*** APPROVED ***
Minutes of the 63th meeting of the Canadian National Committee of URSI
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The meeting started at 9h am on 5 April 2004 in the Conference Room,
at the David Florida Labs (bldg 65), 3701 Carling Ave, Ottawa, Ont.
Members present:
+Antar, Yahia (RMC/Kingston, Chair)
+Delisle, Gilles (U of Ottawa, past-Chair)
+Georgieva-Nikolova, Natalia (McMaster/Hamilton, Comm. D)
+James, Gordon (CommunicResCenter/Ottawa, Comm. G+H)
+Krzymien, Witold (Un.Alb/Edmonton, and TRLabs/Edmonton, Comm. C)
+Mishra, Shantnu (CanSpaceAgency/Ottawa, Comm. A)
+Nadeau, Benoit (Matrox Electronix/Montreal, Comm. E)
+Prato, Frank (UWO/London, Comm. K)
+Staples, Gordon (Radarsat/Richmond, Comm. F)
+Vallee, Jacques P. (NRC-HIA/Victoria, Secretary & member)
+Wittke, Paul (URSI International VP)
Guests presents (temporarily):
+Dr. Shabeer Ahmed, Director, David Florida Labs (early morning)
+Dr. Veena Rawat, Exec. Vice-Pres., Comm. Res. Centre (early afternoon)
Absent members/guests:
-Jorjani, Hamid (NRC CorpServ/Ottawa)
-Laurin, Jean-Jacques (EcolePoly/Montreal, Comm. B)
-Routledge, Dave (UAlb/Edmonton, Comm. J)
Agreed agenda:
--------------
Start-up:
01. Welcome to members and guests (Antar)
02. Introductory remarks (Antar)
03. Approval of the Agenda (Antar)
Secretary:
04. Approval of the Minutes of the 62th Meeting (Vallee)
[minutes on the CNC web at http://www.ursi.ca/2003min.html ]
Business arising from the Minutes (Antar)
05. Acting treasurer's report (Vallee)
a. NRC HIA [Fahlman] fund for CNC's annual mtg
b. NRC CNC [Vallee] trust fund for seed/promotion
c. NRC CS [Jorjani] fund for the HQ in Belgium
d. Sum and other NRC contributions
06. Canadian URSI Membership lists, by Commissions (Vallee)
07. Status of agreement HIA-CS in support of URSI CNC (Vallee)
General reports:
08. Chair's report (Antar)
09. Past Chair's report on Columbus mtg (Delisle)
10. Report from the last URSI Board meeting; URSI exposure (Wittke)
11. Short 5min Reports (one from each CNC commission representative)
Future radio meetings:
12. Ottawa 2007July URSI.NARS/US-NC mtg (Antar/Roy)
13. Canada 2006 URSI-CNC/ANTEM radio science (Antar/Shafai)
14. Canada 2004 URSI-CNC/ANTEM radio science (Antar/Shafai)
Promotion:
15. Candidatures for URSI Medals & URSI positions (Antar)
16. Sponsorship of URSI CNC (CRC scholarships; Antar)
17. CNC student awards/scholarships (Antar)
18. Re-appointement for CNC Comm D (2nd term)
19. New appointment for CNC Comm A (1st term)
20. Extension of terms ending before URSI GA in Oct. 2005
Wrap-up:
21. Other businesses (Antar)
22. Tentative Date and Place for the next URSI CNC meeting (Vallee)
----------------------------------
01. Welcome to members and guests (Antar)
========================================
Dr. Yahia Antar, CNC Chair, welcomed all CNC participants.
Dr. Antar also welcomed Dr. S. Ahmed and Dr. V. Rawat
on behalf of the CNC of URSI. He invited them to speak.
Dr. Shabeer Ahmed, DFL Director, welcomed the CNC and elaborated on
the important role of URSI in Canada, and of Canadian science &
engineering in the world community.
Dr. Veena Rawat, Exec. VP at CRC, made a presentation on the CRC's four
main objectives. In the question and answer period, Dr. Rawat noted that
at the individual level, some CRC researchers have helped URSI through
Wireless and Antenna works, sponsoring students, teaching, and more.
At the CRC-wide level, there are some challenges and difficulties
in showing more deliverables and goods that could come from
more core and fundamental research, in order to get more
support and funding from Industry Canada and other backers.
02. Introductory remarks (Antar)
====================================
Dr. Antar thanked Dr. J. Vallee for the logistical details of this meeting.
He also thanked Dr. S. Mishra for the excellent location at the DFL.
03. Approval of the Agenda (Antar)
==============================
The Chair asked for any change to the agenda.
N.Nikolova and S.Mishra moved for the approval of the agenda as modified.
Agreed.
04. Approval of the Minutes of the 62th Meeting (Vallee)
===============================================
The Chair asked for any change to the minutes. No change.
N.Nikolova & S.Mishra moved that the Minutes be approved. Agreed.
Business arising from the minutes, since the last CNC meeting:
-the 2007 July joint NARS mtg is an URSI-only mtg (Antar)
-the 2003 student awards for Remote sensing and for Wireless were not
given (Staples; Krzymien)
-the 2004 CASCA student award had not yet been accepted by the
CASCA Board (Vallee; Routledge)
[Addendum 2004May: CASCA Board gave its approval for the Winnipeg mtg]
05. Acting treasurer's report (Vallee)
============================
a. NRC HIA [Fahlman] fund for CNC's annual mtg:
NRC-HIA in Victoria pays all the travels of the CNC members attending
the CNC annual meeting in 2003 April 28, amounting to a total of $6068.
for 11 attendees. J. Vallee handed out the NRC Travel Expense Claim Forms.
b. NRC CNC [Vallee] trust fund for seed/promotion:
NRC-CNC Trust Fund in Victoria stood at $18,954.69 on 2004 April 4.
J. Vallee explained the entries and exits in the last 12 months.
c. NRC CS [Jorjani] fund for the URSI HQ in Belgium
NRC-CorpServ in Ottawa has paid about $11,277. to URSI
for the annual canadian contribution to the URSI Headquarters
[7048 EURO, representing 8 URSI votes at the GA].
d. Sum and other NRC contributions
-The sum for the items (a,b,c) above is $36,299.69 for URSI matters.
-NRC-HIA in Victoria pays for the NRC staff involved in the CNC.
-NRC-CorpServ in Ottawa contributes towards the travel of
8 voting delegates at the URSI GA, excluding government members.
-NRC-ConfServ in Ottawa is often involved in mtgs, and absorbs any deficit.
06. Canadian URSI Membership lists, by Commissions (Vallee)
======================================
Canadian membership is open to anyone interested, who is active, and
who publishes (no election).
In the USA, members have to be elected in order to be on their lists.
Each CNC member updates his Cdn commission's list.
J. Vallee will query each CNC member about updating their commission list.
Cdn commissions A and C lists are currently older than 3 years.
07. Status of agreement HIA-CS in support of URSI CNC (Vallee)
==================================================================
In an email dated 23 March 2004, Hamid Jorjani of NRC-CorpServ in Ottawa
noted that the NRC-CISET mtg on this issue was held on 4 March, and
was approved. The new agreement has been prepared for the NRC Secretary's
signature (Pat Mortimer, of NRC Presidential Office). It will be
sent to HIA shortly thereafter, for HIA's signature.
[Addendum 2004June: The April draft agreement included additional
financial outlays for HIA, previously paid by CS ($38,000 over 5 yrs).
HIA asked for a return to the original wording, without any extra outlay.
CISET held another meeting on May15 and has been considering a new draft.]
08. Chair's report (Maastrich 2002; Antar)
====================================================================
Y. Antar attended the May 2003 NRC Partners' conference dealing with
30 CNCs, chaired by Dr. I. Smith. At the end, in his concluding remarks,
Dr. Smith cited URSI CNC as an example of the CNC that every body should
follow and learn from, on how a CNC should do business, and he also
cited URSI's achievements nationally and internationally, like
bringing conferences, student awards, excellent website, etc.
Y. Antar felt that the URSI CNC is truly ahead of many other CNCs.
09. Past Chair's report on Columbus mtg (Delisle)
=====================================================
G. Delisle noted that it is still the intention to maintain the
Cdn share of the surplus to 50%, although some US members have pushed for
40% for Canada. Gilles will find out more shortly, and he
will direct the cheque to be made to "NRC", and mailed/addressed
to J. Vallee to put in the NRC CNC trust account.
Y. Antar attended the Columbus 2003 mtg, with 1500 people in attendance.
He heard that the surplus for NARS-URSI could be around US$50k.
He hoped that at least 40% of the budget surplus at the 2003 NARS meeting
in Columbus would accrue to the CNC fund.
10. Report from the last URSI Board meeting; URSI exposure (Wittke)
=======================================================
Inside ICSU, social or soft science seems to have more appeal than
hard science. URSI is now getting less money from ICSU than 7 years ago.
ICSU's long range plan has a bit of the URSI plan.
URSI sent a long questionnaire on how to improve its image, in the
areas of resolutions, publications, and white papers. CNC members are
encouraged to respond to the questionnaire and to send it to CNC Chair
and to Paul Wittke.
URSI resolutions could be less principled and more applied.
URSI publications have a rigorous review process for their articles.
URSI white papers can be too broad and may be contentious to some people.
11. Short 5min Reports (one from each CNC commission representative)
========================================================================
Each CNC member spoke about on-going activities & developments in their
field. Some concerns expressed were outside the purview of the CNC mandate.
See handouts.
12. Ottawa 2007July URSI.NARS/US-NC mtg (Antar/Roy)
=========================================================
Y. Antar attended the Boulder mtg, where the 2007 URSI only mtg was
discussed again. It appears that the predicted attendance could be
between 800 and 1000 people, due in part to US restrictions on Europeans
(Europeans like to come to a mtg in Canada, to meet their US counterparts).
It is anticipated that a registration fee around $500 will be asked.
B.Nadeau, G.Delisle, S.Mishra will help Y.Antar in setting it up.
13. Canada 2006 URSI-CNC/ANTEM radio science (Antar/Shafai)
======================================================================
Lot Shafai, Vice-Chair of URSI Commission B, could not be here today.
The CNC will get some public recognition. The question of insurances
came up.
New meeting: it is likely that the Universite de Rennes will host
the 2005 July URSI/ANTEM meeting, to be held near St.Malo, France.
The CNC agrees to share in this meeting. Y.Antar and L.Shafai will
send a Letter to the URSI French National Committee.
14. Canada 2004 URSI-CNC/ANTEM radio science (Antar/Shafai)
======================================================================
In the absence of Lot Shafai, Y. Antar explained the situation.
The web site for the meeting is http://antem.ee.umanitoba.ca/committee.html
There is no official financial arrangement yet. G.Delisle will discuss
this issue with ANTEM, on behalf of URSI CNC.
15. Candidatures for URSI Medals & URSI positions (Antar)
=============================================================
The deadlines for submission of candidates for medals is 15 Aug. 2004.
The web site for the medals is http://www.ursi.org/India05/Awards05index.htm
Medals will be given at the AGA in 2005 Oct.
G.Staples will look after proposing Keith Raney for the van der Pol
Medal or the Dellinger Medal.
No canadian was currently identified for top URSI positions.
16. Sponsorship of URSI CNC (CRC scholarships; Antar)
========================================
Following the earlier presentation by Dr. Rawat, it is felt that
the CRC cannot respond strongly to scholarships, due to limited resources.
In Canadian universities as well, radio science appears to be
decreasing in importance.
17. CNC student awards/scholarships (Antar)
===============================================
Last year, the CNC agreed that such student awards should be for:
-work done in Canada
-conference held in Canada
-student must be at a Canadian university
A $500 student award was proposed by W.Krzymien, seconded by Y.Antar,
for the WIRELESS & OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS 2004 July conference (Comm. C).
Agreed.
A $500 student award was proposed by G.Staples, seconded by G.James,
for the REMOTE SENSING 2004 August conference. Agreed.
[addendum 2004 June 21:
-$250 cheque from CNC trust sent to student M. Livingstone - CASCA2004
-$250 cheque from CNC trust sent to student K. Douglas - CASCA2004 ]
[addendum 2004 August 6:
-$500 cheque from CNC trust sent to student M. Heshmatzadeh - ANTEM2004 ]
18. Re-appointement for CNC Comm D (2nd term)
==================================================
G.James proposed, seconded by W.Krzymien, that
Natalia Nikolova be re-appointed for another 3-year term
as Commission D Representative on the CNC. Agreed.
19. New appointment for CNC Comm A (1st term)
=================================================
In view of the upcoming URSI GA in 2005 October, it was proposed
by W.Krzymien and seconded by N.Nikolova to extend the term
of S.Mishra as Commission A Representative on the CNC to 2005 November 1.
20. Extension of terms ending before URSI GA in Oct. 2005
=============================================================
The CNC discussed the ending of their second terms in 2005
for eight CNC members, namely: Antar, James, Krzymien,
Laurin, Mishra, Prato, Routledge and Staples.
In view of the upcoming URSI GA in 2005 October, it was proposed
by N.Nikolova and seconded by F.Prato to extend the 2nd terms of
Y.Antar, G.James, J-J Laurin, D.Routledge on the CNC to 2005 Nov. 1.
In view of the multiple endings of second terms in 2005 November
for many CNC members, the following proposals were made.
- It was proposed by F.Prato and seconded by N.Nikolova to extend
W.Krzymien's term to June 2006. Agreed.
- It was proposed by N.Nikolova and seconded by G.Staples to extend
F.Prato's term to June 2007. Agreed.
- It was proposed by F.Prato and seconded by S.Mishra to extend
G.Staples's term to June 2008. Agreed.
At the next CNC meeting in 2005, the CNC shall make recommendations
to HIA to make first-term appointments for Comm. A, B, G+H, J, and Chair.
21. Other businesses (Antar)
==================================
Y.Antar mentioned the importance for those who want to attend the
URSI GA in 2005 to make their hotel reservations now.
22. Tentative Date and Place for the next URSI CNC meeting (Vallee)
=======================================================================
There was a suggested or pencilled-in date for Ottawa in the second
half of April.
Y.Antar thanked all members present for their work on the CNC.
Antar thanked Vallee for his hard work and reminders of impending deadlines.
J. Vallee thanked all members on behalf of NRC-HIA for helping Radio
Science in Canada, and encouraged them to fill the NRC Travel Claim Forms
and to send them to him at NRC-HIA in Victoria.
The CNC meeting ended at 16h.
PS: Minutes written by J.P. Vallee.