This year the IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium (IMS) and Exhibition will be held in Philadelphia, PA at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Although the MTT-S Symposium was hosted by the Philadelphia Chapter of MTT-S at Cherry Hill, NJ in 1976, this is the first time the IMS will be held in Philadelphia itself, in conjunction with a full exhibition. The technical program is the largest ever with six parallel sessions plus the usual panel sessions, interactive forums 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 7, with the first workshops starting on Sunday, June 8. Workshops continue on Monday, June 9. The last workshops and ARFTG meeting are on Friday, June 13. The workshops, IMS sessions, RFIC sessions, Panel sessions, ARFTG meeting and the Exhibition will all be held in the Pennsylvania Convention Center (PCC) in downtown Philadelphia near City Hall. The detailed program of events is available at www.ims2003.org.


TRAVEL TO PHILADELPHIA

Philadelphia is served by the Philadelphia International Airport, which is about 10 miles from the downtown area. Taxi fares to the city are about $20 plus tip. Shuttle service is available and the SEPTA Railroad and Rail Transit system provides rail transportation from the airport to downtown at low cost. Rental cars are not recommended, since most of the hotels are within walking distance to the PCC, other attractions are short cab rides away and hotel parking is expensive. AMTRAK also provides rail service from Boston, New York, Baltimore and Washington to a downtown terminal.

HOTELS

There are nine hotels with convention rates in the downtown area. Most are a short walk, although several are as much as nine blocks away. The headquarters hotel is the Marriott, which has a connecting bridge directly into the PCC.

GUEST PROGRAM

There are 10 guest program tours for either full or half days including an all day tour to Atlantic City. Note that children under 18 years of age are not permitted in the casinos. Bus transportation is provided for all of the tours. All busses load from the 12th Street entrance of the Marriott.

SOCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

The Microwave Journal /MTT-S reception will be held Monday evening, June 9, at the Independence Seaport Museum from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. Everyone is invited at no charge. Busses will leave from the PCC starting at 5:45 pm and will return to the PCC after the event.

Symposium exhibitors will sponsor a cocktail reception at the Marriott on Wednesday evening, June 11, from 5:30 to 7:00 pm. Complementary beverage tickets will be included in the registration packages.

The MTT-S Awards Banquet will be held at the Marriott Wednesday evening, June 11, at 7:00 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 evening, June 8, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm in the Grand Hall at the PCC. Admission for one is included in the RFIC registration. Additional tickets may be purchased in the registration area.

On Tuesday evening, June 10, a special Dinner Cruise will be held aboard the "Spirit of Philadelphia." Busses will board from the 12th Street entrance of the Marriott at 5:30 pm.

THE MTT-S IMS TECHNICAL PROGRAM

A new record of 1342 papers were submitted for this year's meeting. Of these, 110 will be presented in 22 RFIC sessions and 545 will be presented in 63 IMS sessions including Interactive Forum displays. Although there are more papers than ever before, the selection process was just as rigorous as in the past, thus insuring the technical quality of the symposium. There will be five panel sessions at noon from Monday through Thursday. Three tutorials will be held on Sunday and a record 34 Workshops will be held on Sunday, Monday and Friday. The usual ARFTG meeting is also scheduled for Friday.

THE PLENARY SESSION

Everyone is invited to attend the Plenary Session at 8:00 am Tuesday. After welcoming remarks and an overview of the technical program, Congressman Robert Andrews will give the Keynote address, "Technologies for Homeland Defense." IEEE awards will also be presented.

STUDENT PAPER COMPETITION

There were 276 papers submitted by students this year. Of these, 145 were accepted and 24 were chosen as finalists. The finalists will give their papers in the normal sessions for their topics as well as at the Interactive Forum on Tuesday afternoon, where they will be judged. The six best papers and four honorable mentions will be recognized at the Awards Banquet on Wednesday evening.

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 at the PCC. 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. The floor plan of the PCC can be found here.

Please note that children under the age of 14 will not be admitted to the exhibition.

µAPS

The Microwave Application and Product Seminars (µAPS) are technical product oriented sessions presented by selected IMS exhibitors. This year they will be presented on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in a meeting room at the rear of Hall B. The scheduled times are the same as the exhibition hours.

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 at the front of Hall C.

AWARDS

Recognition of the new IEEE Fellows will take place at the Plenary session. At that time, Peter Asbeck will also be given the 2003 IEEE David Sarnoff Award and Peter Staecker will receive a special award for his unparalleled distinguished service to MTT-S and IEEE. All 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 J. David Rhodes.

The Distinguished Service Award recognizes outstanding service to the MTT-S over a sustained period of time. The award this year will be presented to Edward E. Niehenke.

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 recipient is Lester A. Eastman.

The Microwave Pioneer Award recognizes an individual or team for pioneering efforts in the field as evidenced by an archival paper published at least 20 years prior to the year of the award. This year the award is given to Walter R. Curtice for his work on GaAs MESFET models for nonlinear circuits.

The Application Award recognizes an individual or team for outstanding application of microwave theory and techniques. This year's recipient is Aaron Oki for his work on III-V HBT development.

The Microwave Prize is given annually for the best paper published during the previous year. This year's recipients are Eric Beyne, Walter De Raedt, Samir F. Mahmoud, Steven Brebels, Kristof Vaesen, Philip Pieters and Robert P. Mertens for their paper, "Accurate Modeling of High-Q Spiral Inductors in Thin-Film Multilayer Technology for Wireless Telecommunication Applications."

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 three winners this year. They are Tatsuya Hirose, Joy Lasker and Gabriel Rebeiz.

The winners of the Student Paper competition, Scholarship and Fellowship winners and the Early Career IMS 2003 Travel Grants will also be announced at the banquet.

GENERAL INFORMATION

There will be an information booth in the registration area of the PCC and a Hospitality Suite in the Marriott Hotel. An IEEE/MTT-S membership booth will also be located in the registration area.

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

Smoking is not permitted in the PCC and children under the age of 14 will not be admitted to the exhibition.