*** DRAFT ***
Minutes of the 65th meeting of the Canadian National Committee of URSI
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The meeting started at 9h am on 30 April 2006 in the library in the main
building of the National Research Council, 5071 West Saanich Rd., Victoria, BC.
Members present:
+Antar, Yahia (RMC/Kingston, Chair)
+Despins, Charles PromptQuebec/Montreal, Comm. C)
+Freundhorfer, Al (Queen'sU/Kingston, Comm. A)
+Gray, Andrew (NRC-HIA/Penticton, Comm. J)
+Koustov, Alexandre (U.Sask/Saskatoon, Comm. G+H)
+LoVetri, Joe (U.Man/Winnipeg, Comm. E)
+Nikolova, Natalia (McMaster/Hamilton, Comm. D)
+Prato, Frank (UWO/London, Comm. K)
+Vallee, Jacques P. (NRC-HIA/Victoria, Secretary & member)
Absent members/guests:
-Delisle, Gilles (INT/Montreal, past-Chair)
-Petosa, Aldo (CRC/Ottawa, Comm. B)
-Staples, Gordon (Radarsat/Richmond, Comm. F)
Agreed agenda:
--------------
Start-up:
01. Welcome and Introductory remarks (Antar)
02. Approval of the Agenda (Antar)
Secretariat:
03. Approval of the Minutes of the 64th Meeting (Vallee)
NB: minutes are on the CNC web site www.ursi.ca/2005min.html
04. Business arising from the Minutes (Vallee; Antar)
05. Acting treasurer's report (Vallee)
a. NRC HIA [Fahlman] fund for CNC's annual mtg [$4,168]
b. NRC CNC [Vallee] trust fund for seed/promotion [$50,619]
c. NRC CS [ex-Jorjani] fund for the HQ in Belgium [$12,104]
d. Other NRC contributions [JPV time; CorpServ GA del. reimb]
06. Canadian URSI Membership lists, by Commissions (Vallee)
[list for commissions being older than 3 years] [sent to all]
General reports:
07. Chair's report (Antar)
08. Short 5min reports (one from each CNC commission rep.)
Future radio meetings:
09. Montreal 2006 July URSI-CNC/ANTEM radio science (Antar)
10. a. Ottawa 2007 July URSI-Joint NARS/US-NC mtg (Antar)
b. Other meetings.
Promotion:
11. Candidatures for URSI Medals & URSI positions (Antar)
12. CNC student awards (Antar)
13. New CNC appointments or reappointments (Antar)
14. Solliciting new ideas on: (Antar)
-how to promote Radio Science in Canada
-how to publicize our activities within the community
Wrap-up:
15. Other businesses (Antar)
16. Tentative date & place for next URSI CNC meeting (Vallee)
01. Welcome & Introductory remarks (Antar)
========================================
Dr. Yahia Antar, CNC Chair, welcomed all CNC participants.
Dr. Antar thanked Dr. J. Vallee for the logistical details of this meeting.
Dr. Antar emphasized the job description for new CNC members.
Dr. Vallee also welcomed all to this NRC campus.
02. Approval of the Agenda (Antar)
==============================
The Chair asked for any change to the agenda.
Dr. Antar & Dr. Freundorfer moved for the approval of the agenda. Agreed.
03. Approval of the Minutes of the 64th Meeting (Vallee)
===============================================
Dr. Vallee noted that the Minutes can be viewed on the Canadian URSI web
site www.ursi.ca by clicking on "CNC Spring 2005 meeting".
The Chair asked for any change to the Minutes. No change.
Dr. Nikolova & Dr. Prato moved that the Minutes be approved. Unanimous.
04. Business arising from the minutes
=======================================
See below.
05. Acting Treasurer's report (Vallee)
============================
a. NRC HIA [Fahlman] fund for CNC's annual mtg:
NRC-HIA in Victoria paid all the travels of the CNC members attending
the CNC annual meeting in 2005 April, amounting to a total of $4168.
J. Vallee handed out the NRC Travel Expense Claim Forms for this year.
b. NRC CNC [Vallee] trust fund for seed/promotion:
NRC-CNC trust fund in Victoria stood at $50,619 on 2006 April 1.
J. Vallee explained the entries and exits in the last 12 months.
On April 19, a bill of $9,150 was received from UMan for ANTEM-2007/Ottawa.
c. NRC CorpServ [Jorjani] fund for the URSI HQ in Belgium
NRC-CorpServ in Ottawa has paid about $12,104 to URSI
for the annual canadian contribution to the URSI Headquarters
[=7248 EURO, representing 8 URSI votes at the GA].
d. Sum and other NRC contributions
-The sum for the items (a,b,c) is $66,891 for URSI matters [as of 1 April].
-In addition, NRC-HIA in Victoria pays for the staff involved in
the CNC activities, annual meeting, and maintaining the web site.
-NRC-CorpServ in Ottawa contributes towards the travel of
1 voting delegate at the URSI GA, excluding government members.
06. Canadian URSI Membership lists, by Commissions (Vallee)
======================================
Canadian membership is open to anyone interested, who is active, and who
publishes (no election). Each CNC member updates his Cdn commission's list.
J. Vallee has queried each CNC member about updating their commission list.
Dr. Vallee will send again to the CNC members the lists of Cdn URSI members.
*** NOTE ADDED on 2006 May 12: complete lists were emailed on 2006 May 12.
07. Chair's report (Antar)
====================================================================
Dr. Antar reported on happenings at the international level, including
talks at the NewDelhi, Boulder & Washington meetings.
The usual 50% share of the surplus money between Canada and a co-sponsor
for an international conference involving CNC will change to a new formula:
-25% of surplus to Canada
-25% of surplus to co-sponsor [such as IEEE]
-50% of surplus divided as based on paper participation [such as Cdn vs US].
Dr. Antar circulated his 3-page report on the IAU GA 2005 in New Delhi,
which was attended by 4 CNC members [Antar, Mishra, Nikolova, Prato] and
21 other Canadians.
08. 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.
Each commission representative should try to disseminate, to the Cdn
members of their own commission, the information about URSI & meetings.
Dr. Prato presented the URSI CNC report at the CISET mtg in Ottawa in June 2005.
He noted that all three most successful CNCs in Canada have set up a trust
account, in order to be effective. He emphasized that the URSI CNC trust
account is very useful for:
-seed money to reserve conference centres
-startup money for conference partnerships
-travels to decision meetings to bring international conferences to Canada
-awards for best student presentations
Dr. Gray's Cdn radio astronomy report can be viewed on the URSI CNC web site.
09. Montreal 2006 July URSI-CNC/ANTEM radio science (Antar)
===============================================================
Going ahead, but there is no agreement on surplus money.
10. Ottawa and other meetings (Antar)
==========================================
a. Ottawa 2007 July URSI-JointNARS/US-NC mtg (Antar)
Dr. Antar reported that the profits are to be shared 50%-50%, based on
a US$ 425 registration fee. ANTEM will organise it at the Chateau Laurier.
International Commission D refused a bid from NRC Conference Services.
b. Other meetings:
Dr. Antar indicated the progress for International Commission C meeting
on Signals & systems, to be held in Montreal in 2007 July, co-sponsored
by MMT and IEEE. CNC will offer some help.
Dr. Antar mentioned the 2010 Toronto meeting with IEEE-APS/NARS with
US-NC and CNC, with a sharing formula as mentioned above (item 7).
11. Candidatures for URSI Medals & URSI positions
===============================================================
No action this year.
12. CNC student awards
===============================================================
In 2003 April, 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 URSI CNC award was proposed by Antar, seconded by Koustov,
for the best Cdn-based student paper at the ANTEM 2006 July 22-26
conference in Montreal. Agreed.
A $500 URSI CNC award was proposed by Despins, seconded by LoVetri,
for the best Cdn-based student paper at the IEEE WIRELESS 2006 Sept. 25-28
conference in Montreal. Agreed.
13. New CNC appointments or reappointments
===============================================================
Comm D: Dr. Nikolova's wishes to end her term prematurely.
She proposed several candidates, and the CNC members also made suggestions.
The CNC ranked three candidates, and the Chair will follow through.
14. Solliciting new ideas on how to promote and to publicize
=============================================================
There were considerable discussions, relating to the promotion of
Radio Science in Canada, and how to publicize our activities within our
community.
Should we pay $5 000 for a professional CNC web site, and further
periodic payments to upgrade it regularly with news items ?
Should we have an e-mailable Newsletter, with items written by each
CNC member on a rotating basis ?
15. Other businesses
==============================
None
16. 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 2007.
Y.Antar thanked all members present for their work on the CNC ,
and Dr. Nikolova for her 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 16h50m.
PS: Minutes written by J.P. Vallee.