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The 31st IEEE International
Conference on Plasma Science (ICOPS 2004) was held at the Hyatt
Regency Hotel (on the Inner Harbor) in Baltimore Maryland from Monday
28 June through Thursday (half day) 1 July 2004. By all measures,
ICOPS 2004 was a great success.
A total of 632 abstracts were received. The conference had 500 registrants,
with non-US participants accounting for 22% of the total. Thanks
in large part to the effort of the International Coordination Committee,
twenty-three countries were represented at ICOPS 2004. The number
of non-US participants could have been higher if it were not for
new, more time-consuming visa application procedures for certain
countries. I take great pride in reporting that 25% of the registrants
were students. The overall participation in ICOPS 2004 is among
the highest ever for this annual meeting.
The technical program was outstanding. The technical topics for
ICOPS 2004 were grouped into seven, broad technical areas, with
each area headed by a Technical Area Coordinator (TAC), who also
served as a member of the Technical Program Committee. The technical
areas included:
- Basic Processes in Fully and Partially Ionized Plasma,
- Microwave Generation and Microwave-Plasma Interactions,
- Charged Particle Beams and Sources,
- High Energy Density Plasmas and their Interactions,
- Industrial, Commercial, and Medical Applications of Plasmas,
- Plasma Diagnostics, and
- Pulsed Power and Other Plasma Applications.
Across these technical areas, there were a total of
29 separate technical topics representative of the wide scope of
scientific endeavor embraced within this meeting. Each topic had
an individual Session Organizer (SO), responsible for organizing
the technical sessions, e.g., picking invited talks and determining
oral and poster papers. The topics attracting the six highest number
of abstracts were: 1) Fast Z-Pinches, X-ray Laser, and Dense Plasma
Focus; 2) Medical, Biological, and Environmental Applications, 3)
Pulsed-Power Applications of Plasmas, 4) Intense Electron and Ion
Beams, 5) Slow Wave Devices, and 6) Thermal Plasma Chemistry and
Processing. The technical success of this meeting is primarily a
result of the fine work by the TACs and the SOs (see the ICOPS 2004
web site at www.ieee.org/icops2004
for a list of the TACs and SOs). The technical program was augmented
by seven plenary talks. The plenary-talk topics ranged from very-applied
to fundamental plasma physics and were presented by well respected
members of the plasma physics community.
Two peer-reviewed Special Issues of the IEEE Transactions on Plasma
Science (TPS) will be published to document ICOPS 2004, in addition
to the traditional "Conference Record - Abstracts" book.
The first TPS Special Issue is devoted to Invited and Plenary talks
from ICOPS 2004. Carl Ekdahl (LANL, also a TAC) and Patrick Pedrow
(Washington St. University, also a SO) are the guest Editors. The
second Special Issue is devoted to Selected Oral Talks from ICOPS
2004. The Guest Editors for this Special Issue are Paul K. Chu (City
University of Hong Kong) Christine Coverdale (SNL, also a Session
Chair), Simon Cooke (NRL), Adrian Cross (University of Strathclyde,
Glasgow), and Trevor Moeller (University of Tennessee Space Institute,
Tullahoma, also a Session Chair). Steve Gitomer (LANL), the Editor
of TPS, is working diligently to ensure the success of Special Issues.
The annual Plasma Science and Applications Committee Award was presented
to David Hammer (Cornell University) at the Wednesday afternoon
Plenary Session. The citation for the award reads as follows: "For
fundamental contributions to the understanding of intense relativistic
electron beam propagation, intense ion beam generation and propagation,
innovative plasma diagnostic development for intense beam devices,
X-ray source development using novel plasma pinches, and for his
commitment to the mentoring of graduate students in the field of
plasma science." Congratulations to Dave for the well-deserved
recognition.
This conference featured several, well-attended satellite meetings.
From Monday through Wednesday, a total of four computer-code user-group
workshops were run sequentially during the conference. The Fusion
Energy Sciences Advisory Committee hosted a fusion-priorities panel
discussion on Monday evening. Also on Monday evening, there was
a kickoff meeting for the Multidisciplinary University Research
Initiative on Cathodes and RF Breakdown. On Wednesday evening, a
Symposium on Thermal Plasma Processing was held. This was the first
of what is hoped will be many more such Thermal Plasma Processing
Symposia to take place at the ICOPS meeting.
As is the ICOPS tradition, this meeting was augmented by a minicourse.
The minicourse for ICOPS 2004, ably organized by Mounir Laroussi
(Old Dominion University), was on Non-Thermal Medical/Biological
Applications of Ionized Gases and Electromagnetic Fields. It was
held on Thursday afternoon and all day Friday, so as not to conflict
with the conference. The course attendance totaled 14, with six
students. Two of the students received a Phelps Award of $500 each
to support their attendance at the minicourse. The participants
found the minicourse to be well run, informative, and stimulating.
The ICOPS offers a Student Travel Grant Program to encourage student
participation. The Chair of the Student Travel Grant Committee (a
PSAC/EXCOM function) for 2004 was Edl Schamiloglu (University of
New Mexico). Edl was ably assisted by John Booske (University of
Wisconsin). Fifteen students received travel support to attend ICOPS
2004. Financial support for the student travel grants came from
Edl and Bob Barker (AFOSR) - who contributed proceeds from their
new book, a grant from AFOSR (again, thanks to Bob), and a contribution
from ICOPS 2004. Over half of the awards were given to non-US students.
The average award was about $585.
To encourage membership in the IEEE, the ICOPS meetings offer free,
half-year memberships to the IEEE, on-site at the conference. This
year was no different. Vern Price (retired) did a great job handling
the registration booth. A total of 27 individuals signed up for
the half-year membership, including five from outside the US region
and five students (all US).
There were many opportunities for social interaction at ICOPS 2004.
In addition to the welcoming reception on Sunday night and the traditional
conference banquet on Tuesday night, there were two receptions.
The Coalition for Plasma Science (CPS) reception was hosted by Lee
Berry (ORNL and Chair of CPS) on Monday night. The Wednesday-night
reception for Women in Plasma Science was organized by Morag Garven
(MRC/NRL, also a member of the Local Organizing Committee). This
reception featured Dr. Kimberly Budil (LLNL, on assignment to NNSA)
as a guest speaker. All of these events were well attended.
The venue for ICOPS 2004 was ideal. The many attractions of the
Baltimore Inner Harbor were easily accessible and were enjoyed by
all. The weather was perfect and the presence of six tall ships
added to the ambiance. The Hyatt Regency provided excellent support
and its conference facilities are well matched to needs of a 500-person
meeting.
ICOPS 2004 benefitted greatly from the generous support of many
organizations. Supporters for ICOPS 2004 included: Air Force Office
of Scientific Research, Alameda Applied Sciences Corporation, Army
Research Office, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Los Alamos National
Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Mission Research
Corporation, Naval Research Laboratory, D.C., NumerEx, Sandia National
Laboratories, Titan/Pulse Sciences Division, U.S. Department of
Energy, and the University of Maryland. In addition, 13 student
volunteers from the University of Maryland (UMD) provided a great
deal of help at the conference. Thanks to Tom Antonsen (UMD, also
a member of the Local Organizing Committee) for coordinating the
student activities and for providing an LCD projector and laptop
computer for the speaker ready room.
Bob Parker (SAIC/NRL), Conference Co-Chair, and I would like to
take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to Paul Ottinger
(NRL), Conference Treasurer, and Joe Schumer (NRL), Chair of the
Local Organizing Committee. Their tireless efforts were key to the
success of ICOPS 2004. Finally, we would like to thank Mark Goldfarb
(Palisades Convention Management) for a fine job as the Conference
Manager.
For additional ICOPS 2004 information, see the web site at www.ieee.org/icops2004.
Robert Commisso may be contacted at the Naval Research Laboratory,
Code 6770, 4555 Overlook Ave SW, Washington, DC 20375-0001, Phone:
+1 202 404-8984, Fax: +1 202 767-2012; E-mail: Commissoo@suzie.nrl.navy.mil
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