TABLE OF CONTENTS

TMS INTRODUCES E-LIBRARY . . .
. . . To Meet Member Requests for More On-Line Technical Resources

HOW TO . . .
. . . Access the TMS e-Library through Knovel

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A ONE-STOP RESOURCE FOR TMS VOLUNTEERS . . .
. . . Now Available at the Administration@TMS Web Site

WASHINGTON NEWS FROM THE FEDERATION OF MATERIALS SOCIETIES
DOE Issues Guidance on Industry Research Partnerships, House Democrats Unveil Innovation Plan

TOP TEN . . .
. . . Things to Do at the TMS Document Center

FROM OUR SPONSOR: NEW IN THE TMS DOCUMENT CENTER!
Two New Materials Titles Now Available

2006 TMS ANNUAL MEETING FINDS A HOME . . .
. . . On the TMS Web Site

STUDENT POSTER WINNERS ELIGIBLE FOR JUNIOR EUROMAT CONFERENCE . . .
. . . As Part of 2006 TMS Annual Meeting Poster Competition

TEST PE EXAM AT 2006 TMS ANNUAL MEETING . . .
. . . To Earn Continuing Professional Competency Hours

. . . To Meet Member Requests for More On-Line Technical Resources

In 2005, TMS asked web users: What would you like to see on the TMS web site? Their answer: More technical resources and more free content. The TMS e-Library offers both.

TMS has partnered with Knovel to introduce this new members-only benefit that provides on-line access to a virtual library of technical databases and engineering reference books, along with the tools needed to analyze and manipulate data. All TMS members will receive free access to the books Handbook of Materials Selection, Materials Selection for Mechanical Design, and Smithell's Metals Reference Book (7th Edition).

Members will also have the option to purchase access to 21 additional interactive electronic books and databases for an annual fee of $159 (much less than it would cost to purchase the books individually). For information on accessing the free component of the TMS e-Library (the Standard Stack) or purchasing access to the additional volumes (the Enhanced Stack), see the "How-To" article below.

. . . Access the TMS e-Library through Knovel

To access the TMS e-Library through Knovel, TMS members should start by logging in to the members-only section of the TMS web site (using their member number as their user name and their birthdate as a password) and clicking the link to the TMS e-Library page. From here, first-time users will click on the "New e-Library User" button, which links to a one-time registration form on the Knovel web site. In addition to collecting contact and demographic information, this form allows visitors to create a user name and password they can use to access the TMS e-Library on future visits. When this process is complete, a log-in page will appear on screen. New registrants will be able to log in immediately with the user name and password they have created.

Under the tab that reads "My Subscription," logged-in users will see a listing of the reference books to which they have free access as members of TMS. Users can search for specific technical topics within these publications using the search tool at the top of the page. For each publication, users can read chapters in portable document format files. Under the tab that reads "Entire TMS Library," members can view titles of additional books available for a fee. To purchase subscription access to these books, members can click on the "Upgrade Now" link at the bottom of the page.

After the initial visit to the TMS e-Library, members can access their subscription in one of two ways: by logging into the TMS Members-Only web site and clicking on the "Registered User" button on the TMS e-Library page (this will take users to the Knovel log-in page) or by logging in directly through the Knovel web site.

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. . . Now Available at the Administration@TMS Web Site

Administration@TMS, a new on-line resource for TMS volunteers, collects all the information a member could need to become more active in the society. For visitors with specific questions, a how-to guide offers concise direction in the form of frequently asked questions (and answers). Those seeking a broader view of volunteer opportunities can visit the revamped TMS technical division home pages, which provide an overview of the broad categories of technologies in which the society works. For a more detailed look at these technologies, visitors can view the revamped technical committee home pages.

Finding a technical committee that matches a volunteer's interests is the first step toward becoming involved in TMS activities. Visitors can find out more about current committee activities—such as recent and upcoming JOM topics and programming at TMS meetings—through the revamped committee home pages. Many of the pages include a welcome letter from the committee chair, followed by an invitation to contact the chair for more information. Each page also lists the date and location of the committee's next meeting and upcoming deadlines. Most of the items on the Administration@TMS web site can be viewed by the general public. Selected items, such as complete committee rosters and meeting minutes, can only be accessed by TMS members. To view this information, TMS members will need to log in to the Administration@TMS site using their TMS member number and birthdate. For more information, write to admin@tms.org.

DOE Issues Guidance on Industry Research Partnerships, House Democrats Unveil Innovation Plan

DOE Issues Guidance on Industry Research Partnerships

In the November 15 Federal Register, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued an interim final rule for the establishment of policies and procedures designed to remove barriers to commercial firms' participation in some of DOE's research programs. The new authority implemented in this rule on "other transactions" provides DOE greater flexibility to negotiate specific provisions with industry partners in areas such as intellectual property, audits, and cost principles. "Our hope is that this opportunity to work with a wider range of industry players will allow the government to bring new technologies to the marketplace cheaper and faster, which will benefit all Americans," according to Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman. "The use of this new authority hopefully will expand participation in DOE research, development, and demonstration programs by commercial firms that deal primarily in the commercial marketplace," he said. "In addition, increased private sector participation will help the government cultivate new relationships among stakeholders in the technology field, providing opportunities such as more consortium awards." Implementation of the new regulation will use Technology Investment Agreements similar to those now used by the Department of Defense. To read the entire rule and provide comments on it by December 15, visit www.regulations.gov and search for DOE-2005-0031-001.

House Democrats Unveil Innovation Plan

Closely tracking the recently released National Academies' study, Rising Above the Gathering Storm, the House Democratic Caucus on November 15 unveiled "The Innovation Agenda: A Commitment to Competitiveness to Keep America #1." The proposals focus on improving science, engineering, and technology education at all levels; doubling federal funding for R&D in the physical sciences; promoting public-private partnerships to translate inventions into marketable technologies; creating research "centers of excellence" and making permanent the R&D tax credit; guaranteeing that every American has affordable access to broadband within five years; establishing a new organization within the Department of Energy, modeled after the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, to develop high-risk energy technologies leading to energy independence within ten years; and creating "a competitive small business environment for innovation" that would include affordable health insurance, small business financial support and technical assistance, and reduced regulation.

. . . Things to Do at the TMS Document Center

The on-line TMS Document Center is a technical researcher's paradise, providing information on a wealth of books, journals, and papers published by TMS. Here are the top ten things you can do to keep busy at the TMS Document Center:

10. Find Out-of-Print Books: Selected papers may still be available in electronic format or ordered from TMS.

9. Preview Coming Attractions: In the upcoming book section, find out what's coming next from TMS.

8. Give Your Acrobat Reader a Workout: Download individual papers from books and journals in portable document format.

7. Purchase a Suite of Downloads: An economical way to purchase large numbers of papers from a variety of publications.

6. Search the Book Subject Index: Find books on topics ranging from advanced processing to titanium.

5. Read TMS Letters (free to TMS members): This year's volume features technical updates from the 2005 TMS Annual Meeting.

4. Access Back Issues of JOM (also free to TMS members), Journal of Electronic Materials, and Metallurgical & Materials Transactions: Dating back to 1997.

3. Find Award-Winning Research: The Landmark Papers selections indicate the best of the best in TMS materials science and engineering publications.

2. Take a Class: Learn all about metal-matrix composites through an on-line short course.

1. Edit Your Own Book: Choose papers and journal articles on a common theme from TMS's vast collection to build a one-of-a-kind custom publication. For a personalized holiday gift, compile the collected TMS publications of a colleague.

Two New Materials Titles Now Available

Metal Matrix Composites
by Nikhilesh Chawla, K.K. Chawla

401 pp., illus., hardcover

Metal Matrix Composites thoroughly and cohesively addresses the fundamentals necessary for practicing engineers and designers to understand the applications of metal-matrix composites in the new areas of automotive, aerospace, electronics, and recreation. This book emphasizes the synergistic relationship among processing, structure, and properties of metal-matrix composites and provides professionals, scientists, researchers, and graduate students with a basic understanding of metal-matrix composites.

Only $99
Order now!

Structural Materials
by Charles McMahon

470 pp., illus., hardcover

Structural Materials deviates from the traditional textbook style by utilizing a case study approach in which the subject matter is presented in a sequence that explains the materials in a bicycle, including the rider. This book provides enough depth in each topic for the student to function as a materials engineer, as well as a foundation for further study. It covers the corrosion, fatigue, and microstructure of selected materials, focusing on the physical and mechanical properties of carbon steels, polymers, composites, and other materials, including those that make up the human body.

Only $64
Order now!

. . . On the TMS Web Site

More than 2,000 abstracts, 200 sessions, and 50 symposia are planned for the 2006 TMS Annual Meeting, which will be held March 12–16 in San Antonio, Texas. This month, TMS members received advance mailers and preliminary technical programs (in the November issue of JOM) detailing the special events and technical presentations planned for the meeting.

Now, all this information can be found on the TMS web site.

Register for the meeting, book a hotel, sign up for a short course, plan a tour of San Antonio, preview the exhibit, and see who is speaking at featured lectures all through a single web site. Copies of the advance mailer and the preliminary technical program can also be downloaded from the web site. Attendees should register for the conference by February 13 to take advantage of the $100 advance registration discount on meeting registration.

. . . As Part of 2006 TMS Annual Meeting Poster Competition

Two Material Advantage students will have the chance to present their research to an audience of international peers at the 2006 Junior Euromat Conference, to be held in Lausanne, Switzerland, September 4–8. The students will be selected based on poster presentations made at the 2006 TMS Technical Division Student Poster Competition, a new version of the TMS student poster contest that will debut at the 2006 TMS Annual Meeting. From this competition, judges will select the top five posters to receive cash prizes. Authors of the top two posters will also be eligible to attend the Junior Euromat conference, with travel and registration funding provided by the TMS Foundation. The other three authors will be alternates in case those selected are unable to attend the conference.

The Junior Euromat conference, organized by the Federation of European Materials Societies, is geared primarily toward students in master and doctorate degree programs. All of the contributions to the conference will be in the form of poster displays, and authors will introduce their work in a brief lecture-hall presentation.

Students must apply for the TMS poster contest through the on-line TMS conference management system (CMS-Plus) by December 31.

. . . To Earn Continuing Professional Competency Hours

The Professional Registration Committee of TMS is responsible for writing the Principles and Practice of Engineering Metallurgical Exam (PE) administered by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) in the United States. Each year, prior to the annual exam date in October, TMS invites a group of PEs to pre-test the exam. This year's pre-test is scheduled for Saturday, March 11, 2006, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., at the San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter Hotel. The test will be held in conjunction with the 2006 TMS Annual Meeting.

Pre-testers must be registered PEs within the United States and will be asked to work half of the exam (40 questions) and note their comments on the exam booklet. In return, they will receive:

• Continuing Professional Competency hours
• Reimbursement for their Friday-night hotel stay
• An invitation to attend the TMS Professional Registration Committee Meeting following the test
• Complimentary dinner in an area restaurant with committee members

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.

184 Thorn Hill Road
Warrendale, PA 15086
USA
T: 724-776-9000
F: 724-776-3770

News Editor:
Kelly Roncone

EDITORS' CHOICE

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

NOVEMBER JOM: "The Technology of Magic: Scientific Challenges and Opportunities in Harry Potter's World" by Kelly Roncone
The Harry Potter books and movies have provided educators and science writers with a hook that allows them to talk about the possibilities of science and technology with a non-scientific audience. Some examples are provided here, along with details on real-life technology that mimics the effect of Harry Potter's invisibility cloak. [READ]

NOVEMBER JOM: "Four Days at MS&T '05: One Editor Tries Blogging on the 'H' Word, Nano, Bio, Sensors, Materials, and CSI" by James J. Robinson
Over the four days of the MS&T '05 conference in September, JOM editor James J. Robinson witnessed not fewer than 35 individual presentations, gave a presentation, took part in a press conference, and scribbled 40+ notebook pages of facts, tidbits, gossip, opinions, ideas for future editorials, plans for upcoming articles, quotes, and odd little doodles. This feature article summarizes those notebook pages in a web log format. [READ]

NOVEMBER JOM: "The Neural Network Modeling of Titanium Alloy Phase Transformation and Mechanical Properties" by S. Malinov and W. Sha
This paper is a summary of titanium research developments involving the use of artificial neural networks. Several models and modules have been designed, trained, and integrated into software products for simulating, monitoring, and predicting a variety of correlations and phenomena between chemistry and processing conditions and end properties in titanium alloys. The models are based on literature data, the results of which are compared with experimental data. The models are used to trace and analyze the influence of different parameters such as alloy composition and processing conditions on the beta-to-alpha phase transformation characteristics and properties in titanium alloys. [READ]

NOVEMBER JOURNAL OF ELECTRONIC MATERIALS: "Creep Resistance of Tin-Based Lead-Free Solder Alloys" by M.L. Huang, C.M.L. Wu, and L. Wang
This paper reports on the microstructure-creep property relationship of three precipitation-strengthened tin (Sn)-based lead (Pb)-free solder alloys (Sn-0.7Cu, Sn-3.5Ag, and Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu) in bulk samples, together with Sn-37Pb as the alloy for comparison at temperatures of 303 K, 348 K, and 393 K. The creep resistance of these three Sn-based Pb-free solders increases, i.e., the steady-state creep rates decrease, with increasing volume fraction of precipitate phases for the Pb-free solder alloys. Their apparent stress exponents (n_a ~ 7.3–17), which are all higher than that of pure Sn, attain higher values with increasing volume fraction of precipitate phases at constant temperature and with decreasing temperature for the same solder alloy. [READ]

NOVEMBER JOURNAL OF ELECTRONIC MATERIALS: "Influence of Native Defects on the Infrared Transmission of Undoped Ga_1–xIn_xSb Bulk Crystals" by H.J. Kim, A. Chandola, S. Guha, L. Gonzalez, V. Kumar, and P.S. Dutta
The below bandgap infrared transmission (up to 25 μm) in undoped Ga_1–xIn_xSb bulk crystals has been studied for the first time and found to be limited by native defects such as antisites and vacancies found in antimonide-based III–V compounds. For the gallium-rich alloy compositions (x < 0.5 in Ga_1–xIn_xSb), the crystals exhibit p-type conductivity with an increase in net acceptor concentration and an increase in gallium content in the crystals. For x > 0.5 (the indium-rich alloy compositions), the crystals exhibit n-type conductivity when the net donor concentration and indium content in the crystals increase. A correlation between the optical transmission and the residual carrier concentration arising from the native acceptors and donors has been observed. Due to donor-acceptor compensation, crystals with alloy compositions in the range of x = 0.5–0.7 exhibit high optical transmission for a wide wavelength range (up to 22 μm). The light hole to heavy hole interband transition in the valence band and the free electron absorption in the conduction band have been found to be the two dominant absorption processes. [READ]

NOVEMBER JOURNAL OF ELECTRONIC MATERIALS: "Contact Resistance and Shear Strength of the Solder Joints Formed Using Cu Bumps Capped with Sn or Ag/Sn Layer" by Seung-Hyun Lee, Hee-Ra Roh, Zhi Gang Chen, and Young-Ho Kim
Solder joints were successfully bonded by joining Ag/Sn/Cu bumps and Ag/Sn/Cu layers at 200°C for 30 sec under 20 MPa, 40 MPa, and 80 MPa using thermo-compression bonder. The solder joints were aged at 150°C up to 1000 h. The strength of the solder joints was measured by the shear test and the contact resistance was measured using four-point probe method. The microstructure of the solder joints and the fracture modes after shear test were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy with the energy-dispersive spectrometry. Results showed that the electrical resistance of the solder joints decreased, and the shear strength of the solder joints increased after aging treatment. The fracture modes were observed to move from the interfacial failure between solder and intermetallic compounds (IMCs) to the interfacial failure between IMCs. It was considered that the transition of fracture modes was closely related with the microstructure evolution of the solder joints, especially the transformation of IMC phases during the aging treatment. [READ]

NOVEMBER MET TRANS: "Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A" by Various
This month, Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A features 33 technical papers on alloy phases, mechanical behavior, physical chemistry, environment, welding and joining, surface treatment, solidification, materials, processing, composite materials, and light metals. [READ]

Programs, on-line registration, and more:

ALCASTEK 2006
Mumbai, India
January 11–14, 2006

SOUTH AFRICAN PYROMETALLURGY 2006
Cradle of Humankind, South Africa
March 5–8, 2006

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

SENSOR-BASED SORTING 2006
Aachen, Germany
March 28–30, 2006

MCWASP 2006
Opio, France
May 28–June 2, 2006

2006 ELECTRONIC MATERIALS CONF.
University Park, PA
June 28-30, 2006

THERMEC 2006
Vancouver, Canada
July 4–8, 2006

2006 SOHN INT'L SYMPOSIUM
San Diego, CA
Aug. 27-31, 2006

COM 2006: CONFERENCE OF METALLURGISTS
Montréal, Canada
October 1–4, 2006

THIRD INT'L SYMPOSIUM ON IRON CONTROL IN HYDROMETALLURGY
Montréal, Canada
October 1–4, 2006

INT'L SYMPOSIUM ON MAGNESIUM TECHNOLOGY IN THE GLOBAL AGE
Montréal, Canada
October 1–4, 2006

INT'l CONFERENCE ON INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE TRANSPORT INDUSTRY
San Sebastian, Spain
October 4-6, 2006

MS&T '06
Abstracts Due: Mar. 15
Cincinnati, OH
Oct. 15-19, 2006

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

MS&T '07
Detriot, MI
Sept. 16-19, 2007

NEWSWIRES