RAS E-News August 2006

Volume 4, Number 4

Welcome to RASeNews, the IEEE RAS email newsletter. RASeNews is limited to short announcements of RAS Conferences, RAS society 'action items', breaking news, and time-sensitive issues. Send comments, queries and news items to r.g.snyder@ieee.org.

 

1. ICRA07 Deadline September15-www.icra07.org

To ensure that there is time for thorough review, the submissions deadline will be strictly enforced. Contributions are considered in the following categories: Contributed papers (possibly accompanied by short video clips), proposals for Invited Sessions, proposals for Tutorials and Workshops, and Video submissions (a separate self-contained video without a paper). All Contributions must be submitted electronically through PaperPlaza.

2. 3RD IEEE-RAS/IFRR School of Robotics Science—Deadline Extended—RAS Fellowships

August 15 is the extended deadline for applications for the new School of Robotics Science. The School, sponsored by the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society and the International Federation of Robotics Research on the topic of “Haptic Interaction", will take place in Paris, September 25-29, 2006. Initial details, particularly the application procedure, are available at the following URL: http://www.cim.mcgill.ca/~haptic/summerschool/index.html The Robotics and Automation Society will provide $US 20,000 to fund fellowships for RAS student members who attend the School. Awards will be handled through the normal application process detailed on the school web site. Professors Vincent Hayward, McGill University, and John Hollerbach, University of Utah, who are experts in the field of haptics, have been appointed as this year's co-organizers.

3. IEEE T-RO Spec. Issue on on Human Robot Interaction

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ROBOTICS Special Issue on Human Robot Interaction. Guest Editors: Profs. Cecilia Laschi, Cynthia Breazeal, and Yasushi Nakauchi. Submissions due by September 30, 2006. www.ieee.org/t-ro

4. IEEE T-ASE Spec. Issue on Drug Delivery Automation

Special Issue on Drug Delivery Automation. Submissions Due by 1 January 2007. Guest Editors: Mingiun Zhang, Liwei Lin, Channing Robertson, Chiming Wei, T.C. Yih, Babak Ziaie. www.ieee.org/t-ase.

5. IROS 2006--Make your travel plans!

It’s time to make travel plans and reservations. Most applicants will also need to obtain visas to visit Beijing. The conference is offering several post conference tours for IROS participants. See the IROS webpage www.iros2007.org.

6. Nominations-Petitions for RAS AdCom Candidates

Nominees (including self-nominations) may be recommended to the nomination committee or petition (via a web based petition on the IEEE website) to be included on the ballot. IEEE regulations state that candidates who submit petitions with 97 valid signatures (equal to 2% of the RAS voting membership) will automatically be on the ballot. All candidates with at least 25 valid signatures will be considered by the nominations committee. Candidates may submit a paper petition or a web-based petition. See http://www.ncsu.edu/IEEE-RAS/#petitions for details.

7. RA-M Theme Issue on Walking and Running Biped Robotics

IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine Theme Issue on Walking and Running Biped Robotics. Submissions due by 1st of December 2006. Guest Editors: Eric R. Westervelt and Carlos Canudas-de-Wit.

8. RAS VP-Elect Nominations

At their October 2007 meeting the AdCom will elect vice presidents elect for Finance, Member Activities, Publication Activities, Industrial Activities, Conference Activities, and Technical Activities. Send nominations to Art Sanderson, Nominations Corresponding Co-chair, acs@ecse.rpi.edu.

9. ICRA 2006 Proceedings for Sale

If you were unable to attend ICRA 2006 you may still purchase copies of the ICRA Conference Proceedings DVD. The DVD includes the regular papers, posters, and video proceedings. To order, send a request with a bank check or money order to the ICRA Conference Treasurer for $100.00 per copy. A few copies of the Workshop materials CD are also available for $45.00 each, plus shipping for outside US/Canada. Those outside the United States or Canada must add an additional $20.00 for shipping. We regret that we are unable to accept credit card orders. Send orders with payment to Prof. T.C. Steve Hsia ICRA 2006 Treasurer 3332 Oyster BayAve. Davis CA 95616 USA

10. RAS Ad-Hoc Committee for Robotics Competitions and Challenges

Call For Volunteers! The 1st meeting will be held in Beijing during IROS 2006. The role of robotic competitions of different kinds in attracting interest and enthusiasm to our discipline, and to catalyze its development, is widely acknowledged. Many of our members are active in organizing or participating in such competitions, and RAS is often requested approval, endorsement, or sponsorship of competitions. While there is enthusiasm in many members, RAS has not as yet developed a coherent policy towards competitions, addressing questions such as what criteria should be met by a competition in order for RAS to endorse it, allowing e.g. the use of its logo, and whether RAS could financially support competitions run locally, for instance by IEEE chapters. Another important question is whether RAS should have an official, society-wide competition, perhaps connected to one of its major annual conferences. These questions are multifaceted, as they involve issues related to the multidisciplinary nature of our discipline and the international dimension of our society, the right technical level for competitions and challenges, etc. To study the matter in detail, the RAS Membership Activities (MA) Board has decided to launch an Ad-Hoc Committee on Robotic Competitions and Challenges. If you are interested in participating in the discussion and/or the committee, please send an email to RAS vice president for MA, Antonio Bicchi (bicchi@ing.unipi.it). A first meeting of the Ad-Hoc Committee is planned to be held during IROS'06, October 9-15, in Beijing, tentatively on Thursday, October 12.

11. IEEE Graduate Student Membership Grade

The IEEE has established a new Graduate Student Membership Grade (GSM). Details: *Dues: GSMs pay the same dues as undergraduates *Privileges: GSMs can vote in IEEE and Society elections and may hold offices in Sections, Chapters and Affinity groups. *Conditions: GSM must meet the requirements for regular IEEE membership. *Combined SM and GSM membership is limited to eight years. However the first year as a regular Member has reduced dues.

12. New Category of IEEE Fellow

In 2003, the IEEE Board of Directors made significant changes to the Fellow Nomination Bylaws and instructions to encourage the nomination – and election - of Application Engineer / Practitioners, those whose careers involve the application of technology, to the distinguished level of IEEE Fellow. These changes came into effect for the 2005 Fellow class. The category “Application Engineer / Practitioner” was added as a formal fourth category for IEEE Fellow. The other three – which existed, and are continued – are “Research Engineer / Scientist,” “Technical Leader,” and “Educator.” See www.ieee.org/fellows for details and nomination kits. Nominations are due March 1 2007.

13. IEEE TV

On 15 August, IEEE is launching the Beta release of IEEE.tv, an internet-based broadcasting network that will produce and deliver prerecorded, special-interest programming for engineers and technologists. A collaborative effort of IEEE volunteers, members and staff across the organization, the new service will initially be available only to members only through the myIEEE web portal, (www.ieee.org/myieee). It will expand to provide select content intended for the general public starting in September.