The International Conference on Environmental Systems, or ICES (known prior to 1990 as the Intersociety Conference on Environmental Systems), is an annual technical conference focusing on human spaceflight technology and space human factors. Session topics include: Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS), thermal control, life sciences, extra-vehicular activity (EVA) systems (including space suit design and human-robot interaction), space architecture, and mission planning for exploration.
The conference has taken place annually since 1971.
The first ICES conference was held in San Francisco in 1971, after three years of work by members of Environmental Control and Life Support System specialist committees representing four different societies: the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), and the Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA). It replaced three other meetings held each year as part of various society conference programs and since then it has been held every year. In 1972, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) became the fifth and final co-sponsoring society for ICES. [1]
Prior to 1990, ICES organization was US-only. In 1990 it became international, by merging the American conference with a similar conference held in Europe, and ICES started to be held abroad (for the first time in Germany in 1994). Since 2000, the ICES conference takes place four times out of five in the US and once in five years outside US (so far in 2000, 2005, 2010, 2016).
For its first 39 years, the main ICES organizer was the Society of Automotive Engineers; from 2010 through 2013, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics filled the role of main organizer, supported by American Institute of Chemical Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers and ICES International Committee. Starting in 2014, the conference became an independent entity that was organized by Texas Tech University. [2] in 2014 and 2015. In 2016, the conference became independent with its own website at http://www.ices.space whilst AIAA, AIChE, ASME, and the ICES International Committee continue organizing the conference sessions.
Papers presented at ICES are published every year in the conference proceedings, from 1971 to 2009 by SAE, then from 2010 to 2013 by AIAA. These papers are available and searchable online at the SAE and AIAA websites. They are now published by the ICES organization. Proceedings from the 2014-2019 conferences, hosted by Texas Tech University, are accessible from the ICES conference website.
The conference is located primarily in the United States, and was located exclusively on the west coast of the US for its first 19 years. Since 1994, the conference has taken place in Europe roughly once every five years.
The ICES conference is organized by the following committees:
Initially the conference was co-organized also by the AsMA Life Sciences and Biomedical Engineering Branch Executive Committee, [1] now discontinued.
The ABET is a non-governmental organization that accredits post-secondary education programs in applied and natural sciences, computing, engineering and engineering technology.
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA is the U.S. representative on the International Astronautical Federation and the International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences. In 2015, it had more than 30,000 members among aerospace professionals worldwide.
Hydroxylammonium nitrate or hydroxylamine nitrate (HAN) is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula [NH3OH]+[NO3]−. It is a salt derived from hydroxylamine and nitric acid. In its pure form, it is a colourless hygroscopic solid. It has potential to be used as a rocket propellant either as a solution in monopropellants or bipropellants. Hydroxylammonium nitrate (HAN)-based propellants are a viable and effective solution for future green propellant-based missions, as it offers 50% higher performance for a given propellant tank compared to commercially used hydrazine.
Paul B. MacCready Jr. was an American aeronautical engineer. He was the founder of AeroVironment and the designer of the human-powered aircraft that won the first Kremer prize. He devoted his life to developing more efficient transportation vehicles that could "do more with less".
Michimasa Fujino is a retired Japanese aeronautical engineer, entrepreneur, and founder of the Honda Aircraft Company, a subsidiary of the Honda Motor Company. Fujino worked as chief engineer within Honda R&D, then as vice president, before he was named the project leader for HondaJet development. He was also a Honda Motor managing officer. At Honda Aircraft, he played a crucial role in the growth of the company, and was responsible for the overall strategy of its design, development, certification, marketing, sales, and production of the HondaJet.
Guy Antony Jameson, FRS, FREng is Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University. Jameson is known for his pioneering work in the field of computational fluid dynamics. He has published more than 300 scientific papers in a wide range of areas including computational fluid dynamics, aerodynamics, and control theory.
The American Automatic Control Council (AACC) is an organization founded in 1957 for research in control theory. AACC is a member of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) and is an association of the control systems divisions of nine member societies:
The School of Engineering at Rutgers University was founded in 1914 as the College of Engineering. It was originally a part of the Rutgers Scientific School, which was founded in 1864. The school has seven academic departments, with a combined undergraduate student enrollment of over 2,400 students. It offers over 25 academic and professional degree programs. These include several interdisciplinary programs, such as Environmental Engineering with the Department of Environmental Science, and the graduate program in mechanics.
Len Cormier worked for many years in the U.S. aerospace industry, in government, large industry, and as a private entrepreneur. He developed many creative proposals for reusable launch vehicles, and was present at several key events of the early Space Age.
ALICE is a rocket propellant which consists of nano-aluminum powder and water. After mixing, the material is frozen to keep it stable. Hence, the name ALICE, for ALuminum ICE rocket propellant.
H. Norman Abramson is an American engineer, scientist, retired Executive Vice President of the Southwest Research Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, and former manager and principal investigator in several NAE and NRC research projects.
LGarde, also L'Garde or L·Garde, is an American aerospace and defense technology company founded in 1971 in Orange County, CA and is the primary contractor for the Sunjammer spacecraft, the world largest solar sail. The company was an early pioneer of thin-skinned, multi-task inflatable structures used in various military and space applications. At the height of the Cold War, L·Garde developed and manufactured inflatable targets and decoy systems for U.S. military defense, and countermeasure systems for the Strategic Defense Initiative. After the Cold-War, the company used the technologies and manufacturing techniques it had developed to land a contract to design and build the inflatable antenna experiment and other thin-film inflatable space structures using its unique application of rigidizable tube technology. The company's unusual name is an acronym formed by the initials of the founding partners: Bill Larkin, Gayle Bilyeu, Alan Hirasuna, Rich Walstrom, Don Davis. The "E" comes from the Latin term "et al" as a tip to other partners and original employees of the company.
The R-4D is a small hypergolic rocket engine, originally designed by Marquardt Corporation for use as a reaction control system thruster on vehicles of the Apollo crewed Moon landing program. Aerojet Rocketdyne manufactures and markets modern versions of the R-4D.
Elaine Surick Oran is an American physical scientist and is considered a world authority on numerical methods for large-scale simulation of physical systems. She has pioneered computational technology to solve complex reactive flow problems, unifying concepts from science, mathematics, engineering, and computer science in a new methodology. An incredibly diverse range of phenomena can be modeled and better understood using her techniques for numerical simulation of fluid flows, ranging from the tightly grouped movements of fish in Earth's oceans to the explosions of far-flung supernovae in space. Her work has contributed significantly to the advancement of the engineering profession.
Amber S. Gell is an American program manager, former engineer and scientist, and STEM education advocate who specializes in human performance in extreme environments. A Milwaukee, Wisconsin native, she currently works for Lockheed Martin as a Program Manager. She has won awards for her accomplishments in space systems and educational outreach, including the 2010 Early Career Rotary National Award for Space Achievement and the 2013 Adler Planetarium Women in Space Science Award. She has a degree in aerospace engineering and business, and physiology (Fitness), and is also a certified group fitness instructor, Wilderness First Responder (WFR), Master Scuba Diver. Amber was also a member of the Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University Mathematics Industry Advisory Board
John J. Tracy is the retired Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of The Boeing Company, the world's largest aerospace company. At Boeing, he held the dual roles of CTO and Senior Vice President of Engineering, Operations & Technology from June 2006 to mid 2016.
Joseph Majdalani is an Lebanese-American professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. He began his career at Marquette University, before serving as both the Jack D. Whitfield Professor of High Speed Flows and Arnold Chair of Excellence at the University of Tennessee Space Institute. He then served as the Auburn Alumni Engineering Council Endowed Professor and Chair, and is currently the Hugh and Loeda Francis Chair of Excellence in Aerospace Engineering at Auburn University.
Leroy Stevenson (Skipp) Fletcher is an American mechanical and aerospace engineer, and college dean, who served as the 104th president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1985–86, and was recipient of the 2002 ASME Medal.
Ashwani K. Gupta is a British-American engineer and educator with research focus on combustion, fuels, fuel reforming, advanced diagnostics, High Temperature Air Combustion, and high-intensity distributed combustion, green combustion turbine, micro-combustion, and air pollution. He is an Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland. Gupta is also Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maryland and Director of Combustion Laboratory. He is also an Affiliate Professor at Institute of Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland which is part of the University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences.
Moriba Kemessia Jah is an American space scientist and aerospace engineer who describes himself as a "space environmentalist", specializing in orbit determination and prediction, especially as related to space situational awareness and space traffic monitoring. He is currently an associate professor of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the University of Texas at Austin. Jah previously worked as a spacecraft navigator at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he was a navigator for the Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, Mars Express, Mars Exploration Rover, and his last mission was the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. He is a Fellow of the American Astronautical Society, the Air Force Research Laboratory, the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety and, the Royal Astronomical Society. Jah was also selected into the 10th anniversary class of TED Fellows and was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2022. He also was selected into the AIAA class of Fellows and Honorary Fellows in the year of the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11. The AIAA "confers the distinction of Fellow upon individuals in recognition of their notable and valuable contributions to the arts, sciences or technology of aeronautics and astronautics."