Some final thoughts

Our Society’s greatest strength is its diversity. We have eight active technical committees that run outstanding conferences and publish our Transactions on Nuclear Science and Plasma Science. Income from our conferences and publications puts the society on a strong financial footing. You’ve read ad nauseam of IEEE’s financial woes. Thanks to Ed Lampo, NPSS was well positioned to weather the IEEE financial storm, while other societies were fighting for their very existence I think it’s fair to say that we were part of the solution and not part of  the problem. Clearly, IEEE needs a new way of doing business and much progress is being made.

NPSS embraces the international nature of IEEE. In the last couple of years, we’ve held conferences in France, Spain, and Canada. In 2003, we’ll go to Korea and in 2004 to Italy. The greatest part of NPSS growth is in Europe, where NPSS has recently established chapters in Paris, Benelux, Italy and Ukraine. This is exciting for everyone. The 26 June 2002 issue of IEEE’s Society Sentinel reports that NPSS is the second   fastest  growing  Society  in  IEEE  at 7.0%. We attribute our overall growth to Vern’s tireless recruiting efforts at NPSS conferences, the unbundling of the journals from the membership fees, and our highly professional NPSS brochure and web site.

IEEE Publications is a difficult, complicated, and at times frustrating business. Yes, it’s a business, the core of IEEE’s $200 million enterprise. It was so easy to prepare camera-ready manuscripts. Why did we need to change to fully electronic? Really, there wasn’t any choice. The IEEE financial engine is driven by your intellectual property. The users of that IP – libraries, universities, and corporations – need fully searchable, cross-referenced material. IEEE Xplore^TM is the platform we use to deliver our product and it has proven to be a huge success. One and a half million engineers have access to Xplore^TM, which had 749,602 unique visits in May and a minimum of 39,000 visits per day. Every month, 1.5 million PDF files are downloaded!

I’m proud of the work of the NPSS Communications Committee. Peter Clout has spearheaded an activity to effectively present our society to its members and prospective members. We have a great new brochure, poster, membership booth, and a score of handouts. Ken Connors and Dick Kouzes have developed a top-notch web site. Following the lead of other societies, our web site should serve as the “portal” for information on nuclear and plasma sciences. This portal should direct visitors to basic information in the field of nuclear and plasma science.

A great example of this type of outreach is the Coalition for Plasma Science, a group of institutions, organizations, and companies joining forces to increase awareness and understanding of plasma science and its many applications and benefits for society. By visiting the coalition’s web site at www.plasmacoalition.org, you can learn some new things about plasmas in our world, in our society, and in our economy. Get answers to basic questions like: “What is plasma?” I’m proud to say that NPSS’s own Gerry Rogoff heads the Coalition for Plasma Science. In addition, our portal might offer distance learning, which could include short courses of our own making or commercial 3^rd party courses for high school, college, graduate, or continuing education. The NPSS web site must be the primary source of information for our members and the public.

In the final analysis, we are a volunteer organization. I want to thank Albe Larsen, NPSS Secretary, Ed Lampo, NPSS Treasurer, and Ken Dawson, NPSS Newsletter Editor, for their long-term dedication and invaluable contributions to our Society. As they say, Albe, Ed, and Ken make the trains run on time. It’s easy to lose sight of the fact that they’re also great engineers who have made significant contributions in their respective technical communities. Thanks also to our transactions editors Steve Gitomer, Ed Hoffman, and John Valentine.

It has always been my great pleasure and good fortune to work with my close friends Hal Flescher and Paul Dressendorfer, NPSS’s Finance Committee Chair and Editor-in-Chief, respectively. Finally, I want to pledge my support to Ed Hoffman, our incoming NPSS President, who brings a great perspective and wealth of experience to his new position.

It has been an honor to serve as NPSS President for the last two years. It has been the best of times, and in some ways,  it has been the worst of times. Welcome to the 21^st century.

Peter Winokur, NPSS President, can be reached at Office of Senator Harry Reid, 528 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC, 20510; Phone: (202) 224-3542; Fax: (202) 224-7327; E-mail: p.winokur@ieee.org.