The IEEE NSS-MIC (Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference) will be held in October 2021 at the new PACIFICO YOKOHAMA NORTH facility, which is scheduled to open in the spring of 2020. The forum is a joint conference that encompasses the two fields of nuclear science and medical imaging. The host organization is the 186th Committee on Radiation Science and its Applications, a division of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. The committee is chaired by Kyoto University Prof. Ikuo Kanno (Department of Nuclear Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering).
Yokohama was chosen by majority vote of the IEEE committee as the conference site from four finalist cities that also included Chiba, Kyoto and Vancouver, Canada. It’s the first time this conference will be held in Japan. About 2,000 participants are expected to attend with the majority (about 1,850) coming from abroad.
Through the collaborative efforts of the Yokohama Convention & Visitors Bureau, the city of Yokohama and PACIFICO Yokohama, and working in unison with JNTO (Japan National Tourism Organization), a convincing case was made for Yokohama to act as host city. Dr. Taiga Yamaya, Ph.D (National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS), National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology) was the central figure in the promotional campaign. Dr. Yamaya was appointed as the MICE Ambassador by JNTO.
The enduring enthusiasm and future vision of the Yokohama contingent, which included professors belonging to the IEEE, was key in influencing the vote of the committee assigned to choosing the conference site. Intense research efforts in related fields in Japan recently also played an important role.
According to the committee, the city of Yokohama received high merits in many significant areas. The central location of the city’s facilities, such as the international conference hall, hotels, restaurants, shopping centers and more, played a critical factor in the decision. Yokohama’s cosmopolitan atmosphere was also cited as a major attraction. Another determinant was the convenient access by public transportation to Tokyo and the attractiveness of the PACIFICO YOKOHAMA NORTH venue itself.
The IEEE labels itself as “the world’s largest technical professional organization for the advancement of technology.” The organization is heavily involved in innovation and research in electrical engineering-based fields, such as communications, electronics, and information engineering, for the benefit of humanity. It is made up of 39 sectional committees each specialized in certain fields. For more info, visit www.ieee.org.
