Page 30 - Summer 2007

membership in March 2005. In
May 2005, the ICA was
informed that the Executive
Board of ICSU had examined
the application. The Executive
Board felt that a prima facie case
for admission of the ICA as a
Union Member had not been
made and the application was
premature. However, ICSU felt
that admission of the ICA as a
Scientific Associate would be
considered. Therefore, the ICA
resubmitted its application in
March 2006, but this time for
admission as a Scientific
Associate. In November 2006,
the ICA was informed that it
had been officially admitted to
ICSU as a Scientific Associate.
The ICA is planning to submit a
new application for Union
membership in the near future
after establishing better coordination and cooperation from other international organizations involved in the discipline of acoustics.
It is with this in mind that the ICA is exploring the admission of a number of new International Affiliated Members. This will ensure a greater degree of coordination and cooperation between the various international organiza- tions to further the development of international efforts in acoustics. The ICA also proposed the formation of an International Conference Coordination Committee to bring about better coordination of international activities.
At the time of writing this article, ICA’s suggestion of inviting other international organizations to become International Affiliates of the ICA has been warmly received. The European Acoustics Association (EAA), the Western Pacific Commission on Acoustics (WESPAC), the Iberoamerican Federation of Acoustics (FIA), the International Institute of Noise Control Engineering (I- INCE) and the International Conference on Ultrasonics (ICU) have all agreed in principle to become International Affiliates of the ICA. Revised Statutes to formally recognize the new International Affiliated Members are currently being circulated to the ICA Member Societies for approval at the next General Assembly in Madrid.
ICA operation
Under the new governance structure as an Affiliated Commission of IUPAP, the ICA created a procedure whereby a General Assembly of Member Societies elects the President, Vice-President, Secretary-General, and Treasurer and ten other ICA Board Members. The ICA Board may also elect Associate Board Members for liaison with Scientific Unions and other organizations concerned with acoustics. The Board of the International Commission for Acoustics meets once per year, generally at a site where a meeting of one of its member organizations is being held. Between meetings its
Fig. 2. ICA Board representatives met in Hawaii, December 2006
Front Row (L to R)—Samir Gerges (Brazil), Gilles Daigle (Canada), Antoni Sliwinski (Poland), Hugo Fastl (Germany, Treasurer), Phillipe Blanc-Benon (France), Sonoko Kuwano (Japan, Secretary-General)
Back Row (L to R)—Marion Burgess (Australia 2010 Meeting), Anders Bostrom (IUTAM representative), Jean-Dominique Polack (EAA), Douglas Cato (Australia), Giovanni Brambilla (Italy), Philip Nelson (United Kingdom, President). [Photo by Charles Schmid (ASA- United States)]
business is conducted primarily via email through the office of the Secretary-General.
The ICA does not have an office per se, but covers the expenses of a Secretariat and relies on volunteers to assist in administrative matters. Expenses are covered by annual dues from Member Societies which range from $US 25 for small societies to $US 450 for large societies. In addition, 5% from the triennial Congress registra- tion fees are contributed to the ICA. These meetings are the financial responsibility of the organization that sponsors the Congress. For example the Acoustical Society of Japan sponsored the meeting in Kyoto in 2004 and the Spanish Acoustical Society will assume
the financial responsibility for the 2007 meeting in Madrid.
Additional services to the international community
Since becoming an Affiliate of IUPAP in 1998, the Commission has established a number of programs to fulfill its mission which are described below:
• Sponsorship of Specialty Conferences in Acoustics. The ICA-sponsored conferences are normally limited to a specialized topic with an expected attendance of about 100. Support for regional or national confer- ences, especially in developing regions, are considered as long as the conference has an international charac- ter. Conferences sponsored by the Commission are eligible for a grant of up to $US 2000. Other organiza- tions including the Acoustical Society of America and the European Acoustics Association provide addi- tional financial support to this program. Since 1999 this program has supported 23 conferences in many countries including Poland, India, Russia, Brazil, and Lithuania.
• Young Scientist Conference Attendance Grants. This program acknowledges the outstanding research con- tributions of acousticians, particularly young and early-career scientists, and provides partial funding to attend the triennial Congresses. Seventeen grants were awarded for the 2001 Rome Congress to atten- dees from eleven countries, and sixteen grants were awarded for the 2004 Kyoto Congress to attendees from ten countries. The total has increased for the 2007 Madrid Congress for which 53 Young Scientist Conference Attendance Grants have been approved for attendees from 25 different countries.
• An ICA Early Career Award. The award is presented at a triennial Congress to an individual who is relatively early in his/her professional career, and who has been active in the affairs of acoustics and has contributed
28 Acoustics Today, July 2007