Message from the 2007 CAS Society President

• Leadership: The members of the CASS Executive Committee (ExCom) held their annual
  spring meeting in Vancouver, BC, Canada. They also participated in the “IEEE Circuits
  and Systems Workshop, Spring 2007” with talks that promoted a variety of topics within
  the Circuits and Systems Society’s field of interest. The workshop was attended by
  graduate students, researchers, and professional engineers. At the ExCom meeting,
  several changes were proposed to the CASS Constitution and Bylaws Committee led by
  Prof. Georges Gielen. They promise to make the CAS Society more inclusive and
  equitable and its governance more transparent to our membership. In 2007, we also
  established a new ad-hoc Committee for Awards Nominations led by Prof. Chris
  Toumazou, whose charter is to solicit nominations for the major Society (other than the
  best paper) awards and thus increase the pool of worthy award nominees in 2008. The
  Society Awards have been selected by our 2007 Awards Committee led by Dr. Ellen
  Yoffa. The names of the Subcommittee Chairs and the Committee Members have been
  posted on the Society web page in recognition of their dedicated service. The Long-Term
  Strategy Committee became a standing committee in 2007. Prof. Thanos Stouraitis and
  his team are working on strategic plans for the betterment of the Society. The 2007
  Society Fellow Evaluating Committee is chaired by Prof. Tony Davies.
• Membership services: The CASS Board of Governors approved in 2006 a new initiative
  for the development and sustaining support of regional activities and local chapters. The
  goal is to build and support the grass-roots membership of the CAS Society by
  strengthening local activities and providing additional services to its members. The
  increased budgetary allocations to the Regional Vice Presidents will support
  administrative help to enable effective running of Chapter activities within each Region,
  monitor activities of local Chapters, help formulate programs that will increase Chapter
  activities, and help establish more frequent direct communications with Chapter Chairs.
  In 2006, a Chapter Chair’s Kit was produced. A Workshop Kit and a Mentoring Kit are
  also planned. Of special interest is the organization of chapter and regional workshops
  and design competitions. We also plan to increase funding to provide student author
  support for paper presentations at workshops. As part of this initiative, we have continued
  to proactively seek CASS Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD) members and
  encourage their participation in the Society’s activities and governance.
• Technical excellence: You may have already seen the inaugural issue of the new CAS
  Society Newsletter (Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Chi K. Tse). This is an electronic publication
  bringing the Society news and timely information on the latest technology and research
  results. The IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems is the new Society
  journal (Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Tor Sverre “Bassen” Lande), co-sponsored with the IEEE
  Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS). It begins as a quarterly
  publication with the emphasis on microelectronic applications in life sciences, physical sciences, and engineering. The CAS Society has also sponsored two modules in the
  collection of IEEE Expert Now online courses that feature the best of IEEE’s educational
  content. The two one-hour courses are offered by Prof. George Moschytz and Prof. Gabor
  Temes and are made available through the IEEE Xplore digital library.
• Collaboration with other IEEE Societies and Councils: We are revitalizing our ties with
  other Societies and Councils by relying on our active representatives to act as liaisons and
  promote interests of the CAS Society. Many of you have kindly volunteered to serve on
  various committees as CASS representatives. In 2007, we have also established a new
  Industry Liaison ad-hoc committee, led by Dr. Ellen Yoffa, with the goal to encourage
  closer collaboration with industry and to recruit new members.

Ljiljana Trajkovic
President, IEEE Circuits and Systems Society

*This article appeared in CAS Magazine vol. 7, no. 2.