03/29 -
New Executive Director Selected at TMS 2006 Annual Meeting
Nearly 3,800 Attend 135th Event
(SAN ANTONIO, TX, USA)… Warren H. Hunt Jr. of Export, Pa., received a unanimous vote as executive director of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) on March 12 at the TMS 2006 Annual Meeting & Exhibition in San Antonio, Texas. Current Executive Director Alexander
Scott is retiring after 36 years of service.
The TMS Board of Directors approved the search committee’s recommendation of Dr. Hunt, who is currently technical director of the society. “I am honored and excited to be selected to work with the board of directors and TMS members to execute our strategic plan and meet the needs of materials professionals worldwide,” remarked Dr. Hunt. TMS members are located in more than 70 countries.
Having worked for 19 years at Alcoa Technical Center, Dr. Hunt also founded Aluminum Consultants Group before joining the TMS staff in 2005. While at Alcoa, his research included aluminum alloys and metal-matrix composites. A member of TMS for more than 30 years, Dr. Hunt earned his doctorate and master’s degrees from Carnegie Mellon University and his bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University. He will assume his new position in July.
While a change in command took place behind the scenes, on the front lines, 3,793 professionals from industry, academia and government attended the 135th annual meeting and exhibition. Two-thousand technical presentations were made covering 54 symposia in the areas of light metals; structure, extraction, processing and properties; and emerging materials.
One highly successful event was the aluminum plenary session, “The Aluminum Fabrication Industry: Global Challenged and Opportunities,” held on March 13. Two-hundred people attended to hear the discussion among seven of the world’s leading aluminum manufacturers: Alcoa Inc., USA; Aleris International Inc., USA; ARCO Aluminum Inc., USA; Chinalco, China; Hydro Aluminium Deutschland GmbH, Germany; Nichols Aluminum, USA; and Novelis Corporation, USA. The discussion included opportunities for further expansion into the automotive industry; building markets in Brazil, Russia, India and China; and utilizing recycled feedstock for fabrication. Meanwhile, the consensus on competition was that steelmakers successful at innovative research and development and PET bottles in the can market remain challenges to address in the future.
Among the 151 companies exhibiting in the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, six were celebrating their 20th year as exhibitors at the TMS annual meeting: Almeq Norway, Kabert Industries, KB Alloy, Novelis, Selee Corporation and Wagstaff. Novelis and Wagstaff both unveiled new equipment during the show; Novelis presented a next-generation jetcleaner, while Wagstaff revealed its casthouse robotics prototype, designed to reduce human exposure to molten aluminum.
Next year’s annual meeting and exhibition will be held from February 25 through March 1, 2007, at the Swan and Dolphin Hotel in Orlando, Florida. TMS is the professional organization encompassing the entire range of materials and engineering, from minerals processing and primary metals production to basic research and the advanced applications of materials. Included among its professional members are metallurgical and materials engineers, scientists, researchers, educators and administrators, as well as students, from more than 70 countries on six continents.
For more information, contact Nancy Commella, communications manager; telephone (800) 759-4TMS, ext. 218; e-mail ncommella@tms.org.
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