Second Call for Papers and Mini-Workshop Topics

Fifth IEEE International Conference on Space Mission Challenges for Information Technology (SMC-IT 2014)

September 24-26, 2014

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Laurel, Maryland, USA
http://smc-it.org

Sponsored by the IEEE Computer Society
Technical Council on Software Engineering (TCSE)

8-Page Manuscripts due March 17, 2014

Information technology (IT) has progressively grown in importance to space exploration efforts and today it often dominates the costs and schedules of space mission projects. The IEEE International Conference on Space Mission Challenges for Information Technology (SMC-IT) is the first forum to gather system and software engineers, scientists, and other practitioners with the objective of advancing information technology for space missions. The forum provides an excellent opportunity for technical interchange for all aspects of IT used for space missions.

The conference will emphasize current and emerging IT practice and challenges for future space missions. All aspects of the space mission will be explored, including flight systems, ground systems, science data processing, engineering and development tools, operations, and telecommunications. The entire IT lifecycle of mission development will be considered.
Starting in 2014, SMC-IT will rotate venues to better engage regional communities. SMC-IT 2014 will be held at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab (JHU/APL) in Laurel, Maryland.

Paper Submissions

Novel papers are solicited from all sectors of the space community, including earth orbiting systems, deep space missions, ground support systems, instruments, science, landers, rovers, and probes. The conference will address civil, military, and commercial application areas for human and robotic missions.

SMC-IT 2014 will use a single-pass, full-paper review process. Authors will submit an up-to 8-page camera ready paper at the outset. Accepted papers will be published in the IEEE conference proceedings, to be available at the conference and indexed in the IEEE Xplore data base. Selected papers presented at SMC-IT 2014 will be invited to appear in a special issue of reputable journals in the field.

Mini-Workshops

SMC-IT 2014 will continue the highly successful mini-workshop session format to explore specific emerging technology themes in greater depth. Each mini-workshop typically runs as one track during one day and incorporates both invited and contributed papers.

To propose a mini-workshop topic, please submit a 1-2 page abstract including the theme, scope, and goals of your workshop idea.

Technical Topics

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

Small-satellites (software strategies/architectures; distributed command and control)
Autonomy and Autonomous Systems (explorations; UAV/UAS/UGV in space; cooperative systems/swarming)
Space Networking (space-terrestrial internetworking, interoperability; cross-agency standards)
Advanced Computing (intelligent systems; quantum computing; knowledge extraction and management; big data; computing for robotics)
Data Analytics for Advanced Instruments (sensors, remote sensing, and data analytics; algorithms; machine learning)
Human/Astronaut Support (autonomy; robotics cooperation & interaction; tele-robotics)
System Health Management (fault diagnosis and management; on-board fault protection)
Software Engineering (re-usable software architectures; V & V of space applications; agile development and agile project management; designs and approaches for software cost control and re-use)

Although any relevant topic will be considered for submitted papers, the topics listed above are especially being sought as projected themes of the conference.

As mentioned earlier, manuscripts will be reviewed in a single-step process. Manuscripts (up to 8 pages) for contributed papers as well as mini-workshop proposals (1-2 pages) must be received by March 17, 2014. Acceptance notification will be mailed by April 21, 2014. The template for each can be found at the SMC-IT 2014 web site:
http://smc-it.org/authorinfo.html

Schedule

November 18, 2013 – Call for Full Papers and Mini-Workshop Concept Summaries
December 1, 2013 – Author Submission Website Open
March 17, 2014 – Final Submission Date
April 21, 2014 – Authors Acceptance Notification
July 18, 2014 – Camera Ready Manuscripts Due (incorporating reviewer comments)
September 24-26, 2014 -- Conference

The conference will be held in Laurel, Maryland, on the JHU APL campus. APL is located between Baltimore and Washington, D.C. near Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland, NASA Headquarters, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and numerous high tech companies. For more detailed information on specific IT topic areas, schedule, author information, and general logistics information please refer to the conference website:

http://smc-it.org

To be placed on the SMC-IT informational mailing list, send a blank email to smc-it-join@smc-it.org
To be removed from the list, please send a blank email to smc-it-leave@smc-it.org
We look forward to seeing you in Laurel in September 2014!

Conference Chairs

Brian Duncan (General Chair, +1 443 778-2530)
María Dolores Rodríguez Moreno (Deputy General Chair, + 34 91 885 66 07)
Larry Bergman (Advisor to the General Chair, +1 818 393-5314)

chairs@smc-it.org

NOTE: To receive future announcements, please send a blank email to: smc-it-join@smc-it.org