The 2016 Materials Research Society (MRS) Spring Meeting will be held for the first time in Phoenix, Ariz., March 28–April 1, 2016. The scientific sessions will include many new and developing areas of materials research as well as some well-established and popular topics. To complement the scientific sessions, tutorials will provide detailed introductions to particularly exciting areas of research, while the exhibit will showcase products of interest to the materials community.
Making up the core of the Meeting are six topical clusters of the technical program, encompassing 62 symposia. They are grouped into the following clusters:
Characterization and Modeling of Materials: This cluster highlights recent advances in ultrafast spectroscopy and high-resolution structural and functional imaging by electron microscopy and scattering techniques, as well as in situ imaging. Several sessions focus on the latest progress in different material fabrication techniques, with oxide-based materials prominently featured. Innovation can also be found in the symposium where materials science meets architecture.
Energy and Environment: Photovoltaics, solar photoelectrochemical energy conversion, fuel cells and electrocatalysis, thermoelectric power generators, and batteries are covered in this large cluster. Operando and in situ analytical methods are well represented. While solar energy conversion takes center stage in this cluster, we expect a strong presence of the electrochemical energy storage and conversion communities.
Electronics and Photonics: This cluster spans the range of electric charge-carrier management to photonic light management and their application in circuits and actual devices. This includes applications in energy harvesting and power management. The role of structural order, disorder, defects and phase changes, and the control thereof down to single defect or photon level are covered at the fundamental level and at the device level. Flexible device platforms are also covered.
Materials Design: Materials can be designed today by tailoring specific structures or interfaces using specific phase transformations, or by using specific materials with unique characteristics. The ultimate goal is to fine-tune and tailor the properties of a material for a specific application. The symposia in this cluster will discuss deliberately designing the interfaces and selecting materials in devices, creating heterostructures, using elastic strain engineering to tune properties, and developing micro-assembly technologies. Phase-change materials, magnetic materials, lanthanide materials, and organic semiconductors all offer routes to specific designed materials and applications. Other symposia are focused on incorporating electronics in textiles, and understanding and applying magnetic materials. Finally, keeping with this theme, one symposium focuses on understanding multiscale behavior in extreme environments.
Nanotechnology: This cluster includes sessions on the synthesis, characterization, and properties of nanomaterials, with additional symposia devoted to new trends in one- and two-dimensional nanomaterials, ultrasmall clusters, piezotronic and magnetic nanostructures, carbon-based materials, and metal oxides. Besides the traditional symposia, there are new symposia on responsive optical and magnetic nanomaterials and applications.
Soft Materials and Biomaterials: The symposia in this cluster cover a wide range of topics, including bioelectronics, self-assembly and hybrid materials, bionanotechnology, and multifunctional biomaterials. Several symposia explore the critical issues involved in interfacing biological systems with synthetic materials for regeneration, imaging, cancer therapies, and sensing. Other areas covered in this cluster include cell-instructive materials, cellular micro-environments and drug delivery, and the biofunctionalization of organic and inorganic materials.
Symposium X—Frontiers of Materials Research will feature lectures for the broad materials community on topics at the forefront of research on materials science and engineering. Catherine Oertel, of Oberlin College, and Annette Richards, of Cornell University, will present a talk on Tuesday evening at 5:15 p.m. at the Phoenix Convention Center followed by a short reception. Gerbrand Ceder, University of California, Berkeley, will give a lunchtime lecture at 12:15 p.m. on Wednesday, and John Spence, Arizona State University, will give a lecture at the same time on Thursday, both at the Phoenix Convention Center.
An award ceremony will be held to honor this year’s Outstanding Young Investigators and MRS Fellows as well as the recipients of the Innovation in Materials Characterization Award—endowed by Toh-Ming Lu and Gwo-Ching Wang, the Mid-Career Researcher Award—endowed by Aldrich Materials Science, the Postdoctoral Awards, and the Gold and Silver Graduate Student Awards.
2016 MRS Spring Meeting Registration Rates
The Meeting will include a plenary address and a presentation by the recipient of the Fred Kavli Distinguished Lectureship in Materials Science, yet to be announced.
The second edition of iMatSci—Innovation in Materials Science—provides materials-based innovators with a platform to demonstrate the practical applications of their technologies, while connecting these innovators to potential sources of venture capital. An international pool of start-ups will be judged by professional technology innovators and will compete for cash prizes. Spanning parts of two days, iMatSci will begin with Startup Bootcamp: A Skills Workshop on Tuesday afternoon. Wednesday's Innovator Demonstration program will kick off with a keynote address by Stephen Forrest, University of Michigan, on “Transformational innovation” followed by a panel on early stage investing.
Poster sessions will be held in the Sheraton, Third Level, Phoenix Ballroom, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. The Meeting chairs will sponsor a Best Poster Award competition, selecting recipients each night on the basis of the posters’ technical content, appearance, graphic excellence, and presentation quality.
The popular Science as Art competition will be held again at this Meeting. The competition is open to all registered Meeting attendees. Multiple first-place and second-place awards of $400 and $200, respectively, will be presented. Guidelines and the deadline for entries will be available on the 2016 MRS Spring Meeting website.
MRS will host a Career Fair as an extension of its online Career Central Job Board (jobs.mrs.org). The Career Fair will provide an opportunity for job seekers and top employers to discuss career opportunities.
Public outreach activities will include a Sustainability in Your Community poster exhibition by MRS University Chapters; engaging stage presentations and hands-on demonstrations about materials sustainability; and career development programs, including a new program on how to integrate sustainability principles into materials research. The Public Outreach Center will feature the Society’s outreach programs, highlighting the Focus on Sustainability and Impact of Materials on Society programs. Stop by to meet sustainability leaders and learn about opportunities to participate in MRS outreach.
Graduate students and members of MRS University Chapters are invited to attend the student mixer reception. Also, chapter officers and faculty advisors are invited to attend a meeting of MRS University Chapter representatives to compare notes on recent activities and brainstorm on new projects and issues of common concern. Those interested in starting new chapters are welcome.
Government Agency Presentations, which include funding opportunities from US and non-US agencies, and various events for professional development and public outreach are also planned.
The deadline to pre-register for the MRS Spring Meeting is March 11, 2016 (5:00 p.m. EST). International travelers are reminded to begin the visa process early. For additional information, contact MRS Member Services, e-mail info@mrs.org; and tel. 724-779-3003.
The MRS website can be accessed for updated information on confirmed talks and details on special events, information on obtaining a visa, and pre-registration at www.mrs.org/spring2016.
