(A pdf of this note is available at http://www.its.org/ict2005/Note-authors-ICT05.pdf )

Dear Authors:

Note from ICT05 Organizers:

In order to facilitate the timely publication of the proceedings of the ICT 2005 Conference on Thermoelectrics, we request that you adhere to the following guidelines and information. We hope to publish these proceedings with minimal (hopefully zero) errors. Your help is appreciated. The ICT'05 Proceedings will be published both in book format and on CD-ROM. The CD-ROM will be sent to you as part of the conference registration fee and the book will be available at extra cost to you as determined by the conference organizers.

(IMPORTANT: click 'more' for the full message.... )

ICT2005 will be held Sunday June 19 through Thursday June 23, 2005 in Clemson, South Carolina USA. Please see the links at left for further details.

Attendees should please read the "Letter to Attendees".

The ICT2005 schedule is available in PDF format at http://www.its.org/ict2005/ICT05-Session_Schedules.pdf. The file size is about 208 KB. (Last updated May 24, 2005).

Benjamin Abeles and George Cody
Exxon Research and Engineering, Annandale
from http://www.njinvent.njit.edu/

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The Voyager space probes have been described as "an epic journey to the four giant gas planets of our solar system." The invention that made the Voyager mission possible, the silicon-germanium thermoelectric power generator, was developed in the 1960s by Benjamin Abeles and George Cody at the David Sarnoff Research Center in Princeton. While studying the high temperature properties of semiconductors the pair discovered unexpectedly low thermal conductivity in silicon-germanium alloys. By doping the alloys with impurities, they further lowered the thermal conductivity and optimized the electrical properties needed to efficiently convert heat to electricity at high temperatures. This discovery led to the development of a reliable and longlived source of energy, perfect for deep space probes which cannot use solar panels to collect energy. In 1980, the Franklin Institute presented the prestigious Stuart Ballentine Medal for advancing communications using thermomagnetic radiation to the researchers.

The following is an announcement from the President of the International
Thermoelectric Society. Please direct your responses to:
Prof. Kunihito Koumoto, ITS President
g44233a@nucc.cc.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Dear prospective Conference Organizer,

The International Thermoelectric Society (ITS) is looking for organizations
interested in hosting its 26th annual International Conference on Thermoelectrics (ICT) in the year 2007.

The ICT has been the most
important annual meeting for scientists, engineers and industry in the
field of thermoelectric research and development for application to power
generation, thermal management and sensing equipment. Thanks to a renewal
in the field of thermoelectrics, and a string of well organized
conferences, interest in this conference increased in the last few years with attendance between 200 and 300 “thermoelectricians”.

AMD was issued US Patent 6,800,933 titled "Integrated circuit cooling device" in October, 2004 for "Various embodiments of a semiconductor-on-insulator substrate incorporating a Peltier effect heat transfer device and methods of fabricating the same are provided."

It would seem AMD is taking the idea of integrated CPU/Peltier coolers seriously. Websites that follow the PC hardware industry have pointed out that having a patent does not mean products need follow, but that the idea is taken seriously I find interesting:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20041022085709.html
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=19205