2001 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM '01) 8–12 July 2001 Como, Italy

Farewell from the General Chair

On behalf of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), I was glad to host you at the 2001 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM '01). The purpose of this biennial conference, following the footsteps of the previous two editions in Tokyo, Japan (1997) and Atlanta, Georgia, USA (1999), is to promote activities in various areas of mechatronics by providing a forum for exchange of ideas, presentation of technical achievements, and discussion of future directions. The theme of the Conference was Synergy in Mechatronics–The Next Step of Information Technology.

The organization of a conference like AIM is structured into several layers, and serving as a General Chair has been an exciting experience. To give you an idea of the time devoted to AIM '01 by many of us, I have personally counted more than 5000 emails among the various folders, meaning an average of 10 emails a day in the past of one-and-half year, and it's not over yet ...! So, my task was facilitated by the high skills of the various Chairs and I am going to recognize their devoted work!

This year, a record number of 280 papers were submitted from 32 different countries with an overall breakdown for the three greater geographical areas of about: 1/2 for Europe and Africa, 1/4 for Asia and Oceania, and 1/4 for America. The resulting paper classification is: 206 regular papers, 55 invited-session papers, and 19 industry-oriented papers (a novelty for this Conference). The technical program included the presentation of 4 videos and 224 papers organized into 48 sessions. The review process was been conducted by the 3 Program Co-Chairs: Jadran Lenarcic (Europe and Africa), Shigeru Okuma (Asia and Oceania), Bill Hamel (America), the Invited Session Chair: Clarence de Silva, and the Industry-Oriented Chair: GianAntonio Magnani, as well as by the Video Session Chair: Rajiv Dubey. The process was aided by the requirement that all papers and videos be submitted in electronic form, thereby allowing each contribution to receive 3 independent reviews! Besides thanking all the Chairs and Committee Members, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the tremendous effort invested by the E-Media Chair, Claudio Melchiorri, and his Co-Chair, Daniele Arduini, to ensure a prompt and efficient handling of the submission and review process.

The Proceedings have been provided in both printed and CD-ROM version, thanks to the work of the Publication Chair, T.-J. Tarn. In addition, the Final Program booklet contains the abstracts of the papers which were made available on this web site prior to the Conference as well.

All meetings were housed in the fascinating site of Teatro Sociale, a neo-classical building located in the heart of the city of Como. The Technical Program began on Sunday afternoon with a Tutorial on Hybrid Electric Vehicles promoted by the Workshop and Tutorial Chair, Luigi Glielmo, which was followed by the Video Session. Paper Sessions were held in four parallel tracks from Monday to Wednesday. A strategic choice has been to invite four Plenary Speakers all from industry: Bruno Murari from STMicroelectronics, Stephen Hung from Visteon Corporation, Masakazu Ejiri from Hitachi Central Research Laboratory and Jan Van Eijk from Philips Centre for Industrial Technology. Also, an Exhibition has been organized by the devoted Chair: Gianni Ferretti.

A special word of appreciation goes to the General Co-Chair: Shigeki Sugano for his precious advise on the management of the Conference, as well as to the Local Arrangement Chair: GianAntonio Magnani for his tireless support to the organization of the event.

I also treasured the experience of the Past General Chair: Kok-Meng Lee. He gave me precious and continuous advise as he felt AIM to be his creature in a way. He and I exchanged hundreds of email and spent much time on the phone in the crucial moments of the organization course.

I should also acknowledge the substantial financial support offered by a number of companies: STMicroelectronics, Agusta, Balance Systems, FIAR, Gerit, Joinet, Control Techniques Italia, Heidenhain, as well as by the University of Salerno and Polytechnic of Milan (local Como branch).

The intensive Social Program for the Conference Attendees and their Accompanying Persons included: a boat tour sightseeing along the lake shores, then docking at Villa Olmo for the Welcome Cocktail plus some dancing on Monday; the Banquet in the historical halls of Villa Erba in Cernobbio on Tuesday; and the Farewell Wine Tasting at Teatro Sociale on Wednesday. Finally, Thursday was dedicated to visit local industries: STMicroelectronics and Agusta.

Last but not least, I wish to thank the professional staff of Centro "A. Volta": Chiara Stefanetti and Nadia Tansini, and their assistants, who fulfilled their secretarial duties as effectively as smoothly.

The Conference was quite successful in terms of attendance: 296 Participants (including 75 Students) and 47 Accompanying Persons. According to the feedback on site and further messages of appreciation, attendees seemed to enjoy both the Technical and the Social Program to a great extent. Additional information as well as a photo gallery of the event can be found on this web site.

In sum, it was a truly exciting experience for me to serve as General Chair of AIM'01. I am most pleased to pass the gavel to Shigeki Sugano, General Chair of AIM'03 to be held in Kobe, Japan, July 2003!

Again, on behalf of the whole AIM '01 Team, it was my exquisite pleasure to meet you in Como a few weeks ago. Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart!

Bruno Siciliano
siciliano@unina.it
https://cds.unina.it/~sicilian