| The
33rd IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science (ICOPS 2006),
sponsored by the Plasma Science and Applications Committee and IEEE
Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society, was held at Grand Traverse
Resort and Spa near Traverse City, Michigan from June 4 through
June 8, 2006.
I am delighted to report that ICOPS 2006 proved to be a very successful
event. The conference welcomed over 400 attendees, having received
almost 500 abstracts. Approximately 30% of the registrants were
non-US participants in keeping with the international nature of
the conference. As in prior years, the number of non-US participants
could have been higher if it were not for time-consuming visa application
procedures. We are pleased to report that approximately 30% of the
total registrants were students, evidence that the conference appeals
to our future plasma scientists.
The ICOPS 2006 technical program was superb with the technical topics
organized into seven broad areas. Each area was headed by a Technical
Area Coordinator (TAC) who also served as a member of the technical
committee. The technical areas were:
1) Basic Processes in Fully and Partially Ionized Plasmas,
2) Microwave Generation and Plasma Interaction, 3) Charged Particle
Beams and Sources,
4) High Energy Density Plasmas and Applications,
5) Industrial, Commercial, and Medical Plasma Applications,
6) Plasma Diagnostics,
7) Pulsed Power and Other Plasma Applications
Across these technical areas, there were a total of 31 separate
technical topics representative of the wide scope of scientific
endeavor embraced at the conference.
Each topic was managed by an individual Session Organizer (SO),
who was responsible for organizing the technical sessions. This
included reviewing submitted abstracts, selecting the invited talks,
determining oral and poster papers, ordering the sessions and communicating
with other SO’s. The full session list can be viewed at www.icops2006.org.
The topics attracting the highest number of abstracts were: Atmospheric-pressure
Nonequilibrium Plasmas, Z-pinches and Radiation Sources; Low-pressure
Nonequilibrium Plasmas, Medical, Biological, & Environmental
Applications. The technical success of the conference can be largely
attributed to the SO’s and TAC’s who diligently solicited
high-quality contributions and organized the sessions. See www.icops2006.org
for a list of the SO’s and TAC’s.
Five plenary talks enriched the technical program, addressing a
variety of topics which were presented by well-respected members
of the plasma science community.
A Special Issue of IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science (TPS) will
be published to document ICOPS 2006, in addition to the Conference
Record-Abstracts Book. The Special Issue is devoted to Invited and
Plenary talks from ICOPS 2006. Steve Gitomer of Los Alamos National
Laboratory and the Editor of TPS, along with guest editors Jes Asmussen
(Michigan State University and Fraunhofer USA Center for Coatings
and Laser Applications), Timothy Grotjohn (Michigan State University),
and Thomas Schuelke (Fraunhofer USA Center for Coatings and Laser
Applications) are overseeing this Special Issue.
ICOPS 2006 also featured a 2-day minicourse on Plasma Processing
Technologies, organized by Thomas Schuelke of Fraunhofer USA Center
for Coatings and Laser Applications. The course attracted 40 attendees
from industry and academia which was an excellent participation
and was found to be both interesting and useful by participants.
ICOPS offers a Student Grant Travel program to encourage student
participation to the conference. The Chair of the Student Travel
Grant Committee (a PSAC/EXCOM function) was John Luginsland of NumerEx.
Grants were awarded to 10 students which assisted their attendance
to the conference. The on-site IEEE membership booth was run by
Tony Peratt, and a total of 28 new members to IEEE were signed.
To facilitate networking and social interaction, the conference
hosted a welcome reception on the Sunday evening and a banquet on
the Tuesday evening. Both were extremely well attended. Ron Gilgenbach
of University of Michigan received the IEEE Fellow Award at the
banquet as did Chris Deeney of Sandia National Laboratories. It
was an eventful evening for Chris Deeney who was the winner of the
annual Plasma Science and Applications Committee Award which was
also presented by Dan Jobe (Chair PSAC/EXCOM) at the ICOPS banquet.
The occasion was marked with the presence of a Scottish bagpiper,
heralding Chris’s nationality.
ICOPS 2006 benefited greatly from the generous support of a number
of organizations. Supporters of ICOPS 2006 included: Michigan State
University, Fraunhofer USA Center for Coatings and Laser Applications,
Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Tech-X, and IOP Publishing.
Volunteers from Sandia National Laboratories and K-tech also provided
invaluable hands-on support at the conference.
Grand Traverse Resort and Spa provided an excellent and beautiful
location for this meeting. The wonderful weather allowed everyone
to appreciate the impressive grounds at this Michigan facility.
The staff at Grand Traverse Resort was efficient, supportive, responsive
and more than capable of handling this type of conference.
Sincere thanks go out to all those involved, in particular the Local
Organizing Committee who were Timothy Grotjohn, Co-Chair, Thomas
Schuelke, Treasurer, Beth Fohrman, Administration, and Claire Rosser,
Conference Manager. Their contributions were crucial in ensuring
the success of ICOPS 2006.
For additional information, please visit the website at www.icops2006.org.
Jes Asmussen, ICOPS 2006 Chair, may be contacted at asmussen@egr.msu.edu.
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| Chris Deeney, Recipient of 2006 Plasma Sciences
Award with Piper |
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