Meeting chairs for the 2018 Materials Research Society (MRS) Fall Meeting are Kristen H. Brosnan (GE Global Research, USA), David LaVan (National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA), Patrycja Paruch (University of Geneva, Switzerland), Joan M. Redwing (The Pennsylvania State University, USA), and Takao Someya (The University of Tokyo, Japan). The Meeting will be held November 25–30, 2018, in Boston, Mass.

Kristen H. Brosnan

Kristen H. Brosnan is the manager of the Ceramics Laboratory at GE Global Research. She received her BS degree in materials science and engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1999. She received her MS degree in 2002 and PhD degree in 2007, both in materials science and engineering at The Pennsylvania State University.

Brosnan has been with GE for 10 years, starting as a materials scientist at the Global Research Center studying microstructure–properties–performance relationships in ceramic thermal-spray coatings. Currently, her team in the Ceramics Laboratory is delivering key ceramic technology for GE Power and GE Aviation gas turbines, including ceramic matrix composites for LEAP (leading edge aviation propulsion) and GE9X Aviation engines, as well as solid-oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology for GE Fuel Cells. Brosnan is also the co-leader of the GE Women’s Network-NY Capital District Hub. She has organized GE’s Women in Science & Engineering Symposium for the past two years. She has received numerous individual GE Global Recognition Awards, and her SOFC team won the GE Whitney Award for outstanding technical achievement in 2013. She was a recipient of the 2014 American Ceramic Society Du-Co Ceramics Young Professional Award and the 2014 Karl Schwartzwalder-Professional Achievement in Ceramic Engineering Award.

David LaVan

David LaVan is a project leader in the Materials Measurement Science Division within the Material Measurement Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). He received his BS degree in materials science and engineering from the University of Florida in 1991 and his PhD degree in mechanical engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 1998. He was a postdoctoral fellow at Sandia National Laboratories, a research associate in the Harvard–MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology, and an assistant professor at Yale University prior to his present position.

At NIST, LaVan works on the development of new microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-based materials characterization methods, including high rate and high throughput approaches, linking rapid materials measurements with microstructural chracterization tools such as electron microscopy and mass spectrometry. His research interests include the design and characterization of MEMS, materials characterization at small scales, and the development of biomimetic devices and bioMEMS. He was selected for the US National Academy of Engineering Frontiers of Engineering Symposium in 2006, the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative Conference on Designing Nanostructures at the Interface between Biomedical and Physical Systems in 2004, and the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative Conference on Synthetic Biology in 2009.

Patrycja Paruch

Patrycja Paruch is an associate professor in the Department of Quantum Matter Physics at the University of Geneva. She obtained a BA degree in physics from Harvard University in 2000, followed by a PhD degree in physics from the University of Geneva in 2004. She performed postdoctoral research at Cornell University and joined the University of Geneva in 2007.

Paruch’s group uses scanning force microscopy to investigate the novel functional properties of individual ferroelectric domain walls, in addition to their static and dynamic behavior as pinned elastic interfaces. Within this broader framework, the group has recently begun to explore biological interfaces such as proliferating epithelial cell fronts. They are also developing combined ferroelectric-carbon nanotube devices for nanoelectronics and microscopy applications, and studying the effects of strain and interfacial coupling in multiferroic epitaxial superlattice structures. In 2005, Paruch was awarded the Swiss National Science Foundation Fellowship for Young Researchers, the Swiss Physical Society IBM Prize for Condensed Matter Physics, and the European Science Foundation Thin Films for Novel Oxide Devices Award for Young Researchers. She was a symposium organizer for the 2011 MRS Spring Meeting.

Joan M. Redwing

Joan M. Redwing is a professor of materials science and engineering, holds adjunct appointments in the Departments of Electrical Engineering and Chemical Engineering, and is the director of the 2D Crystal Consortium–Materials Innovation Platform at The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State). She received her PhD degree in chemical engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She was employed as a research engineer and manager at Advanced Technology Materials, Inc. from 1994 to 1999, and then joined the faculty of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Penn State.

Redwing’s research focuses on understanding fundamental mechanisms of crystal growth and epitaxy of electronic materials, with a particular emphasis on thin-film and nanomaterial synthesis by chemical vapor deposition. Redwing currently serves as vice president of the American Association for Crystal Growth and is an associate editor for the Journal of Crystal Growth. She is a Fellow of the Materials Research Society, American Physical Society, and the American Association for the Ad-vancement of Science, and is a senior member of IEEE. She is an author or co-author on more than 270 publications and holds eight US patents.

Takao Someya

Takao Someya has been a professor in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at The University of Tokyo since 2009. He received his PhD degree in electrical engineering from The University of Tokyo in 1997. From 2001 to 2003, he worked at the Nanocenter (NSEC) of Columbia University and Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies, as a visiting scholar. He is also a chief scientist and a team leader at RIKEN, Japan.

Someya’s current research interests include organic transistors, flexible electronics, plastic integrated circuits, large-area sensors, and plastic actuators. He has received a number of awards, including the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Prize, the 2008 German Innovation Award 1st Prize, the 2004 IEEE/ISSCC Sugano Award, and the 2009 IEEE Paul Rappaport Award. He was a global scholar at Princeton University, a member of the MRS Board of Directors (2009–2011), and an IEEE/EDS Distinguished Lecturer (2005–2016). His “large-area sensor array” electronic thin film was featured in Time Magazine as one of the “Best Inventions of 2005.”