July 18, 2017|
July 18, 2017
Greetings to all ACerS, AIST, and TMS members:
We want to share with you that change is coming to the annual technical meeting and exhibition series, MS&T (Materials Science & Technology). You know this industry-leading event as a unique collaboration between The American Ceramic Society; ASM International; the Association for Iron and Steel Technology; and The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society. The change is that ASM will leave the partnership as of MS&T20.
We know this development likely leaves you with questions, and we’d like to take a moment to assure you that MS&T’s future as the leading materials science and engineering conference is brighter than ever.
First, we thank ASM for its past and still-to-be realized contributions to MS&T as they will indeed remain a full partner of the event until 2020.
Second, we confirm that MS&T will continue well beyond 2020 to serve the entire materials science and engineering community. The partners see the long-term future of the New MS&T as remarkably bright, shining with collaboration, cooperation, and your participation.
Third, we will utilize this opportunity to expand the meeting’s traditional open platform that welcomes contributions addressing all materials, inclusive of theoretical as well as characterization and manufacturing technologies. The New MS&T also will emphasize emerging as well as cross-cutting materials science and technology. We envision opportunities for interdisciplinary programming and working with more communities and more societies, such as our current collaborations with NACE and MetSoc.
Fourth, the New MS&T expands beyond the sum of our parts. We will take steps to accentuate individual society contributions to the meeting. Symposia organized by ACerS, AIST, and TMS will be labelled as such, and symposia organized collaboratively by two or more societies will be collaboratively branded. The New MS&T will be stronger as each society displays a unique presence and identity for its member community. These new contributions will include the “new” ACerS Annual Meeting, the AIST Advanced Steel Properties & Applications Forum, the TMS Fall Meeting, and additional interdisciplinary MS&T programming.
Fifth, the New MS&T will be about more than programming. MS&T is historically the conference home of the Material Advantage student program and its key annual events. As such, Material Advantage will feature strongly in the New MS&T, and we will continue to make the experience essential for undergraduates and graduates alike while seeking to expand our portfolio of career-development opportunities.
Finally, we also recognize the importance of industrial engagement at the New MS&T, and we are in the midst of developing new strategies to expand the exhibition floor, providing greater value to exhibitors and a quality experience for attendees.
We hope that you can sense our excitement about the new opportunities for MS&T in the years ahead. Emphasizing our diversity as societies—and as individual members, scientists and engineers—it is also our combined strengths that will transform MS&T to be an inclusive experience for the global materials science and technology community.
On behalf of our materials science and technology community,
