Commission B has had another active triennium with a similar format of events to previously. The Commission B worldwide community is large, active and eager to take part in international events. The study of electromagnetic theory and practice through microwaves and antennas benefits from international collaboration and URSI provides an excellent means of achievement. URSI has always been strongly supported by Commission B engineers and scientists. This continues in many ways. Conferences have been sponsored by both international URSI and national societies. The national sponsorships tend to go unreported but provide an important feeder of committed people for the international events. Particularly notable is the US National Committee for URSI which sponsors the annual summer APS/USNC meeting and the winter Boulder meetings. This triennium has also seen much greater interaction between electromagnetic scientist from the Former Soviet Union countries and western countries. The Commission B community in Russia and Ukraine is very large and URSI has contributed in the last three years to developing contacts between scientists.
The main event which Commission B organises between General Assemblies is the International Symposium on Electromagnetic Theory. The 15th Symposium in the series took place over four days in St. Petersburg, Russia from 23-26 May 1995. The decision to hold the 15th Symposium in Russia was made in 1992 shortly after the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union. This led Commission members to warmly embrace the invitation from the Russian Commission B. The organisation presented considerable challenges but the results showed that it was successful, beneficial to participants and particularly rewarding to those in Russia and Ukraine who do not have many funds to travel to conferences.
A total of 348 participants took part in the Symposium from 33 countries with the largest contingent from the host country. The Technical Programme Committee received 456 synopses which led to the final presentation of about 270 papers. There were many novel and original presentations which were published in the 894 page Proceedings. A popular feature was the invited lectures which provided a good opportunity to hear an expert talk.
A Young Scientist Award Programme at the Symposium enabled 25 Young Scientists who would not otherwise have been able to go to St. Petersburg. Funds for the Awards came partly from the Commission B triennial allocation from URSI and partly from the general registration fees. The enthusiasm of the Young Scientists was very evident. They fully participated and made every opportunity to make the best use of their time to interact with other participants.
The Official Members were kept informed of Commission B activities with three news letters reporting meetings and highlighting information relevant to Commission B. Among the conferences sponsored over the triennium were: European Microwave Conference, 1993, 1994, 1995. 5th International Conference on Mathematical Methods in Electromagnetic Theory, Ukraine, 1994. [Commission B sponsoring twelve young scientists to attend this meeting]. Physics and Engineering of Millimetrewave and Sub- Millimetrewaves, Ukraine, 1994. Computational Electromagnetics and Its Applications, China, 1994. 8th Journées Internationales de Nice sur les Antennas, France, 1994. 6th Asia Pacific Microwave Conference, Japan, 1994. International Conference on Antennas and Propagation, The Netherlands, 1995. International Conference on Radio Science, China, 1995. International workshop on Direct and Inverse EM Scattering, Turkey, 1995.
At the end of the triennium, the preparations for the Lille General Assembly took up considerable, but worthwhile, effort. Twenty Convenors have put together a wide ranging and comprehensive programme selected from the over 260 contributions submitted to the Commission B sessions - the largest number to any Commission. In addition the Commission is participating in nine joint sessions, promising a good completion to a successful triennium.
Prof. A.D. Olver, Chair