Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Competition: This competition is designed for eligible students and Young Professionals, who indicate upon submission of a paper their desire to enter the competition and whose paper is accepted for either oral or interactive forum presentation.

Advanced Practice Paper Competition: The purpose of the Advanced Practice Paper Competition (APPC) is to recognize outstanding technical contributions that apply to practical applications. A paper on advanced practices describes, in contrast to basic research, a practical RF/microwave design, integration technique, process enhancement, and/or combination thereof that results in significant improvements in performance and/or in time to production for RF/microwave components, subsystems, or systems.

Industry Paper Competition: The purpose of the Industry Paper Competition (IPC) is to recognize outstanding technical contributions from industry sources. A paper from the RF/microwave industry that describes innovation of a product or system application that potentially has the highest impact on an RF/microwave product and/or system which will significantly benefit the microwave community and society at large.

Student Paper Competition: The purpose of the Student Paper Competition (SPC) is to recognize outstanding technical contributions from individual students. SPC finalists must present their papers at the assigned IMS2020 session, and also at the SPC Interactive Forum (separate from the regular Interactive Forum sessions) for judging by a specially formed SPC committee of experts.