JIf I run into you somewhere at a meeting, my friend, and spring the question, "So, are you going to IWAT next year?" you

would probably give me one of those looks of surprise that says, "What the heck is he talking about?" But you would probably be polite and come back to me with, "You say what?" And I would respond to that by telling you, "I say IW AT," leaving you still con­fused, I guess. So, to clear up all this confusion, I figured my best bet would be to tell you all about IWAT, the "new kid on the block" in the meeting world, that is.

IWAT (International Workshop in Antenna Technology) is a

brainchild of Zhining Chen of lnfocomm in Singapore, and it debuted - where else - in Singapore, in March of 2005. It all started, almost as a jest, when Zhining and I were attending an ESA Workshop in Santiago de Compostela, in Spain (see the report by yours truly in the IEEE Antennas and Propagation

Magazine, 46, 2, April 2004, pp. 100-102). We kept running into each other at one of the three Internet terminals that were set up for the conference participants, and which were always busy. So, I would often carry on some small talk with Zhining while waiting in the line - exchanging some pleasantries and such � to keep us occupied. On the second day, when I ran out of small talk, 1 had this big idea: why not ask Zhining to organize a sort of sequel to this ESA Workshop - which was a one-shot deal - on his home turf, in Singapore? Although I was quite skeptical about the possi­bility of the idea ever flying, I said to myself: "After all, why not bounce it off Zhining anyway? Hey, what have I got to lose?" And, you know what: it worked! And that's how IW AT was born - well, conceived, anyway.

Actually, after I put the bug in his ear, Zhining gave me his "inscrutable oriental" smile and, to tell you the truth, I was not at all sure how he was going to play it. But, apparently, after he got on the Internet, he fired off a mail message to his boss back in Singapore. And I thought, yeah, right, his boss would probably think he was crazy and would tell him: "Hey you're already work­ing 60 hours a week managing all these projects, so where are you going to find the time to take on this big task of organizing an international meeting?"

So, 1 returned home, without thinking much more about it, and sort of put the whole thing on the back burner. However, a few days later I heard back from Zhining, saying that his boss has given him thumbs up and he is ready to rock-and-roll (I am paraphrasing,

of course). And rock-and-roll he surely did ! He put an army of his staff, associates, and friends in Singapore to work on planning the workshop. He even roped Rick Ziolkowski and me into the act, by getting us to chair the International Advising Committee (lAC). I tried to be nice to him and said that I would agree to do it, but, could he please tell me what exactly does he expect from us as IAC chairs? He replied, casually, that there will be 20+ members of the IAC committee - big-shot names in the antenna world, from dif­ferent countries, whom he had picked out - and all we have to do is to contact these guys and ask them to contribute, participate, chair sessions, and whatever, so that they will serve as drawing cards for other potential attendees.

This was an interesting concept upon which to organize a workshop: and, you know what, it worked like a charm. The IW A T debuted with great success, as measured by using any yardstick for

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judging meetings that you would care to choose: superb venue (fancy hotel), excellent keynote speakers, focused program, high­quality contributed papers (both oral and poster), and, of course, great food - in short, all the ingredients of a successful meeting.

Just to make sure that the legacy of the IWA T'05 is contin­ued into the future, Zhining has already planted the seeds of IW A T'06, even before the 'OS version was over. He twisted the ann of his good friends, Duixian Liu (Figure I) and Brian Gaucher (Figure 2) of IDM, and convinced them to host the '06 meeting in \Vhite Plains, New York, a mere stone's throw from the "Big Apple," and close to the IBM facility where Duixian and Brian work.

Of course, selecting the venue for a meeting is only a small first step toward organizing the rest of it. Duixian had the huge

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Figure 1. Prof. Yue Ping Zhang (1) and Dr. Duixilln Liu (Gen­eral Chair oflWAT'06).

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Figure 2. (I-r) Dr. Modest Oprysko (keynote speaker) and Brian Gaucher (General Co-Chair).

IEEE Antennas and Propagation Maga�in9, Vol. 48, No.2, April 2006

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Figure 3. (I-r) Dr. Zbining Cben, Dr. Duixian Liu (General Chair), Prof. Jennifer Bernhard (TPC Cbair), Prof. Christos

Christodoulou (keynote speaker), Prof. Richard Ziolkowski, and Dr. Steven Best (keynote speaker).

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Figure 4. Prof. Raj Mittra (lAC Chair).

Figure 5. Prof. John L. Volakis (lAC Co-Chair) and Prof. Christos Christodoulou (keynote speaker).

IEEE Antennes and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 48, No.2, April 2006

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Figure 6. Prof. Koichi Ito (TPC Co-Cbair) and Dr. Dev Palmer (keynote speaker).

Figure 7. Prof. Etban Wang and Prof. Yahya Rabmat-Samii (keynote speaker).

Figure 8. Dr. Felix A. Miranda (keynote speaker).

95

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Figure 9. Prof. George V. Eleftberiades (keynote speaker) and Prof. Hao Xin.

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Figure 10. Prof. Hyo Joon Eom and Prof. Tatsuo Hoh.

footsteps of Zhining to follow, and although he could take the easy way out by simply being a copycat, he chose instead to put in his own stamp in the planning of IW AT'06. Of course, I knew that he would still need some help with the planning and I was glad to offer it, knowing that he would follow the first rule of Confucius, which I learned by watching how Zhining operated. The rule says: "If you want to plan something important, do it over a Chinese dinner." And, indeed, Duixian, Brian and his wife Kristina � who later got volunteered to do all the legwork with the local arrange­ments and such � took us to a seaside restaurant in Singapore dur-

96

ing the '05 meeting, where they chalked out their plans for the '06 version of the IW AT. All the important committees, including the lAC and TPC, as well as related issues such as keynote speakers and the organization of the sessions (Figures 3 and 4), were dis­cussed over exotic Chinese cuisine far more sophisticated than you would find stateside. It was proposed that John Volakis (Figure 5) be invited to co-chair the lAC, and to ensure that he would agree to take on the task, we decided to follow the second rule of Confucius, which says that if you want a Greek guy to do some­thing for you, then serve him a couple of glasses of good wine. Having discovered this rule in a fortune cookie (incidentally, for­tune cookies are an American invention, not found anywhere else in the world), I wasn't too sure how well it is going to work. But, you know what, it did indeed work like a charm. John agreed to join the team, proving once again that you can always bet on Confucius, counting on him never being confused.

Anyway, to cut the story short, we picked other key players to join the team, including Jennifer Bernhard (Figure 3) and Koichi Ito (Figure 6), two of most dedicated people who ran the TPC. With the entire team in place, Duixian, Brian, and their whole crew set off to work. And the result? One of the most successful work­shops we ever attended, and the dedication of all those involved truly showed. (Of course, I did my part by attending a few more Chinese dinners, all in the name of a good cause, namely to help plan tbe '06 meeting.)

I would like to invite you to visit the website of IWAT'06 (http://research.ihost.comliwat20061) to see gobs of pictures that Duixian and Brian took. Also, for your convenience, I include here a few pictures that Duixian has selected for your perusal (Fig­ures 1-10).

Before I leave, I have one small request to make of you: check out the IW AT'07 (http://www.elec.qmul.ac.uk/iwat071) during March 25-27 of next year, to be held in the fair city of Cambridge, in the UK Folks at the Queen Mary College in London and elsewhere are already working feverishly to plan the meeting, so that it will be even better than the last two. I was recently in London to help them with a little advance planning, over a Chinese dinner, of course. You understand by now, dear reader, that I was just trying to carry out further research into Confucius' rule number one - all in the name of science - don't you?

Raj Mittra

Electromagnetic Conununication Lab, EE Department Pennsylvania State University 319 Electrical Engineering East University Park, PA 16802-2705 USA Tel: + 1 (814) 865-1298; Fax: +l (814) 865-1299 or 863-8457 E-mail: Mittra@engr.psu.edu @

IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 48, No. 2, April 2006