SSCS was reviewed at the November IEEE Technical Activities Board Meeting. IEEE Bylaws mandate that entities be reviewed at least every five years; the review was done by the TAB Society Review Committee, and covers such†topics as finances, governance, membership, meetings, publications, globalization efforts, etc. Below is an abbreviated overview of the review; the full text and figures are available from the Society Executive Office and will be posted on the Society web site www.sscs.org/info/
Introduction: The Solid-State Circuits Society is the IEEE's newest society, having officially started on 1/1/97. It evolved from the Solid-State Circuits Council, which was formed 8/25/70, although its major†activities precede that date (the first International Solid-State Circuits Conference was held in 1954, and the Journal of Solid-State Circuits†started in 1966). The Council broke off from the Circuit Theory Group because its founding members felt the need for an entity which dealt with the practical aspects of design and application of transistor circuits. This emphasis on the practical aspects of circuits and chip design has remained the focus of the Council/Society to the present.
Field of Interest: The design, implementation and application of solid-state integrated circuits. The FOI was initially adopted May, 1996, and has not been changed. It was intentionally made very simple, straightforward, and comprehensive.
Finances: As reported in the last Newsletter, the Society finances are excellent. The years 1993-1997 resulted in surpluses of around $200K each year. The projections for year end 1998 and the 1998 budget are for losses somewhat over $100K, but do not include capital appreciation of the reserves, which should be sufficient for year end finances to break-even. Reserves are currently at $2.7M. The aim over the next 2-5 years will be to plow any surpluses back into increased member services rather than increasing the reserves, and a controlled reduction of reserves to this end is a possibility.
Governance: The voting AdCom consists of the officers, members elected by the Society membership, and specific appointed positions (currently 8 - mainly standing committee chairs). The last election brought the number of elected AdCom members up to the full 15, elected 5/year for three year terms; 4 are from Region 8 (Europe) and 4 from Region 10 (Asian and Australia), with 8 from industry and 7 from academia. The officers include the President, Vice President, Past President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Of the 10 Chapters, 4 are in the US, 1 in Canada, 2 in Europe, and 3 in Asia. SSCS has one technical committee, which puts on workshops generally twice a year.
Membership: Membership has been growing by well over 10% since becoming a society on 1/1/97, and reached 11,779 in October, making SSCS the 8th largest society in IEEE. This reversed a long decline in JSSC IEEE membersí subscriptions from 10,591 in 1991 to the low point of 7,100 in 1996 for the Council. 37% of the membership is from outside the U.S. Only 14% of members belong only to SSCS, and 49% belong to two or more other IEEE societies. Membership includes the Journal of Solid-State Circuits, and with dues at $14 is the lowest of any IEEE society that includes a technical publication; it also includes a CD-ROM of the previous two year's issues of the JSSC and the Newsletter.
Meetings: The ISSCC is the Society's flagship meeting, and is the venue of choice for the presentation of leading edge accomplishments. Attendance has increased dramatically from around 2100 to over 3200 from 1994 to 1998. For 1998, 1/3 of the attendees and 51% of the accepted papers were from outside the U.S. The Society also financially sponsors the CICC and the VLSI Circuits Symposium, and technically cosponsors 8 other meetings.
Publications: The Journal of Solid-State Circuits is the premier technical publication in solid-state circuits, and is included in Society membership. Page count has risen from 1,498 in 1993 to 2,157 in 1997. 74% of the published papers are from outside the U.S. Half of the issues each year are special issues from various conferences. The Journal has aggressively attacked publication delay with excellent results. For special issues, the delay from receipt to publication is 7-8 months, and for regular submissions it is about 1 year. Both are among the very best for IEEE publications, and the editorial board continues to work on reducing the delay further. Acceptance ratio for regular submissions is about 50%. A Newsletter is sent to members quarterly.
Globalization: The Society strongly reflects the worldwide character of the solid-state circuits community. A third of the membership is from outside the U.S.; there is strong participation from the membership of Regions 7-10 as conference attendees, program committee members and authors, and in Journal paper authorship. Over half the elected AdCom members come from Regions 8 and 10, as are half the chapters. The VLSI Circuits Symposium alternates between the U.S. and Japan, and the Society Technically Co-sponsors ESSCIRC and the International Symposium on VLSI TSA, the leading circuit conferences in Europe and Taiwan respectively.
Education: The Educational Activities Committee had its first meeting in August, 1998. The Society is cosponsoring, with CAS, a series of professional development courses on Video and Wireless Communications, and in February 1999 the SSCTC workshop on RF Passive Components will be video-taped and made available as a multimedia product on CD-ROM.
Long Term Goals: The major long terms goals are:
Major challenges/opportunities are:
This is a short overview of the complete review of the Society; you are encouraged to look at the full report on the SSCS web site www.sscs.org or request a printed copy of the Society Executive Office sscs@ieee.org or FAX +1 (732) 981-3401. Your comments and feedback are welcome.
Lewis Terman
President
terman@us.ibm.com