Thank you all, for making WSPLC2016 a success – see you next year

After two intense days, WSPLC2016 – the 10th workshop on power-line communication – has concluded.

Ecole Polytechnique has been proud to be hosting this extremely exciting event, and its ~80 attendees, for these past two days. It is always enriching to be among researchers and engineers who – each and every one – is both passionate, and on the bleeding edge of the field.

The topic of the workshop – power-line communication – is, of course, immensely interesting as a technology. One of the applications of PLC is to enable the “Smart Grid”, which in turn enables integration of decentralised and renewable electricity production. More visible to the average consumer is, perhaps, multimedia distribution inside the home using.

Many conferences, workshops, and symposia are characterised by the presenters presenting, the audience reading email, then applauding politely, with the session chair asking two polite questions so as to give the pretence of someone had paid attention. Refreshingly, this is not so for WSPLC 2016: the presentations were all very bold and thought-provoking (and, if very high quality), and they all stimulated intense (but respectful) discussion among the participants.

If this event was a success, it was truly because of the quality of the science presented, and the enthusiasm of the people attending.

I, for one, had a blast. I saw old friend anew. I met new people, whose names I’d only seen on papers, and I made a few new friends. I had my preconceived opinions and positions challenged. And, I learned a LOT.

I want to, personally, also thank the people at Ecole Polytechnique who contributed making the logistics happen. First and foremost, Evelyne Rayssac, who accompanied the event from inception and until the last attendee had left, and in the process orchestrated catering, shuttles, hotel-reservations, registrations, and oh-so-much-more. Xavier Berthet, Jiazi Yi, and Juan Antonio Cordero Fuertes helped make things run smoothly, and Jeremy Barande for recording the event in pictures.

The even would never have happened without the contributions from our sponsors: Renesas, STmicro, SAGEMCOM, the G3-PLC Alliance, Enedis, and Wevioo. Thank you.

And, of course, I always enjoy working with Cedric Lavenu from EDF R&D, with whom I co-chaired this event.

Some visual souvenirs from the event included below, in large part curtesy of Jeremy Barande, staff photographer at Ecole Polytechnique:

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Cedric Lavenu – Co-chair of WSPLC2016

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