TABLE OF CONTENTS

2005 TMS ANNUAL MEETING REPORTS LARGEST STUDENT ATTENDANCE IN SOCIETY HISTORY . . .
. . . And High Overall Attendance in San Francisco

TMS PRESIDENTS HIGHLIGHT COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS
Presidential Speeches at Annual Meeting Focus on Cooperation with Other Societies and Disciplines

TMS AND SME ANNOUNCE JOINT SPONSORSHIP OF FALL MEETINGS
TMS Extraction & Processing Division Fall Meeting Follows MS&T Collaborative Programming Model

FORMER STRUCTURAL MATERIALS COMMITTEE "ACTS" TO REFOCUS MISSION
Committee Looks to Analysis, Characterization, Testing, and Simulation

MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR: ZEISS INTRODUCES AXIO IMAGER
New Zeiss Axio Imager Opens Modern Era in Digital Microscopy

GLOBAL ALUMINUM INDUSTRY SYMPOSIUM ATTRACTS HIGH-LEVEL SPEAKERS . . .
. . . and High Numbers of Attendees, with 500 or More Leaving Standing Room Only

THE "WORLD IS FLAT" SYMPOSIUM WILL REPLAY ON THE INTERNET
PowerPoint Slides Synched with Audio Recordings Will Comprise the June JOM-e Proceedings

BLACK TIES AND KILTS: A GLIMPSE AT TMS HONORARY DINNERS
Honorees Celebrate Professional Accomplishments with Friends and Colleagues

TOP TEN . . .
. . . Exhibitor Giveaways at the 2005 TMS Annual Meeting

WASHINGTON NEWS FROM THE FEDERATION OF MATERIALS SOCIETIES
Rules Extend Student and Visiting Scientist Visas

MSE GOES TO WASHINGTON D.C.
TMS Joins the Science and Engineering Community at Congressional Visit Days and You Can, Too

. . . And High Overall Attendance in San Francisco

A total of 3,818 people attended the 2005 TMS Annual Meeting last week in San Francisco, California, including 672 student members. Only three TMS meetings have surpassed attendance levels for the 2005 meeting, with the society's best-attended meeting taking place in San Antonio, Texas, during 1998. The society will return to San Antonio in 2006 for its next annual meeting, before moving to another popular venue for meetings in 2007: Walt Disney World. In 1997, total attendance at the TMS Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida, reached 4,283, making it the second best-attended TMS meeting.

Student member attendance at the TMS Annual Meeting rose from 474 at the Charlotte, North Carolina meeting in 2004 to 672 at this year's meeting in San Francisco. These numbers correspond with a rise in TMS student membership in 2005, due at least in part to the new joint Material Advantage student program developed by TMS, ASM International, and the American Ceramic Society.

Presidential Speeches at Annual Meeting Focus on Cooperation with Other Societies and Disciplines

"It has been a year defined by increased collaboration with other societies, exciting new joint technical conferences, increased member benefits, and expanded student chapters at universities," said Gregory J. Hildeman (pictured, left) in a speech ending his term as TMS president. Before passing the title to Tresa Pollock (pictured, right) at the 2005 TMS Annual Meeting Awards Banquet, Hildeman reviewed the society's accomplishments in the past year, noting such collaborative efforts as the Materials Science & Technology (MS&T) conference organized with the Association for Iron and Steel Technology, agreements made to organize MS&T with three additional materials societies in 2005, the Material Advantage Student Program with ASM International and the American Ceramic Society, and e-membership agreements with the Chinese Society for Metals and the Indian Institute of Metals.

In accepting her position as 2005 TMS president, Pollock promised that more collaboration is ahead for the society. Reviewing the backgrounds of this year's annual meeting presenters, Pollock concluded that collaboration can be found not only between materials societies, but between scientists and engineers from different disciplines, different sectors, and different countries, "Interdisciplinarity, collaboration, globalization . . . that's TMS."

TMS Extraction & Processing Division Fall Meeting Follows MS&T Collaborative Programming Model

In the spirit of collaboration, TMS and the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration (SME) announced that they will hold joint meetings in the fall, starting in 2006. The agreement will allow the Extraction & Processing Division of TMS and the Mineral & Metallurgical Processing Division of SME, which usually hold two separate fall meetings, to hold one joint meeting that appeals to both societies' extraction and processing audiences. Like the Materials Science & Technology (MS&T) conferences TMS holds with other societies each fall, the new extraction and processing meetings will allow attendees to access the resources of multiple materials societies at a single meeting, thus reducing traveling and registration fees for members.

The first jointly sponsored symposium will be the Sohn International Symposium, scheduled for August 27–31, 2006 in San Diego, California. Plans for 2007 and 2008 include a meeting that focuses on precious metals and the next installment in the REWAS meeting series (Global Symposium on Recycling, Waste Treatment, and Clean Technology).

Committee Looks to Analysis, Characterization, Testing, and Simulation

In response to dwindling participation from committee members and an overly expansive focus, the TMS Structural Materials Committee, part of the TMS Structural Materials Division, has changed its name to the Analysis, Characterization, Testing & Simulation (ACTS) Committee. In addition to the traditional activities of the Structural Materials Committee, the ACTS committee will also encompass activities such as three-dimensional characterization. Scientists and engineers working in this field, according to Mark Lovell Weaver, chair of the committee, were looking for a home in the TMS technical committee structure, and, since the group's work had a structural materials tie-in, the Structural Materials Committee invited these individuals to join their activities.

"The addition of this new group complements the committee," said Weaver, who envisions exciting programming from the ACTS committee in the future, as new committee members bring emerging technologies to the group's existing activities.

New Zeiss Axio Imager Opens Modern Era in Digital Microscopy

Experience the Axio Imager upright digital microscope for routine and research. Highest optical performance is combined with maximum stability, exceptional ergonomy, and integrated intelligence for enhanced operating comfort. Innovative stand architecture with integrated software will control all of your work routines for the highest precision to meet your individual requirements.

. . . and High Numbers of Attendees, with 500 or More Leaving Standing Room Only

As organized by Halvor Kvande of the TMS Light Metals Division, the single-session symposium The Role of Technology in the Global Primary Aluminum Industry Today and in the Future was easily the best-attended event of the 2005 TMS Annual Meeting. With executives from six of the world's top aluminum producers (Alcan, Alcoa, Chalco, Hydro Aluminium, Rusal, and SUAL) giving presentations, attendance frequently exceeded room capacity. Of particular interest to many attendees was the participation of speakers from China and Russia, who provided insights into production statistics, research objectives, environment and safety issues, and market development.

While the presentations were generally off-the-record, with neither a proceedings nor distribution of the PowerPoint slides being planned, some of the symposium's content will be featured in the August JOM, when a recap of the symposium's roundtable discussion is scheduled.

PowerPoint Slides Synched with Audio Recordings Will Comprise the June JOM-e Proceedings

Both well-attended (50-100 people per presentation) and thought-provoking was the 2005 TMS Annual Meeting's all-invited, single-session symposium The World Is Flat: Globalization of Materials R&D, which was organized by Toni Marechaux (pictured), director of the Board on Manufacturing and Engineering Design, and Warren H. Hunt, Jr., TMS technical director. The Monday morning program was sponsored by the TMS Public and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Consisting of eight presentations and a roundtable discussion, the symposium featured speakers from government, academia, and industry. While the presenters generally spoke from a U.S. perspective, each articulated how the materials science and engineering community, regardless of organizational interest or technical discipline, is increasingly and unavoidably global. Manifestations of this trend include the growing numbers of non-U.S.-born technical personnel who populate U.S. company, national lab, and university staffs. It is also characterized by the low-cost but skilled technical labor that is increasingly available beyond the shores of the United States. The speakers addressed a variety of strategies for not only working within this environment but thriving in it. A particular challenge includes heightened security and defense concerns, which restrict the exchange of information across borders (some borders more than others). Visa issues represent yet another hurdle.

The presentations were recorded and will be presented as part of the June 2005 issue of JOM under the banner of JOM-e. Access to the rebroadcast will be available in late May at no charge.

Honorees Celebrate Professional Accomplishments with Friends and Colleagues

The dress at TMS honorary dinners leans toward the formal side—suits are usually the norm for men, and dresses or gowns for women. On occasion, though, the event is so special it calls for a kilt. John Campbell (pictured, center, with Xinjin Cao, left, and Farhad Bahreinian, right), the University of Birmingham professor who was honored with a dinner as well as a symposium during the 2005 TMS Annual Meeting, decided that his dinner was just such an occasion. Campbell mingled with his guests while wearing a green tartan kilt—the colors of the Campbell clan as well as the Black Watch regiment. "I wear it for special occasions," Campbell said of his Scottish regalia. "I owe it to the family tradition." Campbell's grandfather wore the colors as a member of the Black Watch, a Scottish infantry of the British army.

Terence Langdon greeted friends and colleagues in a more traditional suit at a dinner in his honor that accompanied the Langdon Symposium: Flow and Forming of Crystalline Materials. The largest symposium at the 2005 TMS Annual Meeting with approximately 150 papers, including its own poster session, the symposium was held to honor the University of Southern California professor whose influence extends throughout the world. Dinner attendees included those who met Langdon in his travels to Russia, the Czech Republic, and Mexico. It comes as no surprise, then, to learn that one of Langdon's hobbies is amateur radio broadcasting, which he uses to communicate with friends throughout the world.

During the 2005 TMS Annual Meeting, symposia, many with associated dinners, were also held in honor of Armen G. Khachaturyan, professor at Rutgers University; James C.M. Li, Hopeman Professor at the University of Rochester; John E. Morral, professor and chair at Ohio State University; and Jagdish Narayan, distinguished university professor at North Carolina State University.

. . . Exhibitor Giveaways at the 2005 TMS Annual Meeting

A casual stroll through the exhibit hall at the 2005 TMS Annual Meeting could yield valuable industry contacts, an introduction to new products and services, and, of course, free stuff. What follows is a list of the top ten best giveaways at the 2005 TMS Annual Meeting exhibit as identified by the TMS e-News staff:

10. I Love Slurry Pins: Who doesn't?

9. Floppy Frisbees: Much easier to catch than the regular version

8. EnginEarrings: Homemade aluminum earrings and pins available for a donation to the University of Wisconsin-Madison student chapter

7. M&Ms and Twizzlers: Maybe not original, but they sure taste good

6. Stress Relief Block: Bright orange blocks with the company name Gouda printed on the side, this giveaway had a lot of people talking about cheese

5. Tape Measure: A useful 100% metric tool for measuring in centimeters

4. Chinese Knots and Masks: Cultural decorations from the Aluminum Corporation of China

3. Fortune Cookies: Cleverly packaged in a Chinese food takeout box

2. Tulips: Female attendees were treated to live tulips on the opening day of the exhibit in honor of Valentine's Day

1. USB Flash Drives: From the JOM exhibit booth (this is where the bias comes in), 25 flash drives with 32 MB of storage capacity were raffled off over three days. Practical and stylish.

Rules Extend Student and Visiting Scientist Visas

On February 11, 2005, the State Department announced an "Extension of Validity for Science Related Interagency Visa Clearances," a move immediately praised by Congressional leaders as adopting recommendations of many science and university organizations.

Immediately following September 11, 2001, students and scientists were generally required to undergo a "Visa Mantis" clearance, a security check based on sensitive technology transfer concerns, before entering the United States. The clearance was required every time they sought to enter the country, even if they had just left for a brief visit to their home country. Under the new policy, the Mantis clearance would be extended to a maximum of four years for students and two years for exchange visitors. Provided the applicant was returning to the same program or activity, he or she would not have to undergo another Mantis check to renew his or her visa.

The move was hailed by House Science Committee Chair Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), who said that "This change will ensure that the U.S. continues to have access to the world's best and brightest scientists—and that's good for science and for security."

TMS Joins the Science and Engineering Community at Congressional Visit Days and You Can, Too

Looking for an opportunity to learn more about the workings of the United States government's science and engineering enterprise? Feel passionate about the importance of materials science and engineering as a foundation for innovation? Then join your TMS colleagues at this year's Congressional Visit Days, May 10-11, in Washington, D.C. Informational sessions on the federal science and engineering budget as well as training on how to work with the United States Congress provide a valuable development experience for students as well as seasoned professionals. You will (finally) have the opportunity to meet with members of Congress and their staffs to bring home the message that government support for R&D in the physical sciences and engineering is critical. This is something you can't do sitting at your desk.

Contact Iver Anderson, TMS Public & Governmental Affairs Committee chair, at andersoni@ameslab.gov or Warren Hunt, TMS technical director, at whunt@tms.org for more information or to sign up. You can also learn more about Congressional Visit Days by reading the January 2004 JOM article "Congressional Visit Days: Your Chance to Be an Advocate for MSE."

ABOUT e-NEWS

TMS e-News is a monthly e-mailed newsletter that provides information on The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society's membership, meetings, publications, and other activities of interest.

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EDITORS' CHOICE

The editors of TMS publications select the must-read papers from the latest editions:

FEBRUARY JOM: "The Russian Aluminum Industry: Trends and Reflections of the Global Market" by Igor Prokopov
This article charts the remarkable growth of the aluminum industry in Russia that propelled the country to its present position as number-two world producer. In this article, the current situation and future prospects are reviewed against a backdrop of global economics, production and consumption, and supply and demand indices. Developments and achievements are outlined, together with supporting company strategies for further growth and improvements. These are discussed in terms of product. It is concluded that aluminum as a material and the Russian industry share a bright future together. [READ]

FEBRUARY JOM: "The Processing, Properties, and Structure of Carbon" by Marilyn Minus and Satish Kumar
This paper reviews the processing, properties, and structure of carbon fibers. Carbon fibers are derived from several precursors, with polyacrylonitrile being the predominant precursor used today. Carbon fibers have high strength (3–7 GPa), high modulus (200–500 GPa), compressive strength (1–3 GPa), shear modulus (10–15 GPa), and low density (1.75–2.00 g/cm³). Carbon fibers made from pitch can have modulus, thermal, and electrical conductivities as high as 900 GPa, 1,000 W/mK, and 106 S/m, respectively. These fibers have become a dominant material in the aerospace industry and their use in the automotive and other industries is growing as their cost continues to come down. [READ]

FEBRUARY JOM: "Finding Inspiration in Argiope Trifasciata Spider Silk Fiber" by Manuel Elices, José Pérez-Rigueiro, Gustavo R. Plaza, and Gustavo V. Guinea
The outstanding mechanical properties of silk fibers from the spider Argiope trifasciata are reviewed in this article, particularly the tensile behavior under controlled humidity and temperature. Samples obtained by forced silking showed a remarkable reproducibility. A novel procedure, wet stretching, developed by the authors, promises to shed light on the spinning of artificial silk fibers. [READ]

FEBRUARY JOURNAL OF ELECTRONIC MATERIALS: "Growth and Optimization of Extremely High-Pulse-Power Graded-Index Separate Confinement Heterostructure Quantum Well AlGaAs/InGaAs Dioxide Lasers with Broadened Waveguides" by J.Z. Li, et al.
Material quality is an essential prerequisite and a major challenge for the fabrication of high-power, 980-nm, strained-quantum-well (SQW) InGaAs lasers. We report our work aimed at metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) growth optimization and epitaxial quality analysis of various graded-index separate confinement heterostructure (GRINSCH) QW AlGaAs/InGaAs laser structures. Systematic investigation of doping level control and minimization of oxygen incorporation in AlGaAs were performed. Background oxygen levels of 10¹⁵ cm^-3 were obtained with n-(Si) and p-(C) doping concentrations as high as 1 × 10¹⁸ cm^-3 and 3 × 10¹⁸ cm^-3, respectively, for Al_0.4Ga_0.6As layers. Double-crystal x-ray (DCXR), room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) mapping, Hall effect measurements, and secondary ion-mass spectroscopy (SIMS) techniques were used to evaluate material quality. A record, multimode, pulsed output power of 52.1 W has been obtained from 100-μm × 2-mm broad-stripe lasers made from these materials. The devices demonstrate low threshold current, low cavity losses, and kink-free light-current characteristics. [READ]

FEBRUARY JOURNAL OF ELECTRONIC MATERIALS: "Nitrogen-Doped Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ Films for Nonvolatile Memory" by Yunfeng Lai, et al.
Nitrogen-doped Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ (GST) films for nonvolatile memories were prepared by reactive sputtering with a GST alloy target. Doped nitrogen content was determined by using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The crystallization behavior of the films was investigated by analyzing x-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Results show that nitrogen doping increases crystallization temperature, crystallization-activation energy, and phase transformation temperature from fcc to hexagonal (hex) structure. Doped nitrogen probably exists in the grain vacancies or grain boundaries and suppresses grain growth. The electrical properties of the films were studied by analyzing the optical band gap and the dependence of the resistivity on the annealing temperature. The optical band gap of the nitrogen-doped GST film is slightly larger than that of the pure GST film. Energy band theory is used to analyze the effect of doped nitrogen on electrical properties of GST films. Studies reveal that nitrogen doping increases resistivity and produces three relatively stable resistivity states in the plot of resistivity versus annealing temperature, which makes GST-based multilevel storage possible. Current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the devices show that nitrogen doping increases the memory's dynamic resistance, which reduces writing current from milliampere to microampere. [READ]

TMS LETTERS ISSUE 6: "Characteristics of Ultra-Low Threshold 1.3 µm Quantum Dot Lasers" by K.M. Groom, et al.
The use of a high-temperature growth step for self-assembled In(Ga)As quantum dots within an InGaAs/GaAs matrix (DWELL structure) is shown to yield lasers exhibiting excellent high-temperature performance and ultra-low room temperature threshold current densities of 32.5cm^-2, 24Acm^-2, and 17Acm^-2 for lasers with as-cleaved facets, single HR coated facet and double HR coated facets, respectively. [READ]

TMS LETTERS ISSUE 6: "Negative Differential Resistance Through Individual Organic Molecules Bound to the Si(111)-7x7 Surface" by A.S. Baluch, N.P. Guisinger, and M.C. Hersam
Charge transport measurements are performed using the ultra-high vacuum scanning tunneling microscope (UHVSTM). Negative differential resistance (NDR) is observed in the current voltage curves of isolated organic molecules (2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy [TEMPO]) covalently bound to the clean Si(111)-7×7 surface. The NDR behavior is attributed to resonant tunneling via molecular orbitals, previously demonstrated for TEMPO on the Si(100)-2×1 surface. The results suggest that the qualitative mechanism for a molecular NDR on silicon is independent of substrate orientation. [READ]

TMS LETTERS ISSUE 8: "Interfacial Tensile Tests of the GRCop-84/Cu-26Cr/NiCrAlY System" by P. Jain, K.J. Hemker, and S.V. Raj
Bow-tie-shaped microsamples with interfaces normal to the loading axis were prepared and tested to characterize the interfacial behavior of overlay coatings for GRCop-84. Final fracture of these samples occurred in the substrates, and the interfaces were found to be intact after the test. Closer observation shows that plastic deformation was concentrated in the substrate and bond coat and that the NiCrAlY coating did not plastically deform. Similar experiments using this new technique are being employed to measure the effects of thermal cycling on the interfacial strength. [READ]

MEETINGS CALENDAR

Programs, on-line registration, and more:

SOLID-SOLID PHASE TRANSFORMATION IN INORGANIC MATERIALS
Phoenix, AZ
May 29-June 3, 2005

2005 ELECTRONIC MATERIALS CONFERENCE
Santa Barbara, CA
June 22-24, 2005

ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION OF MATERIALS IN NUCLEAR SYSTEMS-WATER REACTORS
Salt Lake City, UT
Aug. 14-18, 2005

INTL CONFERENCE ON SILICON CARBIDE AND RELATED MATERIALS
Pittsburgh, PA
Sept. 18-23, 2005

MS&T '05
Pittsburgh, PA
Sept. 25-28, 2005

INTL SYMPOSIUM ON SUPERALLOYS 718, 625, 706 AND DERIVATIVES
Pittsburgh, PA
October 2-5, 2005

2006 TMS ANNUAL MEETING
San Antonio, TX
March 12-16, 2006

2007 TMS ANNUAL MEETING
Orlando, FL
Feb. 25-Mar. 1, 2007

NEWSWIRES