"I attended the 130th TMS Annual Meeting February 11-14, 2001 in New Orleans. As a Young Leader Scholarship recipient of the EPD Committee I was able to attend the meeting that I otherwise would have had to miss. Thus, I want to thank the TMS and the EPD for this wonderful opportunity."

"At the meeting, I attended several committee meetings; Young Leader Committee, Pyrometallurgy Committee and Extractive and Processing Division (EPD). They gave me insight how the organization works and how to get more involved. I also attended the Organizing Committee Meeting for the EPD Fall Meeting. I got to know the topics and the organizers of the meeting that I hope to attend later in the year. For this year's meeting, I had prepared a poster instead of presenting a paper. I also attended numerous technical sessions, the exhibition and some social events. Altogether, the Annual Meeting provided me a good opportunity to meet old friends and create new contacts. Thanks again!"

"As a Young Leader I had the opportunity to attend several functions that I would not normally have attended (like the TMS Banquet and the Young Leaders Tutorial Luncheon). The Young Leaders program gave me the opportunity to meet other TMS members, and other Young Leaders, which enriched my experiences at the 2001 TMS Annual Meeting.

The award also provided me with much appreciated financial assistance for attending the conference. This helped justify attending the conference to my employer.

I thank TMS for the Young Leader award and am very appreciative of the efforts that TMS has made to reach out to younger members."

"As a Young Leader for MPMD in 2001 I was given the opportunity to participate in the following meetings:

• The Young Leaders Meeting and Reception
• MPMD Council meeting
• Solidification committee
• Process Modelling Analysis and Control Committee
• TMS Board of Directors meeting and the awards presentation/dinner.

This gave me a tremendous insight into the inner workings of the many bodies within TMS as well as management of the entire Society. It was great to see the amount of enthusiasm, dedication and personal time devoted in the various committees and organisations. The Awards ceremony was one of the highlights and I enjoyed hearing and personally meeting those who were recognised for lifetime contributions and exceptional levels of achievement. This was a most inspiring night and I was honoured to be among those who were formally congratulated by the Society and to see many examples of roadmaps for successful and rewarding careers.

There were some outstanding presentations reflecting frontiers in science and technology and practical breakthroughs for industry. My main areas of research interest lie in Aluminium Shape Casting, Cast House technology and Magnesium technology and it was pleasing to see many excellent contributions in these fields.

In summary, I believe that the objectives set out in Young Leader Intern program are well met as this is an effective and exciting means of getting young professionals involved in TMS activities and networking with other professionals and senior members. I am honoured to have been chosen as a 2001 Young Leader representative for MPMD and am very much looking forward to further participation in future events."

"On Sunday, February 11th and Monday, February 12th I participated in the Annual Meeting and Exhibition of the Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society (TMS) in New Orleans. I have been selected as a 2001 TMS Young Leader Intern, and therefore all of my registration, travel and accommodation expenses were covered by TMS.

The main focus of my visit was attendance at the TMS Young Leaders business meeting on Sunday. I joined the five other YL interns, along with young leaders from previous years. I volunteered to take over newsletter editor duties during my internship. Topics of discussion were the newsletter format, continuing education, professional engineer designation, and arranging a speaker for the November conference.

I was also able to participate in the membership committee meeting, which was a great experience for me. We discussed member retention, development, and participation, and about what value TMS can provide to its membership via the web site and local chapters.

During my second day at the conference, I attended the YL tutorial luncheon given by Patrick Taylor (Head of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Tennessee), Funsho Ojebupboh (Manager of Technical and Business Development at Asarco's Globe Plant Specialty Metals), and Corby Anderson (Principal Process Engineer at the Center for Advanced Mineral and Metallurgical Processing at Montana Tech). This gave me unique insights from a professor's, manager's and consultant's point of view.

Finally, I also attended a full day's worth of technical paper presentations covering skill training systems, elements of effective safety programs, void growth during ductile fracture, fatigue crack monitoring, current and future directions in sheet metal stamping, segmented dies for the forming of tailor-weld steel blanks, re-configurable dies for sheet metal forming, and steel sheet hydroforming.

My attendance at this conference was a very beneficial experience for me, and I have several ideas for training that could be implemented at Ispat Inland. I would like to thank Kim for allowing me the time from work, and TMS for supporting me financially."

"It is a great pleasure and honor to be selected as a Young Leader Intern of TMS. Interacting with fellow Young Leaders and meeting with the society leadership gave me a keen sense of the important issues that we currently face as professionals and as a society. I have been active with TMS through the Structural Materials Division and the Composite Materials Committee, and I welcome this opportunity to increase the interest and acitivity of young members in TMS."

For more information on becoming a TMS Young Leader, why not join us for one of our committee meetings? Complete and submit the Young Leaders Participation Form or contact TMS Membership Department.

For information on participating in the Young Leader Intern Program, complete and submit the application form (PDF) or contact the TMS Membership Department.

Read additional comments and experiences submitted by former Young Leader Interns:

• Experiences of 2007 Interns at Annual Meeting
• Experiences of 2006 Interns at Annual Meeting
• Experiences of 2005 Interns at Annual Meeting
• Experiences of 2004 Interns at Annual Meeting
• Experiences of 2003 Interns at Annual Meeting
• Experiences of 2002 Interns at Annual Meeting
• Experiences of 2001 Interns at Annual Meeting