The 2018 Materials Science & Technology (MS&T) Conference & Exhibition took place at the Greater Columbus Conventional Center in Columbus, OH from October 14–18. The Greater Columbus Convention Center is a state-of-the-art facility located in downtown Columbus. It features 410 000 square feet of exhibit space, three ballrooms and 65 meeting rooms. Throughout the week, attendees enjoyed the spacious and state-of-the-art convention center as well as the amenity.
The city Columbus, named after the explorer Christopher Columbus, was founded in 1812. This vibrant city which was situated at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy Rivers, has assumed the functions of state capital in 1816. In recent years Columbus has emerged as a technologically sophisticated city. It is home to the world's largest private research and development foundation, including the Battelle memorial Institute, Chemical Abstracts Service, the headquarters of the American Ceramic Society (ACerS), and The Ohio State University, the nation's largest campus.
MS&T 2018 Conference was the leading forum addressing structure, properties, processing and performance across the materials community. The conference featured American Ceramic Society (ACerS) 120th Annual meeting, the Association for Iron and Steel Technology (AIST) of AIST Iron and Steel symposia, the ASM International (ASM 105th Annual Meeting), The Minerals, Metals & Society (TMS Fall Meeting), and the Metallurgy & Materials Society (MetSoc annual meeting). The meeting was also co-sponsored by NACE International. The Program Coordinating Committee members of the MS&T 2018 Conference included the Chair and TMS Representative Carl Cady (Los Alamos National Lab), ACerS Representative Rodney Trice (Purdue University), AIST Representative Justin Raines (SSAB Iowa Inc.), ASM Representative David Forrest (FASDM, U.S. Department of Energy), MetSoc Representative Elvi Dalgaard (Pratt & Whitney Canada), and NACE Representative (Ajit Mishra (Hayes International). The Coordinating committee has done an excellent job of assembling a rich scientific program, a large-scale exhibit, and an enjoyable social program.
The Program Coordinating Committee provided MS&T18 with 91 symposia organized into thirteen themes: (1) Additive manufacturing (7 symposia); (2) Biomaterials (2 symposia); (3) Ceramics and Glass Materials (11 symposia); (4) Electronic and Magnetic Materials (3 symposia); (5) Energy (4 symposia); (6) Failure Analysis (3 symposia); (7) Fundamental and Characterization (13 symposia), (8) Iron and Steel (Ferrous Alloys) (3 symposia); (9) Materials- Environment Interactions (9 symposia); (10) Materials-Environment Interactions (9 symposia); (11) Nanomaterials (3 symposia); (12) Processing and Product Manufacturing (17 symposia); and (13) Special Topics (7 topics). There were over 3200 attendees and 1800 presentations that covered both parallel oral sessions and poster presentations (Photo1), and a selection of special events.
A scene from the MS&T2018 Poster Session.
Monday morning featured the ACerS/EPDC Arthur L. Friedberg Ceramic Engineering Tutorial and Lecture by Jennifer A. Lewis of Harvard University, and the Alpha Sigma Mu lecture by Ronald J. O'Malley of Missouri University of Science and Technology. On Tuesday, MS&T Plenary Session included the ACerS Edward Orton Jr. Memorial Lecture given by Cato T. Laurencin of the University of Connecticut (Regenerative Engineering Materials in Convergence, the AIST Adolf Martens Memorial Steel Lecture given by John G. Speer Colorado School of Mines (Steel-A Lot to learn), and the ASM/TMS Distinguished Lectureship in Materials and Society given by Lynnette D. Madsen of National Science Foundation (The Ecosystem of Research, Education, and Community). Other distinguished talks included the ASM Edward Demille Campbell Memorial lecture by Julie M. Schoenung of University of California Irvine (Sustainable Materials Development: A Case Study), ACerS Frontiers of Science and Society-Rustum Roy Lecture given by David L. Morse of Corning Incorporated (Imagination and Innovation in the Land of Machines), ASM-IMS Henry Clifton Sorby Lecture by Jan Ludwik Cwajna of Silesian University of Technology of Poland (Summary of Analysis of Human and Methodological Factors, Affecting the Accuracy and Precision of Quantitative Descriptions of the Microstructure of Materials). The ACerS GOMD Alfred R. Cooper Distinguished lecture was given by Tanguy Rouxel of University of Rennes (A Multiscale Approach to the Mechanical Properties of Glass), and the ACerS Alfred R. Cooper Young Scholar Award was presented to Ricardo Felipe Lancelotti of the Federal University of Säo Calos of Brazil (Structural Relaxation Versus Crystallization in a Deeply Undercooled Glass). On Wednesday, the ACerS Robert B. Sosman Lecture was presented by Jürgen Rödel of Technische Universität Darmstadt of Germany (Lead-free Piezoceramics: From Local structures to application).
Ten short courses have been offered during the meeting. These courses included: “Sintering of Ceramics” (ACerS), “Additive Manufacturing for Lightweighting - Developed by LIFT and CWRU” (ASM), “Additive Manufacturing - Its Challenges for Failure Analysis and Design,” (ASM), “Advanced Materials for Lightweighting - Developed by LIFT and CWRU” (ASM), “Characterization of Materials and Energy Device with Electro-chemical Impedance Spectroscopy” (EIS)-TMS, “Corrosion: Thermodynamics, Kinetics, Characterization, and Testing,” (TMS), “Emerging Technologies in High-Temperature Applications” (TMS), “Additive manufacturing Materials and Processing Workshop” (TMS), “Introduction to Machine Learning for Materials Science” (ACerS), and “The Science and Technology of Flash Sintering of Ceramics (ACerS).”
Since students are the future of our society, MS&T18 also scheduled a series of student activities to ensure that these young people have opportunities to learn leadership skills, to learn about career development, to mingle with other well-established scientists and with each other, and to be recognized among their peers. These activities included student speaking contest, student special topic workshop, undergraduate student poster contest, Chapter officer workshop, student networking mixer, MS&T Partners' Welcome Reception, ACerS student tour, AIST student plant tour, Ceramic mug drop contest (Photo 2), student disc golf contest, ASM Geodesic Dome Design Competition “Domes Day”, MetSoc Canada Student-Industry Mixer, and student awards ceremony.
MS&T2018 Student Mug Drop Contest
The large-scale exhibit is an important part of the MS&T Conference that compliments the scientific program (Photo 3). This year, there were more than 92 international exhibitors displaying their latest products and services. Exhibitors included analytical equipment manufacturers, materials producers, book and journal publishers, database and software producers, scientific societies, scientific consultants, and sponsoring companies. ICDD also had an exhibit booth featuring our latest PDF products and services (Photo 4). The exhibit hall was a popular place to meet up with old friends, old colleagues, and meet new people. The poster session also took place at the exhibit hall.
MS&T2018 large-scale exhibit, also featuring new ACerS Execute Director Mark Mecklenborg.
Justin Blanton and Benjamin Hish at the ICDD booth during the 2018 MS&T annual meeting.
Other conference events included the MS&T Women in Materials Science Reception, ACerS Basic Science Division Ceramographic Exhibit and Competition, ASM Women in Materials Breakfast, ASM leadership Awards Luncheon, ACerS 120th Annual Membership Meeting, ASM 105th Annual Business Meeting, MS&T Partners' Welcome Reception, ACerS Annual Honor and Awards Banquet, MetSoc & Awards Banquet, MetSoc Post-Celebration, TMS Young Professional Tutorial Luncheon/Lecture, MS&T18 Exhibit Happy Hour Reception, ASM Awards Dinner/Reception, MetSOC Historical Metallurgy Luncheon featuring The Fathi Habashi Lecturer, and the From Diversity to Inclusion Cocktail Reception. There were refreshment breaks during morning and afternoon technical session breaks throughout the week. The exhibitors also held a happy hour reception. Member lounges were also available for ACerS, AIST, ASM, and TMS societies in the Convention Center. Each morning authors' coffee was available for authors and session chairs of the program of the day. Various universities also held alumni receptions. These universities included Alpha Sigma Mu, Case Western Reserve University, Colorado School of Mines, Michigan Tech University, and Lehigh University.
In the near future, the attendees are invited to attend the 2019 MS&T Conference and Exhibit which will take place in Portland, OR, from Sept 29-Oct 3.
