Introduction to the Electromagnetics Special Issue

This special issue of Electromagnetics contains six papers especially selected from those present at the Bianisotropics 2002 conference held in Marrakech, Morocco from May 8–10, 2002. This conference was the ninth in a series concerned with the electromagnetics of complex media. It was jointly organized by Dr. Saïd Zouhdi from the Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris and Dr. Mohamed Arsalane from the Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech. Functioning as a NATO Advanced Research Workshop, this conference attracted approximately 70 researchers from 20 countries who presented 103 papers during 10 half-day sessions and two poster presentations. Of these papers, we have selected six for inclusion in this special issue which cover a broad range of topics. Roughly speaking, the first three papers are related to fundamental aspects of complex media and their simulation, while the remaining three deal with their applications. Additional full papers from the Bianisotropics 2002 conference can be found in Advances in Electromagnetics of Complex Media and Metamaterials, S. Zouhdi, A. Sihvola and M. Arsalane, eds., Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2002. Lastly, we wish to dedicate this Electromagnetics special issue to the memory of Dr. Werner S. Weiglhofer who passed away in a mountain snowshoeing accident on January 12, 2003. He was a dedicated researcher, a longtime supporter of the Bianisotropics conferences, and a good friend. He will be missed.