Society reschedules three spring conferences in response to COVID-19

The American Ceramic Society announces it has rescheduled events through May because of COVID-19. The decision, not taken lightly, is based on guidance from WHO and CDC, as well as local government and public health authorities of our conference venues.

“We considered the emphasis in the near term for ‘social distancing,’ as well as evolving guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and government officials to restrict the size of gatherings. We made these decisions with the health and welfare of our attendees, volunteers, and staff in mind,” says Mark Mecklenborg, ACerS executive director.

Affected events are

• Ceramic Manufacturing Solutions Conference
  • Cleveland, Ohio
  • Rescheduled to Sept. 23–24, 2020 (formerly May 6–7, 2020)

• Ceramics Expo
  • Cleveland, Ohio
  • Rescheduled to Sept. 22–23, 2020 (formerly May 5–6, 2020)

• St. Louis Section and Refractory Ceramics Division Refractory Symposium
  • St. Louis, Mo.
  • Tentatively rescheduled to Sept. 8–10, 2020 (formerly March 25–27, 2020)

• Glass and Optical Materials Division Annual Meeting and Conference
  • New Orleans, La.
  • Rescheduled to Aug. 2–7, 2020 (formerly May 17–21, 2020)

Events beyond May will run as planned. These include

• ACerS 2020 Structural Clay Products Division & Southwest Section Meeting in conjunction with the National Brick Research Center Meeting
  • Charlotte, N.C.
  • June 1–3, 2020

• 11^th Advances in Cement-Based Materials
  • Chicago, Ill.
  • June 24–26, 2020

• Pan American Ceramics Congress and Ferroelectrics Meeting of Americas 
  • Panama City, Panama
  • July 19–23, 2020

• Materials Challenges in Alternative & Renewable Energy 2020 (MCARE 2020) combined with the 4th Annual Energy Harvesting Society Meeting (EHS 2020)
  • Bellevue, Wash.
  • August 16–21, 2020

• ACerS 122^nd Annual Meeting with Materials Science & Technology 2020
  • Pittsburgh, Pa.
  • October 4–8, 2020

“We appreciate the efforts of our organizers, volunteers, vendors, and partners to work with us and respond to a fast-changing situation in a way that allows us to continue to serve our members and mission,” Mecklenborg says. “We will continue to monitor the situation closely and make future decisions as needed.”

The ACerS staff remains committed to doing its part to promote the health and safety of the ceramic and glass community and the communities we live in. Please watch ceramics.org for updates and news as the COVID-19 situation unfolds.

“On behalf of our leaders, I extend the Society’s best wishes for health. I encourage our members to contact us with any questions or concerns. Together, we will get through this,” Mecklenborg says.