FUZZ-IEEE 2007 is in session

The Annual IEEE International Conference on Fuzzy Systems (FUZZ-IEEE), one of the premier international conferences in the field of fuzzy systems is in session at Imperial College, London,UK. Having attended last year's event in Vancouver, Canada, I really miss this year's event. FUZZ-IEEE 2006 left a huge impact on my life and my career direction.

This year's conference kicked off on Monday, 23 July, 2007 with a series of tutorials on a number of exciting topics including one on Design of Real Time Evolving Fuzzy Systems: Methodology, Algorithms by Dr Dimitar Filev and Dr Plamen Angelov.I have certainly missed this one because I have developed a huge interest in Evolving Fuzzy Systems. I have also missed Prof Lotfi Zadeh's special invited lecture on From Fuzzy Logic to Extended Fuzzy Logic - The Concept of F-Validity and the Impossibility Principle. I like listening to this man's presentations.The conference ends on Thursday, 26 July, 2007. I just hope that some of my colleagues will share with me some of the proceedings of this conference.

Finally, I would like to congratulate all student authors who have won this year's FUZZ-IEEE travel grants.

My Blog's First Birthday

A year ago, at 6:49 AM, I posted my first entry on this blog after being inspired by Soyapi Mumba and late Mangaliso Jere (May His Soul Rest In Peace). I had always desired to blog after being entertained by these guys' blogs but my MSc research would not give me a chance for that.As my research was drawing to a close, I started blogging and there is no way back now. Blogging has now become one of my major pastimes. Not only have I made new friends through it but I have also managed to link up with former school mates like Victor Kaonga who used to be one year ahead of me at Rumphi Secondary School (aka RUSESCHO). During the past blog year, I posted 23 entries.My blog site enjoyed 1176 page loads and 573 profile views from all over the world. I am very grateful to all the people that have been patronizing this blog.

One of the events from the past blog year that will always evoke fond memories is my trip to Canada where I presented a paper at the IEEE World Congress on Computational Intelligence (WCCI 2006) in Vancouver. It was my first time to fly out of Africa and more than that to step my feet on three continents (Africa, Europe and North America) within two days. At WCCI 2006, I also won an FUZZ-IEEE travel grant worth USD750 in recognition of the paper that I presented there. I also enjoyed attending a plenary session by Lotfi Zadeh, the father of fuzzy logic, a field which is fast becoming the mainstay of my research endeavours. This trip also gave me a chance to visit the Munthalis in Brampton, Ontario (Sekulu, abuya,Suzgo and Tapiwa, it was nice visiting you.God bless you abundantly for the hospitality). I will always remember the trip to Niagara Falls.

Now for the blog year that has just started today, I sense in the spirit that great things will take place. Watch this space!

Vancouver photos

As promised, here are some of the photos from the Vancouver trip. The first one shows the mountains as we were descending towards Vancouver International Airport.

The next three photos are self explanatory. A glimpse of Vancouver as we descended!

Me at Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre

Me relaxing after a technical session

I am in Vancouver

I arrived in Vancouver on 15 July. I will be in this City for one week. I am staying at the Century-Plaza Hotel and Spa. I am attending the IEEE World Congress on Computational intelligence (IEEE WCCI 2006). I will be presenting my paper on Friday in the afternoon.