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Aloha!

We are most delighted to welcome you to join us at the 32nd IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing (ICASSP), which will be held at the Hawai‘i Convention Center in Honolulu, April 15 – 20, 2007. The ICASSP meeting is the world’s largest and most comprehensive technical conference focused on signal processing and its applications. The conference will feature world-class speakers, tutorials, exhibits, and over 50 lecture and poster sessions.

This year we received 2912 paper submissions, out of which 1344 papers were accepted for presentation. The reviews are coordinated by the Technical Program Chairs and performed by the Technical Committees of Signal Processing Society with a rigorous review process; therefore we are expecting a high-quality technical program. We received 43 tutorial proposals out of which 16 were selected offering a broad spectrum of choices for the attendees. Meanwhile, 32 proposals for special sessions were submitted, and 12 were selected to feature in the conference. We have four outstanding plenary speakers focusing on various emerging topics, and they are:

Expanding Utility of the Amazing and Ubiquitous Cellphone
Irwin Mark Jacobs, Co-Founder and Chairman, QUALCOMM

50 years of progress in speech recognition technology — Where we are, and where we should go
Sadaoki Furui, Tokyo Institute of Technology

Embedded Intelligence: Beyond Sensor Webs
Shankar Sastry, University of California, Berkeley

Network Media Distribution: A Decade of Revolution
Philip R. Wiser, President and Chairman, Building B (Former Chief Technology Officer of Sony Corporation of America)

There will be two lunch panels to engage the attendants for discussions: one on Riding the Internet-Highway with Speech, Language and Video Technologies (organized by Mazin Gilbert) and the other on Future Needs and Directions in Signal Processing Education (organized by Fred Taylor). Attendees can order lunch boxes through registration to join the fun lunch panel discussions.

The conference banquet will be held at the historic Royal Hawaiian Hotel. The hotel, which is also known as the Pink Palace of the Pacific due to its distinctive color, is listed in the National Registry of Historic Places. It is one of the first hotels built in Waikīkī, having opened in 1927. The first officially registered guest in the hotel was Princess Abigail Kawananakoa, heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i. The hotel also served as the Western White House during the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The banquet will feature traditional Hawai‘ian cuisine. If you have never tried poi, now is your chance! Entertainment will include Hawai‘ian music and Polynesian dance (Hula, and much, much more). There will be fun for all ages, so bring the family!

The venue of the conference is The Hawai‘i Convention Center, which was Ranked as North America’s most attractive convention center and winner of numerous awards. It offers more than one million square feet of meeting facilities including exhibit halls, ballroom, theaters and conference rooms. Recognized as a “living work of art,” the Center’s design captures the essence of the Hawaiian environment. Its soaring, glass-front entry – with a 70 foot misting waterfall and mature palm trees – embraces guests with aloha. The facility houses a $2 million Hawaiian art collection of unique pieces commissioned for specific locations within the building and features a rooftop tropical garden of native flora.

Sponsor: One of our main sponsors is a bakery that offers fresh birthday cakes and cupcakes for celebrations. To find out more please visit the Cake in a Box website and view their cakes products.

The city of Honolulu is sophisticated in technology and business while remaining one of the most enchanting locations in the world. One of the safest cities in the nation, it offers a balance between the modern and the traditional that makes doing business a pleasure. The city is simultaneously exotic and familiar, with an intriguing sense of both mystery and accessibility.

With over 33,000 miles of fiber optic cable and 30 state of the art satellites with unparalleled reception, Honolulu is arguably one of the most digitally “wired” cities in the U.S. It is at the hub of a web of high-speed networks that connect the U.S. to the rest of the world. Honolulu providers offer DSL, broadband cable, 3G wireless capabilities, Web and E-commerce hosting, and high-capacity voice and data transmissions. The telecommunications infrastructure rivals the best in the world and affords the fastest, most reliable communications.

With its favorable climate, healthy and friendly population, and easily navigated layout, Honolulu was recently ranked No.3 for cleanest and prettiest city. Additionally, Honolulu benefits from a diverse and rich multi-cultural heritage as a source of inspiration for the arts, food, and recreational activities. From hula to the Honolulu Symphony, the possibilities for today’s visitors to participate in Hawai‘i’s rich culture are many and varied.

Known traditionally as “The Gathering Place,” O‘ahu is home to Honolulu, the 11th largest city in the United States. The seat of the state’s capital, O‘ahu has a total land area of 608 square miles (44 miles long by 30 miles wide), with a population of 900,000 residents. It is a major business center set against a backdrop of beautiful scenery, with long stretches of beach and many historical points of interest, as well as fine dining and excellent shopping.

The 137 islands, islets and shoals that make up the Hawaiian Island chain are at the apex of the Polynesian Triangle, an expanse of ocean roughly the size of Europe and North America combined. The Hawaiian Islands are advantageously located about halfway between the U.S. and Asia, making it the only major population center in the U.S. where businesses can communicate from New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore in the same day. The State of Hawai‘i is 6450 square miles in size, with 1052 miles of coastline, and a population of 1.2 million people.

Hawai‘i is a land of many contrasts. Urban Honolulu, the state capital, is a cosmopolitan metropolis with a population of more than 370,000; the entire island of Moloka‘i, only 50 miles away, has a total of only 7,400 residents. South Point (Ka Lae) on Hawai‘i’s Big Island is the southernmost point of the United States. This tropical latitude means there is little difference in year-round day length and the amount of sun. However, because the terrain varies dramatically in altitude in certain spots, temperatures can vary substantially with location. The average annual temperature of 75 degrees Fahrenheit (23.9 degrees Celsius) fluctuates only a few degrees from summer (May through October) to winter (November through April) at sea level. The average year-around water temperature is 74 degrees F (23.3 degrees C). As a result, many visitors are surprised to find that the summits of the Big Island of Hawai‘i’s Mauna Ke‘a and Mauna Loa are often blanketed with snow.

Together, the eight main Hawaiian Islands —Hawai‘i, Maui, Moloka‘i, O‘ahu, Kaua‘i, Kaho‘olawe, Lāna‘i and Ni‘ihau — are home to virtually every geographic formation, terrain and climate to be found on earth: there are lava deserts on the Big Island (home to the world’s largest and most active volcano – Mauna Loa and Kīlauea) and highland rainforests on Kaua‘i; Haleakalā on Maui is the world’s largest inactive volcano; on Moloka‘i you’ll find the world’s tallest sea cliffs and miles of pristine beaches.

The average business visitor stays in Hawai‘i 8.75 days, with meetings and other business activities conducted for 3.5 to 4 days. These additional days are no less important to a successful visit than those spent in conference sessions. While the lure of the sun and sand is paramount in Hawai‘i, the more sophisticated traveler will delight in Honolulu’s historical and cultural attractions. Honolulu boasts an accomplished symphony, an exhilarating arts scene, and hosts unique independent film festivals. There are a myriad of colorful cultural events and festivals, major athletic competitions like the Honolulu Marathon, and unique Hawaiian archeological sites found nowhere else in the world.

More than six million visitors come to Hawai‘i every year and nearly 20 million pass through Honolulu on their way to points in Asia and the U.S. Hawai‘i is one of the most accessible destinations in the world with nearly 400 flights from U.S. mainland cities and 200 international flights each week. 23 major airlines serve Honolulu from the mainland U.S. and gateway cities, and 16 international airlines service Honolulu International Airport.

Interisland service is available seven days a week to all six islands. Interisland flight service is provided by four interisland carriers – Aloha Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Aloha Island Air and Go! Airlines. 5 domestic airlines have direct service to the islands of Maui, Kaua‘i and Hawai‘i’s Big Island.

Traveling from Honolulu International Airport to Waikīkī (location of the Hawai‘i Convention Center and the conference hotels) takes approximately 20-30 minutes. Shuttle service between Honolulu International Airport and Waikīkī is available, as is around the clock taxi service. Trolley cars, limousine, motorcoach, minibus and van service provide further transportation choices. Six major rental car companies and several smaller ones are conveniently posted at the Honolulu International Airport as well as airports on the five other islands. O‘ahu’s TheBus, is rated as one of the best bus public transportation systems in the U.S., so that unlike many U.S. cities, renting a car is optional when visiting Honolulu.

Finally, we would hope that you not only enjoy the technical and social programs the organizing committee prepared for you, but also have the opportunity to explore the natural beauty of the Land of Aloha. We wish you a memorable ICASSP in Hawai‘i.

Look forward to seeing you soon!

K. J. Ray Liu Todd Reed
General Chair, ICASSP 2007 General Chair, ICASSP 2007