A Brief History of the ECOS Conferences

ECOS is the name of a series of international conferences that focus on modern aspects of Thermal Sciences with particular emphasis on Thermodynamics and its applications in energy conversion systems and processes. The idea for the ECOS series of conferences originated at the meeting of the Systems Analysis Technical Committee (SATC) of the Advanced Energy Systems Division (AESD) of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) during the 1985 ASME Winter Annual Meeting (WAM), in Miami Beach, Florida, under the leadership of Prof. Richard Gaggioli. At the meeting it was decide to:

(a) organize an annual Symposium on the Analysis and Design of Thermal Systems at each ASME WAM, and (b) try to involve more scientists and engineers from outside the United States by organizing conferences in other countries, except the United States.

Indeed, a Symposium of 8-15 sessions has been organized by the SATC every year since 1985 at the ASME Winter Annual Meeting and its successor, the International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition. The first overseas conference took place in Rome, in 1987, with the support of the U.S. National Science Foundation. The name ECOS was used for the first time in Zaragoza, in 1992. It is the acronym for Efficiency, Cost, Optimization and Simulation of energy conversion systems and processes, keywords that best describe the contents of the presentations and discussions taking place in these conferences. It is worth noting that “ecos” means “home” in the Greek language and it is used here with two meanings:

(i) the earth as our home we need to protect, and

(ii) the conference as a home for a fruitful exchange of our ideas.

On August, 2021, the ECOS INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY, INCORPORATED was created and officially registered. Main goals of the ECOS Society are following:

• To establish a clearinghouse for information concerning multiple aspects of energy and energy research;
• To provide resources and information about cutting edge research in the area of energy, including policy and its environmental impact;
• To facilitate global communication and exchange of information between energy scholars;
• To disseminate such knowledge, information and materials to the public, energy planners, energy providers and industry decision-makers.

The complete list of all international conferences held to date, including the names of the chairpersons and co-chairpersons, is as follows: