During the 16th International Conference on Atmospheric Electricity in Nara, Japan, 17-22 June 2018, Prof. QIE Xiushu, from Institute of Atmospheric Physics, was elected the new president of the International Commission on Atmospheric Electricity (ICAE). Professor LYU Weitao, from Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, was elected as the new committee member and was nominated as the secretary of ICAE.

As a non-governmental academic group, the International Commission on Atmospheric Electricity (ICAE) is one of the ten commissions of International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences (IAMAS). Since its foundation in 1954, ICAE has been promoting the scientific progress on atmospheric electricity by joint effort and acting as the most authoritative academic organization in this research field. The International Conference on Atmospheric Electricity, as organized by ICAE every 4 years, is the world's largest event devoted to the science of atmospheric electricity. The present Nara conference attracted more than 200 scholars from nearly 40 countries, making academic exchanges on Lightning Physics, Lightning Meteorology, Thunderstorm Electrification and Microphysics, and other important topics on atmospheric electricity.

QIE Xiushu