Welcome to SICE Annual Conference 2003 in Fukui

It is my great pleasure and honor to welcome you to the SICE Annual Conference 2003 in Fukui and to Fukui University and Fukui City, Fukui Prefecture, in Hokuriku District, Japan, starting with many interesting events of SICE Week on August 3, Sunday, and finishing SICE 2003 main events on August 6, Thursday, 2003. This is the first time for SICE, the internationalized annual conference on SICE, to be held in Hokuriku Chapter of SICE whereas the 32nd SICE Annual Conference was held in Kanazawa, Hokuriku District, in July, 1993, but it was the domestic conference and Hokuriku District belonged to Chubu Chapter of SICE at that time, where note that this SICE 2003 is corresponding to the 42nd SICE Annual Conference.
Fukui is situated in the central part of Japan, facing the sea of Japan. Because of its location, Fukui has been a gateway to and from Asian countries through which there have been cultural exchanges since ancient times. Fukui is geographically close to Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan, which had been the center of culture for more than one thousand years since 794. Fukui has been influenced in many ways by Kyoto. There is a wealth of culture underlying daily life in Fukui. Then, there are abundant culture legacies, scenic spots, and historical sites in Fukui, such as Heisenji Hakusan Shrine, Remains of the Asakura Family Fortress, Eiheiji Temple, Toujimbo, and so on. Nature and culture in Fukui also enabled many number one industries, such as textile production, the traditional Japanese paper (Echizen Washi), spectacles, cutlery (Echizen Hamono), japan (Kawada Shikki), Echizen Pottery, ceramic condenser industry, and so on.
The theme of SICE 2003 is the significant advances on measurement, control, and information technology as well as variety of systems analysis and designs, from theory to application, from software to hardware or from one field to another. It is my hope that this highly interdisciplinary conference will provide a broadened and deepened technical interaction between the various research institutions, industrial sectors in SICE field. I hope also this conference will serve as an important forum for more cross-disciplinary, i.e., transdisciplinary interaction to promote SICE's international and highly inter- and trans-disciplinary activities.
I wish to express my appreciation to five guest speakers for their interesting invited talks. Thanks are also due to those persons and organizations that helped to make SICE 2003 possible, especially to the Conference Committee members for their extraordinary work, to the members of the Technical Program Committee, for their big efforts and careful reviews. Finally, the most essential components of this conference are the contributors and attendees. On behalf of the Conference Committee, I would like to thank you for coming. I hope you have a pleasant stay in Fukui.