Unitecr attendees offer a toast to the refractories community, but today let’s call it a toast to the successes the entire ceramics and glass communities celebrated in 2013. Credit: ACerS.
By our measure, 2013 was an incredible year for the Society and its members. Through the Society, members organized ten technical meetings, representing the diverse interests of the Society, its Divisions, and the international ceramics and glass community. Not including MS&T, about 3,300 people participated in ACerS-organized meetings as presenters, students, vendors, society leaders, and attendees. MS&T’13—which is organized as a multi-society partnership—also attracted 3,300 attendees. ACerS largest divisions—Engineering Ceramics, Basic Science, Electronics, Glass and Optical Materials, and Refractory Ceramics—continued their traditions of holding highly successful conferences or, in the case of Refractory Ceramics, a two-day technical symposium in conjunction with the St. Louis Section. The Cements Division continues to grow and held its fourth consecutive meeting for 106 attendees, and the Structural Clay Products Division held a plant tour and symposium in Salt Lake City, Utah. ACerS’s newcomer—the rejuvenated Art, Archaeology, and Conservation Science Division—held its first workshop and welcomed a capacity-crowd of about 25 to Stanford University’s synchrotron facility. The Nuclear and Environmental Technology Division took advantage of ICACC and MS&T to organize symposia in lieu of a stand-alone Division meeting. Next February, look for NETD to have a strong presence at the Materials Challenges for Alternative and Renewable Energy meeting in Clearwater, Fla.
In addition to “ACerS owned” meetings, the Society organized the 13th Unified International Technical Conference on Refractories (Unitecr) and the 12th International Conference on Ceramic Processing Science.
ACerS leaders reached out to strengthen ties with sister ceramic societies abroad. Beginning in January and continuing throughout the year, Society leaders and staff visited or met with the Indian Ceramic Society, the European Ceramic Society, and the Chinese Ceramic Society. Representatives of the five Pacific Rim Technical Conference partner societies signed a Memorandum of Understanding ensuring that the highly successful PacRim conference will continue at least through 2031. In July, the Society helped organize MCARE 2013 in Dunhuang, China, expanding awareness of ACerS in that country.
Besides meetings and networking, ACerS quietly but persistently continues to look for ways to improve outreach and service to its membership in industry and academia. To this end, the Board of Directors approved the establishment of the Ceramic and Glass Industry Foundation, which you will hear much more about as it unfolds this year. Finally, this blog, Ceramic Tech Today, reached a milestone in September of one million visitors.
During the course of the year, ACerS staff took about 3,000 pictures of people, award recipients, banquets, poster sessions, receptions, and expositions. Here is a small selection of highlights from 2013.
ACerS thanks you for the privilege to serve you in 2013. We look forward to continuing our successful collaborations with you in 2014.
Best wishes from ACerS for a Happy New Year!
The Electronics Division and the Basic Science Division coorganized the Electronic Materials and Applications Conference, Orlando, Fla.
Registration desk at the Engineering Ceramics Division’s 37th International Conference on Advanced Ceramics and Composites.
The Expo at ICACC.
The Refractory Ceramics Division prides itself on its “family like” culture. As proof, Planje winner, J.P. Willi, poses with his grandson Connor, who is already channeling his grandfather’s style.
Richard Brow at the St. Louis/RCD meeting challenges the audience to think about the future of engineering training as it relates to ceramic and glass materials.
The 10th Pacific Rim Conference on Ceramic and Glass Technology was held at the iconic Hotel del Coronado on Coronado Island near San Diego, Calif. The conference banquet at dusk on the beach was delightful and memorable.
The “Hotel Del” and its distinctive red roof behind attendees at the Glass and Optical Materials Division meeting, which was colocated with PacRim.
Clinton Shay’s (retired, Corning, Inc.) GOMD Stookey lecture gave the history of what eventually became Gorilla Glass—an “overnight success” that was 54 years in the making.
With nearly 1,000 attendees, the Unitecr plenary sessions were packed.
Conferences offer an important opportunity for one-to-one conversations, as shown in this photo from Unitecr.
The 2013 ACerS Class of Fellows.
The future looks bright! The President’s Council of Student Advisors pictured with then-president Richard Brow at the PCSA’s annual meeting in October.
MS&T 2013 at the Palais des Congres in Montreal, Canada. Over 3,000 attended. Of course, not all were ceramists, but at least they all know what a ceramic or glass is!
