Dear Colleagues, Three years ago, CAST replaced its former poster sessions by what we refer to as interactive sessions. These sessions include a rapid-fire 5-minute oral presentation in addition to traditional poster presentations. I wanted to bring to your attention the following changes regarding our interactive sessions this year: 1. The rapid-fire presentations will be given in three rapid-fire sessions in three dedicated rooms on Monday, November 14, 2016 from 3 pm to 4 pm at hotel Nikko. There are no other oral CAST sessions scheduled in competition with our rapid-fire sessions. 2. The poster presentations will take place also on Monday from 3:45 pm to 5:45 pm in Grand Ballroom B at the Hilton. With the exception of the 15 minute overlap with our rapid-fire sessions, there are no other oral CAST sessions scheduled in competition with our poster presentations. These changes were introduced in order to promote and facilitate active participation of our community in the interactive sessions. Best wishes, Nick Sahinidis CAST Programming Chair