[Image above] From left: Zeng Qingdong (China Concrete and Cement Products Assoc.), Jack Jia (CCerS), Marcus Fish (ACerS), Tan Fu (CCerS), Xu Yongmo (CCerS), Mark Mecklenborg (ACerS), Manoj Choudhary (Owens Corning), Eileen De Guire (ACerS), and Megan Bricker (ACerS) at ACerS headquarters. Credit: ACerS
Last week The American Ceramic Society had the distinct pleasure of welcoming a delegation from the Chinese Ceramic Society to Society headquarters in Westerville, Ohio. Representing CCerS was Xu Yongmo, president; “Jack” Jia, senior coordinator; and Tan Fu, deputy secretary-general. Also present was Zeng Qingdong, administrative vice secretary general of the China Concrete and Cement Products Association. The group also visited the American Concrete Institute in Detroit, Mich., while in the United States. Manoj Choudhary of Owens Corning represented ACerS leadership, along with staff. Choudhary joins the ACerS Board of Directors in October and is president-elect of the International Commission on Glass.
The meeting was the next step in strengthening the relationship between the two societies, a process that began a year ago when then-president David Green and executive director Charlie Spahr met CCerS leaders in Beijing. Green and Spahr were there to attend the International Congress on Ceramics in Beijing in August 2014. Current ACerS president Kathleen Richardson continued the dialog and suggested several areas of possible cooperation, such as student and young professional exchanges and visiting lectureships.
Mark Mecklenborg, ACerS director of meetings, technical publications, and membership says, “We were very pleased to learn that the leaders of the CCerS had approved moving forward with ACerS on these ideas.”
While plans are still in their earliest stages, the two societies agreed to start detailing how these collaborations would work.
In addition, the two societies will continue to support one another’s general efforts, especially regarding significant conferences. For example, ACerS is helping to promote the 2016 International Congress on Glass, which will be in Shanghai in April 2016. When the next ICG comes to Boston in the United States in 2019, CCerS will provide similar assistance.
During the meeting, representatives from both societies exchanged many other ideas about membership, information exchange, and publishing news on our websites and in our publications. “We felt that the meeting was very useful, and we are excited about continuing to strengthen the present and future interactions between ACerS and CCerS that will benefit our respective members.”