Science and engineering may be far from business administration and the economy, yet there still is a coupling. When the economy is good, funding is generous but retention is hard; in bad economic times, funding is tight but researchers stay longer in a position. The best time is just before an upturn, because industry wants to be ready with new technologies when their customers are ready to invest again, resulting both in generous funding and dedicated researchers.
As you browse this Advanced Program of IS&T/SPIE's 16th Annual Symposium on Electronic Imaging 2004: Science and Technology, you will realize that we are now at such a prime time. We have received a record number of 1237 submissions from 39 countries and the Conference Chairs report that quality is generally up. The charts below reveal some interesting details.
For a large number of papers, the first author is in academia or in an independent research laboratory. Besides people staying at school longer, this is also due to the large proportion of U.S. papers—while in Europe, Japan, and Korea industry is heavily investing in research, U.S. companies still tend to invest their profits in executives rather than R&D—and U.S. papers come prominently from universities. In the following pages you will also note how the shift of funding towards security is positively impacting related conferences.
You will also find two new conferences: Vision Geometry, and Image Quality and System Performance. Both start with a strong program. In Vision Geometry you will find the latest results on surface reconstruction and simplification, shape analysis and object recognition, digital morphology, digital geometry and topology, and image segmentation. Image Quality has a strong program encompassing emerging image quality standards, psychophysical methods and standards for image quality evaluation, scanner-based print quality measurements, subjective image quality modeling; and system image quality measurements and modeling.
You will find other novelties attending this year's Electronic Imaging symposium. We are back to the San Jose Convention Center, yet maintain the separation in time of EI from Photonics West, leading to a more intimate setting and better networking opportunities. A new hotel will allow more attendees to comfortably lodge at a short walking distance from the venue.
If you are traveling from abroad, you should plan your trip well in advance, as due to new security measures the rules for getting a U.S. visa can be daunting. You should apply at least three month before your trip, i.e., right now. For more information see http://www7.nationalacademies.org/visas/.
Visitors from abroad will also find the new US bank notes. Plenary speaker Annette Jaffe will reveal the imaging science and technology behind the new notes. The second plenary speaker will be Jan Allebach, whose abstract is on the next page.
The conferences will continue to provide the depth necessary to today's researcher along with short courses, panel discussions, and poster sessions. Additional professional experiences will be provided by the conference receptions, the vendor exhibition, interest group meetings, and technology demonstrations that are part of every EI Symposium. The conference chairs and their technical committees represent a great resource for the newcomer who seeks ways to connect to the EI community and, perhaps, to eventually participate in organizing a conference. Becoming directly involved in EI is also an excellent way to develop contacts and learn who's who in the various fields.
With its receptions and the downtown San Jose location, EI 2004 is an excellent opportunity to get accelerated for the next economic upswing by renewing old friendships and networking with new contacts. You and your family will also enjoy the vibrant culture and many points of interest in the San Francisco Bay Area. Make your plans now to join us January 18–22 for this exciting electronic imaging event.
See you in San Jose!
Giordano B. Beretta, Hewlett-Packard Co.
Robert L. Stevenson, University of Notre Dame
Symposium Chairs