From the Editor

After more than two years, my term as editor-in-chief (EIC) of IEEE Signal Processing Magazine (SPM) is coming to an end in December 2020. I am looking forward to finishing out this year with a bang. Soon, the search will start for my replacement. In this editorial, I will provide a summary of the EIC’s job from my perspective, in case you are interested in applying. 

In my September editorial [1], I outlined the important components of good feature articles in response to feedback from our recent IEEE Periodicals Review and Advisory Committee (PRAC) meeting. In this issue's editorial, I discuss the process of organizing a special issue (SI) for IEEE Signal Processing Magazine (SPM). 

One of the main items of feedback during our recent IEEE Periodicals Review and Advisory Committee (PRAC) meeting was that IEEE Signal Processing Magazine (SPM) rejected too many feature article white papers as being “out of scope.” In this editorial, I attempt to outline the key features of a good feature article. 

The cellular industry has just reached another milestone with the development of 5G wireless communication technology. While research in 5G is a core part of the Signal Processing for Communications and Networking (SPCOM) technical committee, it may also be found in several other technical areas. 

There have been three key revolutions in the way that research has become accessible: publishing, code, and data. The second and third revolutions are still taking place, particularly driven by the rise of machine-learning and artificial intelligence research in the last decade. When I started my research career in 1995, the World Wide Web was still in its infancy. 

I just got back from the 2018 International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. One of the highlights for me as editor-in-chief (EIC) of IEEE Signal Processing Magazine (SPM) is SPM’s editorial board meeting.

Industry involvement is a significant area of interest for the IEEE Signal Processing Society (SPS). It is also a frequent topic of conversation at the SPS Board of Governors meetings. According to the SPS’s website (https:// signalprocessingsociety.org), 42% of our 19,000 members are from industry. Yet the number of attendees from industry of our flagship conference, the IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing, is much lower, based on my best estimate from the sessions I attended.

I am pleased to start my three-year term as editor-in-chief (EIC) of IEEE Signal Processing Magazine (SPM) as you read this first issue of the new year. Let me introduce myself. I started my career in signal processing at the University of Virginia. As I dreamt of becoming a patent attorney, I made my way through a B.S. degree in electrical engineering. However, while sitting in my  rst course on signal processing, I realized the magic of signals, systems, and transforms.

When you receive this issue of IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, a symposium, “The Future of Signal Processing,” was just held at the Massachu- setts Institute of Technology (MIT). The symposium honored the career of Prof. Alan Oppenheim as one of the pioneers in signal processing research and education. Attendees from various organizations around the world discussed and shared insights of the profound roles that signal processing have played and envisioned the future trends of signal processing.