2012 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Symposium (APS)
Organizer: Mahta Moghaddam
Sponsored: July 8-14, 2012, Chicago, IL

The 2012 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and USNC-URSI National Radio Science Meeting (APS/URSI) was held on July 8-14, 2012, in Chicago, IL, at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers. APS/URSI is the premier international event in the field of antennas and wireless propagation. Attendees include those from major universities and wireless, aerospace, and S/W companies. The 2012 APS broke many previous records: number of attendees, number of papers, level of sponsorships, number of and attendance at social events, etc. The contribution of the USC Ming Hsieh Institute (MHI) supported these achievements.

The symposium and meeting were co-sponsored by the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S) and the U.S. National Committee of the International Union of Radio Science (USNC-URSI, under auspices of the National Academies). Prof. Mahta Moghaddam of the Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering was the Vice General Chair of the conference. Prof. Danilo Erricolo of the University of Illinois Chicago Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering was the conference Chair.

The support provided by the MHI was used to support the conference opening ceremony on Sunday 7/8/12, and in particular to open the Roy Lichtenstein Gallery at the Chicago Art Institute to the conference participants. Roy Lichtenstein, the renowned American artist, is most well known for his pop-art comic-style paintings. This highly acclaimed exhibit, comprised of various private- and museum-owned pieces, will only be shown in Chicago, Washington DC, London, and Paris. (see, for example, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/22/roy-lichtenstein_n_1533997.html). The exhibit at the opening ceremony was exclusively sponsored by the MHI. Professors Moghaddam and Erricolo, during their remarks at the opening ceremony, both gratefully acknowledged the MHI support. Prof. Erricolo reiterated the acknowledgement at the Conference Opening Plenary Session on Monday 7/9/12. An estimated 1000 people attended each event.

Throughout the week of the conference, the MHI banner was displayed at the entrance to the main ballroom at the conference venue, Chicago Sheraton and Towers, where the plenary sessions and the awards banquet were held, as well as other major events throughout the week. This location provided maximum exposure, as it was on the major path to all other conference lecture rooms and exhibits. The MHI support was also prominently displayed in the conference booklet in a full-page acknowledgement.

The MHI presence at this conference provided immediate and prominent exposure for USC, for the EE department, and for MHI, to a large community of (mostly) electrical engineering colleagues, including many distinguished leading figures in the field of antennas and wireless propagation, most major and top-ranked universities, many leading companies in the field, and importantly, many graduate students. Numerous prominent colleagues personally acknowledged the prominence of the MH EE department and MHI to Prof. Moghaddam.

Published on May 22nd, 2017Last updated on February 10th, 2020