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Harold L. Flescher |
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Harold L. Flescher |
The first “Radiation and its Effects on Components and Systems Conference” (RADECS) was held in Montpellier, France in 1989 as a French conference. Two years later the members of the organizing committee expanded the breadth of RADECS to become a European conference with participation from North America. Also beginning with the 1991RADECS, the NPSS has published significant papers from RADECS in a special biennial issue of IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science in much the same way as is done annually for the NSREC. Members of the Bureau RADECS and the NPSS Radiation Effects Steering Group (RESG), the management bodies of the two conferences, have been working together to continue to expand the usefulness of both conferences and of our mutual business and scientific activities.
Our collective communal success is shown by some statistics from 1999. At this past NSREC in Norfolk, Virginia, USA, over 25% of the papers came from outside the USA, and almost 10% were co-authored by members from both communities. Members of the RADECS community also served as short course presenters, reviewers and session chairpersons. Similarly at this past RACECS in Fontevraud, France, almost 25% of the papers came from North America, and almost 5% were co-authored by members of both communities. Again, members of the NSREC community served as reviewers and session chairpersons. The RESG and the Bureau RADECS, the conference management bodies, are similarly linked. Philippe Calvel is a member of the RESG representing RADECS, Peter Winokur is a member of the Bureau RADECS representing the RESG and I am a member of the Bureau RADECS representing the Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society.
As we move into a new century and almost a new millennium I would like to highlight our increasingly strong collaborative scientific environment. When I became involved in radiation effects on electronics activities in the mid-1960s, the existing cold war environment prevented us from sharing research information even between United States government agencies. I never dreamed that we would be sharing our information freely between countries. I believe that we are truly headed toward a world economy rather than an agglomeration of country economies, and the same is true for our scientific, engineering and academic activities. I also believe that the members of the NPSS Radiation Effects Committee and the RADECS Association have, through their intentionality to share, lead this evolution through the demonstration of models for beneficial scientific collaboration. This is an accomplishment for which we should all feel proud.
Harold Flescher can be reached at the Raytheon Company, M/S 5-2-567, 528 Boston Post Road, Sudbury, MA 01776; Phone: (978) 440-3648; Fax: (978) 440-2229; E-mail: h.flescher@ieee.org.
Teresa Farris, the REC Publicity Chairwoman, can be reached at UTMC Microelectronics Systems Inc. (UTMC), 4350 Centennial Blvd., Colorado Springs, CO 80907; Phone: (719) 594-8035; Fax: (719) 594-8468; E-mail: farris@utmc.utc.com.