Bruce M. Clemens

2012 MRS President

It’s hard for me to believe, but my year as President of the Materials Research Society is almost over, and what a year it’s been! This great organization of ours, led by a dedicated Board of Directors and equally dedicated operating committees and Headquarters staff, continues to implement innovative programs and utilize ever-evolving technologies in order to achieve its mission and its strategic objectives, all of which focus on serving the global materials community.

For example, as I mentioned in last month’s letter, MRS has established the Materials Research Society Foundation for the purpose of advancing the MRS mission to promote interdisciplinary materials research communication, and to ensure that MRS programs in education, outreach, and peer recognition can continue to grow. The Foundation will also benefit a wide range of innovative grassroots, member-driven initiatives—from student chapter proposals, to local or regional education/outreach projects. (For complete information, please visit www.mrs.org/foundation.)

In MRS’s quest to disseminate information and promote the field, we recognize that it’s often wise to engage in mutually beneficial collaborations in order to achieve our high aspirations for communication. One such collaboration with the Sociedad Mexicana de Materiales (SMM) has resulted in a successful and ever-growing joint International Materials Research Congress in Cancún each summer. Our collaborations with SMM have included bringing the Strange Matter museum exhibition to Mexico and were recently expanded with approval of a joint MRS/SMM University Chapter at Cinvestav-IPN in Mexico City.

MRS’s partnership with Cambridge University Press continues to produce publications and innovative products. This year, MRS and Cambridge launched Materials360 Online, a website dedicated to materials research news. Materials360 Online publishes original news, videos and podcasts, news stories aggregated from major scientific publications and websites, and links to MRS’s newest and most viewed journal content (www.materials360online.com).

Over the past decade, outreach efforts at MRS have expanded tremendously and materials research has been brought into the public spotlight by such undertakings as the Strange Matter traveling science exhibition and public television’s NOVA series on materials, “Making Stuff.” This year, the “Science Enthusiasts” section of the MRS website is being expanded to provide information about our many outreach activities and programs, support our members who may want to participate in public outreach at MRS and in their own region, and provide interactive resources for educators and the general public to learn about materials science. The newly redesigned web pages are planned to be completed by the Fall Meeting (see www.mrs.org/science-enthusiasts).

But we all know that the real forte for MRS is meetings, and I am pleased to say that this remains the top priority for the Society. The Board’s Strategic Meetings Initiative is being brought to closure as the Board disseminates its goals, ideas, and guidance to the Meetings Committee for implementation. The Board’s future meeting priorities are (1) to increase industrial participation, with a focus on innovation, as an additional benefit to meeting attendees; (2) to make meeting content available to students worldwide who may not be able to attend meetings in Boston and San Francisco; and (3) to engage our core and “lost” communities across the span from basic to applied materials research. These are lofty goals for the Meetings Committee, but we’re confident that the committee will successfully embrace and accomplish them.

On the topic of meetings, virtual activities will play a major role in future MRS meetings, as you’ll notice at the 2012 MRS Fall Meeting. Activities will include streaming the Sustainability Forum; a live stream (partially interactive) of one symposium and video capture of three others; and capture of the award, plenary, and Kavli talks, and several tutorials, and attendee interviews which will be broadcast on “MRS TV” around the venue on flat screens and on the hotel channel.

Yes, it’s been an exciting and productive year! And none of these programs or activities would have been possible without the hard work of our many dedicated volunteers and HQ staff. On behalf of the Society, and, personally, I’d like to thank all of you for your great efforts. And, of course, I’d like to express my gratitude to the MRS members for allowing me the privilege of serving as your president this year. It’s been an honor.