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As I start my second
year as RISC Chair, I can see that 2005 promises to be an exciting
one for the RITC. First, the results of last fall’s election
brings five new members to the RISC. The new members, whose terms
started January 1, 2005, are Jim Brau, Larry Franks, Roger Gearhart,
Sara Pozzi and Marek Szawlowski. We would like to congratulate the
winners and welcome them to the RISC. The runners up were Renyuan
Zhu and Ingrid-Maria Gregor, and we hope that they will continue
to have an interest in the RISC and consider running for election
again in the future. We would also like to thank Leon Kaufman, Zane
Bell, Patrick Le Dû, Marek Moszynski and Anthony Peurrung,
whose terms ended on December 31, 2004, for their much appreciated
service on the RISC.
Certainly the biggest event for the RITC last year was the 2004
NSS/MIC/RTSD, which was held in Rome, Italy from October 16-22,
2004. This was by far the largest NSS/MIC ever, with over 1700 attendees
and a very full program from both the NSS and MIC, as well as the
RTSD. Alberto Del Guerra did an excellent job organizing and running
this extraordinarily large meeting, and I wish to congratulate him
and his Organizing Committee on their outstanding success. Please
see Alberto’s report in this Newsletter for additional details.
The RISC held its annual meeting in conjunction with the 2004 NSS/MIC
on October 19, 2004. The main order of business was the report of
the Site Selection Committee, headed by Ron Keyser, on its choice
of a site for the 2007 NSS/MIC. The recommendation was for Hawaii,
with St. Louis a close second. The RISC voted in favor of this recommendation,
which was subsequently also approved by the NMISC, and the meeting
is now destined for Hawaii in the fall of 2007. At the present time,
the General Chair has not been named, but there are several worthy
and willing candidates. The next order of business for the Site
Selection Committee is to choose a site and a General Chair for
2008. There is considerable interest and support for hosting the
meeting in Europe in 2008, particularly in Germany, and the Committee
is now awaiting formal proposals from several groups regarding potential
sites there. We hope to have a clear picture of how this will proceed
by early spring of this year.
One of the most enjoyable events at the NSS/MIC meeting in Rome
was the presentation of the RITC awards at the NSS luncheon. Two
RITC awards were presented. The Outstanding Achievement Award went
to Prof. Emilo Gatti from the University of Milano for his many
outstanding achievements in the field of radiation detectors, and
for “a career in pioneering and transcendent contributions
to nuclear electronics.” As many of us have known Emilio for
many years as a devoted attendee of the NSS, it was particularly
appropriate that he receive this award with all of his colleagues
present in Rome. The second award was the Early Career Award, which
went to Dr. Chiara Guazzoni, also from Milano, for “contributions
to an innovative X-ray spectroscopic imager with fast frame rates
and nuclear electronics.” In addition, eight other young investigators
were also given certificates of recognition for their achievements
in the early stages of their career. It was particularly enjoyable
to see our community recognize these outstanding young scientists
for their excellent work.
The Outstanding Achievement Award will also be presented this year,
and we would like to call for nominations for this prestigious award.
The award is given in recognition of outstanding and enduring contributions
to the field of radiation instrumentation. Anyone, not just an RITC
member, who has made long-standing and noteworthy contributions
to the field is eligible. Nomination forms can be found on the NPSS
website at http://ewh.ieee.org/soc/nps/awards.htm which, when completed,
can be sent to our Awards Committee Chairman, David Wehe at dkw@umich.edu.
The nominations are due by June 1st, 2005, so please get your nominations
in as soon as possible to allow time for the Committee to make its
selection.
Another important way to recognize outstanding members of our Society
is through the promotion of our colleagues to Senior Members and
Fellows. We have many people in our Society who have made great
contributions to the field of radiation instrumentation, detectors,
electronics, medical imaging, and numerous other areas, as well
as having performed great services to our Society as a whole. We
should recognize these individuals for their achievements, and this
can be done through the IEEE Senior Member and Fellows program.
Information about this can be found on the IEEE website at http://www.ieee.org/
under IEEE Awards and Fellows for the Fellows Program, and Understanding
Membership for Senior Members. Please consider identifying outstanding
scientists and engineers in our field (including yourself!) and
promote them through these noteworthy programs.
Other news from the RISC meeting includes the appointment of Zane
Bell as the new Chief Editor for Radiation Detectors for the IEEE
Transactions on Nuclear Science. Zane takes over from John Valentine,
who served admirably as Chief Editor for several years. We thank
both John for his years of diligent service, and Zane for stepping
up and taking over this important job.
Looking ahead, we should all take note of the dates of the upcoming
NSS/MIC conferences. The 2005 NSS/MIC will be held at the Wyndham
El Conquistador Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico from October 23-29,
2005. Tom Lewellen is the General Chair, and the planning for this
conference is well under way. The deadline for abstract submission
is May 2, 2005 and is coming up soon, so please start preparing
your abstract and summaries. We expect this to be another large
meeting, and a most enjoyable one at one of the top resorts in the
Caribbean.
Plans for the 2006 meeting are also under way, which will be held
from Oct. 29-Nov 4, 2006 at the Town and Country Resort in San Diego.
Graham Smith is the General Chair of this meeting, and the first
conference announcement will soon be sent out. The RTSD will also
be held in conjunction with the NSS/MIC in 2006, so we expect that
this will again be a large and well attended meeting.
Finally, please don’t forget that we will again be electing
five new members for the RISC this year. Serving on the RISC is
an excellent opportunity to get involved in the workings of our
Society and to let your opinion be heard. Please consider running
for the RISC if you would like to make a difference in how we do
business. Nominations are due by July 1st of 2005 and can be sent
to me at woody@bnl.gov or give me a call at 631-344-2752.
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