The 2016 IEEE AP-S Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and USNC-URSI Radio Science Meeting – Puerto Rico 2016 will be held on June 25 - July 2, 2016, at the El Conquistador, A Waldorf Astoria Resort in Puerto Rico. The symposium and meeting are co-sponsored by the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S), the U.S. National Committee (USNC) of the International Union of Radio Science (URSI). The technical sessions, workshops, and short courses will be coordinated between the two organizations to provide a comprehensive and well-balanced program. This meeting is intended to provide an international forum for the exchange of information on state-of-the-art research in antennas, propagation, electromagnetic engineering, and radio science. Paper submission deadline is January 18, 2016.

Las Croabas, Puerto Rico is a small coastal community on the eastern tip of the island, about thirty minutes from San Juan by car. The Fajardo municipality is popular with tourists because of its size and relaxing atmosphere, and the closeness of many interesting scenic destinations. During the Spanish-American war Fajardo was the site of a short battle around the Cape San Juan Lighthouse where US sailors landed during the invasion of Puerto Rico.

The El Conquistador Resort Atlantic Conference Center is the largest and most state-of-the-art venue in the Caribbean. The resort is situated on a 300 foot high cliff overlooking the ocean, offering relaxing views for its guests.

A special forum will be presented at the symposium on the Arecibo Observatory that will be open to all attendees. A limited number of behind-the-scenes technical tours to the observatory will be available.

Paper Submission:

Authors are invited to submit contributions for review and possible presentation in the symposium on topics of interest to AP-S and URSI including advancements and innovations in the fields of electromagnetics, antennas, and wave propagation. Suggested topics and general information are listed in this call. In addition to regularly scheduled sessions for oral and poster presentations, there will be a student paper competition as well as several special sessions, workshops, tutorials, and short courses that will address timely topics and state-of-the-art advancements in these fields. All paper submissions are due January 18, 2016.

General Submission Information

All paper and abstract submissions must be received in PDF format via the symposium Web site on or before Monday, January 18, 2016. This is a firm deadline. Papers will not be accepted after this date. Only electronic submissions in PDF format will be accepted. Please consult the symposium Web site for the latest instructions, templates, and format examples. Only the author who submits the paper will receive an acknowledgement of the submission. Please do not include page numbers on submitted documents. All papers must be written in clear, idiomatic English. Please note that a paper may be excluded from distribution after the conference (e.g., removal from the proceedings submitted to IEEE Xplore) if the paper is not presented at the conference. Address all AP-S and URSI correspondence, including inquiries concerning papers, abstracts, the technical program, and copyright forms, to Andrea Alu (alu@mail.utexas.edu).

The format and length requirements have changed with the 2016 Symposium. All submissions (both AP-S papers and URSI abstracts) must be submitted in the IEEE standard two-column format. Templates for Microsoft Word (.doc) and LaTeX2e are available at the symposium Web site. The maximum length of a submission for either AP-S or URSI is two pages. In order for an accepted submission to be included in what is submitted to IEEE Xplore, it must be two pages: this is true for both AP-S and URSI submissions. A signed IEEE copyright form must accompany all submissions. Papers submitted without copyright forms will be rejected. Instructions for electronically signing and submitting copyright forms are available at the symposium Web site. For an accepted paper to be listed in the technical program, one of the authors of the paper must be registered by May 1, 2016. In the event that this is not possible due to funding or visa issues, another registered attendee must be identified to serve as presenter prior to May 1, 2016.

Instructions for AP-S Authors

Papers must be two pages in length, including text, references, and figures. Note that the information density of the new two-column format is roughly twice that of the old format. The introduction of the paper should clearly indicate the unique aspects of the submission and how it relates to previous work.

Instructions for URSI Authors

URSI submissions must consist of at least 250 words and may be either one page or two pages, including figures. If accepted, submissions that are less than two pages will be included in the proceedings distributed in electronic form at the symposium but will not be submitted for inclusion on IEEE Xplore. Accepted submissions that are two pages in length will also be submitted for inclusion on IEEE Xplore. The Commission and session topic for the abstract must be identified at the time of submission.

AP-S Student Paper Competition

Eligible entries in the Student Paper Competition must have only one student author, and that student must be the first author. Each additional co-author must submit a signed letter indicating that his/her contribution is primarily advisory. Letters must be in PDF format and must be uploaded to the symposium’s student paper website in the indicated area at the time the paper is submitted. All Student Paper Competition entries will be evaluated using a double-blind review process in addition to the normal review process used for regular submissions. Detailed instructions will be available on the symposium website. For additional information, contact Zhen Peng (pengz@unm.edu ).

Special Sessions

Requests to organize special sessions should be submitted to hxin@email.arizona.edu no later than October 9, 2015. Each proposal should include the title of the special session, a brief description of the topic, and justification for its designation as a special session. All proposals should be submitted in PDF format. Special sessions will be selected and finalized by the end of November 2015. At that time, additional instructions will be provided to the organizers of the special sessions chosen for inclusion in the symposium and/or the meeting. The associated papers or abstracts will be due January 18, 2016. A list of special sessions will be posted at the symposium website in December 2015.

A few special sessions will be solicited by the TPC chair and topic co-chairs, on topics of particular interest and relevance. Examples of expected special sessions at the 2016 meeting may include:

Mm-Wave Antenna Arrays and Massive MIMO
Antenna Design/Analysis Based on Characteristic Modes
Electromagnetic Skins: Epidermal Antennas, Flexible and Stretchable Antennas, Sensing Substrates
Metamaterials in Industry
Grand Challenges in Computational EM
Novel Paradigms, Challenges and Perspectives in Wave Scattering and Propagation
Significant efforts to engage the AP-S Region 9 community will be made, and a special session devoted to Antennas and Propagation Research Advances in Central and South America will be organized (if interested, please contact Edwin Marengo emarengo@ece.neu.edu).

In collaboration with URSI Commission J, a special session on Arecibo, its history and major role in astronomy and ionospheric science will be organized (if interested, please contact Rich Bradley rbradley@nrao.edu).

Exhibits

Industrial, academic, and book exhibits will be open June 28-30, 2016. Exhibitor registration and additional information can be found on the symposium website.

Short Courses/Workshops/Tutorials

Several short courses and tutorials on topics of special and current interest will be solicited by the technical program committee and organized around and during the conference. Individuals who wish to organize a short course or workshop should contact Andrew Peterson (peterson@ece.gatech.edu) by November 10, 2015.

For additional information, please visit the symposium website www.2016apsursi.org.