The following Science and Technology Division events and selected sessions may be of special interest to our members. Visit the ATA63 website for a full list of events and sessions.
1. Annual Science and Technology Division Meeting (Virtual)
MONDAY, OCTOBER 3 ★ 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM ET
2. S&TD Dinner
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14 ★ 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Please join us for dinner at Pez Cantina to network and mingle with colleagues and friends.
Cost: $63.00 per person (includes tax, gratuity and non-alcoholic drinks)
Payment must be received by October 10. RSVP now!
3. S&TD Distinguished Speaker: Dr. Lauren Esposito
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15 ★ 8:30 AM – 9:00 AM
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15 ★ 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Scroll down for more information.
4. Welcome Celebration
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12 ★ 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Visit the S&TD table at the Welcome Celebration for a poster presentation by student member Patricia Worsley titled “Best Practices for Setting Up a Translation Service.”
5. Featured Conference Sessions
The following sessions are listed under the “Science & Technology” topic or are presented by members of the Science & Technology Division, and may be of interest to S&TD members. Please let us know if we have missed any.
(009) Revision of Human and Machine Translation: High Tech and High Stakes in the Patent World
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13 ★ 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Presented by: Aaron Hebenstreit, CT
With the advancing standards of machine translation, how should a reviser, translator, or other quality control professional check a technical translation for accuracy? What differentiates errors made by native speakers of the source and target languages? Which hidden shades must be revealed in order to polish a product that can stand up to the scrutiny of the attorneys, scientists, and inventors who know more about the content than the translator does? This session will explore the similarities and differences in error detection and classification when reviewing patent texts translated by humans, computers, or a combination of the two.
Topics: Language Technology, Legal T&I, Science & Technology, Translation, Chinese
Level: All Levels
Hashtag: #ATA63Chinese
(025) Sharpen Your English Scientific Writing Skills
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13 ★ 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Presented by: Patricia Bobeck, CT
Scientists and technical clients appreciate texts they can understand on the first reading. The goal of this interactive session will be to discuss skills that translators and editors can use to produce texts that flow. We’ll cover ways to express ideas clearly, concisely, and in the order a reader expects them, the use of verb tenses and voices (active versus passive) to convey meaning, and the use of punctuation for clarity. We’ll cover other topics as time permits. Examples will include environmental, engineering, and oil and gas. Attendees will also receive a resource/reference list.
Topics: Science & Technology
Level: Beginner
Hashtag: #ATA63SciTech
(044) Confessions of an MT Post-Editor: A Report from the Trenches of the World’s Newest LSP Profession
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14 ★ 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Presented by: Matthew Schlecht
Machine translation post-editing (MT/PE) is a relatively novel and growing sector in the language services provider profession, and this session will cover the process from a practitioner’s perspective. The speaker’s methods will be outlined and demonstrated with actual patent translation examples in the German, Japanese, French, Spanish to English pairs. Many MT engines and computer-assisted translation tools are currently used, but the focus here will involve the post-editing of GoogleTranslate output to produce human translation-quality texts using SDL Trados Studio. Common pitfalls and workarounds will be explained, and throughput expectations and the differences between MT/PE and the revision discussed.
Topics: Language Technology, Science & Technology, Terminology, Translation, French, German, Japanese, Spanish
Level: Intermediate
Hashtag: #ATA63SciTech
(057) Software Internationalization and Localization: A Practical Guide for Translators, Part I
Presented by: Joel Sahleen
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14 ★ 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
This session will provide a whirlwind non-technical overview of a financial sector that In this two-part, interactive workshop, we’ll explore the processes of internationalization (Part I) and localization (Part II) in a continuous, data-driven, software as a service context. The goal of the workshop is to help translators understand how their work fits into the software internationalization and localization lifecycle and demonstrate a few tricks of the trade that will allow them to produce more accurate and effective translations of software application text. By the end of the workshop, attendees should have the knowledge and skills they need to work on software translation projects. Chinese Language Division Distinguished Speaker
Topics: Science & Technology, Translation, Chinese
Level: Beginner
Hashtag: #ATA63xl8
(071) Software Internationalization and Localization: A Practical Guide for Translators, Part II
Presented by: Joel Sahleen
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14 ★ 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM
(059) Decentralized Finance, Cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, Tokens, and All That
Presented by: Carola F Berger, CT
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14 ★ 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
This session will provide a whirlwind non-technical overview of a financial sector that has seen exponential growth around the world and is now valued in the range of trillions of dollars. Aside from financial speculation, decentralized finance (DeFi) not only offers opportunities for language services, but it may offer viable alternative payment methods to costly traditional financial cross-border transactions. The session will cover the basic terminology and concepts in DeFi and tokenomics. We’ll also ponder questions such as: Who is Satoshi Nakamoto? Who pays six figures for a pair of virtual socks? How is the metaverse related to all this?
Topics: Financial Translation, Science & Technology
Level: All Levels
Hashtag: #ATA63Financial
(069) Can We End the HIV-AIDS Pandemic? Can we end the HIV-AIDS pandemic?
Presented by: Anees Gharzita, Tapani Ronni, CT, and Stephen Volante, CT
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14 ★ 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Globally, over 37 million people have human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which can cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). An HIV diagnosis was once a death sentence, but over 28 million people with HIV (PWH) now take antiretroviral (ARV) treatments to suppress the virus and help them live longer. Attendees will strengthen their understanding of HIV-AIDS and related medical vocabulary and learn about the psychosocial factors that can complicate treatment. This session will describe the HIV life cycle, how the virus affects the immune system, the major ARV treatments, and global strategies for ending the HIV-AIDS pandemic.
Topics: Medical T&I
Level: Intermediate
Hashtag: #ATA63Medical
(097) A 2022 Medical Terminology Update
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14 ★ 4:45 PM – 5:45 PM
Presented by: Pablo Mugüerza, Medical Division Distinguished Speaker
We’re all so busy translating about COVID that we may not be paying attention to the enormous number of new terms that continue to be added to the vocabulary of English to Spanish medical translators. “Risk-based monitoring,” “patient-centricity,” RTO/RTW (return-to-office, return to work), “rescue/salvage medication,” “regenerative medicine advanced therapy,” “rogue antibodies,” and “background risk” are just a few examples. In this session, we’ll walk through the alphabet from A to Z with the presenter, an everyday translator who deals with the translations and expert queries he receives from numerous clients and institutions on a daily basis.
Topics: Medical T&I, Science & Technology, Spanish
Level: Advanced
Hashtag: #ATA63Medical
(104) Saving Humankind One Scorpion at a Time, Part I
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15 ★ 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM
Presented by: Lauren Esposito, Science & Technology Division Distinguished Speaker
Scientists are in a race to discover and document species before they go extinct. This is not a race we’re winning. Our current biodiversity crisis threatens not only the plants and animals we share this planet with, but perhaps more importantly it threatens our ability to survive on this planet. The speaker will take attendees on a journey through arachnid life (spiders, scorpions, and their kin), discussing what we know about these incredible animals and what we have left
Topics: Science & Technology
Level: All Levels
Hashtag: #ATA63SciTech
(119) Saving Humankind One Scorpion at a Time, Part II
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15 ★ 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
(145) From Patentese to PR: Dressing Your Translations for the Right Party, Part I
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15 ★ 2:15 PM – 3:15 PM
Presented by: Kenneth McKerrow, CT
When is one apparently equivalent synonym more correct than another? Why do some words stand out in a text like a golf shirt at a black-tie event? In this session, the speaker and attendees will examine conventions of linguistic register governing four types of texts (an operating manual, product brochure, press release, and social media post) about the same product. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of register by focusing on the same product in each text and leave the session with real-world strategies for tailoring their translations to specific readers’ expectations.
Topics: German, Science & Technology, Terminology, Translation
Level: Intermediate
Hashtag: #ATA63German
(159) From Patentese to PR: Dressing Your Translations for the Right Party, Part II
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15 ★ 3:45 PM – 4:45 PM
(147) Impact of Crypto and Non-Fungible Tokens on the Language Industry
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15 ★ 2:15 PM – 3:15 PM
Presented by: Richard Estevez
Bitcoin, Ethereum, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and cryptocurrencies have all become household words and are constantly in the media. It’s clear that people have been speculating financially with cryptocurrencies and NFTs, but what’s behind all of the hype and where is it going? In particular, how is blockchain technology going to change the way we do business in the language industry. The speaker’s language services company was an early adopter of blockchain technology.
Topics: Science & Technology
Level: All Levels
Hashtag: #ATA63SciTech
(155) Translating Environmental Impact Reports and Environmental Impact Statements for the California High-Speed Rail Project
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15 ★ 3:45 PM – 4:45 PM
Presented by: Noriko Nevins, CT
The California Environmental Quality Act, modeled on the National Environmental Policy Act, requires public agencies to inform government decision-makers and the public about the potential environmental effects of proposed activities. For the California High-Speed Rail Burbank to Los Angeles Project Section, the draft and final of the Environmental Impact Report and Environmental Impact Statement were produced and summaries made available in several languages for potentially affected communities. The speaker, who was a member of the Japanese translation team, will provide an overview of the public’s involvement in the infrastructure project and discuss the challenges and collaboration needed to quickly build a massive glossary.
Topics: Legal T&I, Science & Technology, Terminology, Translation
Level: Intermediate
Hashtag: #ATA63xl8
(158) Machine Translation: Expectation and Reality
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15 ★ 3:45 PM – 4:45 PM
Presented by: Shigeki Itome
While the use of machine translation (MT) tools has become increasingly widespread among patent professionals in Japan, many are unaware of the hidden risk in overly depending upon this technology. The speaker will discuss some of the issues MT tools encounter, particularly in Japanese to English translation. He will provide suggestions on how humans can better utilize this rapidly developing technology to reduce risk and boost productivity. Although this session will focus primarily on patent translation, it will be applicable to translators in other areas.
Topics: Language Technology, Legal T&I, Science & Technology, Japanese
Level: All Levels
Hashtag: #ATA63Japanese
