The President’s Council of Student Advisors

The ACerS President’s Council of Student Advisors (PCSA) is the student-led committee of ACerS responsible for representing student interests to ACerS and its subsidiary committees, divisions, sections, and classes. The PCSA is the primary face of ACerS to ceramics and materials science students. The role of the PCSA delegate is to represent their collegiate institution to PCSA, as well as representing the PCSA and ACerS to their academic department.

PCSA Mission

The mission of PCSA is to engage students as active and long-term leaders in the ceramics community and to increase participation in ACerS at the local, national, and international levels.

PCSA Goals

  • To coordinate student-focused ceramic programming at technical meetings.
  • To develop and implement ceramics-focused outreach activities.
  • To facilitate industry-student relations.
  • To promote ceramic science and engineering at the university and local levels.
  • To provide a way for students and young professionals to become and remain actively engaged as leaders in the ceramic materials community.

PCSA Programs

PCSA Committees

The PCSA also has five committees:

Communications
Coordinate advertisement and social media managing for the PCSA

Conference Programming and Competitions
Organize official PCSA sponsored conference programs and competitions

Education
Facilitate STEM outreach for the next generation of materials scientists and engineers, with a focus on ceramics

Professional Development
Professional development and community engagement group within the PCSA

Recruitment and Retention
Inspire and assist young researchers to become part of the PCSA

 

2025–26 PCSA Officers

PCSA Chair
Randi Swanson, Air Force Research Laboratory and University of California, Davis

Communications Committee Chair
Jordan Sweeney, Colorado School of Mines

Conference Programming and Competitions Committee Chair
Brooke Downing, Colorado School of Mines

Education Committee Chair
Nicole O’Shea, University of California, Davis

Professional Development Committee Chair
Sevag Momjian, The Pennsylvania State University

Recruitment and Retention Committee Chair
John Barber, Virginia Tech

PCSA Mentor-at-large
Victoria Blair, US Army Research Laboratory

Scott McCormack, University of California, Davis

 

Meet the 2025–26 Class of PCSA Delegates

2025–26 PCSA delegates represent the following universities:

  • Air Force Research Laboratory
  • Alfred University
  • Cinvestav Unidad Saltillo
  • Clemson University
  • CNRS-IPVF
  • Colorado School of Mines
  • Indian Inst of Tech, Kanpur, India
  • Indian institute of technology Madras, Chennai, India.
  • Instituto Tecnológico de Morelia
  • Instituto Tecnológico de Saltillo
  • Lehigh University
  • Missouri University of Science and Technology
  • National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli
  • National University of Science and Technology
  • North Carolina State University
  • Northwestern University
  • The Pennsylvania State University
  • Purdue University
  • Texas A&M University
  • University of Alabama
  • University of California, Davis
  • University of California, Santa Barbara
  • University of Chemistry and Technology
  • University of Cologne
  • University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
  • University of Michigan
  • University of Minnesota Twin Cities
  • University of Nottingham
  • University of Tennessee
  • University of Virginia
  • Virginia Tech
  • Washington State University
  • University of Paris

Connect with the PCSA on social media

Learn more about the PCSA and sign up for updates here.