Introduction

Dear Friends of KoMSO,

It is our pleasure to present the first KoMSO newsletter of the year. This edition offers information about upcoming conferences, news, and success stories from the MSO community.

Please feel free to share your feedback with us or to contribute ideas for upcoming editions of this newsletter.

Best wishes from the KoMSO Coordination Office!

Upcoming conferences & events

ECMI2020

The "21st ECMI Conference on Industrial and Applied Mathematics" will take place from June 22 to 26, 2020 at the University of Limerick in Limerick, Ireland. Proposals for Minisymposia or submissions for talks and posters are still possible until end of February or until mid of March respectively. More information can be found at <https://www.ecmi2020.org/>.

8ECM

The "8th European Congress of Mathematics" will take place from July 5 to 11, 2020 in Portoroz, Slovenia. Abstract submission for talks or posters is now open. More information can be found at <https://www.8ecm.si/>.

News & miscellaneous

EU-MATHS-IN elections

The executive board of EU-MATHS-IN was renewed during the council meeting in Prague in December 2019. We are happy to announce that KoMSO chairman Peter Maass got elected and will serve as the point of contact for industry. More information can be found at <http://www.eu-maths-in.eu/executive-board/>.

Upcoming book in "Mathematics in Industry" series

At the initiative of and coordinated by KoMSO, Springer publishes a special volume in the book series "Mathematics in Industry" on the topic "Mathematical MSO for Power Engineering and Management". The book is edited by Simone Goettlich, Michael Herty, and Anja Milde. Publication is expected for autumn 2020.

Major funding boost for UK's mathematical sciences

UK's prime Minister Boris Johnson recently announced additional funding of up to 300 million GBP for the mathematical sciences recognizing them as "a key discipline in their own right in addition to being crucial for the advancement of all areas of science and technology". More information can be found at <https://epsrc.ukri.org/newsevents/news/major-funding-boost-for-mathematical-sciences/>.

Success stories & achievements

Siemens Top Innovator Award

End of last year KoMSO chairman Dirk Hartmann got awarded the "Siemens Top Innovator Award" - a lifetime achievement award - for his innovations in digital technologies. One of his success stories based on the use of MSO techniques can be found at <https://new.siemens.com/global/en/company/stories/research-technologies/digitaltwin/passion-for-digital-twins.html> and many more are available on the Siemens website.