Conference Reports
It is expected that organizers of IEEE AESS Conferences submit a report to the Magazine within two months following the conference’s end. The reports should be written at such a level that the general Systems reader will be interested. Some technical details are therefore welcome in that these describe the conference theme, but lists of papers and similar items should be avoided. Conference reports benefit greatly from photographs – these should be in color and be of good resolution, and a descriptive caption is key. In the case of a financially (co-)sponsored conference, this report should not exceed 4 printed pages; and for technical sponsorship, the maximum length is 2 pages. Financially co-sponsored conference reports should include logos of AESS and other financial co-sponsors; other reports should not include logos. Reports related to conferences that are not AESS sponsored in any way can be submitted, but will be considered only if the AESS level of interest (such as membership in the organizing committee, familiar plenary speakers, etc.) is reasonably high; and the maximum length is one-half printed page. A printed page in Systems with no figures is usually 700-800 words.
Industry Insights
We welcome short papers, 3-4 pages long, that showcase industry projects, system solutions, and problem-solving approaches from an industrial standpoint. It can be wide in scope, in the sense that it offers a company-wide perspective; or it can be quite focused and give details on a particular product line or task.
News and Information
Brief pieces bringing timely information of significant interest to AESS members are welcome. These include, but are not limited to, major events, challenges and milestones. As a matter of practice, contributed obituary notices of AESS members are reserved for publication in the AESS website and in the AESS quarterly e-mail blast (QEB). Brief obituary notices of high-profile members of AESS may occasionally appear in the magazine, but these are rare and are generally not encouraged.
Student Highlights
Student Project Highlights
Student project highlights are short 2-3 page articles that showcase student projects. These articles describe the motivation, student contributions, and future directions of a specific student project. These articles should not be used as a main publication for novel research or be overly technical. These articles can showcase research either by high school, undergraduate, or graduate students or by a group of students in any of these domains. One to two photographs and up to two equations can be submitted.
Student Research Highlights
Student research highlights are typically submitted by graduate students working on a Master’s thesis or Doctoral dissertation. These highlights can be thought of as a two-page abstract of the student’s thesis, a proposal, or a recent research paper. The author should cite the publications relevant to the research being described in the highlight. Student research highlights should include a short bio along with a picture. Single authors are preferred, and if the student has an advisor, he/she should be mentioned as a footnote. These submissions should be ~800 words and when possible include a figure and up to two equations.
Student Activity Highlights
Student activity highlights is a more broad section and can include activities that students at any level are doing that are relevant or would be of interest to our readers. They do not have to be written by students but must be about students and an activity they participated in.
Note: If you are a graduate student submitting a regular article to the magazine, please do not use the Student Highlight category. Select one of the other categories when submitting your paper through the electronic submission website.
Student Research Submission Instructions
When submitting the article on the eJournal website and setting the Manuscript Information, select Student Research from the Area of Specialty dropdown list at the bottom.
General guidelines for the content of the highlight are as follows:
1. A section describing the problem of interest with motivations
2. A section summarizing past research and current state of the art
3. A section describing the student’s contributions to the field
4. A photo or illustration related to the research
5. A student background/biography with photo
This list, however, does not dictate a formal structure. The author should feel free to organize his or her highlight as they see fit, with the exception of the placement of the biography.
The highlight should be able to be understood by a non-expert across the different fields of AESS. Therefore, student authors are advised to minimize or altogether eliminate the use of complicated equations and delving into overly technical detail. If equations are required to explain part of the research, 2 or 3 equations should suffice, but no more. This is not a technical paper.