IS&T President’s Message

Please note: This text is taken from the latest Annual Report of the Society.

» download most recent annual report

The Society for Imaging Science and Technology is thriving. The communication channels that the Society creates and organizes are valued and well-utilized by the imaging community, even in these times of dramatic change. These science and technology channels include conferences, publications, and local chapters. Through these, IS&T assists individuals and organizations in the imaging world gain access to information on advances in imaging science and technology, provides forums at which interpersonal and inter-organizational networks and collaborations can be expanded, and creates opportunities for imaging scientists and technologist to gain professional exposure and recognition.

The activities of the Society are planned and implemented by two different groups of people: volunteers from the imaging community and professional staff. The staff is very ably led by Executive Director Suzanne Grinnan, who continues to improve the operations of our conferences and of the Society office. Suzanne has managed costs very effectively, and as a result our organization has a good financial cushion from which to pursue new programs and expand on current offerings. She and the staff provide the infrastructure that makes IS&T work.

Volunteers from our imaging science and technology communities play a critical role in the success of the Society. The technical organization of IS&T’s conferences is entirely dependent on the contributions of time, energy, and knowledge made by members of our Conference Committees, from General Chairs who lead the overall technical focus of a meeting to program committee members who review countless papers and act as Session Chairs.

Two very important IS&T volunteers are Mel Sahyun and Jan Allebach, who lead JIST and JEI, our two journals. (Their reports on the state of the journals can be found within this annual report.) They are assisted by many skilled Associate Editors and Reviewers who allow us to publish these two well-respected journals.

Other volunteers serve on the Board of Directors, chapter councils, and special committees. I would like to express my personal thanks to each person who has invested time, energy, and expertise in making the Society such a useful organization to all of us in the field of imaging.

If you haven’t volunteered so far, I urge you to consider doing so! It is a great way to expand your horizons in the imaging community, meet new people, and have some fun as well. There are many volunteer roles which contribute to IS&T activities. It is easy to get started—just contact me, another member of the Board, or a member of the staff, and let us know that you are interested in playing an active role.

Board of Directors

The IS&T Board of Directors sets the policies and strategic directions for the Society. It meets three times per year, with one-day meetings in the fall and winter, plus a two-day planning meeting in late spring. This year the board focused on five major strategic topics: 1) managing the evolution of our conferences to meet the needs of imaging communities, 2) partnerships and alliances with other organizations, 3) leveraging IS&T’s assets and capabilities, 4) internet-based interaction tools as opportunities for the IS&T but also as potential competition for us, and 5) keeping IS&T relevant in a more-dispersed, less-vertically-integrated set of imaging industries.

One ongoing Board activity is the creation of new conferences. In some cases, members come to us with a proposal for a new conference. This year, an initiative of the IS&T European chapter led to the organization of Frontiers in Digital Imaging: Münster. The papers presented at this one-day meeting were excellent, even if attendance was smaller than hoped. In the past several years we have launched Digital Fabrication, the Archiving Conference, and the International Symposium on Technologies for Digital Photo Fulfillment (TDPF). We have also collaborated with other societies on a number of imaging conferences in various parts of the world. We are always interested in exploring ideas for new conferences that address imaging topics not well covered by existing meetings, and we also have a goal of expanding the geographic scope of our conferences. Let me know your suggestions -- I very much value your input on ways to help us serve all of the communities active in the imaging field.

Conferences

IS&T held seven major conferences during the July 2007 - June 2008 year. These conferences included large and diverse events such as the Electronic Imaging Symposium and the co-located NIP / Digital Fabrication conferences. They also included medium-sized, more-focused meetings such as Archiving, Color Imaging, and Color in Graphics, Imaging, & Vision, in addition to the smaller regional Frontiers in Digital Imaging: Münster meeting. The Society also supported the efforts of partner societies who organized ICISH'2008 in Zhanjiang, China, and PPIC '08 in Tokyo, Japan.

Corporate Members

In addition to our individual members, IS&T has 26 corporate members. These companies recognize the value that IS&T delivers to them by disseminating information and providing professional services to their imaging scientists and engineers. New technologies have made imaging important to an ever wider range of products, so many new companies, large and small, have become interested in imaging science. We appreciate their financial support.

Honors and Awards

Raja Bala chaired the Honors and Awards Committee this year, which selected 14 excellent imaging scientists, two important papers, and two worthy students for recognition. All have contributed substantially to the technology of imaging, the work of Society, and/or the communication of new technology to the community. Congratulations to each of them! Nominations are open now for the 2009 Honors and Awards.

Respectfully submitted,
Eric G. Hanson,
IS&T President, 2007 - 2009