Jamesina J. Simpson, University of Utah associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, has been elected to a six-year leadership term for the U.S. National Committee of the International Union of Radio Science (USNC-URSI). Simpson will serve as vice chair of USNC-URSI Commission B from January 2015–2017 and then as chair from 2018–2020.
Focusing on electromagnetic theory and applications related to fields and waves, Commission B consists of 300 members from academia and industry, making it the largest of 10 USNC-URSI commissions. Much of the commission’s work aligns with Simpson’s research expertise in computational electromagnetics theory and application, including wave propagation.
Among Simpson’s duties will be evaluating abstracts and developing sessions for USNC-URSI conferences. She will also coordinate communications between Commission B, the main international URSI organization and other scientific affiliates. Simpson also plans on increasing efforts to attract young professionals to the field and providing content for Commission B’s website.
“As a graduate student, I started to really enjoy going to conferences when I started to get to know people. And, I liked my work more when I had that social interaction with people. So I started to become interested in getting more involved so I could get to know people better and see them repeatedly. It made it a lot more interesting and fun for me.”
Simpson has been actively involved with USNC-URSI for a decade, and recently completed a four-year term as Commission B secretary.
Find out more about U.S. National Committees of the International Union of Radio Science