Friends,

I must say it was refreshing to see all the diverse MSE education-related events taking place in Orlando this year. There were so many its hard to think about where to start describing them? I suppose chronologically is best (for those that weren't there, similar activities will take place at the next annual mtg in New Orleans March 9-13, 2008).

Sunday:
----------
The Materials Bowl was an example of the MSE departments going head-head in materials trivia (heavily weighted to the JOM Top 50) and Florida International University won in convincing fashion.

Though not really MSE education-oriented -- the Student Mixer is always a blast for faculty and students and professionals.

Monday:
----------
A session "Internet and Other Electronic Resources for Materials Education" featured a half-dozen talks about the evolution of MSE with the advent of the web. It was well-attended and if you are reading this post you already know about the biggest and best one of all -- MATERIALSTECHNOLOGY.ORG (tell a friend).

Another set of talks was about various outreach programs in MSE.

The advancing women in science and engineering breakfast lecture was also good I'm told (though I did not personally attend due to my Y chromosome).

The UMC also met along with the accrediation committeee to talk about that all important issue.

And let's not forget the Young Leaders Tutorial luncheon about the need for multidisciplinarity in research and education these days.

Tuesday:
-----------
Sessions on IP protection educated many about the improtance of these matters that frankly many scientists and engineers that I know are generally ambivilent or clueless towards.

A speical graduate-student focus group was hosted where the services that TMS provides specifically to grad students were discussed.

Wednesday:
--------------
The Education Committee met and Adam Powell took over as Chair. Adam has led a number of the education-oriented net-activities lately and the education-related activities offered by TMS will surely grow under his capable leadership. I would like to point out that membership on the education committee (like nearly all TMS committees) is open to all. TMS is a member-driven society and committee participation is where "the rubber meets the road" and you can really make things happen (like the aforementioned symposia). Look for the meeting time in the front of the program and come by in New Orleans and see what goes on!



I'm sure I missed some -- but really I should also note that quite frankly every single session of every single day is education-related in some way for some people, so please don't think that the list above is all-inclusive -- it is just a sampling of some of the education-specific events I heard about or attended.

Are there areas that you heard about that I missed? How about education-related areas where TMS could serve you better?

I can't wait for the next one in New Orleans!!

"Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez"

See you there!

- Jud

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jud Ready, Ph.D.
Sr. Research Engineer & Adj. Professor
Georgia Tech Research Institute
W - 404-407-6036
F - 404-407-9036
http://nano.gtri.gatech.edu/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~