2009 Annual Meeting, ECCE, and you [president's Message]

Many of us have grown familiar with the format of the Industry Applications Society (IAS) Annual Meeting: tutorials on Sunday, nearly 400 technical paper presentations on Monday through Thursday, the awards luncheon on Tuesday, and the president's banquet on Wednesday. It is a format that has worked well for us for more than 30 years. However, the 2009 IAS Annual Meeting will be much different. One change is that tutorials will be moved to Wednesdays and Thursdays. Another change is that four of the largest technical committees will not be presenting papers at the 2009 IAS Annual Meeting. The ElectricMachines, Industrial Drives, Industrial Power Converter, and the Power Electronic Devices and Components Committees will be presenting their papers at the first-ever Energy Conversion Conference and Exposition (ECCE) 2009.