Just before the Fourth Annual Review of Progress, 1988 a memo to ACES ADCOM from Treasurer Breakall and Secretary Adler dated March 14, 1988, summarized the financial status of ACES. The four funds contained a total account balance of approximately $52,960. This included expenses of about $15,500 for Conference (Review of Progress) Publications, NEEDS, Secretarial Services, and Miscellaneous. ACES had, by this time, obtained an IRS tax ID number but would not need a California tax ID if publications were sold to members only and ACES remained a nonprofit corporation.
A five-year "guessified" budget through 1992 was offered and ADCOM was urged to consider it before the NPS AND LLNL support ended before March, 1990.
The memo concluded by stating that the Articles of Incorporation were ready for signatures, after which a financial statement would be submitted to the CPA certified public accountant for incorporation.
At the Fourth Annual Review of Progress, March 22-24, 1988, in Monterey (Secretary Adler as Acting Chairman) President Miller signed the papers for application to the state of California for ACES' nonprofit status. He also announced that URSI (Union Radio Scientifique Internationale)-Commission B and the IEEE APS (Antennas and Propagation Society) would allow use of their names in a call for papers for either a special ACES Journal and Newsletter issue or for a conference.
The new slate of officers was elected by the members: James C. Logan, President; Stanley Kubina, Vice President; Richard W. Adler, Secretary; and James K. Breakall, Treasurer. The ADCOM members-at-large serving 3-year terms at that time were Robert Bevensee, whose term would expire in 1989; Lee Corrington, term to expire in 1990; and Peter Cunningham, term to expire in 1991.
The committee chairpersons appointed at the Fourth Annual Review were as follows:
Newsletter (Publications), David Stein, both Editor-in-chief and Transactions Editor,
Advertising Editor, Michael Thorburn
Meetings, Robert Noel (Rockwell International)
Long Range Planning (Technical Activities), R. Dawson Coblin.
Constitution and Bylaws, Janet McDonald
Software Exchange, Charles Vandament (Rockwell International)
Software Performance Standards (newly established), Edmund Miller
Nominations, Robert Bevensee
Awards, Lee Corrington
1989 ACES Review of Progress, Michael Thorburn
Attendance at this Annual Review increased to 166. ACES membership had grown to 453 from 189 in 1987. There were 8 sessions of 57 papers plus an Electromagnetic Code Users Panel Discussion and 10 PC demonstrations. A special demonstration of ground constant measurements was held by George
Hagn of the Stanford Research Institute, International. A questionnaire taken at this Review of Progress revealed the types of computer codes used by the attendees, and their application areas. In application areas of interest, 54 persons responded antennas; 42, scattering; 33, propagation; and 14, other areas of interest. Fifty-two respondees mentioned their model types used were based on integral equations; 28 mentioned differential equations; 32 mentioned GTD (geometrical theory of diffraction); 42, frequency domain types of codes; 22, time domain types; and others mentioned three other types. Forty-one attendees stated that one parallel session was acceptable at the Annual Reviews of Progress, while 17 declared that none were acceptable, and 14 would accept two parallel sessions. The yes/no vote in favor of poster sessions was a decisive 40/13. Thirty-seven respondees declared in favor of more PC demonstrations, compared to 14 who opposed more of them. There was an overwhelming consensus in favor of continuing the Annual Reviews of Progress at NPS during the January-March period. The response to ACES interests was revealing: 20 persons declared modeling guidelines was their primary interest, while 17 claimed software exchange and 11 claimed code validation. For their second most important interest, 18 claimed code validation; 16, solved problems library; and 15, modeling guidelines. Each of the four interest categories-software exchange, code validation, solved problems library, and modeling guidelines-was a strong third most important interest.
Volume III.1 of the Newsletter, published in the Spring of 1988, reported the following ACES news items:
A substantial West German NEEDS Users Group was operating under IABG, a government-owned, nonprofit organization and member of the German EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility) Standardization Committee. That Committee was, in 1988, considering adopting NEEDS as a reference program for basic EMC numerical work. IABG would collaborate with ACES to update NEEDS in West Germany and would act as a "German Secretary" to ACES.
A NEC/MININEC User Group was being formed in the United Kingdom and an ACES connection was being pursued. This was described in the aforementioned letter of March 2, 1988, from Brian Austin to Secretary Adler.
ACES had, at that time, cooperative arrangements, not only with URSI-Commission B and the IEEE-APS, but also with the Nuclear EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) Meeting (NEM) and the IEEE EMC Society.
A call for papers was announced for a special issue of the ACES Journal and Newsletter on the subject of "Computer Code Validation", with papers due by August 31, 1988.
The number of ACES institutional members had grown to 31. Vol. III.2 of the ACES Journal and Newsletter, published the fall of 1988, listed 19 associate editors, all from domestic institutions. ACES membership then stood at 500.
The ACES Software Library had grown to contain 16 items. Charles Vandament, Chairman of the Software Exchange Committee of 18 members, reported the Committee's intention to compile a comprehensive catalogue of descriptions of all codes related to the general field of electromagnetics. The major codes at the time - NEC-MOM, NEC-BCS, GEMACS, and MININEC/NEEDS/IGUANA - each had at least one experimental user. Specialized codes for accelerators and microwave circuit design would be included in the catalogue.