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Distributed Systems From the Editor’s Bench The IEEE and its publications are run largely by volunteers, and there are many places where volunteers are needed and used. Many of us take our first steps as volunteers by “volunteering” to write or peer review an article. Several years ago I wrote an article (with Yona Bendelac) about measuring physical constants using noise. I “volunteered” the article to the magazine, and Kim Fowler, the editor-in-chief, accepted the article. I continued working on measurement related issues, and submitted other articles. When the magazine expanded from four issues each year to a bimonthly publication, Kim asked me if I would be interested in writing a twice-yearly column. I was happy to accept Kim’s offer. Last year, as Kim prepared to move on to other posts within the IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Society—Kim is now the executive vice president of the society—Kim asked me if I would be interested in moving up to an editorial position. Though it seemed like it might involve quite a bit of work, it also sounded like a real challenge. It was clear that the new position would present me with the opportunity to meet more of my colleagues and with a way that I could make a contribution to the engineering community. After discussing the issue with Kim and my family, I decided to accept Kim’s offer. For the past several issues I have been working as the associate editor-in-chief of the magazine. Starting with this issue, I have the opportunity to serve you as the magazine’s editor-in-chief. I invite all of you to consider “volunteering” to do some work for the magazine. If you are doing interesting instrumentation and measurement related work and you are interested in sharing it with our community, drop me a line (at shlomoe@jct.ac.il). If you would like to get a “sneak preview” of what the magazine will be publishing, volunteer to peer review articles. We are always happy to include new volunteers in the magazine’s “family.” Since starting to work with the staff at the magazine, I have been very impressed with the transparent way in which the magazine is run and with the way the transition has been managed. Through the hard work of Kim Fowler, the outgoing editor-in-chief, June Sudduth, the assistant to the editor-in-chief, and Joy Richmond, the managing editor, and because all of them have been willing to tell me and show me just what I need to know and do as editor-in-chief, I have been able to hit the ground running. I have every hope that the transition will be almost “seamless” for our authors, columnists, and for our readers. Before moving on to a brief description of the articles and tutorial that this month’s issue presents, I would like to take this opportunity both to thank Kim Fowler for the help that he has unstintingly provided me with, for his long and dedicated service to the IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Magazine (where he will continue to serve as a regular columnist), and I would like to wish him well as he moves into his new position as the executive vice president of our society. I am sure that we will all benefit from his service as executive vice president, and I hope that he enjoys his new position as well. The focus of this issue is distributed systems. We have an article concerning a safety critical network for distributed smart traffic signals, a column that deals with distributed measurement systems, and a control theory tutorial that deals with how one treats delays. (Delays are often a problem in distributed systems.) We also have an article on microwave measurements, an addendum to tutorial 12 on outputs and actuators, and a column that deals with advanced learning tools. Enjoy! -Shlomo
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