Celebrating Excellence [Editorial]

October 2018 IEEE SyStEmS, man, & CybErnEtICS magazInE 3 Celebrating Excellence T he IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society (SMCS) community felt great pride when it learned that Dr. Dimitar Filev was elected as fellow of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) for contributions to automotive re search and practice in the fields of intelligent information and control systems. This distinction is one of the highest professiona l honors accorded an engineer. Members have distinguished themselves in business and academic management, in technical positions, as uni versity faculty, and as leaders in government and private engineering organizations. Members are elected to NAE membership by their peers (current NAE members). Along the same lines, we also learned that the 2017 IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Leaning Systems Outstanding Paper Award was granted to Chen et al. [1] at the Awards Banquet of the IEEE 2018 World Congress on Computational Intelligence. Congratulations to C.L. Philip Chen and Fei-Yue Wang! Additionally, SMC Awards Committee Chair Prof. Ljiljana Trajkovic issued an open call seeking nominations for the SMCS awards: http://www . ieeesmc.org/about-smcs/awards. SMCS awards are broad ranging, including the prestigious Norbert Wiener and the Lotfi A. Zadeh Pioneer awards. There are no eligibility restrictions for either award. Serving on awards and recognitions committees not only raises one’s appreciation of excellence in our midst but also alerts a person to the importance of raising awareness of the best contributors and their work in areas of interest to their technical community. Over the past four years, IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Magazine has offered articles profiling highly visible members of our SMC community and their technical work. The July 2018 issue contained a six-page feature article celebrating the technical contributions of Dr. Peng-Shi, the well-regarded professor at the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering of the University of Adelaide, Australia. The article was coordinated by Prof. Choon Ki Ahn, who is a well-known engineering educator and Crimson Professor of Excellence, School of Electrical Engineering, Korea University, Seoul. At the time I wrote this editorial, Prof. Ahn was guest editing a special section of IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Magazine focusing on Markovian jump systems for the January 2019 issue. The magazine is preparing several special sections celebrating the achievements of some of our colleagues in areas of interest to SMC. Each section consists of two parts, with the first containing an extended biography of the subject of the section and testimonials by past and present students, collaborators, adherents, and colleagues who witnessed new contributions evolve. The second part includes up to three technical articles of a tutorial and or review nature on areas of expertise of the celebrant. This is designed to raise our awareness of developments at the forefront of our field. Administrative/leadership achievements appear to be less tractable than those of the technical variety. Naturally, testimonials by Society leadership speaking to the impact of the celebrant’s efforts will be an integral part of the section. Examples include new educational programs, spearheading a new publication/society, and the rejuvenation of an important area of study. A special section will include not only a historical narrative of the evolution of the celebrated achievement but also testimonials by those who were impacted by the innovation. I am looking forward to your suggestions of colleagues whom you believe have made lasting contributions to our profession. Let me hear from you on these issues and how this magazine can serve you better.