Dear Fellow Transdisciplinarians,

ItMESSAGE FROM SDPS PRESIDENT

We are greatful to Dr. Azad for his guidance and leadership that have helped
transform the Society into a more forward-looking community that it is today.

Thank you for your long-time dedication and unconditional service to SDPS, and especially for
your involvement with the implementation of transdisciplinary vision.

Welcome to the Eleventh World Congress of Integrated Design and Process Technology (IDPT-08). Out host this year is Asia University, a young and vibrant institute of learning in “Central Taiwan” or Taichung. Our conference theme this year, “Global Network for Transdisciplinary Collaboration” is apt for our society. Our society continues to increase its outreach to our transdisciplinary brethren through our conferences and our Journal. Of note are a few exciting changes. You will notice that we have slightly modified the name of both our society and the conference. The two terms that are conspicuous by their presence are “transdisciplinary” and “systems.” By using the term transdisciplinary explicitly we clearly convey that transdisciplinary thinking is what unites us as a society. By including “systems” we convey our interest and
commitment to introducing transdisciplinary thinking into the way we approach systems. We have also begun activities with other international societies in terms of technical cosponsorship of conferences. We will continue to make advances in technical co-sponsorship to increase visibility of our society. In keeping with our vision to increase the frequency of interaction among the society members, I urge you all to be proactive by proposing new transdisciplinary themes for
workshops and symposia. Colleagues, you have an unprecedented opportunity to be pioneers in transdisciplinary science, research, and education as transdisciplinary thinking continues to gain greater momentum in academe, government and industry. While acutely aware that transdisciplinary problems, by their very nature, are difficult, I take heart from the words of Winston Churchill who famously said, “Difficulties mastered are opportunities won.” Let us follow
these sage words. Please join me in welcoming President-elect Professor Sumit Ghosh as I pass the baton for the stewardship of the society to him. Professor Ghosh and I will continue to work on behalf of our society in promoting our exciting vision, and in community outreach activities. And last but not the least, I wish you all a most rewarding experience at IDPT 2008 and hope that you come away from this conference with new ideas and renewed enthusiasm to shape the future direction and growth of our society, and to rededicate our commitment to the betterment of mankind through transdisciplinary solutions.