Dear participants in the 17th International Conference of the ISTVS,
Thank you again for participating in the 17th International Conference in Blacksburg.
It was wonderful to have all of you here in September, and your effort to travel from fifteen countries to attend this event made our conference a splendid example of real international cooperation.
Your 70 high-quality publications, 80 technical presentations, and 13 posters illustrate the great research our community is conducting, as well as its uniqueness.
As part of the celebration of the fifty years since the inception of ISTVS, we had the honor to hear from a distinguished group of panelists. The technical tour took us to Southside Virginia, VIPER, VIR, and Martinsville Speedway; some of you also toured CVeSS, AVDL, and RTL. Many thanks again to our exhibitors, Kistler Instruments, KRC, and ERDC, and to our sponsors, COE at VT, VIPER, and VIR.
We also had some time to relax and reconnect during the social program at Mountain Lake, Chateau Morrisette, and The Inn at Virginia Tech. Now that all these events are part of the past, I hope that they will become wonderful memories, and that celebrating the first fifty years of ISTVS was in the same time a gate opened towards the next fifty years for our society.
Looking forward with enthusiasm, I wish everyone a great year ahead, in great health, with many professional and personal accomplishments.
Cordially yours,
Corina Sandu, Ph.D.
Conference Chair of The 17th International Conference of the ISTVS
September 19-22, 2011, Blacksburg, VA, U.S.
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University