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is so often the case, my good intentions were a bit lacking in execution
– so the slate of candidates for NMISC elections is still
not done (only about 2 months late now). The current goal is to
have the election slate submitted to IEEE by the end of July. This
year we elect 5 members at large and a new vice-chair. At the IEEE
NSS/MIC conference in Hawaii I will turn over the NMISC chair to
Charles Watson. I want to take this moment to thank all that have
served NMISC and supported the many volunteer activities needed
to put on the NSS/MIC meeting. And, to repeat a theme I have used
often – do spread the word that we are always looking for
new volunteers to keep our grand enterprise running. Just have them
contact me (tkldog@u.washington.edu)
or Charles Watson (Charles.Watson@cpspet.com).
MIC 2007
The meeting, held at the Hilton Hawaii Village, Honolulu, Oct 26-Nov
3, 2007, is almost upon us. The abstract submission rate has once
again increased – making the challenge for the 2007 NSS/MIC
committee all the more ‘interesting’. Having run one
of these meetings, I know that the general chair, Ben Tsui (Johns
Hopkins) and his team are in the midst of the ordered chaos that
is part of the tradition of the meeting. As one of our IEEE members
observed, if you hold the meeting people will come and clearly 2007
is going to be another banner year. To repeat myself, let me again
thank Eric Frey (the MIC chair), and Magnus Dahlbom (deputy MIC
chair) for their efforts for this year’s meeting.
MIC 2008
The 2008 committee and general chair Uwe Bratzler have also had
their share of work getting ready for the 2008 meeting to be held
at the conference center in Dresden. New workshops have been added.
Of particular interest to NMISC members will be an after conference
workshop on MRI/PET development to be held at the Research Center
Juelich (Forschungszentrum Juelich, FZJ), located in the Cologne-Aachen
area October 27-28. IEEE is a technical co-sponsor for the meeting
(approved at the June AdCom meeting).
MIC 2009
The main committee for the 2009 meeting is now in place. As mentioned
in our last newsletter, Richard Lanza is General chair, Ramsey Badawi
is the NMISC chair, and I am the local arrangements chair. All the
other main positions have also been filled, so the 2009 meeting
is off to a good start. The site will be the Hilton at Walt Disney
World. We will take over the entire conference area at the hotel
and expect to have enough room for all of our functions (and avoid
some of the problems we have faced in recent years). The room rate
will be $175 (in 2009 dollars), but we also have commitments for
a percentage of our room block to be at federal per diem rates as
well as a number of student rate rooms (at $119/night). In late
August (2007) we will begin more detailed planning with the hotel
on room layouts and, considering our recent trends in attendance,
also begin plans for additional hotel rooms if they are needed.
l Keep an eye out on the NSS/MIC web site (www.nss-mic.org) for
more information.
MIC 2010
As discussed in the last newsletter, the 2010 site is Knoxville.
For those who have been to Knoxville, you know it is a most pleasant
city with a beautiful countryside. The facilities are first rate
and we will be able to offer hotel rooms at ~ $120/night in 2010
dollars. Ron Keyser is the general chair and is currently working
on some fine details with the contract. The meeting will be in the
Knoxville convention center with several hotels participating in
the NSS/MIC room block for the meeting.
MIC 2011 and 2012
The site committee is now looking at options for 2011 and 2012.
The ongoing discussion of how often the meeting should be held in
Europe is still ongoing with the current two options being every
four or every three years. This issue must be resolved before we
can finalize options for 2011 and 2012. The committee is also reviewing
proposals from an organizing group in Spain to hold the meeting
in Madrid. So far, this looks like a very strong option, but we
have not yet finalized if it would be in 2011 or 2012. Whichever
of those two years we are in Europe, the other year will be a West
Coast region city. Several sites are now being investigated but
it is unlikely any final lists will be ready by the October 2007
NMISC meeting. We will update all via the newsletter and expect
to present a final set of locations for consideration at the 2008
NMISC meeting in Dresden.
Tom Lewellen, Chair of the Nuclear Medical and Imaging Sciences
Technical Committee, can be reached at the University of Washington,
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine, Room 200, Old Fisheries Science Center,
PO Box 357897, Seattle, WA 98185, USA; Phone +1 206 543 2365; E-mail:
tkldog@u.washington.edu.
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