KIEES

Dear beloved and respected members of the Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science:

I hope that everyone associated with our Institute will be happy, healthy, and fulfill their wishes in 2021.

Since its foundation on June 27 1989, the Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science (KIEES) has endeavored to promote human welfare and contribute to national development through electromagnetic engineering studies and industry. We have since grown into one of the four major academic societies in information and communication technology in South Korea.

In 2020, the 31^st anniversary of our foundation, we registered our English-language Journal of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science (JEES) in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), more than 1,000 participants attended our Summer Conference, and we achieved 10,000 total members, thus accomplishing three of the Institute’s long-term goals. All of these achievements were only possible because of the constant support and active participation of our members.

KIEES should now move to solidify these foundations and take another leap forward to the era of 20,000 members, but we are facing many internal and external difficulties due to the spread of COVID-19. In the current situation, we have a sense of great responsibility to continue developing KIEES and will, of course, strive to do our best. This year, we aim to develop the Institute substantially and systematically by strengthening its central role in the electromagnetic engineering field and promoting our academic activities through the tasks outlined below.

Strengthening the Institute’s role in electromagnetic engineering community

Participation in KIEES by industry and research partners has been relatively weak compared to contributions from academia and government agencies. To address this, we will identify ways to increase participation such as promoting more proactive roles for industry workers and researchers in the preparatory committees for our various academic events, the Industry-Academia-Research Committee, and our specialized research groups. Furthermore, we will work to provide on- and off-line opportunities for representatives from industry, academia, research institutes, and government agencies to easily exchange information at Institute events. Under the supervision of the Industry-Academia-Research Committee, we also plan to expand the number of companies with special membership and promote substantial and systematic cooperation, exchange, and support to better meet the needs of our potential partners in industry and research. As part of this effort, we will increase access to tours of special member companies and internship programs for student members to help develop talented personnel for future recruitment.

Second, in order for KIEES to play a central role in domestic electromagnetic engineering community, we must particularly take the initiative in the field of radio technology and policies. To this end, our New Technology Business Committee and Policy Business Committee have already been holding radio-related workshops, and we intend to establish a virtuous cycle structure over the coming year to discover new topics in the convergence between electromagnetic and radio technologies; propose new radio wave policies in cooperation with government agencies; and regularly hold policy workshops in cooperation with the National Assembly.

Third, relatedly, we believe that radio waves are an essential element of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and their importance is rising daily, but that university-level education system for cultivating experts in electromagnetic engineering is inefficient. In order to overcome this problem, we will actively advocate for the revival of the government’s former radio-wave training project and promote it in partnership with relevant universities.

Fourth, to support the Institute’s pivotal position in electromagnetic engineering from an academic point of view, we will focus our journal, the Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science, on the analysis of trends in electromagnetic engineering, proposals for new radio-wave policies, and the analysis of both domestic and international standards. Published six times a year, we plan to make our flagship Korean-language journal something that is actually read by Institute members and that provides useful information on cooperation among industry, academia, research institutes, and government agencies. Furthermore, we will actively carry out academic service tasks related to new radio technologies and policies and provide substantial support so that KIEES continues to play a central role in the field of electromagnetic engineering.

Reinforcing the Institute’s key position in the electromagnetic engineering community is an essential factor in our ambition to increase membership to 20,000, and we plan to appoint an executive member to actively promote it. These efforts will also increase cooperation and exchange between industry, academia, research institutes, and government.

Promoting the Institute’s academic activities

First, we will expand and develop our English-language journal, JEES. To support and disseminate the increasing number of manuscripts submitted to the Institute, we intend to extend publication to five times a year. We will strive to make JEES a leading international journal in electromagnetic engineering by implementing continuous follow-up measures to increase citations. We also aim to enhance the financial soundness of JEES through realizing thesis publication fees and creating advertising space.

Second, our journal, the Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science, registered in the Korea Research Foundation, has become somewhat weakened during promotion of JEES through SCIE. We therefore plan to increase the number and quality of published papers by gathering our resources more effectively.

Third, our annual Summer Conference has been held on Jeju Island since 2013, and it has continued to evolve with more than 1,300 participants and 900 papers published from the 8th conference in 2020, making it the largest academic event in electromagnetic engineering. This year’s conference will develop an even more diverse program to establish it as an event at which more institutions can participate from across industry and academia. The Winter Symposium, now in its third year, will actively provide extensions to, whilst also differentiating from, the summer program. We intend to build the foundations for hosting an international conference in the future by devising specifically international sessions at our current events.

Fourth, we will promote and strengthen the specialized research groups which play such a pivotal role in the Institute’s academic activities, holding more than 20 events each year. To develop our interests in emerging electromagnetic technologies, we will establish formal bylaws relating to the research groups so that they can operate more flexibly as well as making it easier to monitor less active branches and establish groups in areas with rising demand. We will appoint an executive member to actively support collaborative activities between different groups, to plan relevant international events, and to stabilize each group financially.

Developing the Institute substantially and systematically

First, to help KIEES actively respond to the social distance of the COVID-19 era, we plan to develop a suitable environment for hosting events and conferences and streamlining the related tasks. In particular, we are aiming to reduce costs by securing access to a studio from which we can host academic events on-line. This form of on-line broadcasting will mean that future events can be held completely virtually or in combination with off-line gatherings.

Second, begun in 2020, we are also working to complete mid- to long-term development plans for the Institute and establish a roadmap for our growth by year and by division. This will include the expansion and relocation of conference office space, improvements to our accounting procedures, sound financial planning, greater work efficiency, and the revision of our conference bylaws. Furthermore, the roadmap will include how we can manage the academic service projects that form a large portion of the secretariat’s tasks more efficiently.

Third, we will ensure that collaboration and exchange between the Institute’s partner companies and members can continue smoothly in the context of physical distancing via our website, publications, and virtual events. To this end, we plan to supplement existing KIEES publicity by augmenting our e-newsletters, regularly updating our promotional videos and other materials, expanding our presence in the news media about major events, producing more explanatory material about specialized areas on-line, and creating a system for sharing information through the Institute’s website.

Fourth, we also intend to actively promote membership to achieve 20,000 members as soon as possible. Consequently, we are planning to more broadly publicize the Institute’s main aims as well as those of our specialized groups and our domestic and overseas branches. We will strongly promote our academic events and actively support the conversion of memberships from undergraduate and associate to regular and from regular to life. We intend to develop conference programs specifically to attract regular members and to encourage employees of special member companies to also join. In addition, we will support and promote membership growth through the activities and events of our domestic and overseas branches.

Respected members of KIEES:

Many and varied internal and external obstacles are expected from the spread of COVID-19 this year, and the continued warm support of Institute members will be necessary to promote these tasks and achieve these goals. Once again, we ask and thank you for your participation in the continued growth of our Institute.

Sincerely yours,

President of the Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science, 2021 Jin-Seob Kang