The 56^th Annual Reliability & Maintainability Symposium (RAMS) will be held in San Jose, California in 2010. In the history of this Symposium, reliability, maintainability, and safety have never been more crucial in the design, the development and the operation of components systems, and networks. Customers expect that products and services be nearly 100% reliable. Products and services that do not reach beyond existing reliability standards will lose market share. In order to attain this level of reliability, approaches that transcend existing approaches are needed. In communications, energy, space, defense, transportation, and medicine, reliability is becoming the paramount property. In communications, networks must be designed to minimize outages even during natural disasters like Hurricane Ike and Hurricane Gustav. In defense, reliability failures can lead to complete mission failures and the loss of lives. In energy, designing reliable renewable energy sources is the newest challenges. In the manufacturing environment, “reliability is king.” Collecting and using data on the reliability, performance and security of products and services is the scientific way to make improved reliability operational. Many of the new approaches will utilize different types of data and many more sources of data simultaneously. And finally, there are important new theoretical insights in all of these areas that can help others achieve advancements in the science and engineering of reliability, maintainability, and safety.

All of the activities above are currently happening. With this in mind, we invite you to share your research - theoretical or practical, success stories, lessons learned, R & M knowledge, and R & M discoveries at the 2010 RAMS in San Jose. Tell us how you are transcending mission demands and product requirements by applying reliability (and safety) as a competitive advantage. RAMS isthe premier forum for sharing your experience, knowledge, and road maps to success. Make your contribution to the advancement of the R&M discipline and enjoy in the rich exchange of ideas and solutions. We want you to contribute your unique experience to our synergistic symposium sponsored by the ten professional societies. Plan to submit your paper or tutorial now.

Papers are the medium to advance the state-of-the-art and will be published in the Proceedings and have a ½ hour summary presentation (including a discussion period) at the Symposium. Tutorials provide fundamental exposure to topics ranging from introductory through intermediate to advanced. They are presented in two-hour in-depth sessions at the Symposium. Examples of the most recent written papers and tutorials are available in the 2009 Proceedings and the 2009 Tutorial Notes. Your submittal should address topics related to Reliability, Maintainability, Quality and System Safety and that are relevant to our theme, e.g.:

If you wish to present a paper or tutorial, now is the time to contact us. All papers must be new, viz, neither published nor presented at a national meeting prior to the Symposium. Papers presented at local meetings are acceptable. Tutorials must address key issue areas in Reliability, Maintainability, Quality and/or Safety. Abstracts for papers and tutorials are preferred. However, full tutorial submissions are acceptable.

You must submit each of the following items electronically by April 20, 2009.Abstracts and Full Tutorials must be submitted in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) or MicrosoftWord. All submittals become the property of the Symposium. Althoughthere is no limit to the number of submissions submitted by an author, RAMSreserves the right to limit the number of papers accepted by an author.

1. Papers:
   An Abstract of Paper, must be informative, with no more than 1000 words, and structured as follows:
   
   • Title, and problems or questions addressed.
   • Work to be described; and whether done yet or not.
   • Results and/or conclusions anticipated/reached.
   - and -
   All submissions should indicate applicable category(s) from the list above and must not identify the author(s) in the body of the abstract.

2. Tutorials:
   An Abstract of Tutorial must be informative, with no more than 1000 words, and structured as follows:
   
   • Title, and subject matter to be addressed.
   • Material to be presented.
   • Audience Level (Basic, Intermediate, or Advanced)

3. Author information for each author (max authors: 4 for papers, 2 for tutorials):
   • Full formal name.
   • Preferred mailing address; specify whether work or home (many people prefer to use their home address).
   • Company name (even if in mailing address).
   • Communication data (as available): Work phone & fax, Internet (E-mail), and home phone.
   • Brief PROFESSIONAL biography.
   If there is more than 1 author, then identify the
   • Correspondence Author (for communications).
   • Presenting Author (gives the paper/tutorial at the Symposium).

4. A brief Paper or Tutorial summary (no more than 75 words) that would entice attendees to attend a session with your Paper or Tutorial.

Submissions must be made on-line at http://www.rams.org/CallForPapers between February 9, 2009 and April 20, 2009. You will receive an e-mail acknowledgement so it is important that you supply a valid email address. Corresponding authors must accept email from info@rams.org

Procedure for Papers - Blind review (reviewers do not know the authors' identity) by the Program Committee. Selection is based on innovativeness, technical merit, clarity, and relevance to the Symposium theme. For more information contact the Program Chair, Dr. Edward Pohl, at epohl@uark.edu.

The Paper's Correspondence Author will be notified of preliminary acceptance in mid-June 2009. If accepted then:
1. The complete drafts of both the paper (6 page maximum using the RAMS-provided template) and presentation visuals (20 maximum) must be received by July 31, 2009 for review.
2. Comments from this review will be mailed to the Correspondence Author by September 1, 2009.

If the completed draft is accepted, the following items must be submitted electronically by October 2, 2009.
1. The final, formatted paper (6 pages in Microsoft Word).
2. The finished presentation visuals (20 slides maximum in Microsoft PowerPoint).
3. The completed Copyright Form for the Proceedings. A signed, original copy must also be sent.

Note: The Presenting Author of the paper is eligible for a reduced-fee registration but will be required to register for the Symposium in advance when the final, formatted version of the paper is submitted.

Procedure for Tutorials -Review (reviewers know the authors' identity) is by the Tutorials Committee. Selection is based on technical content, clarity, and accuracy -- along with anticipated interest by attendees, relevance to the Symposium, and your ability to follow instructions. For more information, contact the Tutorials Coordinator, Dr. Caroline Lubert, at lubertcp@jmu.edu.

The Tutorial's Correspondence Author will be notified of preliminary acceptance in mid-June 2009. If accepted then:

1. The complete drafts of both the both the tutorial and its presentation visuals must be received by July 31, 2009 for review.
2. Comments from this review will be mailed to the Correspondence Author by September 1, 2009.

If the completed draft of the paper/tutorial is accepted, the following items must be submitted electronically by October 2, 2009.
1. The final, formatted tutorial (in Microsoft Word format).
2. The set of finished presentation visuals (Microsoft PowerPoint).
3. The completed Copyright Form for the Tutorial Notes. A signed, original copy must also be sent.

Note: The Presenting Author of the tutorial is eligible for a gratis registration but will be required to register for the Symposium in advance when the final version of the tutorial is submitted.