Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Speaking on behalf of the organization committee, it is our great pleasure and honor to invite you to the 32nd International Conference on Thermoelectrics, the annual conference of International Thermoelectric Society, to be held in exotic harbor city Kobe, Japan, from June 30 to July 4, 2013.

There are signs that the energy supply is becoming unstable, and that this is now the time for all humanity to seriously think about energy. In Japan, the massive earthquake that occurred in spring 2011 has triggered a shift in the energy paradigm. Many technologies focusing on energy saving, generation and environmental issues have been developed in recent years in many countries. Thermoelectricity is one of the most promising of these, in view of the advantages it offers for recovering huge amounts of waste heat energy.

The International Conference on Thermoelectrics (ICT), held by rotation among American, European and Asian areas, is the only annual international academic conference that centers on thermoelectric conversion. Attendance at the Conference has been increasing year by year, reflecting the growth in expectation for new sustainable energy systems.

Japan has been a long-term global leader in the field of thermoelectric science and technology, and many Japanese have attended the ICT. The 17th International Conference on Thermoelectrics, held in Nagoya in 1998, was the last ICT hosted by Japan. To further encourage research and development of thermoelectric conversion, Japan would like to host the 32nd International Conference on Thermoelectrics (ICT-2013) in Kobe.

We look forward to your participation and our reunion the 32nd International Conference on Thermoelectrics.

The organizing committee welcomes you to Kobe.

Ryoji Funahashi