Creating the future of MRS meetings
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Advancing materials. Improving the quality of life.
MATERIALS RESEARCH SOCIETY
Over the last year, the Planning Committee of the Board of Directors has been leading a strategic meetings initiative to develop our 10-year vision for the future.
Creating the future of MRS meetings For most of its history, the Materials Research Society has organized and operated its two annual meetings around a single model that emphasized, above all else, technical quality. That model has served our community well and has, arguably, been the singular source of our continued growth as a professional society. Indeed, to the materials community at large, these two high-quality technical meetings have traditionally been synonymous with “MRS.” They have Jim De Yoreo 2011 MRS President Jim De Yoreo 2011 MRS President
served as the primary venue for interaction among the materials research community and as an incubator for emerging areas of materials science. However, developments over the past decade, such as the growth of interdisciplinary materials science and the increasing interconnectedness of the global materials community, have prompted the MRS leadership to take a strategic look at the future of our meetings portfolio. A major trend has been the evolution of materials science into a global endeavor with major centers of research spread throughout the Pacific Rim, India, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, and new materials communities emerging in Africa and the Middle East. This change is reflected in MRS membership, which is 40% non-U.S.
Duane Dimos Chair, Planning Committee
Additionally, there is a large and rapidly growing community of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who
would benefit greatly from the opportunity to participate in conferences like the MRS Fall and Spring Meetings, but often do not have the opportunity to do so. To be true to our vision of “. . . building a dynamic, interactive, worldwide community of materials researchers . . . by providing a framework in which the materials disciplines can convene, collaborate, integrate and advocate,” we must understand how MRS can provide this opportunity. Another development is the dramatic way in which the web has changed global communication. Web-enabling companies, like Cisco, have discovered the power of virtual meetings in expanding the audience, amplifying the voice of speakers and exhibitors, and providing a vehicle for content delivery by those who cannot physically attend. When coupled with the recent expansion of MRS web capabilities and the other components of our communications portfolio, the potential to greatly expand the impact of our meetings through creative use of both web presence and print content becomes evident. Further driving the global expansion of materials science is the recognition that the monumental challenges of energy and sustainability that the world must address are largely materials
MRS BULLETIN
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VOLUME 36 • NOVEMBER 2011
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www.mrs.org/bulletin
831
OPINION LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
science challenges. Consequently
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