Members of the International Centre for Diffraction Data met during the week of 12 March 2018 for the Annual Spring Meeting. Task groups got right to work during the previous weekend, finding ways to improve the Powder Diffraction File™.
The Tuesday morning Plenary Session featured four speakers. Daniel Louër, CNRS and University of Rennes, France, gave An Overview of Powder Diffraction Studies at Rennes: 1964 to 2004. Reinhard Kleeberg, Institut für Mineralogie, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany, spoke about Qualitative and Quantitative Mineral Phase Analysis of Clay Bearing Rocks – a Substantial Challenge. Artem Abakumov, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Russia, gave a talk entitled Quantitative Electron Diffraction and Powder X-Ray Diffraction: A Perfect Marriage. Charlene Greenwood, Cranfield University, CFI, UK, shared her work on Biomineral Research: The Capabilities of X-ray Diffraction (Photo 1).
L to R: Reinhard Kleeberg, Charlene Greenwood, Artem M. Abakumov, Daniel Louër.
Following a very informative Plenary Session and lunch at ICDD Headquarters, members, staff, and guests traveled to the historic Merion Tribute House in Merion Station, PA. While visiting, everyone enjoyed the entertainment of Kevin Bethea, Corporate Magician, and Illusionist. Kevin provided a 45-min show that included magic, comedy, and incredible feats of mind reading, along with lots of audience participation. Kevin had the crowd laughing while pulling coins from Jim Kaduk – if only he could have taught us how to do that! (Photo 2).
L to R: Kevin Bethea, Jim Kaduk.
While enjoying cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, attendees were able to view 35 posters, presented by members, guests, and staff. Also during this time, Kevin performed strolling magic, where the magic happened right in our own hands! Everyone was able to exchange knowledge with his or her peers, and enjoy old and new friendships. Members voted on their favorite poster, and the posters receiving the most votes were on display at ICDD Headquarters for the remainder of the week. The three best posters were – The Incommensurate Modulated Structure of a Cd-Derivative of Valproic Acid, an API Used in the Treatment of Epilepsy and Bipolar Disorder presented by José Miguel Delgado, Universidad de Los Andes, Venezuela. Non-Destructive Evaluation of Roman Coin Patina's from the 3rd and 4th Century presented by Timothy G. Fawcett, Emeritus, International Centre for Diffraction Data, USA. WHAT A MESS… (Maximum-Entropy Enhanced STOE Spectrometer)! presented by Robert J. Papoular, Saclay Institute for Matter and Radiation (IRAMIS), France (Photos 3–5).
L to R: Tom Blanton, José Miguel Delgado.
L to R: Tom Blanton, Timothy G. Fawcett.
L to R: Tom Blanton, Robert J. Papoular.
Wednesday was a busy day for all who attended. Throughout the day, 16 committees and subcommittees met. Each group discussed their specialized activity taking place in the community and at ICDD. The committees and subcommittees shared ideas and gathered their motions to present during the Technical Committee Meeting the following day.
The week concluded with the Annual Meeting of Members, on 15 March. Tom Blanton, the Executive Director/Principal Scientist at ICDD, shared the activities that have been going on at ICDD Headquarters over the past year. Jim Kaduk, ICDD's Treasurer, gave a report on the financial outlook of the organization.
During the Annual Meeting, the following awards were also presented (Photo 6):
L to R: David Taylor, Matteo Leoni.
Distinguished Fellow: Certain members who have given long and meritorious service to ICDD and are currently recognized as Fellows may be granted the title of Distinguished Fellow. Matteo Leoni presented two Distinguished Fellow Awards during the Annual Meeting: first, to Catharine Foris of Wilmington, Delaware, honoring her 40+ years of service; second, to David Taylor of Wigan, Lancs, UK, honoring his contributions since 1999 (Photo 6).
L to R: Pamela Whitfield, Matteo Leoni.
Fellow: The ICDD Board of Directors may give the designation of Fellow to individuals who have given their time and talents beyond that normally associated with membership. Matteo Leoni announced the recipient of the Fellow Award as Pamela Whitfield of Excelsus Structural Solutions, Villigen, Switzerland, honoring her contributions to ICDD, in particular, her leadership as Chair of the Synchrotron & Neutron Scattering Methods Subcommittee (Photo 7).
L to R: Susan Quick, Matteo Leoni.
McMurdie Award: Recognizing distinguished work that improves the PDF®’s ability to identify and characterize materials, this award is presented biennially. Matteo Leoni presented the 2018 McMurdie Award to Susan Quick of The Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania. Sue was recognized for her many distinguished contributions for over 25 years to the quality, content, coverage, and usefulness of the Powder Diffraction File, in particular, the Zeolite Subfile (Photo 8).
L to R: Xiaolong Chen, Scott Misture, Terry Maguire, E. Andrew Payzant, Tom Blanton, Robert Dinnebier, Matteo Leoni, Jim Kaduk, Mark Rodriguez, David Rafaja, Vanessa Peterson, Takashi Ida.
The International Centre for Diffraction Data was also pleased to announce, during the Annual Meeting of Members, its new Board of Directors, serving the term 2018 through 2020 (Photo 9).
Chairman – Matteo Leoni
University di Trento, Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering
Trento, Italy
Vice Chairman – Xiaolong Chen
Institute of Physics
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Beijing, People's Republic of China
Treasurer – James Kaduk
Poly Crystallography, Inc.
Naperville, IL, USA
Corporate Secretary – Theresa Maguire
International Centre for Diffraction Data
Newtown Square, PA, USA
Executive Director – Tom Blanton
International Centre for Diffraction Data
Newtown Square, PA, USA
Chairman, Technical Committee – Mark Rodriguez
Sandia National Laboratories
Albuquerque, NM, USA
Directors-at-Large (2016–2020):
Robert Dinnebier
Max-Planck Institute fuer Festkoerperforschung
Stuttgart, Germany
Takashi Ida
Nagoya Institute of Technology
Ceramics Research Laboratory
Tajimi, Japan
David Rafaja
Freiberg University of Technology, Institute of Materials Science Structure Research
Freiberg, Germany
Directors-at-Large (2018–2022):
E. Andrew Payzant
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Oak Ridge, TN, USA
Vanessa Peterson
The Bragg Institute, ANSTO
Lucas Heights, NSW, Australia
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Past Chairman – Scott Misture
Alfred University
NYS College of Ceramics
Alfred, NY, USA
Spring Meeting week at ICDD is always enjoyed by all who attend, and this year was no exception! Mark your calendar with the 2019 Spring Meetings dates, 11–15 March 2019. We hope to see everyone again next year!
