor or 1bedroom suite inthis area.

From aVancouverchurch bulletin

I will use my managerial skills and financialexperience, developed during a demanding en-gineering management career, and the under-standing gained through years of extensiveinteraction with IEEE members in developingplans, setting priorities, and controlling pro-jects, as well as resolving financial problemswithin the Institute.

Today, more than ever, IEEE needs a presidentwith managerial skills. Together, let’s focus IEEE’s

great engine of volunteers in a business-like man-ner. Your vote for President Elect will give me theopportunity to help us reach these goals. Please visithttp://www.cleonanderson.com.

Cleon Anderson can be reached at L-3 Com-munications Systems-West, 640 N. 2200W, P.O.Box 16850, Salt Lake City, UT 84116-0850;Phone: +1 801 594-7323;E-mail: [email protected]

Michael Lightner

IEEE, the largest and most diverse profes-sional organization in the world, is the inte-grating thread of my 33-year career: a

source of colleagues, technical information,opportunities to present results, to help partici-pate in defining different research fields and ul-timately providing the possibility ofparticipating in leading different activitieswithin the IEEE.

The strength of IEEE lies in its diversity, in-credible volunteers and staff, global member-ship, and the international reach of its productsand services.

Our challenge is to maintain these strengthsin the midst of our current economic climateand the increasingly complex needs of ourmembers and the profession. A balanced anddynamic response is the key to our organiza-tional vitality and our economic viability. Thisbalance consists of:

• A decentralized organization of creative,entrepreneurial volunteers partneredwith a professional staff;

• An efficient, coherent, flexible, afford-able, and consistent infrastructure;

• Continual development, marketing anddelivery of products and services with af-fordable member rates;

• Extending our connections to industry,including new products and services,continuing education, leadership andmanagement opportunities for volun-teers, and an expanded standards activity;

• Quickly and visibly responding to ourrapidly changing technical environment.

The IEEE is a large, complex organizationoperating in a complex business environment.A decentralized organization allows us to re-spond to rapid technical and market changes.Many of our operations have been becomecomplex and intertwined with the relatedglobal businesses. Over the past seven or more

years the level of professionalism and expertiseof our staff has risen to match the complexityof our business environment. Our volunteersunderstand the detailed technology trends andthe possibilities for effective and innovativesupport of members and the profession. Cre-ative partnership between volunteers and staffis key to our future development.

We should have the most efficient andcost-effective infrastructure possible. I willcontinue working with the Board of Directorsand other organizational units to understandand vigorously pursue opportunities for costreductions based on the analysis of service lev-els and requirements. Detailed analysis hasshown that, over the past five years, the annualcorporate infrastructure has accounted for 19to 20 percent of expenditures. We must workto control these costs. Recent changes, both inour allocations and in the general economy,have created severe hardships within the IEEE.I am not convinced that we currently have ef-fective cost accounting and allocations, and Iwill work specifically to understand, reduceand clearly communicate the allocations.

It is critical that where we have common in-frastructure, such as Xplore, we institute mech-anisms to support innovation by societies. AsVP of Publications I am leading an initiativefor an Xplore product development lab thatwill allow societies to use our exceptional infra-structure to develop innovative, experimentalproducts and services.

Partnering with industry is critically impor-tant. IEEE does provide service to membersand companies. Many companies purchase ourintellectual property and find it essential totheir mission. IEEE standards are absolutelycritical to industry and industry is our key part-ner in this global activity.

Increasing services to industry is importantbut increasing visibility is vital. A simple first


Michael Lightner

Candidate for 2004IEEE President-Elect

I second that!

RoyalCommissionsspend yearstaking minutes.

Harold Wilson

step would be to work with all those who pur-chase our products and services to put theIEEE logo somewhere within their website.The logo would link to a page customized forthe company. This simple step would increasethe awareness and potential interaction be-tween companies and the IEEE. Next, I wouldcontinue the President Adler’s executive fo-rums. I would coordinate these through societ-ies, councils, sections and chapters. Finally Iwould work to increase our certification ef-forts, pioneered by the Computer Society, as aspecific activity that integrates the needs ofboth engineers and employers.

IEEE is entering a time of organizationaland operational change. These changesshould be driven by a broad vision. We needto be strategic, far-sighted and inclusive. Ioffer the following expanded vision - – theIEEE should be the integrating thread ofour Profession.

My professional background, leadershipskills and extensive IEEE experience enable meto work with volunteers and staff, companies,organizations and members, to provide openand timely communication, consensus build-ing, imaginative problem solving, efficient useof resources, and a sense of both responding toand driving the future. We are an incrediblegroup of people in an incredible profession.Together we have the opportunity to increasethe impact of IEEE by making it the integrat-ing thread of our profession!

I respectfully request your vote and wouldbe honored to work with you for the future ofIEEE.

Mike Lightner can be reached at the Universityof Colorado at Boulder, Department of Electricaland Computer Engineering, College of Engineer-ing East, 3100 Marine St., Rm A436: Phone +1303 492-5180; E-mail: [email protected] orvisit http://ece.colorado.edu/~lightner/IEEE/

NEW PUBLICATION BY NPSS MEMBER

Handbook on Radiation Probing, Gauging,Imaging and AnalysisVolume I: Basics and Techniques(464 pp, ISBN 1-4020-1294-2)

Volume II: Applications and Design(526 pp, ISBN 1-4020-1295-0)

(Set: ISBN 1-4020-1296-9)

by Esam M. A. Hussein

Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht

This is a four-part handbook that covers allaspects of non-destructive evaluation(NDE) with charged-particles, photons

and neutrons. The book is written by an IEEENPSS member: Esam Hussein, a nuclear engi-neer and professor and chair of Mechanical En-gineering at the University of New Brunswick,Canada. As described in the Foreword to thebook, written by Dr. John Hubbell (NationalInstitute of Standards and Technology), this isa “two-volume “how-to” desk reference on vir-tually all aspects of the use of photon and cor-puscular radiations in the interrogation ofmaterials and structures, I found the presenta-

tion format to be unique and useful. Althoughthe variety and comprehensiveness is akin to atopical encyclopedia, the presentation re-minded me of a thesaurus, in which thesubtopics are not sequenced alphabetically, but,similar to in a thesaurus, are sequenced in alogical progression. Then, going “Roget” onebetter, at the end of the book are found notone, but two alphabetized indexes, first an “ap-plication index” and finally a conventional in-dex alphabetically listing key words and theirpage numbers from throughout the text.”

The book starts with an introductory chap-ter that makes the case for using radia-


Esam Hussein

Equalizer

Even a giant isblind in the dark

Alan Hillgarth

tion-based methods in NDE, by comparingthem to conventional techniques.

Part I of the book covers radiation sources,modifying (interaction) physics and detectors.Radiation sources and detectors are identifiedand their properties presented. The physics ofradiation interactions are discussed in terms oftheir relevance to NDE. The safety aspects ofdealing with radiation are addressed in thefourth chapter of Part I.

In Part II, the examination techniques oftransmission, scattering, emission and absorp-tion are presented, each in a separate chapter.The conventional transmission techniques ofradiography and tomography are discussed,along with special variations such as dual-en-ergy methods, resonance imaging andMössbauer spectroscopy. The chapter on scat-tering methods covers techniques used toprobe a point in an object, provide an overallbulk indication, or produce an image; in addi-tion to methods that employ neutron diffrac-tion and charged-particle scattering. Methodsthat rely on induced (secondary) radiationemission, as well as those employing internalsources (e.g. radiotracers), are covered in thechapter dealing with emission methods. Indi-cations provided internally by the absorptionof different types of radiation are examined in aseparate chapter, including the neutrondie-away indication.

The second volume focuses on applica-tions and design. Part III begins by present-ing applications involving probing aparticular location in an object, inspectingproducts, and monitoring processes systems.Applications that give bulk quantified indica-tions are presented in a separate chapter. Theusefulness of elemental analysis, with neu-trons and x-rays, is demonstrated by a widevariety of industrial, environmental and geo-logical applications, along with others. Thechapter devoted to imaging applications dis-cusses, not only the industrial uses of familiartransmission-based radiography and tomog-

raphy methods, but also applications utiliz-ing scattering and emission.

Part IV addresses design aspects, in fivechapters. It starts with a list of the arguments adesigner can use to overcome the reluctance ofsome industries to adopt radiation-basedmethods. The first chapter in this Part identi-fies performance and design parameters, andaddresses the issues of choosing the proper ra-diation source, detector and technique. Achapter is devoted to the processes of modify-ing the energy, direction, and intensity of com-mercially available radiation sources. Designand shielding calculation methods are outlined.Experimental design, including the licensingprocess and laboratory practices, are examined.The last chapter deals with the issues associatedwith commercializing a developed device, inparticular, prototyping and patents.

In addiction to the above described 18chapters, the book includes 7 appendices, pro-vided for convenience at the end of each vol-ume. They include: basic units and constants,an alphabetical list of elements and natural iso-topes, the basics of relativistic mechanics, thequantum-mechanics concept for cross-sec-tions, methods for calculating nuclear/atomicparameters for compounds and mixtures, ap-proaches to evaluating the effective-energy ofmultienergetic sources, and radiation countingstatistics.

This book is designed to provide studentsand experts with an inclusive source of stream-lined information. Researchers and instrumentdevelopers will find a list of 1373 references.The application index will enable practicing en-gineers and industrial physicists to easily iden-tify techniques suited for a particularapplication, along with their previous uses.

Esam Hussein can be reached at the University ofNew Brunswick, Department of Mechanical Engi-neering, Fredericton, NB, E3B 5A3 Canada, Phone:+1 506 447-3105; E-mail: [email protected] Formore information about the Esam see:http://www.unb.ca/web/ME/faculty/hussein.html


Don’t tell meyou...

If people reallyliked to work,we’d still beplowing theground with sticksand transportinggoods on ourbacks.

William Feather

Blind side

Nature endowed us with pride to spare us the pain on knowingour imperfections.

La Rouchefoucauld

DISCLOSURE OF INTELLECTUALPROPERTY ASSIGNMENT AGREEMENTS

IEEE-USA Position Statement(Approved by the IEEE-USA Board of Directors, June 2003)

Pre-employment intellectual propertyassignment agreements, or other agree-ments with similar terms, and cove-

nants constitute a material part of anemployment offer, potentially equaling or ex-ceeding monetary considerations in impor-tance. When such terms and covenants arerequired, they are usually a non-voluntary pre-condition of employment. Therefore,IEEE-USA supports the following mini-mum standards of ethical conduct with re-spect to assignment agreements:

• Timely and complete disclosure of re-quired terms and covenants prior to or si-multaneously, with an offer ofemployment, and not after (1) the accep-tance of an offer and (2) the prospectiveemployee’s notice of termination to aprevious employer is an ethical necessity;

• Given the close relationship betweensuch terms and covenants, the em-ployee’s everyday duties and livelihood,and the unforeseeable but potential ma-terial implications, the mandate of pro-fessional ethics for disclosure is notdependent upon the level of interest ex-pressed by the prospective employee;

• The employer’s ethical obligation ofdisclosure also extends to establishedemployees. When an employer pro-poses alterations to previously agreedupon terms and covenants as a condi-tion of continued employment, the em-ployer has an ethical responsibility toprovide a period of acceptance suffi-cient for the employee to obtain alter-native employment;

• Consideration by the employer of rea-sonable objections and requests for mod-ification of terms and covenants is anethical necessity in all instances. Modifi-cation requests should not be unreason-ably refused. Refusal to accept alterationson the mere basis of unwillingness to ap-proach an officer of sufficient authority,or for lack of precedent, is considered tobe contrary to ethical standards. Exclu-sion from the pre-employment agree-

ments of existing intellectual propertyrights of the prospective employee is con-clusively reasonable; and

• An employer’s efforts to obtain intellec-tual property rights may extend beyondthe term of an inventor’s employment. Apre- employment agreement may requirefurther reasonable efforts of the inventorto cooperate with the employer even af-ter the termination of employment, butethical standards require that the inven-tor be reasonably compensated.

This statement was developed by theIEEE-USA’s Intellectual Property Committee,and represents the considered judgment of agroup of U.S. IEEE members with expertise inthe subject field.

BackgroundSince 1975, the IEEE-USA and its Intellec-

tual Property Committee have endeavored toencourage and improve use of the intellectualproperty rights. Intellectual property rights arean integral part of an inventor’s economicwell-being.

New employees are usually not shown intel-lectual property assignment agreements, andsimilarly required documents, before the dayemployment commences. While such docu-ments are generally a routine matter, in someunfortunate instances terms are required that areonerous and burdensome. Lack of pre-employ-ment disclosure serves to deprive new employ-ees of the opportunity to perceive potentialdifficulties before committing to employment.

Prospective employees may ask to inspectsuch forms before accepting an offer, and weencourage them to do so where forms are notvoluntarily pre-disclosed. Nevertheless, failureto ask is no proof of lack of interest. Our collec-tive experiences and those of our correspon-dents demonstrate that employers often have adominant bargaining position. A request to re-view documents may be held as a demonstra-tion of suspicion, and does little to pleaseprospective superiors.

The ethical solution is the simplest. Employ-ers should automatically provide prospective em-ployees with copies of the forms they will be


Count yourblessings

Much sorrow maybe avoided byacknowledgingthat as gloomy asbeing alonemakes you feel, itis rollickingheavencompared withbeing amongstmost otherpeople.

Roger Rosenblatt

required to sign, at the time of an offer. At thevery least, it is a simple professional courtesy.

The opportunity to comprehend andquestion overbearing or ill- conceived clauses

is imperative for all employees. These ques-tions and consequent modifications that arisewill reflect real needs, enhancing the viabilityof our industry.

ADVANCED NUCLEAR POWERRESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

IEEE-USA Position Statement(Approved by the IEEE-USA Board of Directors, June 2003)

The IEEE-USA supports a substantial re-newed nuclear energy R&D effort as part ofa broad and balanced government program

in energy technology. IEEE-USA believes that theimproved nuclear reactor designs merit a substan-tial advanced nuclear energy research, develop-ment and demonstration program. Such aprogram would result in the deployment of ad-vanced nuclear energy systems that could providea valuable future energy source.

IEEE-USA recommends increased funding forR&D in energy technologies generally, to providea diverse set of options for more efficient electric-ity use in the near and long-terms. Our vision em-phasizes energy efficiency and diverse energysources including solar, other renewable energy re-sources, and advanced nuclear technologies, in or-der to reduce the need for burning fossil fuels.Nuclear energy now provides 20 percent of elec-tricity in the U.S. and 17 percent worldwide. Inthe future, nuclear energy can contribute an evengreater share of clean and economic energy for agrowing population, raising the quality of life ofthe developing world while reducing pressures onthe earth’s environment and finite resources. U.S.Department of Energy funding of nuclear energyresearch, including research on reprocessing anduse of spent reactor fuel, needs to be invigorated.

The United States should:• Exercise world leadership in nuclear sci-

ence and technology.• Support the continued use of nuclear en-

ergy as a major component in a balancedportfolio of energy sources.

• Develop new nuclear energy systemswithin the larger context of increasedconservation, energy efficiency and use ofother energy sources.

• Capitalize on the advantages of nuclearpower - no direct emissions of CO2 orother greenhouse gases, and the capacityto produce a significant fraction of the

world’s demand for electricity for hun-dreds of years or more.

• Realize the potential for increased safetyand more attractive economics in thenext generation of reactor designs.

In moving forward with a major renewedprogram, the research needs to address thechallenges of nuclear power, including:

• Public concerns about the risks of radia-tion, nuclear power plants, and the trans-portation and storage of nuclear waste.

• Presence of a large quantity of energy andradioactive materials stored in the fuel ofa nuclear reactor.

• Difficulties in managing nuclear spent fuel.• llicit production of materials that could

be formed into nuclear weapons, and dis-semination of nuclear weapons expertisethat might increase the potential for pro-liferation of nuclear weapons.

• Economic challenges posed in the past bya long and uncertain licensing processthat led to significant increases in con-struction and operating costs in the USA

The IEEE-USA position is that nuclear energyhas been demonstrated to be environmentallysound and economically competitive, and that thechallenges discussed above can be addressed in amanner that will make nuclear energy an evenmore attractive energy option. The U.S. shouldaccelerate the research, development and demon-stration of next- generation nuclear energy sys-tems including reprocessing and the use oflong-term sustainable fuel cycles. The deploymentof advanced nuclear energy systems would be fur-ther assisted by implementing effective licensingreforms to demonstrate that reactors in the U.S.can be built as cost effectively as they are abroad.

This statement was developed by the EnergyPolicy Committee of the IEEE-United States ofAmerica (IEEE-USA), and represents the con-sidered judgment of a group of U.S. IEEE mem-bers with expertise in the subject field.


Story time

Where thehuman mindcannot establishor explain athing itnecessarilyinvents,preferring apretence oflearning to acompletelacuna.

T. Ribot

The Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers, Inc.445 Hoes Lane • Piscataway, NJ 08855-1331, USA

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDEaston, PA

Permit No. 7

2003 Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society

Administrative Committee

President Edward J. HoffmanVice President William W. Moses

Secretary Alberta M. Dawson LarsenTreasurer Edward J. Lampo

Most Recent Past President Peter S. WinokurDivision IV Director Harold L. Flescher

Elected Administrative Committee Members

Terms expiring 2003: Richard W. Callis (FT), Kenneth F. Gallo-way (RE), Osamu Ishihara (PSA), Edl Schamiloglu (PPST);Terms expiring 2004: Erik H.M. Heijne (Transnational), Tom K.Lewellen (NMIS), Mark Rader (PSA), Michael P. Unterweger(NID).Terms expiring 2005: Dennis B. Brown (RE), Mounir Laroussi(PSAC), Patrick LeDû (CANPS), William W. Moses (RI)Terms expiring 2006: Joseph Benedetto (RE), Grant Gullberg(NMIS), Glenn F. Knoll (RI); Patrick O'Shea (PAST)

Technical Committee Chairs

Computer Applications in Nuclear and Plasma Science(CANPS): Christian Boulin; Radiation Instrumentation (RI):Ronald M. Keyser; Fusion Technology (FT): Philip J.Heitzenroeder; Nuclear Instruments and Detectors (NID):Ronald M. Keyser; Nuclear Medical and Imaging Sciences(NMIS): Ronald J. Jaszczak; Particle Accelerator Science andTechnology (PAST): Bruce C. Brown; Plasma Science and Ap-plications (PSA): Thomas W. Hussey; Pulsed Power Science

and Technology (PPST): Robert E.Reinovsky; Radiation Ef-fects (RE): Ronald D. Schrimpf.

Functional Committee Chairs

Awards: Igor Alexeff; Chapter and Local Activities: Vernon G.Price; Communications: Peter N. Clout; Fellow Candidate Eval-uation: Osamu Ishihara; Finance: Harold Flescher; ConferencePolicy: Raymond S. Larsen; Membership: Vernon G. Price;Nominations: Peter S. Winokur; Publications: Paul V.Dressendorfer; Students & Careers: Edl Schamiloglu & Ken-neth A. Connor; Transnational: Erik H. M. Heijne.

Publications

Editor-in-Chief: Paul V. Dressendorfer; Editor, IEEE Transac-tions on Nuclear Science: Paul V. Dressendorfer; Editor, IEEETransactions on Plasma Science: Steven J. Gitomer; Editor,IEEE Transaction on Medical Imaging: Max A. Viergever;Conference Editors, Transactions on Nuclear Science: Ed-ward J. Hoffman, John Valentine; Editor, Newsletter: W. Ken-neth Dawson; Newsletter Editor Emeritus: John F. Osborn.

Liaison Representatives on other IEEE Committees

Coalition for Plasma Science: Gerald L. Rogoff; Distin-guished Lecturer Program: Vernon G. Price; Energy Policy:TBA; R&D Policy: Peter S. Winokur; PACE: Julian Forster;RADECS Liaison: Harold Flescher; Social Implications of Tech-nology: Raymond S. Larsen; Standards: Julian Forster; TABNew Technology Directions: Edward J. Hoffman; TMI: ABertrand Brill and Ronald J. Jaszczak.

2003 nuclear science symposium and medical...

Documents