CONFERENCE NEWS

International Symposium on Nonlinear Theory and Its Applications 2011

The International Symposium on Nonlinear Theory and Its Applications (NOLTA) is a leading international conference in the area of applications of nonlinear theory and methods.  It was inaugurated in 1990 by the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers (IEICE) in Japan. The first two NOLTAs were held in Japan as domestic meetings. In view of the growing international interest in the area, the third NOLTA in 1992 was made an international one, with English as the official medium of presentation. This first international NOLTA was held in Hakone, Japan. Since then, NOLTA has gradually become a major international forum where researchers in different parts of the world interact and exchange ideas. In 1993, NOLTA moved to Hawaii, and kept touring around many fascinating destinations including Kyushu (1994), Las Vegas (1995), Kochi (1996), Hawaii (1997 and 1999), Crans-Montana (1998), Dresden (2000), Miyagi (2001), Xi’an (2002), Fukuoka (2004), Bruges (2005), Bologna (2006), Vancouver (2007), Budapest (2008), Sapporo (2009) and Krakow (2010).

In 2011, NOLTA returned to Japan, and was held in the city of Kobe, which has the urban flair of a city but the sanity of being neat, tidy, well-spaced, and comfortable, and of course with lots of shopping and sight-seeing opportunities.

The conference organization was led by Prof. Yuzo Ohta of Kobe University, who, together with his very able team, meticulously put together a program that has made NOLTA one of the most memorable events for its 200+ international and Japanese participants. The technical program committee, under the co-chairmanship of Prof. Tetsushi Ueta and Prof. Michael Tse, designed a high-quality technical program by inviting a few eminent researchers to

deliver plenary talks, and by including many interesting papers submitted by researchers from all over the world, as well as by leveraging the efforts of the special session chairmen, Profs. Yoshifumi Nishio, Masato Ishikawa, Wallace Tang and Visarath In, who reviewed and recommended a number of special sessions that addressed topics of emerging importance. The plenary talks were given by Prof. Shin’ichi Oishi of Wased

a University, Prof. Ruedi Stoop of ETH, Switzerland, and Prof. Tetsuya Sato of Hyogo University, covering three different areas of research, namely and respectively, “the state of art of verified numerical computation – a tool for computer assisted proofs of nonlinear problems”, “at the level of language, Drosophila’s sex life is as rich as ours”, and “toward a paradigm shift from simulation science to ‘simulationics’”.

The organizer took the participants for a sightseeing dinner harbour cruise in the world famous music-gourmet ship, Concerto, which departed from Mosaic at the Kobe Harbourland and sailed around the harbour. The sailing in a boat at dusk was certainly one of the best ways to relax, and it was complemented by local beers, wines and tasty food.

The final event was the Best Student Paper Awards ceremony held during the farewell party. These awards were instituted in 2010 to encourage young researchers to work in the exciting field of nonlinear theory. The awards this year were presented to Taichi Kiwaki (University of Tokyo), Martin Schule (University of Zurich and ETH Zurich), Mamoru Suefuji (Saitama University), Yutaro Yamashita (Osaka University), and Atsushi Yao (Kyoto University). These awardees will be eligible for free registration at the next NOLTA. Details can be found in http://nolta2011.org/student_paper_award.html.  

The next NOLTA will move to Palma de Mallorca, Spain, and is tentatively scheduled for the period October 23 to 26, 2012. A website has been set up to disseminate the latest news about NOLTA 2012. Check it out now!

Michael Tse, EiC (Email: cktse@ieee.org)