The Commission held three Open Commission Meetings, respectively on 16, 18 and 20 August 1999. At the beginning of each meeting there has been the introduction of the Chair, followed by the Vice-Chair and by all the other participants, both Officers and just audience. Then the Chair proposed the agenda, requested suggestions for new items or modifications, before the approval. The minutes of the three Meetings have been taken by the Vice-Chair, who, as usual, is responsible to report on the activity of Commission A at the XXVI General Assembly (GA).

1. According to a recent request of the URSI Board the elections of the new Vice-Chair have to be carried out in the first Business Meeting. The Chair proposes as a candidate Dr. Quirino Balzano, Corporate Vice-President and Director, Florida Corporate Electromagnetics Research Laboratory, Motorola, USA. During the organisation of the XXVI GA, Dr. Balzano has operated as a Convenor of session A1 (New RF-to-Submillimeter wave standards and measurements) and is also the speaker of the Commission A Tutorial "Electromagnetic Metrology Issues in Wireless Communications". His research has been concerned mainly with electromagnetic field measurements and with the interactions of the field strength with the human body. Dr. Kanda points out also the complementarity in research between the Vice-Chair and Dr. Balzano, which is in agreement with the tradition of Commission A. Because there is no other proposal for candidates, the election starts with eleven Officers present; meanwhile Dr. Kanda shows a viewgraph with the indications of the Commissions Chairs and Vice-Chairs as established in the Lille GA and with the proposals of the new Vice-Chairs.
2. There are at the moment no proposals for variations in the Commission A list of the terms of reference. It is agreed that new terms or variations, if any, will be discussed in the next meeting before being submitted to the Council for approval.
3. The preliminary data available on the program of the XXVI GA are summarised in general, and in particular as far as Commission A is concerned. Compared with the total of 1764 communications (oral+posters) the 105 presentations in Commission A appear a reasonable number. Although metrologists are not so many as the scientists of other URSI Commissions in the world, however it is stressed that the participation of people active in the measurement area to the URSI-GA must be increased. This shall be an important goal charged to the incoming Chair and Vice-Chair, to the Officers and to all the scientists working in this area. Summarising the Commission A program in this GA there are 1 Tutorial, 9 Commission A sessions, 4 joint sessions and 5 sessions where Commission a is involved (18 oral sessions in the overall) and 1 poster. Dealing with the Young Scientist Program, there were in the overall 224 applications and 121 were accepted; as regards Commission A the applications were 11, 9 accepted.
4. The triennial report of Commission A is available on INTERNET at the site (also reported on the Bulletin) http://www.intec.rug.ac.be/ursi. In particular Dr Kanda summarised in this occasion how the money for sponsorships has been used. The total amount of 360 000 BEF was distributed as B sponsorship to ISEM 97 (96 000 BEF), EMC Wroclaw Conference 98 (87 000 BEF), CPEM 98 (35 000 BEF), EMC 98-Rome (71 000 BEF), EMC 99-Zurich (71 000 BEF), whereas A sponsorship (no financial support) was given to Telecom 97, EFTF 98, PIERS 98. Explanations have been given by Dr. Kanda about his choice. According to the URSI indications, one and the most important guidelines is that a financial support can be given to the young scientist program, if exists, in the sponsored meeting. Although CPEM is to be considered a wealthy conference, there was in that occasion a well defined young scientist program. As far the other sponsored meetings, these were in agreement with indications expressed in the Lille GA. For the next triennium there are at the moment two requests: EUROEM 2000 (A) and International School of Physics (B). There is the agreement among the Officers present that the incoming Chair will report on the use of the money for sponsorships in the next GA.
5. The Chair informs that in the next business meeting the Commission A must choose its own Editor for the Review of Radio Science, the Editor of the Disk of References and the Assistant Editor for the Radio Science Bulletin. The attendees are invited to submit proposals for these charges.
6. Prof. Leschiutta gives to the audience a copy of a recommendation concerned with the proposal to discontinue the practice of the Leap Second in UTC. The discussion and decision on this topic are postponed to the next meeting.

At the end of this first business meeting the election results of the new Vice-Chair are communicated. On 11 votes there were 9 in favour of Dr. Balzano (USA) and 2 against.

1. The Chairman introduces Dr. Quirino Balzano, the new elected Vice-Chairman, who could not attend the previous business meeting. Dr. Balzano took the "Laurea" degree in Electronic Engineering in 1975 at the University of Rome "La Sapienza", Italy. His main research interests have been in microwave radars, specifically in antennas and propagation, and in interactions of the electromagnetic energy on the human body, dealing in particular with dosimetry, field measurements and sensor development.
2. Prof. Leschiutta introduces his proposal of recommendation as distributed in the preceding meeting. It is concerned with the Leap Second practice in UTC to keep the difference between UTC and UT1 at a level lower than .7 s. The adoption of UTC was made by ITU after a consultation with BIH, URSI Comm A, UAI, UGGI, IMO, IAMA, ICAO and other bodies. The widespread use of satellite navigation systems has questioned this practice and the problem has been discussed at CCTF in Paris in April 99 and an inquiry has been promoted among the already consulted bodies and other bodies interested in the use of UTC. At the discussion participate Prof. Leschiutta (Chairman of CCTF and IEN President), Dr. Banerjee (NPL, India) and Dr. Petit (BIPM, Paris). The proposed recommendation is approved after some amendments as an expression of opinions. The amended version shall be delivered to the URSI Board.
3. Dr. Kanda informs the audience about some important modifications in the Review of Radio Science (R.R.S.) discussed by the Standing Committee on Publications. The book is highly appreciated in general and its publication will continue. However, to cope with the problems that URSI participants usually have with its weigh and volume, in the next GA the book will be provided to the attendees as a CD-ROM. The hardbound book will be available and sold to individuals and institutions after order. To fulfil the requirements of the Standing Committee, the Chairman proposes Prof. S. Celozzi, University of Rome "La Sapienza", as Commission A Editor for the R.R.S.. Prof. Celozzi (Tel +3906 44585 520, fax +3906 488 3235, e-mail: celozzi@qelettrica.ing.uniroma1.it, Italy) acted as the Commission A Editor for the Disk of References in the last triennium. The proposal is approved and Dr. Kanda requests scientists and officers, who can provide useful suggestions for the R.R.S., to contact Prof. Celozzi,
4. The Standing Committee on Publications has proposed to discontinue the Disk of references because it requires too much effort if compared to the use, since many ways to have access to references are now available. For this last GA only a few Commissions (6) prepared the Disk. The Editor for Commission A was Prof. Celozzi, he collected 238 references. There is a general agreement on this point.
5. No proposal has been presented for modifications of the list of Terms of References. Dr. Kanda suggests that, if proposals arise, they can be submitted with the proper motivations to the incoming Chairman. He can make known the proposals and organise a ballot by mail.
6. Dr. Kanda proposes Dr. Banerjee (NPL, India) as the new Associate Editor for the Radio Science Bulletin. The attendees agree on that and Dr. Banerjee accepts.
7. Concerning the organisation of the XXVI GA the opinion is in general accepted that the concentration of the scientific sessions and of the business meetings in one week period shows advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand there is the gain in time and as a consequence in lodging expenses as well, on the other it turned out a too crowded list of scientific sessions and of business meetings. To allow an easier movement between sessions of different commissions it is suggested that not only time is to be squeezed, but space as well. From this point of view a Convention Centre is a better solution than a University. It has been remarked the problem of no-shows as well, in someway linked to the level of presentations: no-show is typical of contributed papers or posters, not of invited. It has been agreed that it is responsibility of the convenors to accept or reject a contribution, considering that there are people who can not attend a meeting if their work is not accepted. The poster sessions, which are not to be considered as collections of low-level works, but on the contrary the proper site where to discuss problems too specialised and unsuitable for an oral presentation, could help to cope with the requests that papers be accepted to allow participation without imposing a heavy oral preparation. However there is no way to avoid no-shows linked to financial difficulties. It is stressed, moreover, the use of equal time slots in presentations to allow easier movements from one session to another.

1. The expression of opinion discussed in the previous meeting is presented in the final form as passed to the URSI Board with the amendments requested .
2. Dr. Kanda informs the attendees on the results of the Council elections of the new Board (President, Vice-Presidents). Moreover the Council has decided that the XXVII GA shall be held in Maastricht (The Netherlands) in 2002, 17-24 August.
3. Dr. Kanda introduces the incoming Chairman, Prof. Elio Bava, Italy. Prof. Bava warmly thanks Dr. Kanda, also on behalf of the Commission A members, for his work in the organisation of the GA, keeping the main responsibility in accomplishing this task. The number of Commission A sessions and joint sessions has exceeded that of the previous GA, in spite of the squeezed time.
4. The incoming Chairman introduces the last part of the Business Meeting. The first item is the list of the requests of URSI Sponsorship for the next triennium already received and those supposed to arrive in next future according to the previous experience and the information available. As soon as the amount of money is established by the URSI Secretariat decisions shall be taken and, as agreed in the first Business Meeting, he will report at the next GA on the distribution adopted. The list shall be sent to the URSI Board as a preliminary list, as it has been requested.
5. Representatives of Commission A in other bodies give their report. Prof. Stumper, Dr. Kanda and Dr. McSteele gave detailed reports on the triennial report available in INTERNET. Prof. Leschiutta, who had to leave suddenly, informed the incoming Chairman that he did not attend either IMEKO conferences or the Assembly (Tampere, Finland) and is not interested to be the representative in IMEKO any longer. Dr. Lundén gives his report on IEC and ISO. In the last triennium there has been a lot of publications by IEC and ISO, however the activity relevant with URSI Commission A is limited. IEC publications are available in the web site catalogue http://www.iec.ch/catlg-e.htm . On CD-ROM a multilingual dictionary is available, as well as the EMC International Standards. Of interest for URSI should be the IEC61983 "Measurement and Evaluation of High-Frequency Electromagnetic Fields with regard to Human Exposure". The representatives in the next triennium are then proposed. It should be remembered that the Chair is the representative in CPEM and in CIPM and the related committees. However, as occurred in the past, the incoming Chairman would like that scientists, who are very active in these bodies, be charged as representatives as follows: Prof. Leschiutta (CCTF, of which he is the Chair), Dr. Helmcke (CCL), Dr. Erard (CCE), Prof. Stumper (RF-WG of CCE) and Dr. Kanda (CPEM). Moreover Dr. Lundén accepts to continue as the representative in IEC and ISO.
6. As far as the program for the next GA, the incoming Chair shows the following proposal, which takes into account the well established sessions and joint sessions of Commission A, including suggestions received in the preceding days.

A1- New RF-to-Submm Wave Standards and Measurements

A2- Material Measurements

A3- Time and Frequency Standards

A4- Optical Frequency Standards (Laser Stabilisation)

A5- Time Keeping and Time Transfer

A6- Optical and Fiber Measurements

A7- Quantum Metrology

A8- Metrology for Interconnects and Packaging in High-Speed Electronics

A9- Measurements on Tissues

 

AB1- Antenna and Electromagnetic Field Measurements

AB2- Time-Domain Measurements and Analysis

AC - Clock Synchronisation in Telecommunications

AD - Characterisation of Semiconductor Devices for Wireless Communications

AE - EMC Measurements

EA - Electromagnetic Compatibility and EM Pollution

FAB- Techniques and Applications (for Sub-Surface) Remote Sensing

KA - Exposure Assessment for Cellular and Personal Telecommunications

 

Tutorials (to be chosen among)

New Techniques in Atomic Frequency Standards

New Techniques in Two-Ways Time Comparison

Advances in Quantum Electronics Devices

According to the elected Vice-Chairman there is a lot of work and funds at the moment in the area indicated in A9, therefore it is likely that many new results be available for the next GA. It was also suggested to make some inquiry on few traditional sessions where very few contributions were presented, with large no-shows as well, in areas where CPEMs receive many papers of value.

It was suggested to include in A1 also dc and low-frequency standards. At the proper time this inclusion will be evaluated considering also the possibility of a new session.

A few of the joint sessions received a confirmation of interest from the relevant incoming Chairmen, a deeper analysis will be carried out as soon as possible.

7. The Board suggestion on a different way to prepare the election of the Vice-Chairman is discussed. The proposal concerns the establishment of a small committee, composed by Past-Chairmen, Vice-Chairman and/or scientists involved for a long time in the works of a commission, aimed at soliciting, generating and then selecting two/three candidates for the election, in order to offer both choice and not excessive number of candidates. After a debate the present Officers and Members decide to keep the traditional way to elect the Vice-Chairman.
8. On behalf of Prof. Leschiutta, Prof. Bava announces that in 2000 (25 July- 4 August) at the International School of Physics (Varenna, Italy) a Course will be held on "Recent advances in metrology and fundamental constants", organised by IEN. The Directors are Prof. S. Leschiutta (IEN) and Dr. T.J. Quinn (BIPM), the secretary is Dr. P. Tavella (IEN) (tel. +39 011 3919235, fax +39 011 3919259, E-mail tavella@tf.ien.it). This Course is the third of a series (1976, Varenna, Italy and 1989, Lerici, Italy) organised by the same school; teachers are chosen among leading scientists to assure a high-level course useful for Ph.D. students or post-docs who want to be acquainted with the latest methodologies and results in the field. 50 hours of lessons are foreseen and applications from young scientists for support are possible.
9. Just to remind Officers and members the structure of Commission A for the next triennium, the incoming Chair recalls that

Chair: Prof. E. Bava (Italy)

Vice-Chair: Dr. Q. Balzano (USA)

RRS Editor: Prof. S. Celozzi (Italy)

Bulletin Associate Editor: Dr. Banerjee (India)

10. The last issue of the meeting is how to increase URSI attendance of scientists active in Commission A. The discussion resumes the claims already exposed for heavy no-shows which upset some sessions. Attention should be paid by convenors in accepting contributions when there are suspects on the willing to attend the GA, however efforts should be done by the Chair, Vice-Chair, Officers and members to generate interest in participating to the GA. The proposal from the Standing Committee on Publications to substitute the book of abstracts (heavy and of little use to select papers and to document author’s scientific work) with Proceedings of summaries up to 3-4 pages each, distributed both as CD-ROM and as a book in a form yet to be defined, should help in yielding more enthusiasm in attending URSI GA.