Welcome!

We are very pleased to welcome you all to Fort Lauderdale. We have a rich program that includes three keynote speakers, three special sessions with 11 invited speakers, and 34 presentations of technical papers. We hope you will find it stimulating and enjoy it.

Martin, Fred, Shlomo, and Dan.

About the Location

Due to hurricane Wilma, we had to relocate our meeting from the Holiday Inn Fort Lauderdale Beach to Florida Atlantic University. The storm damaged the roof of the hotel and the meeting rooms located on the top floor. We are grateful to the Conference Chair, Fred Hoffman, who made excellent alternate arrangements at the last minute. The hotel guest rooms were not damaged and it remains our headquarter hotel and the location of our banquet.

The symposium will take place at the HE Tower (Higher Education Tower) of Florida Atlantic University. The Fort Lauderdale campus is located in the heart of downtown Fort Lauderdale at 111 East Las Olas Boulevard.

Plenary sessions will be in the Board of Trustees Room on the eleventh floor.
Breakout sessions will be on the ninth floor in rooms 910 and 911.
Morning coffee will be outside the Board of Trustees room.
Afternoon coffee will be in room 913.

Registration Desk

The registration desk will open on Wednesday at 8:30 AM and will remain open through the three-day meeting. In the mornings, the registration desk will be outside the Board of Trustees room (11th floor) and in the afternoon in room 913.

Local Transportation

Van service between the Holiday Inn and Florida Atlantic University will be provided at the start and end of each day. The service will leave the hotel at 8:15 AM Wednesday and 8:30 AM Thursday and Friday. On Wednesday evening, participants will be returned to the hotel via a Water Taxi (see below). The van service will return to the hotel at 5:45 PM on Thursday and 4:00 PM on Friday.
Participants who wish to drive to the meeting can buy a university parking permit for the three days for $5. Parking tags will be available at the hotel and will be good for parking on the seventh floor of a garage next to the meeting place. You will also be able to get a permit if you go to the top floor of the garage on Wednesday morning. Driving directions from the hotel to Florida Atlantic University.
Land and Water Taxi services are available.
It's a long, but doable walk (approximately 3.5 miles).

Water Taxi Trip

After the last session on Wednesday, participants will take a Water Taxi back to the hotel for a short break. At 6:45 PM, the Water Taxi will take participants from the hotel to downtown Fort Lauderdale by a scenic route. You will have until 9:30 PM to wander around Las Olas and its environs before we re-board the Water Taxi to return to the hotel. Further information will be available at the meeting.

Banquet

The symposium banquet will take place on Thursday, January 5, starting at 7:00 PM at the Holiday Inn Fort Lauderdale Beach.

Messages

The help and message phone number is (954) 762-5225. A handout with directions and some useful information will be available at the Holiday Inn Reception Desk.