Season’s Greetings!

Dear colleagues, friends, authors and readers of ECMI blog,

As the year draws to a close and the festive season approaches,I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support, making the ECMI blog a lively and continuously growing source of information. The number of visitors to our blog increased by 25% over last year, giving us a clear sign of the rising its importance in our community.

The year 2018 has been a year of growth and many activities in European Industrial Mathematics. The ECMI conference that took place in Budapest last June was a very successful event, with more than 350 participants from around 40 countries. The annual ECMI modelling week for students, held in July in Novi Sad, was also a success, bringing together master students and mentors from a variety of ECMI member countries to collaborate in groups on industrial trial problems. This year, we also launch a new Special Interest Group on Modeling, Simulation and Optimization in Electrical Engineering and no less than 10 Study Groups with Industry (ESGIs) took place in different countries around Europe, the latest one being ESGI #146 in December, in Cyprus.

As we reflect on the year that has passed and approach a new year, we ponder on what we can do better to continue to make a difference in our community. Knowledge has become the main wealth of nations, companies and people. Hence investing in research, innovation and education is now the key-leverage for competitiveness and prosperity in Europe. We believe that, providing a logically coherent framework to industry and a universal language for the analysis, modelling, simulation, optimisation, and control of industrial processes, mathematics is an essential factor in the industrial creation of value and a driving force for innovations. That is why we need all of your support and constructive criticism and I would like encourage you to continue following our blog, to support ECMI activities and to contact us with new ideas and initiatives.

In the spirit of the season, I wish you peaceful and joyous holidays and a happy and successful new year 2019!