The Sociedad Mexicana de Materiales (SMM) and the Materials Research Society (MRS) successfully organized the XXI International Materials Research Conference (IMRC-XXI) held, from August 12 to 17, 2012, at the CasaMagna and J.W. Marriott hotels in Cancún, México. Once again, more than 1500 scientists from different parts of the world gathered in Cancún for this conference which is becoming one of the best events in materials science in the world.
The plenary speakers were Prof. Cecilia Noguez (Professor of Physics, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City, México), Prof. Monica Olvera de la Cruz (Lawyer Taylor Professor of Materials Science & Engineering, Professor of Chemistry, and of Chemical & Biological Engineering and the Director of the Materials Research Center at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA), Prof. Manish Chhowalla (Professor and Associate Chair of the Materials Science and Engineering Department, Rutgers University, NJ, USA), Prof. Carlos A. Paz de Araujo (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, CO, USA), and Prof. Bao-Lian Su (Laboratory of Inorganic Materials Chemistry (CMI), The University of Namur (FUNDP), Belgium).
The academic activity of the conference centered around 28 symposia, evening poster sessions, 6 courses, and a science luncheon event. A commercial exhibition was organized, which included some of the most important manufacturers of equipment used in the characterization of materials nowadays and well-known service provider companies and institutions related to materials science. Tim Fawcett and Cyrus Crowder, with some help from Profs. J.M. Delgado and Graciela Díaz de Delgado (ULA, Mérida, Venezuela), were at the ICDD booth answering questions about ICDD, its databases, academic programs, and other related activities (Photo 1).
IMRC XXI – Workshop lecture given by Dr. Timothy Fawcett.
The topics of the symposia covered areas in the field of nano science and technology, materials characterization, materials for energy production, biomaterials, strategies for academic–industry relationship, polymers, electronics and photonics, and fundamental materials science. The topics of the courses were surface plasmons and nanophotonics: plasmonics; surfaces, interfaces, and their role in materials synthesis and processing; thin-film photovoltaics and materials for solar water splitting; selected research subjects on cement and concrete with smart additives and supplementary cementitious materials; characterizing advanced materials by X-ray diffraction; and scanning electron microscopy which were conducted on Sunday, August 12, 2012.
As in the two previous International Materials Research Conferences, the International Centre for Diffraction Data (ICDD) presented its databases and computer software. This presentation was part of the workshop on diffractometry organized by the Sociedad Mexicana de Cristalografía (SMCr). The organizers of this workshop were Profs. José Álvaro Chávez-Carvayar, María Elena Villafuerte-Castrejón, and Lauro Bucio-Galindo, Faculty members of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM, México) and Prof. Javier Martínez Juárez of Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP), Puebla, México. Among the speakers participating in this activity were Dr. Tim Fawcett, Executive Director of ICDD (Photo 2), Dr. Cyrus Crowder, Principal Scientist of ICDD (Photo 3), and Prof. Miguel Delgado of University de Los Andes (Photo 4).
IMRC XXI – Workshop lecture given by Dr. Cyrus Crowder.
IMRC XXI – Workshop lecture given by Professor Lauro Bucio.
IMRC XXI – A scene from the ICDD booth.
Attendants had the chance to relax and enjoy excellent facilities at the conference venue, beautiful beaches, interesting Mayan archaeological sites, and adventure-packed theme parks.
IMRC-XXII will take place from August 13 to 17, 2013 at the same venue. Meeting information will be available at http://www.mrs.org/imrc2013/.
