• PDF / 2,320,250 Bytes
• 3 Pages / 604.8 x 806.4 pts Page_size
• 3 Downloads / 205 Views

DOWNLOAD

REPORT

---

Mind-Leading

aX~S^£c_ In the course of history the official view p{ education in society has ranged all the way from reverence to contempt. Education and scholarship were regarded as virtues by ancient Greek and Roman philosophers; during another time educators and scholars were feared as a threat to the security of established church and State dogmas. Education will often fare badly at the hands of governments that are insecure, and don't want to have too much knowledge in the hands of the people, because then those people might seek to change things, to disturb the Status quo. Education is indeed an engine of both change and security, a security brought about by the preparedness of a society to understand, control and perhaps improve or conserve its surroundings. Because education can make each recipient a more effective and productive member of the Community, it represents one of the soundest investments that can be made by a nation, a Community, a corporate employer, or an individual. It is said that education is the gateway to the future...a seif-evident fact in a world whose speed of technological development means the constant broadening of possibilities for discovery and invention. Each new discovery brings with it the attendant demands for people educated to use the new technologies, create businesses around them, and make responsible public policy decisions affected by them. We have seen the Silicon Age (or the Information Age?) develop to revolutionize much of world commerce and society in the incredibly short space of 30 years.

4

ing in our symposia and short courses, and The "Ages" of aerospace, biotechnology, reading our publications. We seek to Supand perhaps photonics and superconducport Student activities and chapters; we tivity are now unfolding fast. seek to disseminate information on stateHigh school or university courses can no of-the-art materials research for educators, longer hope to stock a Student with managers, legislators and the lay public. enough facts to last a professional lifetime. More than ever, formal education must foLet me list a few examples of how MRS cus on providing fundamental bases of activities earn the literal title of EDUCAknowledge and on preparing students TION: with the interest, motivation and skills to Technical Meetings '• continue with self-education so they can stay on top of new developments as a norMRS technical meetings are promal, stimulatingpartof life—life-long. Sucgrammed with tremendous efforts decess and achievement will surely depend voted to capitalizing on potentially related more than ever before on the ability to Symposium topics. Joint sessions are schequickly understand new concepts, evaluduled...symposia whose topics may overate them intelligently in context, and create lap to provide fertüe ground for future fresh advances by taking advantage of their research interactions are clustered where relatiotiship to other disciplines. Connedions possible...fresh topics are introduced in among the disparate disciplines of science growing research a