[Image above] Alex Michaelis of the Fraunhofer Institute in Dresden, Germany, makes a point while CGIF development director, Marcus Fish, looks on. Credit: ACerS
Who will have the skills to work on engineered ceramic and glass materials in the future?
That question dogged Society leaders who were concerned about how to ensure that materials scientists would have the skills to work with this unique class of materials—or even discover the discipline.
Sometime during MS&T’12 in Columbus, Ohio, Society leaders, including then-president, Richard Brow, decided it was time to “do something.” Not long afterward, the Ceramic and Glass Industry Foundation was born.
The mission of the CGIF is “to ensure that the industry is able to attract and train the highest quality talent available to work with engineered systems and products that utilize ceramic and glass materials.”
Inaugural Board of Trustees of the Ceramic and Glass Industry Foundation met for the first time on Monday, April 27 in Cleveland, Ohio. Credit: ACerS
The CGIF has made significant strides in the last 12 months. Its first employee, Marcus Fish, was hired as development director last June. Last fall, the ACerS Board of Directors established the CGIF Board of Trustees to guide and oversee Foundation activities and decided to match the first $1 million of donations dollar-for-dollar.
On Monday, the CGIF’s BoT met in Cleveland, Ohio, marking the next important step in the Foundation’s growth. CGIF chair Ted Day opened the meeting by welcoming the board’s 13 members, about one-third of whom live outside the United States, in Germany, United Kingdom, Brazil, Japan, and India.
The board heard from Fish about development activities and approaches to short-term and long-term strategies. Just this week, for example, the Society’s membership received an annual campaign letter and request for support.
In the afternoon, the board started to work on developing priorities for programming for the CGIF. Possibilities ranged from internship databases, scholarships, short courses, and outreach activities to the “pre-college” crowd.
According to ACerS executive director, Charlie Spahr, this meeting was the key next step toward the CGIF fulfilling its mission. “The Board of Trustees brings diverse points of view and the necessary input for developing the Foundation’s first programs for roll-out this year. The important thing now is to keep the momentum going,” he says.