2019 MAS Society Awards

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The Microanalysis Society is proud to announced its award winners for 2019.

MAS Society Awards

Presidential Science Award – Lawrence Allard  (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

Presidential Service Award – Lucille Giannuzzi (EXpressLO LLC)

Peter Duncumb Award for Excellence in Microanalysis – David Seidman (Northwestern University)

Kurt FJ Heinrich Award – Miaofang Chi (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

 

2019 Best Paper Awards for papers presented at M&M 2018

Castaing – Best Student Paper

Ery Hughes (University of Bristol)

Analysis of Redox Changes in Silicate Glasses Using EPMA and Raman Spectroscopy (Paper 2022)

Macres – Best Instrumentation/Software Paper

Lewys Jones (Trinity College Dublin)

The MTF and DQE of Annular Dark Field STEM: Implications for Low-dose Imaging and Compressed Sensing (Paper 478)

Birks – Best Contributed Paper

Bradley De Gregorio (Naval Research Laboratory)

Low Energy STEM-EELS Characterization of Primitive Organic Matter and Silicates in the Meteorite LAP 02342 (Paper 2074)

Cosslett – Best Invited Paper

Jordan Hachtel (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

Novel EELS Experiments in the Newly Opened Monochromatic Regime (Paper 418)

 

M&M Student Scholar Awards

Winning registration and travel support for M&M 2019

Charles Fletcher Oxford University Fast Continuum Models for Atom Probe Simulation and Reconstruction
Brian Zutter University of California, Los Angeles Inducing Electrically-Active Defects in a Gallium Arsenide Nanowire with an Electron Beam
Kevin Schweinar Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung
An Integrated Workflow To Investigate Electrocatalytic Surfaces By Correlative X-ray Photoemission Spectroscopy, Scanning Photoemission Electron Microscopy and Atom Probe Tomography
Kousuke Ooe University of Tokyo
Light Element Imaging Technique at Low Dose Condition by Processing Simultaneously Obtained STEM Images Using a Segmented Detector
Berit Goodge Cornell University Harnessing Local Sample Variations to Generate Self-Consistent EELS References for Stoichiometry Quantification
Parivash Moradifar Pennsylvania State University Plasmonic Metalattices: A Correlated Monochromated Electron Energy Loss Study and Theoretical Calculations
Heena Inani University of Vienna Substitutional Si Doping of Graphene and Nanotubes through Ion Irradiation-Induced Vacancies
Yichao Zhang University of Minnesota Direct Imaging of Localized Anisotropic Acoustic-Phonon Dynamics in MoS2
Komal Syed University of California, Irvine ­Analytical STEM/EDS Characterization of Elemental Segregation and Solid Solution Formation in Multiphase Ceramics
Meredith Sharps University of Oregon Nanoscale Analysis of Manganeous Oxide Rock Varnish on the Smithsonian Castle, Washington, DC
Yitian Zeng Stanford University Optimizing Nanostructure Size to Yield High Raman Signal Enhancement by Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy

QMA-2019 – Round-up

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QMA-2019, a MAS Topical Conference, was a yet another rousing success.  Meeting at the University of Minnesota with one day of tutorials and three days of talks, there was something for everyone in the X-ray microanalysis community.  The program is still available here (low res/high res.) Day one was filled with vendor tutorials from Cameca, JEOL, NCI Micro, Hitachi, Electron Microscopy Sciences, Mager Scientific, ThermoFisher, Oxford Instruments, Bruker, Probe Software, SPI Supplies, ibss Group, and EDAX followed by an opening reception in the magnificent Northrop Hall.  Day two was dedicated to best practices in wavelength spectrometry;  day three to best practices in energy dispersive spectrometry; and the final day to XRF and cathodoluminescence.    The banquet on Wednesday night was enjoyed by all but particularly those who were fortunate enough to merit additional drink tickets.  Cheer and goodwill reigned particularly on the 4th floor deck overlooking the campus quad.

Most important of all, through the generosity of the NSF, MAS, our corporate sponsors and the IUMAS we were able to offer financial support to 35 Early Career Scholars.   This program encourages students, post-docs and early career professionals to attend MAS Topical Conferences and other events.  Along with the Goldstein Scholar Program, this program demonstrates the MAS’ commitment to building the next generation of microanalysts.

Thanks to University of Minnesota and Anette von der Handt for hosting the event, to Heather Lowers and the full organizing committee for building the strong program and taking care of every detail.  ‘Til we meet again in Portland at M&M 2019…

QMA 2019 Program now available online!

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The QMA 2019 Topical conference is now only a couple of weeks away. If you are attending the meeting, please make sure you have registered (here) and let us know your food preferences for the banquet (yum!). We also strongly encourage you to support our wonderful sponsors by signing up to attend the User group meetings on Monday (link).

The full program can be dowloaded now too:

High-resolution: here (62MB)

Low-resolution: here (12MB)

(We recommend that you right-click and save the program guide to your computer).

Announcing the Inaugural Class of MAS Fellows

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Last year, the Microanalysis Society initiated the MAS Fellow program to recognize eminent scientists, engineers, and technologists in the field of microanalysis of materials and related phenomena who have distinguished themselves through outstanding research and service to the microanalysis community. This includes, but is not limited to technique development, applications, theory development, and distinguished service to the society. Election as a MAS Fellow will be highly selective but should represent a broad cross-section of the MAS membership. They are selected by a review committee from among those nominated by their peers, and then confirmed by the Executive Council.

In 2018, the first class of “Legend Fellows” was recognized.  This class consisted the very most distinguished members of the community who through decades of involvement in the field and with the society could be considered to be “legends” in the field of microanalysis.

In 2019, the second class of fellows is being recognized under the title of “Inaugural Fellows.”  This class consists of the following members:

  • Ian Anderson
  • Phil Batson
  • Paul Carpenter
  • Bill Chambers
  • John Donovan
  • Vinayak Dravid
  • Ray Egerton
  • John Fournelle
  • Hamish Fraser
  • Raynald Gauvin
  • Paul Hlava
  • Thomas Huber
  • Michael Jercinovic
  • Cathy Johnson
  • Thomas Kelly
  • Paul Kotula
  • Charles Lyman
  • John Mansfield
  • Joseph Michael
  • Inga Musselman
  • Nicholas Ritchie
  • John Henry Scott
  • John Small
  • Ed Vicenzi
  • Masashi Watanabe
  • Valerie Woodward

A full list of all MAS fellows can be found here.

The Microanalysis Community Loses Some Magic

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MIT’s first microprobe built by R. Ogilvie’s students (left-to-right ?, Flanagan, Ogilvie, Nixon, ?, Colby, ?, Ziebold)

John Colby passed away in March. I first met John in 1969 when I was at RPI in graduate school working with our MAC probe. I had heard about MAGIC, a computer ZAF correction program coming out of Bell Laboratories, then in Allentown PA, and contacted John, its author, to ask for a copy on punch cards to run on our IBM 360. He readily complied, and that was a start of what turned out to be a long friendship and occasional business relationship. John was lured away from Bell Labs by Kevex Corporation a few years later, and soon John and his MAGIC put Kevex firmly on the map, most notably in Japan, where he became very appreciative of the Japanese culture and collected many Japanese artifacts. John and I had the opportunity to work together for a brief time at PGT (now Bruker) and then later with his new EDS quant program called FLAME, based loosely on Fuzzy Logic and incorporated by Scott Davilla as part of the 4Pi EDS package. Later John developed SLICE, a very clever EDS database search and match program done with FBI funding under the auspices and in close cooperation with Dennis Ward, a chemist and SEM expert working in Quantico.

John and I had some very good times together, and I would often meet up with him when he and his wife Susan, who survives him, lived in Foster City (CA). At that time, I had started Peak Instruments and was visiting Silicon Valley frequently, seeking and supporting customers using the Peak Spectrometer for the analysis of borophosphosilicate glass (BPSG), a dielectric layer used in chip technology. John and I would often finish our dinner with a nice cigar. I remember one instance, when we were enjoying a cigar together on a bench in Palo Alto, during which we learned from two policemen in a cruiser, lights flashing, that smoking anywhere in Palo Alto was against the law. Fortunately, they let us off with just a warning.

John was a prolific software creator and an accomplished algorithm developer. John was one of the founders of the Microanalysis society and one of the contributing authors on the first “Goldstein book”, which has become a bible for electron beam microanalysis. Later, he became somewhat of a maverick in the scientific microanalysis community, seldom publishing and letting slide his associations with other elite developers in the field. Possibly because of this, John may not be well known among the current MAS and EMSA memberships. Just last year, however, John was recognized for his contributions to electron beam microanalysis by being made a fellow of MAS.

I am sure I can speak for Scott and Dennis when I say that I will miss J.W. Colby, the stubborn man with the very creative mind, and know that the Microanalysis community has truly lost some magic.

Nick Barbi
nicholasbarbi@gmail.com