Dear Commission B Representatives,

This is my third letter to all Commission B representatives and it is long overdue ( the preparations for the 2001 URSI - Commission B International Symposium on Electromagnetic Theory, May 13 - 17, in Victoria, Canada has taken a lot of my time

( note that the next important date associated with this Symposium is the Jan. 10th deadline for applications concerning Young Scientist Awards, cf. the website

<http://www.nrc.ca/confserv/URSI-B2001>www.nrc.ca/confserv/URSI-B2001 ).

It is now time to take up the subject of the next GA. By Jan. 1st, 2001, we should have the session structure more or less established ( preferably with titles, convenors, and also Commission B Tutorial speaker identified ) .

Looking back at the Commission B program in Toronto, I note that we had 10 sessions of our own, and in addition 9 joint sessions with ( one or two ) other Commissions. In addition to this we had very comprehensive poster sessions. I also recall that a rather widespread reaction in Toronto was that the Commission B program was too heavy, with the joint sessions regularly colliding with the Commission B sessions. Essentially all of the sessions were half-day sessions.

I think we have to take the reduced length of the GA ad notam and adjust our ambitions somewhat. I suggest that an ideal total number of sessions may be around 12, and if we find that too restrictive, 15 should be a maximum.

Below I start out with a list of 7 sessions, to be organised by Commission B alone, around our "core" topics. We are asked to preferably provide two convenors for each session

1. Scattering and diffraction
2. Electromagnetic theory
3. Time domain electromagnetics
4. Inverse scattering and imaging
5. Numerical methods-fast algorithms
6. Antennas
7. Guided waves

( we may also wish to have a session on Asymptotic and hybrid methods ).

Joint sessions could then be designed to cover topics which in the past often has appeared in "pure" Commission B sessions, but which have been of great potential interest to other Commissions, such as

1. BD1: Time and frequency 3D circuit modelling
2. BE: Numerical methods for 3D modelling in EMC
3. BC1: Antennas in mobile wireless systems
4. BC2: Wave propagation modelling for wireless communication systems
5. BF Subsurface remote sensing
6. BD2: Photonic bandgaps. analysis and applications

I have had preliminary contacts with some of the chairs of other commissions concerning these matters. Commission A has asked about our interest in joint sessions similar to the ones we had in Toronto, which were:

7 AB1: Time-domain measurements

8 AB 2: Antenna and EM field measurements

and I have indicated a preliminary positive response to this.

This already amounts to 15 sessions. When listing joint sessions I have used alphabetical order of the Commissions involved, i.e. I have not thought about main responsibility etc. here.

I would appreciate your comments and further suggestions about the above, particularly about names of convenors ( with a view towards bringing in some new names, I withhold my own suggestions at this stage...).

Let me also ask for suggestions concerning the Commission B Tutorial speaker. The topic should preferably be such that it could attract many listeners from other Commissions.

A quick rather than necessarily complete answer to issues mentioned above would be very much appreciated ( before Dec. 20 if possible ) !

Best wishes, Staffan Ström.