Venturing beyond technology toward sustainability
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MATERIALS RESEARCH SOCIETY
OPINION LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Materials are at the heart of sustainability, and our members are uniquely geared to offer their talents, education, and voices to address the challenges.
Venturing beyond technology toward sustainability www.mrs.org/sustainability/
Tia Benson Tolle 2014 MRS President
Today, more and more people are becoming conscious of their responsibility to provide a sustainable world for future generations. The materials community is doing its part by promoting the strong link between materials research and sustainable global development, and conducting research that can truly enhance global sustainability. We often reference the Materials Research Society’s (MRS) Mission to “promote communication for the advancement of interdisciplinary materials research and technology to improve the quality of life.” Sustainability will clearly impact the quality of life for generations to come. Because our members span the globe and represent the breadth of the materials endeavor across multiple disciplines and sectors worldwide, MRS is well-positioned to take a leadership role to support materials scientists, engineers, and society in promoting the sustainable sourcing, development, production, application, and reuse of materials. Materials are at the heart of the sustainability issue, and our members are uniquely geared to offer their talents, education, and voices to address the challenges. For the past several years, there clearly has been an increasing emphasis within the Society on materials and materials science for a sustainable world. Last year, our Public Outreach Committee began working on a project to succeed the Strange Matter museum exhibition, which is currently traveling the globe and raising awareness of the importance of materials. As the successor project was developed, the focus quickly evolved into one of materials and sustainability, and the concept for Strange Matter Green Earth (SMGE) was born. The international SMGE project team is in the early planning, pre-development, and funding campaign stages, but from the outset has been focused on global perspectives and community-based STEM learning opportunities for our planet’s sustainability. This is not our first effort in this area—MRS Meetings have a long history of sustainabilityfocused forums and symposia. MRS has also published two special issues of the MRS Bulletin focused on Materials for Sustainable Development (April 2012) and Harnessing Materials for Energy (April 2008); a new textbook titled Fundamentals of Materials for Energy and Environmental Sustainability; and launched a new journal (MRS Energy & Sustainability—A Review Journal) in mid-2014. These activities and products are described in more detail on the MRS Sustainability Resources website http://www.mrs.org/sustainability/. As we move forward with the promotion of sustainability, there will be more opportunities for our members to get involved. During the 2014 MRS Fall Meeting, there will be a palette of sustainability-related activiti
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