Hello Fellow AMTA Members,
We are gearing up now for another great AMTA Symposium in beautiful Long Beach, CA, and I look forward to seeing you all there! Time has flown since our last AMTA in Tucson, which offered equally beautiful, but very different surroundings. Instead of bumping into the unfriendly, prickly Cacti, we can expect to be rubbing elbows with the friendly, sun-tanned Californians. Oh, but of course, that’s not why we come to AMTA, is it? No, we all know that’s for the food, err, excuse me, I mean the great Technical Sessions, of course! And we once again have a full slate of those to look forward to, and a great venue to host them in the Hyatt Regency Long Beach.
But this year’s symposium is not all we’ve been busy with, thanks to the formation of the AMTA Nodes. We were able to take advantage of the proximity of our Rocky Mountain Node to host the AMTA Regional Event in Boulder CO, on April 28, with the Technical Program being focused on Antenna Measurement Post-processing Techniques. There was a lot of interest in this topic as there is much fertile ground still to be cultivated here, with the end result being that the event was very successful. Our distinguished speakers did an excellent job of presenting various novel post-processing applications for antenna measurements. Additionally, our Italian Node, sponsored a very successful workshop on June 5 at the University of Salerno. The program included an impressive array of speakers from Academia and Industry, and covered a wide variety of topics from EMC to antenna measurements, modeling, and DSP. The event was extremely well attended, with the audience also representing a varied cross-section from local industry companies and Universities. The Nodes are a great way to get together on a more frequent basis, exchange ideas, and network with your local colleagues. Oh yeah, and don’t forget the food either! J If you are interested in forming a node near you, or perhaps joining an existing one, contact the AMTA Vice President at vice-president@amta.org.
We have also been very busy scouting venues for our future AMTAs, to be held in lovely Virginia in 2018, and in sunny San Diego in 2019. Many different hotel sites have been previewed, and the down-selection process has already begun for both of these Symposia. We are targeting having a signed hotel contract for AMTA 2018 in the coming months, and hope to be proactive in signing the hotel contract for AMTA 2019 by year-end. We are currently entertaining offers to host AMTA 2020, so if you or your company would be interested in hosting this or any future AMTA Symposium, please contact me at meeting-coordinator@amta.org. Hosting AMTA is a great personal experience, and offers the opportunity to work with many talented people and see behind the scenes, and gain valuable exposure for your company as well. You will have the full support of the AMTA Board of Directors, experienced guidance from our AMTA Senior and Meeting Coordinator Advisors, along with all the necessary assistance from our wonderful Conference Management. I look forward to hearing from you soon, and to seeing you in Long Beach!