Date: Tuesday 3 May 2022
Time: 10am — 11:30am EDT
Place: Virtual (Zoom)

Attendees (21):

• Lin Lin (TC Chair), Tongji University, China
• Adam Noel (TC Vice Chair), University of Warwick, UK
• Nan Yang (TC Secretary), Australian National University, Australia
• Prabhat Kumar Sharma (TC Social media chair), VNIT Nagpur, India
• Aldri Santos, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil
• Anna Vizziello, University of Pavia, Italy
• Chan-Byoung Chae, Yonsei University, South Korea
• Chia-Han Lee, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taiwan
• Dadi Bi, King’s College London, UK
• Jens Kirchner, FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany
• Lukas Brand, FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany
• Kun Yang, University of Essex, UK
• Massimiliano Pierobon, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA
• Maurizio Magarini, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
• Maximilian Schäfer, FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany
• Rudolf Rabenstein, FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany
• Sebastian Lotter, FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany
• Tadashi Nakano, Osaka Metropolitan University/Osaka University, Japan
• Tatsuya Suda, University Netgroup, Inc., USA
• Yansha Deng, King’s College London, UK
• Rinrada Jadsadaphongphaibool, King’s College London, UK

Minutes:

1. Call to order

Prof. Lin opens the virtual meeting and calls to order. No additional item was raised by attendees.

2. Chair’s report

a) Prof. Lin described the TC:

• Becoming a full ComSoc TC in 2019;
• Being dedicated to promoting MBMC research;
• Providing a forum for discussion and broadening professional opportunities of its members, professional resources and support;
• Managing MBMC SAC tracks in the IEEE ComSoc flagship conferences (such as ICC and Globecom) and upporting IEEE TMBMC;
• Co-sponsoring or endorsing other events, including the 6th Workshop on Molecular Communications, which will be held in 13-15 July, 2022;
• Owning mailing list (185 subscribers) and three social media platforms, including
  • Facebook (link)
  • Twitter: @mbmctc
  • LinkedIn (link)

b) Prof. Lin introduced the TC officers (2022–2023), including the chair, vice-chair, secretary, and social media chair.

3. IEEE TMBMC report

Prof. Chae provided a report on the IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological, and Multi-Scale Communications (TMBMC). Some updates include:

• Ms Christina Tang-Bernas finished her term as the assistant.
• The journal is seeking a new EiC.
• The number of submitted manuscripts is declining. The IEEE TMBMC needs more submissions and stronger support from our MBMC community.

4. Conference reports

a) IEEE ICC 2022 report (Track chair: Prof. Massimiliano Pierobon)

• Location: Seoul, South Korea, 16–20 May 2022.
• Conference format: Hybrid.
• Statistics of TPC members: 39 invited and 30 accepted.
• Diversity of TPC members: Members from 12 countries, 12 from Europe, 10 from America, 5 from Asia and 3 from Australia. Out of 30 TPC members, 3 are female and 27 are male.
• Paper submission and acceptance: 14 submitted. 7 accepted, all of which are of very high quality.
• Session schedule: 2 virtual sessions and 1 in-person session are scheduled at the conference.

b) IEEE Globecom 2022 report (Track chair: Prof. Chun Tung Chou, presented by Prof. Lin Lin)

• Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 4–8 December 2022.
• Conference format: Hybrid.
• Submission deadline: Extended to 8 May 2022.
• Progress to date: 44 TPC members recruited. 9 papers submitted with manuscripts, 1 paper registered without a manuscript.

c) Future conferences

• IEEE ICC 2023, Rome. 28 May — 1 June 2023. Michael Barros accepted to be chair.
• IEEE Globecom 2023, Kuala Lumpur. 4–8 December 2023. Masoumeh Nasiri-Kenari accepted to be chair.
• IEEE ICC 2024, Denver. 9–13 June 2024. Hamdan Awan nominated by the TC.
• IEEE Globecom 2024, Cape Town.
• IEEE ICC 2025, Montreal.
• IEEE Globecom 2025, Taipei.

Track chairs are typically appointed 2 years ahead of the conference. If you’re interested to serve as the track chair, please contact the TC chair.

5. Discussions

The chair initiates a discussion on how to increase the number of submissions to our MBMC track and IEEE TMBMC. The number of submitted papers to IEEE ICC/Globecom 2020—2022 are given the table below:

• Prof. Aldri Santos suggested more social engagement and media outreach, e.g., seminar videos for public, as well as publicising more tutorial-type resources for early-career researchers and research students to engage in.
• Prof. Chan-Byoung Chae suggested to add videos about MBMC research and prototypes to a website as a hub.
• Prof. Lin Lin shared his experiences that he was contacted by business, showing the company’s interests in the area of MBMC, and questions about when the real applications could be produced.
• Prof. Tatsuya Suda suggested to have a section at the IEEE TMBMC for tutorial-type papers and organise a summer/winter school to increase engagement with early-career researchers and research students.

6. New business

No new business was raised.

7. Adjournment

Prof. Lin Lin adjourned.