AP-S Student Paper Competition

To foster active involvement of students and to ensure a future membership of highly qualified researchers in the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society, the Society sponsors a Student Paper Contest at its annual summer symposium. To be considered, a student must be the first author of the paper. The student's advisor should attach a statement that his/her contribution is primarily advisory. In addition, the transmittal letter should clearly indicate “student paper submission” and conform to all other submission requirements and instructions for authors as described in the Call For Papers. Questions on the contest should be mailed to Satish K. Sharma (ssharma@mail.sdsu.edu). The rules that govern the process and outcomes of the Contest are provided below.

Student Paper Contest 2008 Rules and Guidelines

A. Written Submission

1. The symposium organizing committee will insert within the symposium's “Call for Papers” a short paragraph announcing the Student Paper Contest.
2. All students wishing to participate in the contest are required to submit a four page summary paper of new work per the symposium's guidelines for all papers (Authors must check the student paper box in the submission process). The first author must be the student; the second author may be the student's major professor/advisor.
3. For consideration for Student Paper Contest, the student's major professor is required to submit an official letter indicating that his/her contribution is primarily advisory. Failure to provide this letter will result in disqualification. The official letter in hardcopy should be sent by 31 January 2008 to:

          Satish Kumar Sharma, Ph. D.
          Assistant Professor
          Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
          San Diego State University
          5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA, 92182-1309, USA
          Email: ssharma@mail.sdsu.edu

• (In view that, the letter from advisor/student’s professor can be submitted at the time of paper submission, mailing of letter can be avoided.)

B. Evaluation of Written Submissions

1. The selected finalist must be registered for the symposium and must attend and present his/her paper to the judges for the award consideration.
2. To ensure a sufficient number of judges, the contest organizer will assemble a panel of sixteen judges from the Society's membership, half of which are not teaching faculty.
3. The student contest paper will go through with two steps of reviews:
   (a)  First stage of review will be similar to all the papers submitted to the symposium. This is the first screening process and papers must pass through this for consideration to the contest. An effort will be made to insure that student contest papers are not reviewed by the author's primary advisor/professor, if he/she is one of the reviewers.
   (b) For the second stage of the review, the organizer will obtain at least two additional independent reviews for each submission from a selected panel of reviewers who are experts in the student's field of study and are not associated with the students in any way. The reviews need not be from judges.

4. Each judge will numerically score the student contest paper based upon the following criteria:
   (a) Quality of Written Paper Presentation (e.g., clarity, organization, figure size, style, etc.)
   (b) Sufficient Depth and Breadth of Research Work
   (c) Innovation and Impact of Research Work
   (d) Verification and/or Validation of Results Reported in Paper

• A numerical sub-score for each category above will be assigned. The sub-scores will range from one to ten, with ten being synonymous with excellent, five with good and one with fair. The final score will be the numerical average of all sub-scores (i.e., each of the aforementioned criteria are equally weighted.) The anticipated statistical average of all final scores is five.

5. Finally, a list of fifteen (15) students for the student paper contest will be prepared based on the scores obtained in step 4, who will be invited to the oral presentation phase of the contest. The invitation will be based exclusively on the ranking of the final numerical scores.

C. Evaluation of Poster Presentations

1. All presentations will be given during a special poster session on Tuesday afternoon between 1.00PM to 5.00PM of the symposium.
2. The contest organizer will seek at least ten individuals from the Society's membership who will judge the oral presentations between 1.00PM to 5.00PM. Of the ten judges, at least three will be past presidents of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society and at least five will be non-teaching faculty.
3. Each judge will be given a sheet that lists the names of all presenters. After reviewing all presentations, the judge will rank the presentations, with the number one indicating first rank. The review of the presentation will be based on the following important points:
   (a) Quality of Presentation (e.g., clarity, organization, figure size/arrangements, style, etc.)
   (b) Sufficient Depth and Breadth of Research Work
   (c) Innovation and Impact of Research Work
   (d) Verification and/or Validation of Results Reported
4. The contest organizer in cooperation with others (a committee selected from the Symposium Chair, Technical Program Chair, the Editors/Associate-Editors of IEEE APSociety Magazine and IEEE AP- Society Transactions on Antennas and Propagation) will tally the rankings submitted by the judges and determine the average ranking of each contestant. The average ranking will be rounded to the nearest integer.
5. In the event of a tie for first, second or third place, the contest organizer and the Judges will meet and make the tie-breaking decisions.

D. Awards

1. With the consent of the judges, the contest organizer will announce the first, second and third place winners at the symposium's banquet.
2. A monetary award and a certificate/plaque will be given to each student paper contest winner. The monetary awards are $700 for the first place, $500 for the second place, and $300 for the third place.