George Mason University, Virginia, U.S.A
REPORT ON VTIC '96
Nguyen
Van Diem - Co-Chair, VTIC '96
Dear friends:
I am pleased to inform you that the VTIC
'96 has been a successful event. The VTIC '96 objective was "to
highlight the contribution of Vietnamese engineers and scientists to science
and technology worldwide", we have delivered a rich program and met
this objective.
The mission of the conference is to offer a forum
for Vietnamese professionals to network and meet new friends. We have witnessed
many partnership and friendship developed among participants. We are all
delighted to achieve this important goal. I would like to thank the members
of the conference committee for their contributions in preparing this conference;
the quality of the event is directly attributable to their efforts and
dedication. Thanks to the diligent efforts of our committee members, I
would like to report the following success stories:
TECHNICAL PROGRAM
We intended to maintain the same high standards
set by other mainstream organizations. We have achieved that with the Technical
Program where many excellent presentations with rich technical contents
were delivered in two parallel tracks. Some presenters are young aspiring
Vietnamese university professors. Experienced session chairs have helped
to keep the program as scheduled. Fifty seven papers were submitted to
the VTIC'96 committee for acceptance. During the three days of our conference,
participants have heard from more than 40 papers presented, as well as
keynote, plenary, and panel talks by individuals from throughout the world.
TUTORIALS AND WORKSHOPS
This program is very interesting, excellent and
benefiting most of us. To name a few:
"Doing Business in America" was presented
by a group of seven Vietnamese CEO/Presidents;
"Challenges and Opportunities of Scientists
and Engineers of Vietnamese Origin: My Personal Experiences" by Dr.
Doan Lien Phung, PAI's President & CEO;
"Science & Technology Development in
the Space Program: An Overview" by Dr. Eugene Trinh, the first Vietnamese
astronaut with the marvelous slide presentation on NASA space program;
and
"Learning the Ropes in Corporate America" by Ms. Bichlien Hoang, Bellcore Executive Director. She has inspired us with her successful story.
EXHIBITION
There are two exhibit halls:
1. Inventions Exhibit: We are able to collect
and display more than 2,500 U.S. patents of worldwide Vietnamese inventors.
From this, there are 40 inventors which are holding 10 or more (up to 66)
patents each, 245 inventors are holding 3 to 9 patents each and 1000s more
inventors are holding 1 to 2 patents each. Many of these inventions have
been used to make products (e.g., computer, aircraft, shoe, games, electronic)
which are needed as part of our life and for some that we are using them
everyday.
2. Products and Services Exhibit There were 16
booths showcasing many products and services of Vietnamese high-tech companies
(e.g., semiconductor, Internet software & services, energy/environmental,
information technology, consulting). Companies are from the U.S. (e.g.,
Florida, Tennessee, California, Maryland), Canada and Japan. These companies
are owned by Vietnamese entrepreneurs as well as inventors for some of
them. We are grateful to them. They shared information and personal experience
with all participants at VTIC '96.
RECEPTION DINNER AND BANQUET
We enjoyed the speeches of the Keynote
Speakers and excellent meals.
"The three D's of Vietnamese Professionals"
by Professor Nguyen Xuan Vinh, University of Michigan.
"U.S. Government Roles in Global and National
Information Infrastructure" by Dr. Wushow "William" Chou,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information Systems, U.S. Treasury Department.
We also enjoyed the folk-music which performed by the Nguyen-Dinh-Nghia family and traditional dances which organized by Ms. Kim-Oanh.
FINAL THOUGHT
Like other participating organizations, we benefit
from the shared knowledge and combined experiences that are topics of discussion
at the conference. Best of all, we benefit from seeing each other face-to-face
and having the opportunity to discuss in person technical issues of mutual,
compelling interest.
We look forward to greater interaction between our participants as we learn to achieve increasingly successful and productive future gatherings.
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