The International Microwave Symposium (IMS), one of the largest international events in the RF and Microwave industry is back this year in the lively city of Boston, Massachusetts, USA. The event has always been an important junction for industry experts, companies and consumers to interact and discuss the latest in RF and Microwave technology. From product launches and demonstrations to technical sessions and paper presentations, the event has something for everyone.
In particular, special activities like the Startups Pavilion, technical competitions, specific workshops and short courses, technical sessions and the Women in Microwaves (WIM) initiative, have gained special interests from the attendees in the past years. This year too, the event as every year will feature various competitions for the visitors to take part in and win awards and laurels. We have collected a list of competitions being held at the event this year to help you out.
The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, developed by The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia, “cultivates students’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills. The competition supports their capacity to effectively explain their research in three minutes, in a language appropriate to a non-specialist audience. It is designed for eligible students and Young Professionals, who indicate upon submission of a paper their desire to enter the competition and whose paper is accepted for either oral or interactive forum presentation. In three minutes or less, using only one static slide, and no other props, contestants deliver their presentation to a panel of non-specialist judges. These judges rank the contestants, based on how engaging, accessible, and compelling they made their presentation. Click here for detailed info about the competition.
The purpose of the Advanced Practice Paper Competition (APPC) is to recognize outstanding technical contributions that apply to practical applications. An eligible paper could have authors in any sector (industry/government/academic/etc.) but must fit the description i.e. a paper on advanced practices describes, in contrast to basic research, a practical RF/microwave design, integration technique, process enhancement, and/or combination thereof that results in significant improvements in performance and/or in time to production for RF/microwave components, subsystems, or systems. The event will be chaired by Steven Roseneau (SSL, Maxar). Click here to know more details and rules.
The purpose of the Industry Paper Competition (IPC) is to recognize outstanding technical contributions from industry sources. Eligible papers can have several authors but the work described must come from a corporate or otherwise private source, not a government or academic institution. According to the organizers, an eligible paper would be a paper from the RF/microwave industry that describes innovation of a product or system application that potentially has the highest impact on an RF/microwave product and/or system which will significantly benefit the microwave community and society at large. The competition will be chaired by Steven Roseneau (SSL, Maxar). Click here to view the competition rules.
The purpose of the Student Paper Competition (SPC) is to recognize outstanding technical contributions from individual students. In general, it is preferred that the submitted paper have only two authors. The first author must be the student; the second (or last) author must be the student's main advisor. SPC finalists must present their papers at the assigned IMS 2019 session, and also at the SPC Interactive Forum (separate from the regular Interactive Forum sessions) for judging by a specially formed SPC committee of experts. Click here to know more.
IEEE has invited all eligible students or student teams to take part in the Student Design Competitions (SDCs). They are some of the most exciting events at IMS 2019 and allow students to put theories into real hardware and software designs. The goal of the SDCs is to encourage student innovation and facilitate hands-on experience. Students design and build a circuit, system, or algorithm, in order to meet a set of performance specifications described in each competition. They then bring their designs to IMS where they compete against other student teams. Winning teams are awarded cash prizes and a chance to publish their designs in the IEEE Microwave Magazine. Click here to submit the application form. To know more details and rules, click here.
The Sixty-Second Presentation (S2P) Competition aims to recognize Interactive Forum participants who can best highlight their technical concept in a compelling video of less than one minute. The competition is open to all authors whose papers have been selected for presentation in the Interactive Forum, and can include submissions that span young professionals to IEEE fellows. In order to be considered, Interactive Forum presenters must upload their video at the same time as their final paper submission. Winners will be determined by popular vote via an online rating system. Click here to view the details of the competition.
One of the most fun events to happen at IMS, The HACKATHON, is back in Boston! In this event, participating teams (two people per team) are given a microwave design problem, and are required to prototype their solutions within a certain amount of time. This year's hackathon will continue the fast-paced style of recent years' hackathons, but be extended to one hour so that the scale and complexity of the problem are increased. The competition is open to all IMS attendees, and awards will be given to the winning hackers! The theme of this hackathon is "Everyday Microwave". Click here to fill the form for the event. To know more about the competition and its rules, click here.
For more updates and highlights from the IMS 2019 event, follow our live coverage here!
