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[Image above] Temple in Bangkok. Credit: ACerS

ACerS president Mrityunjay Singh, president-elect Bill Lee, and executive director Charlie Spahr recently traveled to Southeast Asia, specifically Singapore and Bangkok, to meet many ACerS members and student members there and to develop stronger ties in the region.

The Society’s leaders were there to participate in a two-day, two-location event organized as the “Asia Pacific Ceramic Cooperation Summit (APCCS).” The summit was structured as two symposia, which gave invited researchers the opportunity to present updates on their work as well as an opportunity to network in their broad geographic regions.

“This was an important visit for The American Ceramic Society. Our visit began the process of laying a foundation for stronger relationships amongst our colleagues and helped us better understand the research and industry climate in this area of the Pacific region,” says Spahr.

The meeting in Bangkok, hosted by the Thai Ceramic Society, attracted over 60 participants. Presentations covered structured ceramics for severe environments, development of multilayered thermal protection systems for aerospace applications, and overviews of several leading materials science programs at Thai universities and institutions.

Universities represented at the summit included Chulalongkorn University, which hosted the summit, Thammasat University, Kasetsart University, Suranaree University of Technology, and Silpakorn University. Additional organizations in attendance were the National Metal and Materials Technology Center, Thai Institute of Science and Technological Research, Department of Science Service, and the summit’s host, the Thai Ceramic Society.

In Singapore, ACerS and the APCCS were hosted by one of the world’s outstanding universities, the National University of Singapore.

During the day-long session, more than 20 presentations addressed a wide array of technical topics. Attendees came primarily from Singapore and Malaysia.

In addition to NUS, other organizations and companies represented included Singapore Technologies Kinetics Ltd., Nanyang Technological University, Dawnyx Technologies Pte. Ltd., University Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, University of Malaya, Taylor’s University, Advanced Materials Technology Centre, and University of Tenaga Nasional.

“All in all, it was a very productive trip and provided insight into the current priorities of ceramics professionals in the region,” says Spahr. “We appreciate the efforts of our hosts Palani Balaya at NUS and Somnuk Sirisoonthorn, president of TCS, to make the summit a successful event, and we thank our hosts in Singapore and Bangkok for their extraordinary hospitality and warm welcome!”

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Asia Pacific Ceramic Cooperation Summit in Bangkok. ACerS participants included President-elect Bill Lee (front center, pink shirt) and President Mritunjay Singh (right of Lee). Executive director Charlie Spahr is behind Lee and Singh. Credit: NUS

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APCCS in Singapore. Credit: ACerS

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