Core Group Meeting, SENSORFINT COST Action (CA19145)
March 15 th 2021, held via Xisco Webex Videoconference

Agenda

1. Chair report.
2. Workshop Porto 2021 and MC meeting: Proposal presented by Antonio
Da Silva Ferreira as Local Organizer.
3. Any Other Business (AOB).

MINUTES OF SECOND CORE GROUP MEETING, COST ACTION CA19145, MARCH 15TH 2021, HELD VIA ZOOM

Present: Antonio Ferreira (Portugal), Ana Garrido Varo (Spain), Anna Sandak (Slovenia), Aoife Gowan (Ireland), Christian Huck (Austria), Jean-Michel Roger (France), Lola Perez Marin (Spain), Maria Tarapoulouzi (Cyprus), Marina Cocchi (Italy), Paul Brereton (UK), Szilveszter Gergely (Hungary), Tom Fearn (UK), Vincent Baeten (Belgium)

 Apologies: Declan Delaney (Ireland), Ivan Stajduhar (Croatia)

The meeting was chaired by Lola Perez Marin, who welcomed participants and noted the following:

  • The website and social media are up and running.

ACTIONS for All: Please be active on the social media, feedback on the website is welcome.

  • The first call for STSM is live and some interests have already been shown.
  • An increase in the budget has been requested, including extra funding for STSM and for the Porto workshop.

The agenda items were then discussed.

  1. First sensorFINT International Meeting, Porto September 2021

Antonio Ferreira gave a powerpoint presentation outlining plans for this meeting. It will take place in the Universidade Catolica Portuguesa in Porto on the 16th and 17th September 2021.  The local organisers will be Antonio Ferreira and Maria Lopes Cardoso, together with Lola Perez Marin, Tom Fearn and Vincent Baeten. The scientific committee is to be the Action Core Group plus a few local invitees.  The format will be hybrid, with the aim to have as much face-to-face activity as possible, but with facilities that will permit remote participation. The programme will consist of oral sessions in the two mornings, with one keynote speaker each morning, industry showcases in the afternoon of the 16th, and a Management Committee meeting in the afternoon of the 17th.  A dinner will be organised on the evening of the 16th and some social activities offered on the evening of the 17th.

The presentation was followed by a wide-ranging discussion covering:

  • Title – Smart Spectral Sensors for Agri-Food Quality and Process Control” was agreed on.
  • Themes – need to define a handful of catchy themes if possible.
  • Length of talks – it was suggested that the proposed 15 minute slots for the majority of the talks was rather short, also that it might be an idea to reduce the number of talks and include discussion sessions after every 4 or so talks. It would also be possible to vary the length of talks, with e.g. some very short and some longer ones.
  • Size – For planning purposes a number of 150-200 attendees is being assumed.
  • Industry showcase – Companies that are members of the action would be invited to participate. The aim is to involve some local companies also.  The idea of a round table with industry was suggested.
  • Output – What will be available afterwards? The fee will be the same for live and remote attendees, so it important that there are some deliverables for the remote ones, especially those in different time zones. The organisers will look into the possibility of making recordings available for a limited period after the workshop, though presenters would need to give their permission for this.

ACTIONS for all: Input would be welcomed on possible themes, suggestions for keynote speakers and for industrial contributors whether as sponsors/exhibitors or as presenters

  1. AOB

There was no other business.

Tom Fearn

1 April 2021