Chairperson's Address:

Dear Colleagues and Members,

We had a year like a rollercoaster. The first half was dominated by the Corona pandemic where we responded with shifting to online events and organizing workshops on the fluid mechanics of this disease. As the pressure eased over the summer, we were able to hold events with physical presence including our flagship ETMM conference in Rhodes, Greece and the Autumn Festival with da Vinci competition in Rome, Italy. These two events took place in hybrid mode, i.e. with both on-site and online active participation. While many of us have hoped that hybrid meetings were the transition back from online to our normal interactions, we are now at a stage where it is clear that, at least for the coming months, hybrid and online meetings will have to be an option.
 
ERCOFTAC has been transforming during the course of this pandemic and we are now in a better position to respond adequately. We are finding new ways of staying connected: smaller local meetings, hybrid meetings and online events, but also an improving digital portfolio. You may have noticed our increased activities on social media, where Andrea Sciacchitano (A.Sciacchitano@tudelft.nl), is leading our social media team. Feel free to reach out to him or the ERCOFTAC office (admin@cado-ercoftac.org) with suggestions for improvement or activities you want to be shared. If you don't follow our accounts already, please follow us on Linkedin and Twitter to keep up to date with ERCOFTAC news and activities. 
 
I’m confident that, as a community, we will learn to more and more create new digital options for interaction and, at the same time, keep on providing opportunities for these face-to-face moments that can give us so much more. I’m looking forward to your ideas on how to do this best.
 
Thanks for all you are doing for the ERCOFTAC community! I wish you can find joy and peace in this holiday season!

Prof. Dominic von Terzi,
Chairperson of ERCOFTAC
December 2021