The next International Conference on Intelligent Systems Applications to Power Systems, ISAP2005, will take place November 6 - 10, 2005 in Arlington, VA, which is located in the Washington metropolitan area.
It is the objective of this proposal to request support for the travel expenses for students and for some of the direct conference costs including CD production of the proceedings, communication and supplies. Matching funds will be sought from power system utilities and manufacturers. Special efforts will be made to recruit students and speakers from minorities and underrepresented groups.
Intellectual Merit ISAP is the only international conference entirely dedicated to intelligent system applications for power systems and thus provides an ideal forum for the presentation of innovative research fostering close interaction between researchers. This conference is expected to have a substantial impact on the quality of the research and teaching in the major areas of discourse which is due to its interdisciplinary nature as well as to the high quality of the invited speakers and participants.
Since the venue of the bi-annual conference traditionally rotates between Europe, North-America, South-America and Asia, ISAP2005 provides a unique and most likely the only opportunity for currently enrolled US students to interact exclusively with international experts in the area of intelligent systems for power systems. While intelligent systems slowly enter the traditional power engineering curriculum, this conference will provide major educational opportunities for US students to learn about the newest techniques.
Broader Impact NSF's potential contribution to the administrative costs including printing, communications and supplies will allow the conference organizers to keep the conference registration fee at a moderate level, thus offsetting the relatively high travel and lodging expenses for our international participants; i.e. high when compared to national living expenses in many Asian, African or Eastern European countries. Traditionally the ISAP conference has attracted a sizable participation of researcher from Eastern-European countries as well as South-America and Asia where researchers with excellent technical expertise face a lack of economic resources. The interaction of US as well as international students with researchers from different cultural backgrounds provides an enriching experience that reaches far beyond technical knowledge acquisition. It also offers opportunities to present and involve students from underrepresented minorities in exciting and societal relevant research and education activities.
This conference further provides a unique opportunity for NSF to interact with students, academia and power industry to promote and discuss NSF's vision of technical challenges in complex systems, sensing, communication and control as well as its economic, educational and sociological impact.
