Welcome to the new millennium to the members of Dragon Gate Club. For us, however, this year is also very significant as Year of Dragon. This year, I will be 60 years old. According to the oriental tradition, the age of 60 has a special meaning. People at 60 years of age will go back to their initial lives. With this in mind, I will strive for further advancing my career and dedication to our microwave research/education program.

Toward the end of the last millennium, the research and professional activities of my group at UCLA and Dragon Gate members have expanded substantially. Several of my Ph.D. students have been recognized by student paper competition awards (Al Perkons, Vesna Radisic) or by selection to be among the semi-finalists (Noriaki Kaneda and David Chang) at the MTT International Microwave Symposia (IMS). Jonathan Fredrick won the Student Paper Competition at European Microwave Conference in Munich in 1999. Professor Clive Tzuang of National Chiao Tang University became the first IEEE Fellow among our former students. Professor Samir El-Ghazaly is busy preparing for 2001 IMS in Phoenix as Steering Committee Chair. I received a Shida Rinzaburo Award from an organization for Ministry of Post and Telecommunication on our work on active integrated antennas in 1998. Phil Yang, Yongxi Qian and myself received Japan Microwave Prize at APMC in 1998 in Yokohama.

Our research effort has been expanding steadily. We are entering the final phase of a prestigious MURI program entitled Low Power/Low Noise Technologies for Wireless Electronics from Department of Defense and have recently been awarded a large scale DARPA program on Reconfigurable Aperture (RECAP) program. We are also strengthening to work with industry such as SONY, Raytheon, TRW, Rockwell. The list is constantly expanding. Due to the research topics and to the expanding economy in the US on wireless related activities, our students are highly sought after.

I am fortunate to have been selected to receive 2000 Distinguished Educator Award from IEEE MTT Society at its annual International Microwave Symposium (IMS) in Boston. This award was made possible by a substantial effort by Professor Ke Wu of Montreal assisted by a number of Dragon Gate alumni and other colleagues of mine. I would like to extend an honorary membership of Dragon Gate Club to Professor Wu. I hope that everyone will agree.

We plan to have an exhibit booth at the forthcoming IMS Symposium in Boston and like to have a get together dinner. I am looking forward to seeing many of you on that occasion. In addition, please send your news and comments to us any time.