President’s Council of Student Advisors (PCSA)

Visit the PCSA’s Facebook page.

COMING SOON: Materials science demonstration and lab kits…Read more about it today!

PCSA Mission
The mission of PCSA is to engage students as active and long-term leaders in the ceramics community and to increase participation in ACerS at the local and national levels.

PCSA Goals

• To coordinate student-focused ceramic programming at technical meetings
• To develop and implement ceramics-focused outreach activities
• To facilitate industry-student relations
• To promote ceramic science and engineering at the university and local levels
• To provide a way for students and young professionals to become and remain
  actively engaged as leaders in the ceramic materials community

Specifics about ACerS PCSA:

• Both undergraduate and graduate students are welcome.
• There are two ways students can be involved in PCSA:

1. While the PCSA is active year-round, PCSA delegates meet to coordinate efforts at the annual business meeting held the weekend prior to the MS&T conference.
2. PCSA student representatives work with existing PCSA delegates to advance the ceramics community.  PCSA representatives are not required to attend the business meeting.

• Students are required to be Material Advantage Members.
• The PCSA develops ceramics-focused programming that complements the Material Advantage program, not duplicate or replace it.

PCSA Delegates are required to:

• Attend the annual meeting during the weekend prior to MS&T each year.
• Serve on one of the five committees for a period of one year, beginning at the annual meeting.
• PCSA Committees are:
  • Programming
  • Finance
  • Communications
  • Recruitment
  • Outreach

What does it take to be a PCSA Delegate?

• A strong interest in ceramics
• Leadership qualities
• Reliability and strong drive

Being a delegate to the PCSA provides:

• A unique opportunity to represent your university in the ceramics community
• A valuable way to help you make the contacts needed for future jobs
• A great resume builder
• An important opportunity to help reach and serve the next generation of ceramic materials professionals
• A means to promote awareness of ceramic science and engineering to the general public, particularly among pre-college students
• A way to build and promote engagement in the ceramics community through online communities and participation in ACerS
• Leadership and professional development opportunities

2013 PCSA Delegate Universities

2013 PCSA Officers
Council Chair: Derek Miller, The Ohio State University
Communications Committee Chair: Liangfa Hu, Texas A & M University
Finance Committee Chair: Dalton Divine, Alfred University

Outreach Committee Chair: Lesa Brown, Vanberbilt University
Programming Committee Chair: Aaron Lichtner, University of Washington
Recruitment Committee Chair: Valerie Wiesner, Purdue University

PCSA Recruitment

PCSA Delegate

Applications are required in order to become a PCSA delegate. Material Advantage and Keramos faculty advisors as well as any additional ceramics faculty are contacted each spring and are asked to nominate 1 – 2 undergraduate or graduate students to apply for the following year’s PCSA delegation.

If being a delegate interests you, PCSA encourages you to work with your advisor and/or ceramics faculty and submit the following:

1. Resume that clearly identifies your year in school and includes any leadership, research and employment experience, as well as current contact information
2. Brief letter of support from a faculty member
3. One-page personal statement that:
   • addresses your reasons for wanting to attend the annual meeting and why participation in PCSA would be valuable to you and your local university or department
   • describes your interest in ceramics
   • describes your academic or career plans for the near future (within 10 years)

Download the 2013 PCSA delegate application.

The application deadline has passed for the 2014 class of PCSA delegates.  Watch this space for information about applying in the future.

PCSA Representative
Are you interested in participating in PCSA, but cannot attend the annual meeting at MS&T? Consider being a PCSA representative. Find out more.

If you have any questions about ACerS PCSA, contact applypcsa@ceramics.org.

Support ACerS PCSA Today
The PCSA Finance Committee is in charge of raising funds for PCSA activities.  The PCSA depends on generous donations to fund delegate initiatives, support outreach activities and encourage student involvement in ceramics. Financial grants and donations allow the PCSA to sponsor a wide diversity of events. These past accomplishments would not have been possible without the generous support of our corporate sponsors, individual donors, and ACerS Board of Directors.  Support ACerS PCSA today!

Congratulations to the ACerS PCSA Ceramics-in-Writing Competition Winners

Seven authors submitted an original creative writing piece of 250 words or less, inspired by a provided micrograph, for the ACerS PCSA Ceramics-in-Writing Competition.  Meet the winner and runner-up:

Winner:
Richard Chinn, Oregon State University
My Salad Days in Academia, When I Was Green Before Sintering

Runner-Up:
Madie Melcer, University of Washington
A Particulate Perspective

Look for the creative writing pieces in the June/July Bulletin issue!

Don’t forget to check out the PCSA’s Facebook Page.