President’s Column (Sept 2018)

From the President of I-INCE

The gathering at the annual INTER-NOISE congress is not only an opportunity for a conference with a great technical program but also an opportunity for those involved with the management of I-INCE to meet. According to the bylaws, the officers, the board of directors, and the general assembly share responsibilities in managing the affairs of the institute. While much business is undertaken throughout the year by email, the board meets on Saturday afternoon and again on Wednesday evening, and the general assembly meets on Sunday before the congress opens.

The board comprises a vice president and the directors at large with primary responsibilities to each of the three geographical regions, but it is the general assembly that is the time for the board to report to the membership as a whole and for the membership to provide guidance on current and future activities for the board. Each member society is invited to provide a representative to participate in the general assembly, and the minutes of the meeting are freely available from the website. An important agenda item is the vote by the assembly on nominations for any vacant positions, such as director at large or congress selection committee positions. At the 2018 general assembly, it was pleasing to see that there were three nominations for the director at large for the Pan-American region. Congratulations to Stuart Bolton, who will now join the board.

Terms for the board members are between three and four years, and the bylaws define that any member can only serve two terms in the same position, unless there are exceptional circumstances. At the end of 2018, the terms of two longstanding vice presidents come to an end.

Dave Holger has provided 12 years of continuous board service, having commenced as the director for INTER-NOISE 2007 and more recently as the vice president rules and governance. Over the last few years, he has been responsible for updating the bylaws and the rules and duties of the board members. A very important part of the update has been to ensure consistency across the various documents, and Dave has been exemplary at this task. He has agreed to continue on the board for one further year as distinguished board member to assist with the transition of duties of rules and governance to Steve Hambrick.

Samir Gerges leaves our board at the end of 2018 after 13 years continuous service. Samir commenced as the director for INTER-NOISE 2005 and continued as vice president for development and more recently has served two continuous terms as vice president for membership. During his time on the board, Samir has been a continuous advocate for acoustics in the South American region and in the membership role has acted to encourage emerging acoustic societies to consider joining I-INCE. The board has decided from 2019 to devolve the new membership duties to the vice president and the director at large responsible for each of the geographical regions.

At the end of INTER-NOISE 2018, the thanks for a successful conference go to Charlie Moritz and the team. Now we all look forward to the next INTER-NOISE 2019 in Madrid, June 16–19, 2019. (See http://www.internoise2019.org for more.)

Marion Burgess
President, I-INCE

headshot of Marion Burgess