Abstract

It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to join us on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia from the 15th to the 20th of September, 2019 for NIR 2019 – the 19th biennial meeting of the International Council for NIR Spectroscopy (ICNIRS). In 1994, Australia hosted the 6th meeting of ICNIRS, so it will be 25 years since the NIR community last graced the Great Southern Land. Much has happened in that time, and NIR has moved from being used in a few laboratories for a few applications, to a technology that has application in sectors from agriculture to medicine, from environmental science to pharmaceuticals, from geoexploration to food technology. Furthermore, NIR has moved out of the laboratory and into the field – or even above the field, with remote sensing and hyperspectral imaging going beyond 1,000 nm into the short wavelength IR. Of course, none of this is possible without the latest advances in hardware, and so the exhibition will be directly linked to the conference sessions. We are also dependent on the latest advances in spectral processing and chemometric development, so that too will be integral to our scientific program. Australian NIR researchers have excelled in all of these areas, but we also know your achievements in NIR need to be shared with the world. As you can see we will have much to discuss in 2019. But we also intend to enjoy ourselves. This conference will run a more traditional program, that includes a social program on Wednesday afternoon, so that you and your family can choose to learn to surf, watch humpback whales run south after calving in the warm waters of North Queensland, play golf on a 18-hole links course, explore the tropical hinterland, play at one of the local theme parks or just relax on the beach watching the surf roll in. That is naming just a few of the activities we will have on offer. And be prepared for a special event and scientific session on Friday morning – we have arranged for a special taste and experience of Australia to complement a specialist science session we know you will enjoy. The famous Surfer’s Paradise is located on Queensland’s Gold Coast. View it on the web cam (just remember that Queensland is 10 hours ahead of UCT, so depending on where you live you might want to watch this at night). The daytime temperatures are warm, the sea temperature is just right, the seafood is fresh, the coffee is selected from around the world and we have some of the best Wagu beef along with cuisine from nearly every culture on Earth. You can find it all on the Gold Coast. We welcome you to pre-register on the website now so that you can receive reminders of key dates and regular information updates on the social and scientific program via email, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. We join the entire committee in welcoming you to the Gold Coast for NIR 2019 – Come Catch a Wave Downunder!