President’s Inaugural Address
I am deeply honoured to accept the presidency of the IUVSTA for the 2001-2004 triennium. I thank you for entrusting me with this responsibility and assure you that I will make all efforts during the coming years to justify that trust.
I attended my first meeting of the IUVSTA as an
observer for France 9 years ago, in 1992 and, since that date, I have had the
privilege of serving IUVSTA in various capacities. During that period, I have
seen major advances in the activities of the Union which have resulted in a
continuous increase in its strength.
It is a great pleasure to acknowledge the contribution of my predecessor, Phil Woodruff, and his continuous effort and effectiveness in favouring the development of scientific activities and reducing the burden of administrative constraints. I have also been very fortunate that I have had the opportunity to work with our Past-President, John Robins. I have benefited from his great experience and wisdom and learned much about the Union from him. I also thank all the other officers and councillors, who have worked tirelessly to develop the activities of the IUVSTA.
The last few years have seen a considerable
enhancement in the activities of our Union with the ever growing success of the
Workshop program, the up-dating of the Visual Aids program and the impact of
electronic communication in all our activities. I am confident that all these
activities will continue to flourish.
During this triennium, I would like to consider
other possible ways in which we could increase the capacity of our Union to
promote international collaboration.
The Scientific and Technical Directorate is
conducting the scientific activities of the Union through the Scientific
Divisions, and I am certainly willing to support the Scientific Director and
the Scientific Secretary in the development and promotion of such activities in
new fields. In addition, we must also ensure that the divisional structure of
the Union continuously reflects the scientific interests of our constantly
changing community. In this regard, a regular review of the divisions and of
possible new topics will be implemented within the Scientific and Technical
Directorate during this triennium.
The Publication activities of the Union have already considerably changed due to the development of electronic communications. I believe that the IUVSTA web site should be more extensively used, not only to disseminate information on IUVSTA events, but also as a vehicle for scientific and technical information.
One of the specificities of the IUVSTA lies in
the fact that it is a union of national societies rather than individuals. This
means that each of its members already reflects the aspirations of a community.
To take clear advantage of this situation, we must find ways to increase our
interaction with the National Vacuum Societies, to have a better knowledge of
the activities and the needs of their members. We must also work on having
closer interactions with groups that are not represented in the Union and help
in promoting new National Vacuum Societies.
Of course, financial considerations are always
the limiting factor in developing new activities. Although we must certainly
remain cautious in planning new expenditures, which would require further
income, adjustments in the presentation of the budget will give sufficient
flexibility to face new challenges and opportunities.
Thanks to all our predecessors, the IUVSTA is
active, thriving and has a very positive impact on our scientific and
technological community. Further increasing its strength is thus an exciting
challenge that, with your help, I am enthusiastically willing to take up.
I look forward to working with all of you.
Marie-Geneviève Barthés-Labrousse
San Francisco, USA
October 2001