Report on the 2012 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and USNC-URSI Radio Science Meeting July 8-14, 2012, Chicago, Il, USA

The 2012 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and USNC-URSI Radio Science Meeting was held from July 8 to July 14 in Chicago, IL, USA. On behalf of its Steering Committee, we are thankful to all of the attendees for their participation and scientific contributions, which resulted in the Symposium breaking numerous records. We received overwhelming positive feedback, and hope you benefited from many of the innovations of the 2012 Symposium, including the impressive plenary speakers at the Global Plenary Session and the Funding Opportunities Plenary Session. We strived to make the attendees and their families, rep resenting 54 countries, feel welcome. We provided numerous opportunities for interaction during the oral and poster sessions, the Opening Reception at the world-famous Art Institute of Chicago, the continental breakfasts before the plenary sessions, the soldout Awards Banquet, the Student/GOLD Reception luncheon, the Women-in-Engineering Reception at Navy Pier, and the various formal and informal meetings at the conference hotel. The conference hotel, the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers, was selected because of its layout, which facilitated interaction among people by providing large common spaces and keeping all attendees sufficiently close to each other. The Hospitality Suite welcomed a record number of registered guests, and the first-ever program for children of those attending the Awards Banquet was a success.