WASHINGTON — If you have a success story — or even a horror story — to tell about using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware or software in defense, aviation, or space electronics, the editors at Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine want to hear from you.
Military & Aerospace Electronics and PennWell are looking for electronics designers to present case studies and other presentations about the benefits and drawbacks of using COTS equipment at the COTScon East 2001 conference and exposition May 30 and 31, 2001, in Washington, D.C.
COTScon East 2001, the sixth meeting of the world's leading military and aerospace COTS designers and business leaders, will be at the Renaissance Washington D.C. Hotel. The event features a two-day interactive conference and exhibit hall.
The theme of the conference and exhibition is "COTS: The Road Ahead," and will center on where the growing use of commercially developed components, subsystems, and software is taking the state of the art of military, aviation, and space electronics design.
The COTScon East 2001 conference manager is seeking papers on topics that may include, but are not limited to: real-world case studies of projects that use COTS; innovative use of COTS equipment to upgrade old military and aerospace systems; the role of COTS software and software engineering tools in military systems design; major military, commercial aviation, or space platforms that make innovative use of COTS; COTS design costs versus COTS reliability; the legal ramifications of using COTS; the role of custom-designed electronics in the COTS world; the best approaches for mitigating the effects of diminishing manufacturing sources (DMS); the long-term costs of COTS parts obsolescence; the international perspective on COTS design; component upscreening; COTS vs. mil-spec issues; the DOD policy evolution; the DOD perspective on the need for COTS; whether QML and COTS are in conflict; sources of military and aerospace research funding in the COTS world; and the armadillo approach — hard on the outside and soft on the inside — of designing with rugged enclosures, shock-isolation packaging, and commercial-grade components.
PennWell's monthly magazine Military & Aerospace Electronics continues to highlight the latest COTS developments in its exclusive COTS Watch section for the past six years. This magazine, which has been the authority in COTS longer than any other publication, also expands its news coverage and opinion to interactive conference formats on both coasts.
COTS design practices revolve around the 1994 directive by then-Defense Secretary William Perry for military systems designers to use COTS components and subsystems wherever possible.
The deadline for abstract proposals is Jan. 12, 2001. Proposals should include a 50-to-100-word synopsis of the presentation, and three to five bullet points on what conference attendees will learn from each presentation.
Send abstracts to Jennifer Abdulla at PennWell by e-mail at [email protected], by fax at 603-891-9490, or by post at 98 Spit Brook Road, Nashua, N.H. 03062-2801. To get questions answered, please phone Ms. Abdulla by phone at 603-891-9365. You also may contact John Keller, chief editor of Military & Aerospace Electronics, by phone at 603-891-9117, or by e-mail at [email protected].
For more information or for registering for COTScon East 2001, contact PennWell's registration staff by phone at 603-891-9267, by fax at 603-891-9490, or by e-mail at [email protected].
Those interested in exhibiting at COTScon East 2001 may contact Maureen Kane by phone at 603-891-9423, by fax at 603-891-9490, or by e-mail at [email protected].