Memories (English)

Roberto and I probably met about thirty years ago. Over the intervening years, his status as a researcher grew to commanding heights, and as we know, he was one of the very few non-American presidents of the IEEE Control Systems Society, a recognition simultaneously of his status as a researcher and skill in providing technical leadership. In any dealings I had with him or saw when he was with others, he was also clear, supportive, fair and measured. Unsurprisingly, combined with his researcher status, he became immensely respected.
His leaving us is a great loss, and the more keenly felt given his age.

Dear Fabrizio,

This very sad news strikes me and makes me really unhappy. Roberto was really someone important for me even if I have not worked with him as closely as you probably did. He has been always supportive, with a great sense of the common interest putting forward always the best for the control community. I feel that this is a deep personal loss for every one in this field. I will talk with Dimitri to suggest a memorial ceremony for Roberto and his family during the IFAC world congress.

I was stunned to hear the dreadful news. I just had email exchanges with him two weeks ago. Roberto was a dear friend of mine. We had much fun, co-authoring over a dozen of papers.  Everyone who has worked with him can testify that Roberto was a first class researcher and also was so serious and methodical. He checked every spelling and even every punctuation in every paper. You have 100% confidence on everything he does. I had the privilege of visiting him and stayed in his classical Italian country home a number of times around the turn of the century, and also he visited Iowa 3-4 times. I was fortunate to know his beautiful family, wife Cristina and daughter Giulia. He was so fit and active and I still cannot believe that he’s gone. It refreshes constantly my memory of spending time with him and his family: Cristina’s cooking with Roberto’s preparing the table  while I was learning how to cook pasta; having coffee in a small restaurant in his beloved Castellamonte mountains; visiting a tiny 13th century church hidden in the  mountain; roasting chestnuts over an open fire that were collected in his backyard; drinking wine made of grapes planted and raised in his front yard;  partying in his home with friends from Polytech University of Milan eating and arguing why Sicilian bakery is so good; discussing with him, Fabrizio, Diego, Vito and others on technical issues; and visiting  the Maquoketa Cave with him in Eastern Iowa. I will miss him terribly.

Remembering ROBERTO TEMPO

As I’ve gotten older and had to suffer losses of respected colleagues, good friends, and cherished loved ones, the most traumatic cases of loss have been those that were unexpected.  It was absolutely crushing to learn of the very untimely passing of Roberto Tempo. 

He was more than a respected colleague and good friend, he was also a role model.  A fine scholar, who made important contributions, Roberto was also a great leader who served the systems and control community in many ways.  I am personally grateful that he agreed to be section editor for articles on Complex Systems with Uncertainty in the recently published Springer Encyclopedia of Systems and Control.  Certainly there was no one better qualified.  Although I had no role in his selection as Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Automatica, I am sure that he was viewed as the most natural choice within an amply large talent pool.

Apart from accolades and accomplishments, Roberto Tempo will be remembered as someone who loved life and who was fun to be with.  I took the attached photo in October, 2015.  (The woman is Carmen Menoni, a materials and photonics engineer from Colorado State University.  We were all in Athens for an IEEE Fellows Committee meeting.)  One thing that sticks in my mind about walking to the Acropolis with Roberto is how effortlessly he climbed the occasionally steep grade.  He was in superb physical condition.  It is hard to believe that a person with some much vitality could be taken so quickly.

Roberto was a great leader, mentor, and human being.  He will be missed.

I first met Roberto Tempo in 2004 while the preparation of CDC-ECC-05 in Sevilla. I had a very enriching collaboration with him (10 papers, the first of them in 2007). Because of our joint collaboration I visited him three times in Torino and he came to Sevilla twice. During these years I have learnt a lot from his way of looking into life. Apart from the fact that he was a very motivated, hard working and successful scholar, he was a very good friend, someone with whom I had fantastic moments. He taught me not only how to be a good scholar, but also a better person.

I can share here a little anecdote related to our collaboration.

Since he really needed everything to be perfectly stated and written, I used to make minor typing mistakes just for the pleasure of driving him a little bit crazy. Specially effective was to write ‘…’ instead of $\ldots$ in a paragraph.

Roberto, you brought a powerful light to our lives, you will always be shining for us.

I really miss you !

Roberto and I crossed paths some 30 years ago. Since then, our personal and professional lives evolved in remarkably similar ways. This is why I feel that with his death a part of me has died as well.

It is incredibly rare to meet someone in our professional circle who is not just a gifted thinker, but at the same time a kind sensitive person, and a great leader with unparalleled organizational skills and an uncompromising sense of responsibility and fairness. Roberto gracefully combined all these qualities. He will never be forgotten and he is a model for all to follow as we move forward. 

Roberto loved the mountains and was indifferent to the beach and the sea. I am the exact opposite and we shared many a joke on this one difference in our tastes. At least he left us doing what he loved, climbing a mountain. I will never forget him. 

Dear Fabrizio,

It is indeed a very sad and unbelievable news, I also received an email from Jun-ichi Imura informing regarding it few hours ago.

Please convey my deepest condolences to his family.

Roberto was a good friend and collaborator in the IEEE Control Systems Society.  The enclosed picture of Roberto is in December, 2007 at the IEEE Conference on Decision and Control in New Orleans, where he is seated next to Prof. Mathukumalli Vidyasagar of the University of Texas Dallas.  This photograph was taken during the Control Systems award ceremony, and Roberto was always in the front and center in these ceremonies, recognizing the achievements of his colleagues.   

There are so many fond memories of Roberto.  Whenever we needed someone to do something important, Roberto was always among the first names we thought of, and he was always glad to assist when asked, with a smile.  I and our community will miss him dearly.

I heard this dreadful news in Chicago airport through a message from Fabrizio forwarded by Erwei.  I had to read it twice to fully realize that our friend had left us.

I met him in the late 80’s. We had similar research interests, but did not collaborate until much later. The collaboration started with a memorable trip to Torino, right after the ECC in Brussels, I believe in 1997.  Minyue Fu and I were both visiting him on the same days late summer, when all sensible Europeans were on vacation. So Minyue and I had this memorable stay in a hotel near Roberto’s house where we were the only guests! Not even the hotel management was around!

We had these technical sessions in leisurely afternoons, in bright sunshine, on his lovely lawn. His daughter, all of two I think, was rightly impatient. Cristina was a patient and gracious host, and it was left to another Roberto, my former student Roberto Lopez-Valcarce to give technical substance to the vague ideas we developed in those idyllic surrounds. I always remember that stay as I have never been in a hotel ALONE with Minyue Fu, a daunting thought indeed!

Roberto was my kind of a researcher. He took systems theory and found applications in wider pastures, like through his lovely work on page ranking. But most of all he was just a pleasure to have around. There was that hearty, yet dignified laugh at a good story; a genuine kindness. He was of course a brilliant control theorist. But above all I am proud to pay the greatest tribute I can pay to any other: That he was a genuinely decent human being.

The lost of Roberto Tempo was a tragic loss for control and system theory.  However his work will provide a lasting legacy for everyone in control.

Dear Fabrizio,

I am in a state of complete shock and grief.  I wandered around after I heard of Roberto’s passing, and found myself looking up into sky and talking to him in my mind.  I hope that he heard me. Roberto was a wonderful person, whom I very much enjoyed talking to, and working with. I’m grateful that I recently had the opportunity to spend an entire morning with him in Santa Barbara talking about ideas. We just sat in a cafe and talked …. and the morning went by in such an easy way. I’ve attached a couple of photos that were taken during his visit.  One them is Roberto, Francesco Bullo, and myself. The other is Roberto and myself holding the issue of Science in which our article, with Anton Proskurnikov and Sergey Parsegov, appeared.  We were like children, utterly astonished and joyful, when that article got accepted. I’m happy that Roberto experienced that event.  

Roberto’s kindness is reflected in his friendships. Many thanks to Anton Proskurnikov, Mario Diani, and Paolo Frasca who thoughtfully reached out to me after Roberto passing.  To them, to his many other friends, and especially to Roberto’s family, I extend my deepest condolences. 

I was deeply shocked to hear the news. Sorrow is shared by everyone who knew and loved Roberto. As a scientist and as a friend, I miss him greatly.

My deepest condolences to Roberto’s family. Roberto was a true scholar and a gentleman. He was creative and original in his science, respectful and caring to colleagues and students, and a role model to all who came to know him personally. He will be dearly missed.

I am saddened by the sudden passing of Roberto. This is especially sad for me as I received from him a certificate of outstanding service only four days before this happened. I have known Roberto’s work since I was a student. He is an outstanding leader in the control systems field. He will be sorely missed by all of us.

To the family of Professor Tempo, his friends and all the automatic control community,  

This is a very sad news for all of us. My sincere condolences.  Beside his great heritage to the scientific community, Professor Tempo had a gentle soul, and he will always be remembered.

May his soul rest peace.  

Roberto has always been for me of model of integrity and rigour that I have tried to emulate in my career. I had the pleasure to collaborate with him first on editorial matters (Automatica, IEEE CSS), then on scientific matters (related to robust control), and I have learnt so much from him during these years. His committment and contribution to our scientific community are considerable.  

I was a member of Roberto’s research project “COOPS?.  This is the Joint International Lab research program with Italy team and Japan team.  Among many activities under his supervision, the 2nd workshop at Torino,  last November,   was the best memorial event for me.  After the presentation and discussion, he has taken Japan team members to two site tour places.  At the site tour to a hydro plant in the mountain, which is close to the border with France,  the weather was fantastic.  It was very impressive that he explained to me several beautiful mountains delightedly…. This scene will be in my memories forever.   

Thank you very much, Roberto.  May your soul rest in peace   

It is very difficult to find words to describe the loss of Roberto so suddenly and unexpectedly. He holds a particularly special position in me and I have been extremely fortunate in this respect. We have worked very closely and consistently since the time we met in Illinois in 2002. I was a postdoc, and he was a long-term visitor. Tamer encouraged and supported us to work together. Since then, Roberto has been not only an excellent collaborator, but a very supportive mentor and a wonderful friend. We shared many enjoyable moments in our research, and these took place at various occasions and locations in the world. Our collaboration turned out to be very fruitful. As a young researcher, it meant a lot to have been exposed to his generous and honest personality, and genuine passion for research and life in general. What I learned from him over the years is just enormous. Things will now have to change for me. It will be very hard, but I will always remember the great moments with Roberto and what he passed on to me. Thank you and good bye, Roberto. I will miss you. Your friend in Tokyo…  

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We would like to express our warm, sincere and deep condolences to the family, relatives, friends and the collaborators of Prof. Roberto Tempo. His death was really a great loss for our whole IFAC family and the Automatic Control Community worldwide!

Please kindly inform us when the funeral details are finalized. We would like to send flowers or a (charitable) donation.

I would like to offer his family my most sincere and heartfelt condolences.

I was shocked and deeply saddened when i heard about Roberto Tempo’s untimely death. I knew him for more than 25 years. My wife Seema and I visited Cristina and Roberto and very much enjoyed our time together.  We collaborated in research in robust control in the 80’s and 90’s. He was a serious scholar and was devoted to working on fundamental problems in the field. He was a true gentleman. I also very much liked his positive and even-keeled nature which made our conversations truly enjoyable. I will greatly miss his genuine and sincere friendship. 

I would like to offer his family my most sincere and heartfelt condolences.

Dear Cristina

It was with great sadness and utter disbelief that I heard about Roberto passing away.

My interactions with Roberto began during my graduate studies when he came to Madison to visit Bob.  From the first time I met him I could see his passion for research and how he welcomed the interchange of ideas even with beginning students such as me at that time.

Since then he has been much more than a fellow researcher with whom I really enjoyed collaborating. He has been a mentor and a friend. I fondly remember my visits to Torino where Roberto and you made me feel very much welcome.

Roberto will be greatly missed.

With my deepest condolences  

Dear Fabrizio,

This is very sad and sudden news indeed! My deepest condolences and sympathies go out to his family. He was an inspiration to many

Dear friends,

thank you for this opportunity to share a few words about Roberto.

Among many cherished memories of my interactions with Roberto, I particularly remember the time in the summer of 2004 when my wife Olga and I were invited to spend time with Roberto, Cristina, and Giulia in their house in the foothills of the Alps (photo attached). That was during the Euro 2004, and Roberto and I watched together in dismay as Italy lost their game and were eliminated from the tournament. I left an entry about this in the visitors’ journal, to which I’m sure many of you have also contributed. Fortunately, that story had a happy ending as Italy went on to become world champions in 2006. 

Roberto was a delightful person, always positive and cheerful but at the same time sincerely helpful and caring. He was a mentor, a collaborator, and a dear friend. I cannot express in words how profoundly shocked I am that he is no longer with us, and how sorely I will miss him. He will always have a special place in my heart.

I want to add my brief comments acknowledging Roberto?s many contributions to the control field.   

I held a number of positions in the Control Systems Society, serving the IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control in many capacities, including Editor, and the CSS Executive Committee, completing a term as CSS President in 1998.   I am sure that I must have interacted with Roberto during this time when he was a young researcher, but I have no specific memories.

Rather, he came to my attention after 2000 when he became deeply involved in the CSS publication and administrative operations.   I saw him at work in several capacities at Transactions Editorial Board and Board of Governors meetings, and I realized that he was an exceptional leader and dedicated researcher.   I met him at CSS conferences over many years, and he visited Ann Arbor on several memorable occasions.   I became acquainted with a part of his research, and I realized that he was a true scholar who was motivated by developing new intellectual insights in the control field.    

I was not a close friend of Roberto, but I was one of his many friends and admirers.  He was a person with unique leadership and research skills that greatly benefited all of us who were impacted by his many contributions.   He will be missed.

I echo many others who have well said that Roberto was an outstanding researcher and also a very positive, helpful and enthusiastic person. We worked together on lots of IEEE CSS related matters, and later in Automatica roles, and I join with the many deeply shocked and saddened by the sudden loss.

One small anecdote – at one point, whilst at a conference in the US< we were driving to visit a colleague, and I mentioned that I thought he might have to hand his passport back: he kept to the speed limit, was calm and very safe as the driver, much too much so for the stereo typical Italian driver!

With memories of the good times, great advice, complex situations to work thru; and thoughts and prayers for the family.

Condolences

I made the acquaintance of Roberto in 2001.  Yasumasa Fujisaki, who worked with him in Turin at that time, sent to me his new paper.  It was about a randomized approach to an uncertain control problem and excited me quite a lot. I wrote a paper on their approach and presented it at the CDC of the year. In some sense, my work gave a negative result on his approach and hence could have hurt his feeling.  In reality, however, he was glad with the result and fairly talked to me in spite that I was just a young researcher totally unknown.

This was the beginning.  Since then, he gave me many chances: he introduced my result in his book on a randomized approach; he gave me a chance to stay in Turin; he gave me a chance of joint research.  Really, he gave me a chance to join the control community in the world.  Thinking in this way, I cannot thank him enough.

Attached are photos taken when he visited my flat in 2004.  He and my family, including my four-year-old kid, played a card game “UNO” together.  He enjoyed a game with my kid with saying that he and my kid helped each other.  Yes, he was fair even to a small kid.

Roberto in the memory was always active, positive, kind and gentle.  I cannot believe his passing.  I wish his soul rest in peace.

With deepest sorrow and respect.

Dear Colleagues and Friends of Roberto Tempo,

Please accept my sympathies for the loss of Roberto. I knew him well over 25 years; we have been working in the same general area of robust control. I served as an associate editor under his guidance for Automatica. I have great memories of him from many different places of the world, from Mexico to Japan and USA. I am sure that our colleagues who are good at photography will generate memorable albums.

Roberto was also very supportive of systems and control activities in Turkey. Visited us many times. Last summer he came to Istanbul for an IFAC event I organized, despite security warnings about travel to Turkey. He was a brave man.

On behalf of my colleagues in Turkey, I would like to express our gratitude. No words can explain how big a loss this is. May his soul rest in peace.

Hi Fabrizio,

I heard this bad news yesterday, from Francesco Borrelli.  I looked online, and was able to translate a few small notices about Roberto.   I knew that he loved hiking and climbing… I only knew him informally, but he seemed like a generous man and a dedicated researcher.  I am sorry for the loss.

With the deepest sadness I learned about this tragic death of Roberto. From the bottom of my heart I send my sympathy to Roberto’s family,  and to his friends. The Italian control community and the entire control community lost a true scholar, a remarkable leader, and a great friend. 

Roberto was a good friend of mine for many years and it is hard to accept that he is now gone. Here are a couple of photos taken when we were in Cape Town for the IFAC World Congress.

Fabrizio,

it is impossible to believe?

Roberto was a great engineer and a pure gentleman. He will be greatly missed by all his friends in control.  My heartfelt condolences to his family. 

I am very saddened by Roberto’s untimely passing.  

I always considered Roberto a superb scientist and human being, and have relished all our interactions, from talking science to politics – most recently in Boston in July 2016 when I made some predictions about our upcoming presidential elections, and then in Las Vegas in December 2016 where we discussed how my worst fears were indeed confirmed.  I fondly remember when he visited me in November 2010 at Rutgers, and we enjoyed many hours of pleasant conversations.  A small measure of consolation is that from what I read in the news, it seems that, at least, he was having fun when this terrible event happened.

My best and sincere wishes to his family in these difficult times.

Dear Fabrizio,

I was very shocked by the unexpected and sad news. I met Roberto only few times, but I always really liked his openness and kindness. His death is a very big loss for our community.   My deepest sympathies to Roberto’s family and friends.

Roberto has been a friend of mine for about 30 years. My first recollection of meeting him dates back to the 1987 IFAC World Congress in Munich.  That is where I  learned about Vladimir Kharitnonov’s breakthrough result  on robust stability of polynomials.  Roberto was part of  a small group, “lead” by Bob Barmish, who were debating  excitedly about the implications of that result, which Bob  had just “uncovered” for the “western” community.  Chatting  with Roberto, Bob and others (perhaps including Ian Petersen)  in Munich prompted me to join the “Kharitonov” research  community.  I soon became a close friend of Roberto’s, and our friendship grew over the years.

I have interacted countless times with Roberto; at many  conferences and workshops, when I visited him in Torino  and gave a talk there, when he visited me in College Park  and gave a talk here.  I also jogged with Roberto (and Bob)  in Torino, and was always impressed by his athletic prowess. And of course, he and I have exchanged zillions emails.

Roberto and I had multifold interaction within program committees and editorial boards.  Because I am five years senior to him, I first was ahead of Roberto–he succeeded me as TAC’s ETNC, after “reporting” to me), then we were  peers, and then I reported to him, first as Program Chair of the 2013 CDC, of which he was the General Chair (jointly with Thomas Parisini), then as an Automatica editor.

Roberto was a great scholar.  He also was an extremely warm  person, thoughtful, caring.  Friendship meant a lot to him. I have lost a dear friend and highly respected “boss”.   Roberto was young, both physically and mentally.  I cannot  believe he is gone.

Mathukumalli Vidyasagar

Dear Cristina,

Both Shakunthala and I are deeply saddened and devastated at Roberto’s untimely passing away.  I still clearly remember the first time we met, in Ascona when you were carrying Giulia.  Shakunthala fondly remembers the time you and she and Giulia spent in Sydney.  We have all met several times since then, most recently in Firenze in December 2013 if I remember correctly.

Roberto was a man much admired in our community: A wonderful combination of professionalism, intellect, and friendship.  He will be missed sorely by all of us.  We pray that his soul is granted everlasting peace.  

I am deeply saddened by the passing of  Professor Roberto Tempo.  I only had the opportunity to work with him for just under two years of his tenure as Editor in Chief of Automatica, but I found him to be such a pleasure to interact with and feel the heavy loss.  He was clearly dedicated to serving the community and ensuring the legacy of the journal he oversaw.  His commitment to perfection was commendable and his dedication unparalleled.   

Roberto’s impressive leadership of Automatica was demonstrated not only by a drastic increase in researchers submitting papers to the journal, but he pushed the journal to overtake its main competitor in Impact Factor ranking (the standard metric used to gauge prestige of a journal). Though, of course, Roberto would be the first to point out that Impact Factor was by no means a perfect metric (and even published a paper to that point), the achievement is no less impressive. In addition, I think everyone would agree that Roberto led the journal to grow not only in metrics, but in esteem of the community it served.  

Through my shock at his sudden passing, I will continue to guide the journal in the direction he set for it in respect and admiration for this remarkable man.  

Dear Family and Friends of Roberto:

I was greatly stunned and saddened by the news of Roberto’s death.  I always remembered that Roberto was so fit and active, and I still cannot comprehend that he passed away so suddenly. Roberto was such an intelligent and wonderful person and a great friend. I knew him from my student years when I pursued my PhD degree under George Zames. Ever since then, every time I met him, either in conferences or visiting the same places for research collaboration, we would have endless chatting on everything, from research topics, future directions, stories, food, football, and many others. I still remember vividly his ideas on how to manage “time” (how to synchronize times in different parts of the world). Late last year,  I went to his presentation in Beijing and later that day, he cut short his group lunch to come to my seminar; and we had a last chat on the state of robust control and system identification. At our departing time, I promised that I would visit him in Italy. I would never image that that would become our last chat. 

Roberto will be dearly missed. I will for ever cherish all the times and communications I had with him. I have been extremely lucky to know him and to be able to call him a friend. Please accept my deepest condolences, and share my love and sympathy to his family and friends.

Love.  

The news of Roberto’s sudden passing hit me as a giant blow.  Like many others, I was incredulous, and still do not want to believe it.  His passing was an indescribable loss to our community, and I did not want to believe a very dear friend in this sudden, almost cruel way.   

I have known Roberto for a long time, roughly twenty years.  He was a very fine gentleman, very modest for a person with such talents, and he has been always very kind to me.  It was always a pleasure meeting him at various control conferences such as CDC, ACC, IFAC etc.  I was fortunate to be able to work for the Control Systems Society (CSS) together with him.  His selfless and total dedication and sound judgment always impressed me, and I have benefitted greatly through our friendship.  He became President of the CSS for the year 2010, and at the end of his term, he came to me to convince to be CSS president.  While I worked some four years for the CSS as a vice president, this was somewhat unexpected and came to me as a surprise.  Had he not convinced me, I would not have become President of the CSS, nor had I had the chance of working for the CSS with a deep commitment as I made.  I was also much honored to be present as President of the CSS at the marvelous CDC at Florence that he organized (along with Thomas Parisini).  It was definitely one of the best CDCs I have ever attended among all 29 CDCs in my personal history.   

His leadership was a great asset to all of us, and we almost took his dedication for granted, of course recognizing how valuable it was, but only when he passed away, we truly realize how precious it was.  We now feel an immense sense of loss, losing such a superb leader and simultaneously such a dear, sincere and warm friend.  Loss is too simple a word to describe my feeling.  I owe a great deal to him, and I am eternally grateful.   

Just last month in Las Vegas at the CDC conference, Roberto, Christos and I had very pleasant and intriguing discussions about our society, world politics, etc., at an after dinner party.  We had no idea that there was no time left to enjoy such pleasant yet serious discussions among us.   

In September 2011, Roberto invited me and my wife Mamiko to his villa.  The first photo attached was taken during the drive to the Italian Alps (September 5, 2011).  We had a great time together.  Our conversation drifted toward our hobbies, for him mountain climbing, and for me wine drinking.  Somehow, Roberto doesn’t enjoy drinking wines, and I don’t climb mountains.  We jokingly made a deal that if I start climbing, Roberto would start drinking wines, and vice versa.  I regret to have missed the occasion forever to make this deal real.   

Roberto must have wanted to work much more for our community.  He must have had lots of plans.  Unfortunately, such plans did not materialize.  May his soul rest in peace.   

Dear Roberto’s family members,

On behalf of the International Federation of Automatic Control, I would like to convey to you my deepest sympathies for the devastating loss of our great esteemed friend Roberto Tempo. Roberto was an outstanding figure of IFAC and of the international community of Automatic Control worldwide.  He was a great scholar and a generous and a very much appreciated friend and colleague for all of us in IFAC. It was an honor for me to have known Roberto who will always remain in our memories.  May you be granted serenity and peace and find comfort during this hard time of loss.

Dear Prof. Maria Domenica di Benedetto and Prof. Fabrizio Dabbene:

It was said that Professor Roberto Tempo passed away. I am completely shocked by this sudden news, and could not believe it!  Roberto was my beloved and respectful friend. He had made a great contribution to the control community. He was a great scholar and a true gentleman! I would like to express my sincerest condolences to Roberto’s family and the control family for losing such a great scientist and a beloved friend!

The first time I met Roberto was in Chicago during the American Control Conference in 1992. Starting from 2008, I worked with him for both the IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control and Automatica for almost one decade. In addition to his excellent researches, his exactness and speed in paper handling also have great impact on me.

We lost a great colleague and a good friend.  Let’s remember Roberto’s work and spirits, and make our fields better.