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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EL link=blue vlink=purple style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><div><div><p><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif'>Call for Papers: </span></b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif'>ICAS 2021 Autonomous Vehicle <span class=gmail-il>Vision</span> (<span class=gmail-il>AVVision</span>) Special Session (Deadline: March 03, 2021) </span><span lang=EN-US><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif'>ICAS is a flagship event sponsored by IEEE Signal Processing Society (SPS) through IEEE SPS Autonomous Systems Initiative.</span></b><span lang=EN-US><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif'>Special Session Website</span></b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif'>: <a href="https://avvision.xyz/icas21/">https://avvision.xyz/icas21/</a></span><span lang=EN-US><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#505050'>With a number of breakthroughs in autonomous system technology over the past decade, the race to commercialize self-driving cars has become fiercer than ever. The integration of advanced sensing, computer vision, signal/image processing, and machine/deep learning into autonomous vehicles enables them to perceive the environment intelligently and navigate safely. Autonomous driving is required to ensure safe, reliable, and efficient automated mobility in complex uncontrolled real-world environments. Various applications range from automated transportation and farming to public safety and environment exploration. Visual perception is a critical component of autonomous driving. Enabling technologies include: a) affordable sensors that can acquire useful data under varying environmental conditions, b) reliable simultaneous localization and mapping, c) machine learning that can effectively handle varying real-world conditions and unforeseen events, as well as “machine-learning friendly” signal processing to enable more effective classification and decision making, and d) resilient and robust platforms that can withstand adversarial attacks and failures. The </span><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif'><a href="https://avvision.xyz/"><span style='color:darkgoldenrod;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in'>Autonomous Vehicle Vision (AVVision)</span></a><span style='color:#505050'> Special Session at </span><a href="https://2021.ieee-icas.org/"><span style='color:darkgoldenrod;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in'>the IEEE International Conference on Autonomous Systems 2021 (ICAS'21)</span></a><span style='color:#505050'> will cover all these topics. Research papers are solicited in, but not limited to, the following topics:</span> </span><span lang=EN-US><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif'>Organizers </span></b><span lang=EN-US><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif'>Dr. Rui Ranger Fan, UC San Diego</span><span lang=EN-US><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif'>Prof. Ioannis Pitas, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki</span><span lang=EN-US><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif'>Important Dates</span></b><span lang=EN-US><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#505050'>Full Paper Submission: 03/03/2021<br>Notification of Acceptance: 05/21/2021<br>Camera-Ready Paper Submission: 06/01/2021</span><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif'> </span><span lang=EN-US><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif'>Submission</span></b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif'> </span><span lang=EN-US><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#505050'>Prospective authors are invited to submit full-length papers (up to 4 pages for technical content including figures and possible references, and with one additional optional 5th page containing only references) via the IEEE ICAS 2021 conference website. Manuscripts should be original (not submitted/published anywhere else) and written in accordance with the standard double-column SPS IEEE conference format.<br><br>IEEE ICAS 2021 requires that each accepted paper be presented by one of the authors in-person at the conference site according to the schedule to be published. Any paper accepted into the technical program, but not presented on-site will be withdrawn from the official proceedings archived on IEEE Xplore.</span><span lang=EN-US><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#505050'>More details can be found at </span><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif'><a href="https://2021.ieee-icas.org/authors/call-papers">https://2021.ieee-icas.org/authors/call-papers</a>.</span><span lang=EN-US><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US>---------- Forwarded message ---------<br>From: <strong><span style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Mark Coates, Prof.</span></strong> <<a href="mailto:mark.coates@mcgill.ca">mark.coates@mcgill.ca</a>><br>Date: Fri, Feb 12, 2021 at 6:20 AM<br>Subject: ICAS 2021 Special Session<br>To: Rui FAN <<a href="mailto:rui.fan@ieee.org">rui.fan@ieee.org</a>><br>Cc: <a href="mailto:pitas@csd.auth.gr">pitas@csd.auth.gr</a> <<a href="mailto:pitas@csd.auth.gr">pitas@csd.auth.gr</a>>, <a href="mailto:pitas@aiia.csd.auth.gr">pitas@aiia.csd.auth.gr</a> <<a href="mailto:pitas@aiia.csd.auth.gr">pitas@aiia.csd.auth.gr</a>>, Arash Mohammadi <<a href="mailto:arash.mohammadi@concordia.ca">arash.mohammadi@concordia.ca</a>> (<a href="mailto:arash.mohammadi@concordia.ca">arash.mohammadi@concordia.ca</a>) <<a href="mailto:arash.mohammadi@concordia.ca">arash.mohammadi@concordia.ca</a>>, <a href="mailto:malika_meghjani@sutd.edu.sg">malika_meghjani@sutd.edu.sg</a> <<a href="mailto:malika_meghjani@sutd.edu.sg">malika_meghjani@sutd.edu.sg</a>><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span lang=EN-CA style='color:black'>Dear Organizers,</span><span lang=EN-CA><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN-CA style='color:black'> </span><span lang=EN-CA><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN-CA style='color:black'>Congratulations! </span><span lang=EN-CA><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>We are glad to inform you that your proposal entitled "</span><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:12.0pt'> Autonomous Vehicle Vision (AVVision)<span style='color:black'>" has been approved for inclusion in the IEEE ICAS 2021's Special Session (SS) Programme.</span></span><span lang=EN-CA><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN-CA style='color:black'>The committee and reviewers were impressed by the proposal. One recommendation was that you could perhaps consider modifying the title of the proposal to narrow the scope and construct a more focused special session. Additionally, you could consider eliminating topics “d) hardware and software codesign” and “f) end-to-end system integration”. These are not mandatory changes, but the overall impression of the committee was that in its current form the scope of the session is very broad. </span><span lang=EN-CA><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN-CA style='color:black'> </span><span lang=EN-CA><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN-CA style='color:black'>The "Paper Submission Deadline" for SS papers is <b>March 3, 2021</b> as such please contact authors of the proposed contributed papers in your SS to proceed with submission of their papers in a timely fashion. </span><span lang=EN-CA><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN-CA style='color:black'> </span><span lang=EN-CA><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN-CA style='color:black'>Congratulations again and looking forward to hosting your SS at ICAS'2021.</span><span lang=EN-CA><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN-CA style='color:black'> </span><span lang=EN-CA><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN-CA style='color:black'>Warm Regards,</span><span lang=EN-CA><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span lang=EN-CA style='color:black;background:white'> </span><span lang=EN-CA><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span lang=EN-CA style='color:black;background:white'>IEEE ICAS 2021's Special Session Chairs.</span><span lang=EN-CA><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span lang=EN-CA style='color:black;background:white'>Malika Meghjani and Mark Coates</span><span lang=EN-CA><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span lang=EN-CA> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span lang=EN-CA> <o:p></o:p></span></p><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span lang=EN-US>Mark Coates</span><span lang=EN-CA><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span lang=EN-US>Professor</span><span lang=EN-CA><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span lang=EN-US>Electrical and Computer Engineering</span><span lang=EN-CA><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span lang=EN-CA>McGill University<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><br clear=all><o:p></o:p></span></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US>-- <o:p></o:p></span></p><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Georgia",serif'>Rui (Ranger) Fan, Ph.D. (University of Bristol, UK)</span></b><span lang=EN-US><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US>I will join Tongji University in Fall 2021 as a Research-Track Full Professor. I have several Master/Ph.D./Postodc openings!<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Georgia",serif'><a href="http://www.ruirangerfan.com/" target="_blank">ruirangerfan.com</a></span><span lang=EN-US><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Georgia",serif'>Postdoc, UC San Diego</span></i></b><span lang=EN-US><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><a href="mailto:rfan@ucsd.edu" target="_blank"><span style='font-family:"Georgia",serif'>rfan@ucsd.edu</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in'><img border=0 width=96 height=96 style='width:1.0in;height:1.0in' id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:~WRD0005.jpg" alt="Image removed by sender. UCSD"></span><span lang=EN-US><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><i><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222222'>UC, San Diego<br>9500 Gilman Drive<br>La Jolla, CA 92093</span></i><span lang=EN-US style='color:#222222'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div id=DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p><table class=MsoNormalTable border=1 cellpadding=0 style='border:none;border-top:solid #D3D4DE 1.0pt'><tr><td width=55 style='width:41.25pt;border:none;padding:9.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'><p class=MsoNormal><a href="https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient" target="_blank"><span style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=46 height=29 style='width:.4791in;height:.302in' id="_x0000_i1025" src="https://ipmcdn.avast.com/images/icons/icon-envelope-tick-round-orange-animated-no-repeat-v1.gif"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p></td><td width=470 style='width:352.5pt;border:none;padding:9.0pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:13.5pt'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#41424E'>Virus-free. <a href="https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient" target="_blank"><span style='color:#4453EA'>www.avast.com</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr></table><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div></body></html>