Thank you Session Chairs for your assistance in organizing ITherm leading up to the conference. One of your primary task is running the sessions at the conference. To ensure smooth operation at the conference, we are providing a detailed list of instructions below for your reference.

Session Chair Attendance:

The session chairs must be present at the conference to run the session.  Please check the final program (link) and confirm your session and ability to attend and manage the session you’ve been assigned to by noon PST, May 25th. Please let your Track Chair know as soon as possible if there is an issue with your attendance and management of your session.

Before your Session:

A. The speakers have separately been provided with a set of instructions (link) to upload their presentations to the X-CD portal. Program and Track Chairs will transfer these presentations to the laptops in the technical sessions and will have them ready before the session. Session Chairs would need to confirm if all the presentations are indeed on the meeting room laptop and notify the Track Chairs of any missing presentations.

B. List of speakers and their bios/affiliations are available on the online program (link). It will also be available through the mobile app as well. Session chairs are responsible for following up and collecting any missing presentations and speaker’s affiliation before the session. Please follow the NEW process described below.

  • An email will be sent out connecting Session chairs and authors/presenters. The email will also ask presenters to upload their presentations and update their bios in the X-CD portal by the deadline of 5 pm the night before the session.
  • Email the presenters introducing yourself and urging them to upload presentations well before the upload deadline.
  • Remind presenters that there will be no use of USB drives to exchange material this year.
  • Check the X-CD portal, at least two days in advance of the session, and remind presenters to upload presentations by the deadline of 5 pm the night before.
  • If any authors have not uploaded their presentations by the deadline, please notify your track chairs and the program chairs immediately.
  • If authors email you their presentations – please upload them to the X-CD portal or coordinate with Track Chairs to get it uploaded to the X-CD portal.
  • Presentations should be in MS PowerPoint or pdf format.

On the day of your session:

Attend the Breakfast in Palazzo EFGH 7:00-8:00 AM to meet your presenters and go over session procedures.
Signs will be on tables to direct speakers to sit with their sessions.
Let your track and program chairs know if you will not be able to make it to breakfast so they can coordinate with your presenters.
If the presenters have not uploaded their presentation, ask them to do so now or to email you directly so you can upload them to the X-CD portal yourself. Inform the program chairs (Jack or Pritish) immediately.

During the break before your session:

  • Ensure that all presentations for your session are on the local laptop and are operating properly. Give yourself at least 15 minutes to do this.
    ALTERNATE: As a last resort, you may optionally coordinate with the speakers in your session to transfer their presentation files onto a personal USB stick to quickly transfer them to the laptop in the room upon arrival.
  • Perform a test run in the room before the session to ensure that all media content is displayed properly.
  • Do not use your laptop or allow presenters to use their laptop for presentations.
  • Do not disconnect the laptop provided without notifying the A/V team.

Session Procedures:

Session chairs open, close, and run the session. It’s critical for the presenters to stay within their 15-minute time slot.

Beginning of the session:

  • Welcome the audience to the conference.
  • Remind the audience that photography and videography are not allowed.
    • You may need to discreetly speak to people during the session if the initial reminder does not curtail the recording.

Introducing each speaker:

  • Base your introduction on the bio/affiliation provided by the speaker, but keep these abbreviated, so as not to cut into the presentation time available. Typically, 1 – 2 sentences are sufficient along the lines of: “Our first speaker is John / Jane Doe from XYZ University who will be presenting their work on Thermal Management …”

Presentation Length & Timing:

  • Presentations should begin at the start time indicated in the final program. If a presentation is withdrawn, a presenter does not arrive, or a presentation finishes earlier than the scheduled time, please use the time for questions or a short break (do not move forward with the subsequent talk, since delegates will be planning to come to presentations based on the published start times).
  • All presenters are allotted 15 min (12 min presentation + 3 min Q&A)
    • Ensure that the speakers follow the time constraints on their presentation and allow time for questions.
    • Each room will have a timer as shown below. Simply turn the knob to 12 minutes before each talk. It will tick down to 0 and then ring. The ringer volume can be adjusted at the back or turned off. Make sure the speaker can clearly see the timer and remind them to keep an eye on it.
    • Don’t be shy about cutting off speakers who are going beyond the allotted time.
    • Please remind speakers at the 10-minute mark that they have 2 minutes left to finish their presentation.

Moderate the Q&A session:

  • Help manage the flow of questions.
  • You should always be prepared to ask the first question to each speaker if the audience is timid or quiet.

During the session:

  • IMPORTANT: Mark down any presentations that were not presented due to no-shows.
  • Count the number of people in the audience sometime during the middle at a convenient time.
  • Fill out the provided session card.

End of the session:

  • Turn-in the session card to the registration desk. This completes your session chair assignment!