Dear ISCA members:

Welcome to the next installment of the ISCApad for March 2018!  This edition has a number of

updates from the community including upcoming meetings, job openings, theses, and announcements.

Interspeech-2018: [http://www.interspeech2018.org/] will take place September 2-6, 2018, at the

Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC), Hyderabad, India, with the theme being: Speech

Research for Emerging Markets in Multilingual Societies. Just a reminder that March 23^rd is the

deadline for full paper submissions (this is really the deadline! - note that initial titles/abstracts are due

by March 16^th as placeholders).

ISCA Medal for Scientific Achievement:

As is customary at ISCA Interspeech, we make several awards to recognize

leadership in our community. I am pleased to announce that ISCA has selected

Dr. Bishnu Atal as the recipient of ISCA Medal for Scientific Achievement 2018 in

recognition of 'Pioneering contributions to speech coding and speech analysis.'

Several of his papers have been landmark contributions to the field of speech

modeling (see: B. Atal, S. Hanauer, “Speech Analysis and Synthesis by Linear

Prediction of the Speech Wave,” Journal Acoustical Society of America, vol. 50, 637

(1971); B. Atal, “Effectiveness of linear prediction characteristics of the speech wave for automatic

speaker identification and verification,” Journal Acoustical Society of America Vol. 55, (1974)).

Dr. Bishnu Atal will deliver a plenary speech in INTERSPEECH 2018.

Congratulations to Dr. Bishnu Atal!

The ISCA Medal for Scientific Achievement recognizes and honors an individual each year who has

made extraordinary contributions to the field of speech communicationscience and technology. The

award of ISCA Medal has been established since 1989. ISCA Board announces the recipient of the year

in March. ISCA Medal is peresented to the recipient by the ISCA President at INTERSPEECH opening

ceremony, when the Medalist also delivers a keynote speech.

ISCA Medal for Service:

This year, ISCA will recognize the extraordinary service contributions of Prof.

Christian Wellekens, who has been providing support for ISCA since the

organization was established! Of the many areas he has championed, the

ISCApad has been the primary mechanism for information dissemination for the

ISCA community, and Chris has overseen this effort in a consistent and

professional manner. The ISCA Community extends a sincere thanks to Prof.

Christian Wellekens, who will be recognized at the ISCA INTERSPEECH-2018 opening ceremony

with the ISCA Medal for Service. Congratulations to Prof. Christian Wellekens!

Again, this is the first time Interspeech will be held in India, and it promises to be a great opportunity to

experience the diversity of speech and language processing in a country that manages daily life with

122 major languages. There are still opportunities for industry sponsorship, and I encourage companies

to consider providing even modest support, since this allows for the organizers to provide expanded

opportunities for attendees, particularly for students and young researchers exploring job prospects!

Memorial Recognition: Dr. Man Mohan Sondhi

It is with great sadness that I share with the ISCA community of the passing of Dr

Mohan Sondhi in Feb. 2018. Those of you who have worked in the field of speech

modeling coding, analysis, and modeling know of the landmark work Mohan has made

in the field, with a career that spanned many decades at AT&T Bell Laboratories.  He

 is credited with establishing the first solution for echo cancelation in the field for

voice communications. A memorial service was held for him where many of

this colleagues from AT&T Bell Laboratories highlighted the remarkable impact he

had on their lives, and the speech and language community. These included comments from Larry

Rabiner, Bishnu Atal, Joe Hall, Aaron Rosenberg, Fred B.H. Juang, Nikil Jayant, Rich Cox, Gary Elko,

Shri Narayanan, Sadaoki Furui, Juergen Schroeter, Roberto Pieraccini, Julius Goldstein, and Jacob

Benesty. Many noted that Dr. Sondhi was a pioneer, scholar, mentor, and dear friend who will be

greatly missed. We will include a more extensive highlight of these comments and his life’s work on

the ISCA website.

As always, we welcome feedback and input from the ISCA community – if you have suggestions for

our society or want to be involved, please let us know!

We look forward to your participation in ISCA and Interspeech-2018!

John H.L. Hansen, ISCA President