Abstract :
Six experts were invited to provide overviews of fundamental areas of electrotechnology for this annual state-of-the-art review. In addition, inputs for the other Erticles were obtained from some 75 contributors; many of the contributions were solicited from !eaders within the IEEE´s technical societies by issue coordinator Ronald Jurgen. All the specialists were asked to focus on near-term developments and to limit their blue-sky projections. They were also asked to cite specific manufacturers and equipment models where possible, to exemplify important technical developments. The six experts and their topics are: Eric Aupperle, computes; John Musa, software; Paul Green, communications; Bernard Murphy, solid state; Charles House, instrumentation; and John Dougherty, power and energy.