President’s Message

The last few months have been rich with AP-S events – as always! As President of the Society, I have the privilege of witnessing firsthand the impact of our initiatives and experiencing the incredible enthusiasm of our volunteers. The following snapshots offer a glimpse into some of the vibrant activities of AP-S.

July is traditionally the month when our community gathers for our flagship conference, the IEEE International Symposium on Antennas & Propagation and North American Radio Science Meeting (AP-S/URSI 2025). This year, the symposium took place in beautiful Ottawa from 13 to 18 July. The feedback received points to a resounding success, despite ongoing challenges in international travel. The Technical Program was of excellent quality supported by a revised review process and slightly longer AP-S papers, ensuring indexing as “full paper” in major databases. Congratulations to Dr. David Michelson, General Chair, and his team for this highly successful event. A notable highlight was the introduction of the Future G Summit by our Industry Initiative Committee, which drew significant interest and facilitated stimulating cross-sector interactions — an initiative we intend to continue and expand in future editions. A luncheon hosted by the AP-S Talent Development Fund (see IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine 67(2), page 143, April 2025) recognized several of our generous donors present in Ottawa, including Drs. Raj Mittra, John Volakis and C.J. Reddy, who have established support programs to foster the next generation of IEEE ANTENNAS & PROPAGATION MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2025 AP-S talents. We also witnessed the inaugural in-person meeting of the recently established twelve AP-S Technical Committees. At the onset of the symposium, the AP-S Administrative Committee gathered for two highly engaged days of activity reports, discussions and motions (Figure 1). A central item on the agenda was the planning of the 2026 budget, to be implemented within the framework of IEEE’s updated financial processes.

AP-S, of course, does not operate in isolation, and we actively cultivate collegial and collaborative relationships with our sister societies, including MTT-S, GRSS or EMC-S, as well as external related organizations such as URSI, AMTA or EurAAP. One key mechanism for stimulating our connections is through the exchange of 7 ideas and information through crossattendance at our respective AdCom meetings. Figure 2 captures one such occasion with an impressive assembly of Presidents (including IEEE President Prof. Kathleen Kramer) and volunteers united in promoting the coming MAPCON conference, to be held in Kochi in December 2025 (https://ieeemapcon.org/).

AP-S technically co-sponsors around 40 conferences worldwide each year. Each event has its own unique characteristics, making it challenging to single out favorites. Nevertheless, I was delighted to attend two recent events with a strong focus on supporting the next generation of talented electromagnetics research engineers and scientists.

• The Wireless, Antenna and Microwave Symposium (WAMS), founded by Dr. Sudhakar Rao, was held in Chennai in early June. This conference actively involves students in various aspects of its organisation and provides a particularly welcoming forum for young scholars. The numerous awards and travel grants facilitate broad student attendance, which contributes to a highly energetic and enthusiastic atmosphere!

• The IEEE International Workshop on Electromagnetics: Applications and Student Innovation Competition (iWEM) was held in early August at City University of Hong Kong and was chaired by Dr. Steve Hang Wong. Notably, the conference offered a high number of top-quality student papers and featured an “Innovation Series” of plenary presentations by Distinguished Young Scholars. A highlight not to be missed was the iWEM international karaoke contest at the conference dinner!