Statutes


ARTICLE I: IDENTITY AND PURPOSE

1. IDENTITY
Asian Union of Thermal Sciences and Engineering (AUTSE) is an international, professional, non-governmental and non-profit organization for the community of thermal sciences and their applications in Asia.
 
2. PURPOSE
The aim of AUTSE is to promote and foster cooperation among Asian scientists and engineers working in the area of Thermal Sciences and Engineering. Summarizing the function of AUTSE is

  • ­to form a network in the Asian heat transfer community and exchange information between participating countries/regions
  • ­to host and support international conferences and seminars held in Asia
  • ­to build a database of heat transfer scientists and engineers in Asia
  • ­to cooperate between the different national organizations on thermal sciences/engineering and heat transfer
  • ­to confer awards on senior scientists in honor of their achievements and on young scientists to encourage their academic activities in the area of thermal sciences and engineering

AUTSE will cooperate with the Assembly for the International Heat Transfer Conferences (AIHTC), EUROTHERM Committee, and the International Center for Heat and Mass Transfer (ICHMT) to promote harmonization of the activities.

ARTICLE II: STRUCTURE

1. AUTSE basically consists of Executive Board (EB), Scientific Council (SC) and Honorary Advisory Board (HAB) and, whenever needed, ad hoc committees may be formed.
 
2. EXECUTIVE BOARD (EB)

  • EB is the highest governing body of the Union.
  • Members of EB represent the national organizations of the Asian countries/regions and are appointed by the corresponding organization(s) of each country/region. Three members are from each Lead/Founding Countries, China, Japan, and Korea, and one or two members are from each Member Countries/regions, including but not limited to, Taiwan, Singapore, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippine, and Bangladesh. Approval of new members should be made by vote among the existing members.
  • The term of the EB members is four years and the members may be re-appointed but can stay in the position only until their age of 70.
  • Decisions should be made by majority voting. The President shall cast his vote when there exist tie votes.
  • A President, two Vice-Presidents and a Secretary General are elected by, and from, the members of EB. The terms for the President and Secretary General are two years each and the same person cannot stay in the same positions for more than two terms. The term for the Vice-Presidents is two years and can be re-appointed until the age of 70, like other EB members.
  • If any of EB members are inactive for a period of two years, they will be asked to resign from the board.

 
3. SCIENTIFIC COUNCIL (SC) AND HONOARY ADVISORY BOARD (HAB)

  • The SC members shall support organization of the conferences and seminars. The role of HAB is to advice EB on the operation of the Union.
  • Members of SC and HAB are appointed by EB based on the recommendation from the local (national/regional) organizations for a term of four years. The members may be re-elected but the same person cannot stay in these positions for more than two terms.
  • The chairmen of SC and HAB are elected among their members.
  • The SC and HAB meetings shall be convened by the chairmen at least once every four years preferably at the Asian Conference on Thermal Sciences (ACTS).

 
4. DUTIES OF THE PRESIDENT
The President shall convene the EB meetings at least once every four years and preside at each meeting. The President represents the Union in relationship to thermal sciences and engineering activities with other organizations.
 
5. DUTIES OF THE VICE PRESIDENTS AND SECRETARY GENERAL

  • The duties of the Vice Presidents are to represent the lead-country members and act for the President when the President is absent at the EB meetings. One of the Vice Presidents will take charge of the international collaborations (for example, with EUROTHERM, etc.) and the other Vice President will take charge of the award committees.
  • The Secretary General is the principal executive officer of EB and supervises the administrative affairs of the Union, and is responsible for the permanent records. Per request from the President, the Secretary General shall issue the call for the meetings and prepare the agenda for the meeting.


ARTICLE III: TECHNICAL MEETINGS

1. MAJOR CONFERENCE
As the general and regular technical meeting of AUTSE, the Asian Conference on Thermal Sciences (ACTS) is organized every four years in cooperation with a local heat-transfer society/organization within the Asia region. The standard procedures for submitting and selecting papers for each Conference shall be determined at the EB meeting. The local society/organization is responsible for administrative and financial aspects of each conference.
 
2. TOPICAL SEMINARS
Specific topics for seminars may be proposed by individual members of the Union following consultations between them and their colleagues or representative national bodies. These proposals should be submitted in a written form to EB.
Once the proposals for the topical seminars are received, EB chooses those which can be organized under the auspice of AUTSE. The chosen ones are designated as AUTSE Seminars, each with a number as a suffix. The President will inform the organizers of the decision and the AUTSE guidelines. The Secretary General will disseminate the announcement through the AUTSE website.
When accepted, each seminar is arranged by a Chair and a Co-Chair approved by EB. The Chair and Co-Chair, who are preferably from different countries/regions, may decide to appoint a subcommittee to assist them with arrangements. The Chair and Co-Chair will have the responsibility of ensuring that the AUTSE Seminars are correctly financed. The Union will not take any financial responsibility; however, it could help them with obtaining the external sponsorship whenever available. The Chair and Co-Chair of the Seminar are expected to submit a report to EB after the event.

ARTICLE IV: AWARDS

1. The Outstanding Achievement Award (OAA) will be conferred every four years at the ACTS Conferences, and the Young Scientist Awards (YSA) may be presented once a year or two at appropriate topical seminars sponsored by the Union.
 
2. Award committee members are appointed from the EB and SC members for each event and the details of the regulations will be discussed and determined by the committee.

ARTICLE V: FELLOWS

1. AUTSE Fellow is the Union’s highest honor awarded to individuals who have significant research accomplishments in the field of thermal science and engineering. Fellows are expected to contribute continuously and extensively to the Union’s activities. The title of Fellow will be conferred every two years.
 
2. Fellow review committee members are appointed by the president with approval by EB members. The details of the regulations will be discussed and determined by the committee.

ARTICLE VI: ADDITION OF MEMBERS

1. Addition of the membership in AUTSE will be considered upon submission of a written application to the President of the Union by representative local (national/regional) organizations.
 
2. Upon receipt of a written application for membership, the President shall appoint a review committee to go through the application and prepare a report to be distributed to the EB members at least two months before the meeting.

ARTICLE VII: FINANCES

1. The Union shall not accept any financial commitment of any kind.
 
2. The Union shall not provide financial supports to the members or to the Conference/Seminar hosts.
 
3. Inthe case of a positive financial balance from the technical meetings, the organizer may transfer a fee to the Union as a contribution for future activities such as the conferment of the Outstanding Achievement Award (OAA) and the Young Scientist Award (YSA). The amount of the fee will be decided by the organizers but may not exceed U$1000.

ARTICLE VIII: AMENDMENTS

The EB members may choose to amend, alter, or repeal these Statutes by an affirmative vote of more than two-thirds (2/3) of the EB members.
 
(July 27, 2021)