This year the IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium (IMS) and exhibition will be held in San Francisco, CA, at the Moscone Convention Center. The last time that IMS was held in San Francisco was in 1996. The meeting has grown since then and will be held in the larger south side of the hall. The technical program continues to be the largest microwave meeting in the world with seven parallel sessions plus the usual panel sessions, interactive forum and workshops. The RFIC symposium and ARFTG meeting will also be held as part of the week’s activities. On-site registration opens at 2:00 pm on Saturday, June 10, with the first workshops starting on Sunday, June 11. Workshops continue on Monday, June 12. The last workshops and the ARFTG meeting are on Friday, June 16. The IMS sessions, RFIC sessions, panel sessions, workshops and exhibition will all be held in the convention center. The special Maxwell rump session will be held in the Marriott Hotel. The ARFTG meeting will be held in the Renaissance Parc 55 Hotel. A schedule of events can be found on pages 30–31. The detailed program of events is available at www.ims2006.org.

Air Travel to San Francisco

Airline service to the San Francisco area is readily available to the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and a limited number of airlines provide service into the Oakland Airport (OAK). SFO is located about 14 miles south of the city and is the recommended airport. Transfers are available via taxi, shuttle service, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) or private car. BART stops at all terminals. The fare is $5.00. There are about 10 shuttle services. The fares are between $10 and $17. Information and rates are available at www.flysfo.com. Taxis and major rental car company counters are available at both airports. Typical taxi fares run from $40 to $50.

Hotels

There are seven hotels with convention rates. All of these are downtown within walking distance of the convention center. The headquarters hotel is the Marriott, which is only two blocks from the convention center. Transportation will not be provided except for special needs.

Guest Program

There are nine guest program tours for either full or half days plus a golf tournament on Monday, June 12. Registration for the golf outing can be done on the IMS registration form. All other guest programs can be arranged at www.signaturesf.com/ieee. There is also a guest hospitality suite in the Marriott from Sunday through Friday mid-day.

Social Highlights

The Microwave Journal/MTT-S reception will be held Monday evening, June 12, at the Yerba Buena Garden Terrace from 6:00 until 8:00 pm. The garden is located on the roof of the north side of the convention center, directly across the street from the meeting lobby. Everyone is invited at no charge.

Symposium exhibitors will sponsor a cocktail reception at the Marriott Hotel on Wednesday evening, June 14, from 5:45 to 7:15 pm. Complementary beverage tickets will be included in the delegate bags. The MTT-S Awards Banquet will be held at the Marriott Wednesday evening at 7:30 pm following the Industry Reception. Winners of this year’s MTT-S awards will be honored after dinner. The RFIC reception will be held on Sunday, June 11, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm at the Moscone Convention Center. The IEEE Women in Engineering reception will be held at the Marriott on Tuesday, June 13, from 8:00 to 10:00 pm. There will also be a Ham Radio Social that evening in the Marriott from 8:30 to 10:00 pm. Finally, there will be a Student Awards reception at the Marriott the same evening from 6:30 to 9:00 pm.

There will be complementary breakfasts for registered symposium technical attendees ONLY, in the Moscone Convention Center on Monday through Thursday from 7:00 to 9:00 am. An IMS, RFIC or ARFTG badge is required for participation.

The MTT-S IMS Technical Program

This year there will be 364 papers presented in seven parallel regular IMS sessions plus six focused and special sessions with an additional 137 papers presented in the open forum format. There will be 100 papers presented in the RFIC sessions, plus 29 papers in the open forum format. Twenty-two student papers have been nominated for special judging with awards for the best papers given at the Student Paper Luncheon. There will be five panel sessions held at noon on Monday through Thursday. The sessions are open to everyone at no charge. Box lunches, if desired, may be purchased for these sessions. There will be 31 workshops and 11 tutorial sessions on Sunday, Monday and Friday, all of which include meals and refreshments as part of the registration fee. A special rump session honoring the 175th birthday of James Clerk Maxwell will be held Tuesday evening.

Plenary Session

Everyone is invited to attend the plenary session at 10:00 am on Tuesday. After welcoming remarks by John Barr, IMS chairman, Karl Varian, MTT-S president and A.P.S. (Paul) Khanna, co-chairman of the Technical Program Committee, there will be the presentation of IEEE Fellow awards followed by two keynote addresses. Ron Resnick, president and chairman of the WiMAX Forum, will talk about the deployment of WiMAX in its various forms and future projections. Richard White, professor at University of California at Berkeley, will give a talk entitled “Nanotechnology: Hype or New Horizons.”

Exhibition

The IMS exhibition continues to be the largest and most influential show in our industry. Over 500 companies will exhibit their new products and services in halls A, B and C on the lower level of the convention center. The exhibits will be open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm on Tuesday and Wednesday and from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm on Thursday. For a list of exhibitors, see pages 66–72. The floor plan of the convention center is on pages 74–75. Exhibition catalogs will be available on-site. Please note that children under the age of 14 will not be admitted to the exhibition halls at any time.

Historical Exhibit

The historical exhibit is a collection of significant hardware developments, books, papers and video presentations encompassing the history of the microwave industry. The exhibit is open to all attendees during the exhibition hours on the show floor.

Cyber Cafes

There will be two hard-wired cyber cafés on the mezzanine level of the convention center. The convention center is not fully covered for 802.11; however, there will be Hot Spots in the exhibit halls. Tables, chairs and power will be provided. There is no charge for the service.

Awards

Recognition of the new IEEE Fellows will take place at the plenary session. All the other awards will be presented at the Awards Banquet on Wednesday Evening. The Microwave Career Award is given in recognition of a career of meritorious achievement and outstanding technical contribution in the field of microwave theory and techniques. This year’s award will be presented to Eikichi Yamashita.

The Distinguished Service Award recognizes outstanding service to the MTT-S over a sustained period of time. The award this year will be given to Roger D. Pollard.

The Distinguished Educator Award was inspired by the untimely death of Prof. Fred Rosenbaum. It honors an educator in the field of microwave engineering and science, who best exemplifies the special human qualities of Fred Rosenbaum. This year’s recipients are Wolfgang Hoefer and Peter Russer.

The Microwave Pioneer Award recognizes an individual or team for pioneering efforts as evidenced by an archival paper published at least 20 years prior to the year of the award. This year’s recipient is Peter R. Herczfeld for his work on microwave photonics.

The Application Award recognizes an individual or team for outstanding application of microwave theory and techniques. The year’s recipient is Marian W. Pospieszalski for his work on MESFET/HEMT modeling for cryogenic, low noise amplifiers.

The Microwave Prize is given annually for the best paper published during the previous year. The recipients are Joseph A. Hagerty, Florian Helmbrecht, William McCalpin, Regan A. Zane and Zoya Popovic for their paper “Recycling Ambient Microwave Energy with Broadband Rectenna Arrays.”

The N. Walter Cox award has been established in recognition of the qualities of N. Walter Cox and his service to the MTT-S prior to his death in 1988. It is given to a Society volunteer whose efforts on behalf of MTT-S best exemplify Walter’s spirit and dedication. This year’s winner is Timothy T. Lee.

The Outstanding Young Engineer Award is given to a young engineer who has made an outstanding contribution in the areas of theory, application or education. There are two winners this year. They are Ian Gresham for his work in mm-wave Si and GaAs circuits and systems and Emmanouil Tentzeris for his contributions to adaptive numerical tools for full wave modeling.

An additional award will be given this year to Peter W. Staecker, who has been made an Honorary Life Member of MTT-S.

General Information

There will be an information booth outside the registration area at the convention center and a guest hospitality suite in the Marriott Hotel. An IEEE/MTT-S membership booth will be near the registration area. There will also be information booths for the IMS 2007 in Honolulu, HI, and the MTT-S 2007 Radio and Wireless Symposium, scheduled for January in Long Beach, CA.

Free coffee, tea and soft drinks will be available in the refreshment areas on the exhibition floor.

IEEE policy prohibits recruiting of attendees during the symposium. Exhibitors may not post information on job opportunities or recruit for prospective employees.

Smoking is not permitted in the convention center and children under the age of 14 will not be admitted to the exhibition halls at any time.