[Image above] Making the most of a conference requires some planning. Credit: ACerS
Organizers of the International Conference on Advanced Ceramics and Composites that took place last week in Daytona Beach, Fla., dodged several curveballs Fate pitched and were able to present a successful conference.
Up until the last moment, organizers did not know whether the United States partial government shutdown would impact the conference. While Department of Defense and Department of Energy employees were not impacted, NASA and NIST (Department of Commerce) employees only found out days before the conference that they were “back on the job” and able to attend.
And, as in previous years, weather threatened travel plans, but unlike previous years, Midwestern blizzards happened before the conference, and the polar vortex of 2019 happened during the conference and caused little disruption to the coming and going of attendees.
ICACC, organized by the ACerS Engineering Ceramics Division, welcomed 1,010 attendees from 42 countries with about 60 percent coming from outside the U.S. Organizer Surojit Gupta, associate professor of materials science and engineering at North Dakota State University, says, “The quality of the presentations has been really high, and the student participation has been great.”
This conference packed a lot of value into the week. Some technical program highlights included the traditional opening plenary session, 17 symposia, four focus sessions, the 8th Global Young Investigators Forum, and a special symposium commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Fulrath Award Symposium.
Besides the technical program, Engineering Ceramics Division held its annual business meetings; new members were welcomed at a special reception, and young professionals were welcomed at a separate reception; graduate students participated in an abstract writing workshop presented by ACerS journal editors-in-chief; and students participated in engineering shot glass and SIFT competitions.
The two-night exhibition featured 30 exhibitors and the opportunity for conference attendees to shop for new instruments, equipment, and services. The two poster sessions also took place during the exhibition, giving everyone a reason to cross the street and enjoy some heavy hors d’oeuvres and good conversation.
Visit ACerS Flickr page to see images of all the action from the conference. And, be sure to mark your calendar for the 44th ICACC next Jan. 26-31, 2020. The conference will be a success regardless of weather and other factors.