Written By: Chris de Korte, General Chair IEEE IUS 2025
The annual International Ultrasonics Symposium was held this year in Utrecht, the Netherlands. From September 15-19, 2025. 1750 delegates were present in the Jaarbeurs Convention Center together with 200 online participants to hear about the latest developments in ultrasound imaging, transducers, resonators, and ultrasound therapy. On the first day, 350 delegates participated in 14 short courses. Furthermore, 150 delegates joined the Dutch Ultrasound Ecosystem (DUE) day: 6 ultrasound research sites scattered over the Netherlands (Nijmegen, Eindhoven, Delft, Twente, and Utrecht) presented their research project and labs.
The official opening on Tuesday, September 16, was followed by the keynote lecture “From Magic to Science: The Evolution of Bell Design and Tuning through the iconic example of the Utrecht Dom Tower” by Miquel Carvalho. A fascinating story bridging physics of Bells and ultrasonics and connecting it to the Dom tower and the history of science in the Netherlands.
Next, the scientific sessions were held in 10 parallel conference rooms and at the large poster area that was directly linked to the exhibitor booths to facilitate interaction between the sponsors and exhibitors. This year, we had a record number of 45 booths.
The opening reception on Tuesday night provided a real Dutch atmosphere with cheese, herring, and ‘Kaasmeisjes’ as well as the perfect opportunity to meet old friends and make new ones. On Wednesday morning, 100 delegates had the pleasure of joining a walking tour to see that biking is the number 1 way of travelling in the city of Utrecht, by totally adapting the city infrastructure to this way of commuting. Wednesday night, the special IUS Doppler Express train was leaving from Utrecht Central Station for the Railway Museum. Besides the great atmosphere of the old train station stuffed with old trains, a special show was organised to commemorate the experiment that Prof. Buys-Ballot performed in 1845 to demonstrate the Doppler effect for sound. Also, the six winners of the Student Poster Award were announced.
At the end of the last day, an overview of the hot topics that were discussed was presented while the delegates were enjoying a well-deserved beer or soft drink. Before all delegates left, the venue and plans for the next IUS meeting to be held in Rayleigh (NC, USA) were presented by the 2026 IUS organizing committee.