Catch up with FIGMAS

/in /by

Dear Microanalytical Community,

In the summer of 2018, the Focused Interest Group on MicroAnalytical Standards (FIGMAS) will celebrate its 2-year anniversary. Time for us to look back at the past and onto the future! Our primary goals remain unchanged: building a strong community-based database that would list all available information possible on standards and reference materials used by the microanalytical community (SEM, EPMA, LA-ICP-MS, SIMS, etc.), and preparing the terrane for the reference materials of tomorrow. In the following I would like to update you on news and events around FIGMAS activities.

 

Web-database

First, we have been working on a web-based interface that would not only list all this information, but also enable users and members of our group to enter new standards information or to suggest an update. This web interface at http://figmas.org is still in development, and the webmaster (hum… myself) apologizes for taking so long to finish it. I promise to get back to it soon! We also invite you to send your information on standards and reference materials. A forum has also been opened on FIGMAS to allow members to discuss their experience with reference materials, their preparation and maintenance, etc.

 

Survey and round-robin

Second, we need to evaluate the needs of standards for the next century, and to facilitate the creation of synthetic materials or the (re-)collection of natural ones. A survey has been running over the past month among our members to dress a list of potential candidates for a “new standard”, and you will soon have the opportunity to vote for one or more of the suggested materials / minerals. With the help of John Fournelle and Gareth Seward, we are preparing a round robin to permit testing your laboratory performances and evaluating a couple “surprise” minerals… More will be revealed later this year if all goes as planned.

 

Pre-Meeting Congress at M&M 2018

Let me take here the opportunity to remind you of our Pre-Meeting Congress X61 at the Microscopy & Microanalysis 2018 meeting in Baltimore (MD) on Saturday August 5th. This PMC, the first of its kind organized by FIGMAS, consists of a one-day meeting combining invited talks, round-table discussions, and poster presentations from contributors. The attendees will learn about and discuss best practices for standard-less and standard-based methods, and for choosing appropriate standards and reference materials for quantitative analysis by EPMA, SEM and other in situ techniques. An overview of speakers and some more information is available at http://figmas.org. We will also have a poster session, and everyone is encouraged to show their research on standard compositions, synthesis or sample preparation. Deadline for abstract submission is JUNE 1st.

 

Update on FIGMAS membership

Our list of members has been growing consistently, up to a point where it became the largest Focused Interest Group with 73 paying members from 57 difference academic institution at the end of 2017; 31 members have already renewed their membership in the first couple months of 2018. It confirms the interest (and concerns) of the community about standards and reference materials in terms of quality, availability, material creation, etc. It could also be a side-effect of being the first Focused Interest Group approved and supported by both the Microscopy Society of America and the Microanalysis Society. In any case, this venture would have never been possible without you, and we sincerely thank YOU for your support.

 

FIGMAS Business Meeting at M&M 2018

We will have again a FIGMAS business meeting at the upcoming M&M meeting. It will take place on Tuesday, June 7th at 12.15 PM.  We will inform you about the exact location when we know more.

 

Upcoming FIGMAS-elections and transition of leadership

At the end of this year, I will leave the leadership of FIGMAS to Anette von der Handt. I am convinced Anette will do an excellent job, and FIGMAS will be in very good hands. I wish her success in this endeavor! On my end, I will remain webmaster of the website and of course in close contact with the community. As a consequence, a ballot will be organized to nominate a new leader-elect and a secretary-treasurer during the FIGMAS business meeting on Tuesday August 8th at noon. Owen Neill is standing for re-election to the secretary-treasurer position, while we are also accepting other nominations. FIGMAS members can nominate a suitable candidate using the form available in the member section of the FIGMAS website (https://figmas.org/login.php). It has been a great honor and pleasure to meet all of you, and to serve for the community. Long live FIGMAS!

 

Yours truly,

 

Julien M. Allaz, FIGMAS leader 2017-2018

MAS Past President’s Message: Sayonara

/in /by

Dear MAS Members,

On August 8, 2018, I passed the MAS presidency to Rhonda Stroud and became one of Past Presidents. I am still in transition process, so that I have not yet felt relief from the heavy pressure being the President. Soon, I will enjoy the relief feeling!

The previous President, Tom Kelly has created new dynamics in the society and I wanted to maintain the dynamics during my presidency. If you notice some of recent MAS activities, I think my primary mission as the MAS President was successfully accomplished. Although I expressed “my” primary mission, I have been strongly supported by various MAS members, especially the executive council members and committee chairs including committee members. Without their dedicated supports, nothing has been completed. I would like to express my sincere acknowledgement to the individuals who supported the society managements (and me!).

In addition, I would like to thank the Presidents of our sister societies: Mike Marko, Ian Anderson, Bob Price and Paul Kotula (MSA), Ric Wuhrer (AMAS), Mike Matthews (EMAS), and Ed Vicenzi (IUMAS). It was great to contribute to the M&M organization together with MSA. We had successful M&M meetings. As I described in the previous Presidential Messages, I was invited to the AMAS 2017 meeting (Brisbane, Australia) and to the EMAS 2017 meeting (Konstanz, Germany) as the President exchange program among the sister MAS societies. It was wonderful experiences to attend to those meetings organized by our sister societies. Furthermore, I was also invited to the EAMC3 (The 3rd East-Asia Microscopy Conference) meeting as one of the key note speakers in November, 2017 (Busan, Korea). This invitation is partially due to the MAS Presidency. It was great to bridge sister societies. Good and strong relationship with the sister societies should be continued.

During my presidency, we had two major events: the MAS 50th Anniversary and launching the MAS Fellow Program. More details of those events can be found in the links above. Prior to the events, I contacted the Previous MAS Presidents and the Legend class of MAS Fellows. It was wonderful for me to exchange e-mails with whom I just knew by name from textbooks and scientific articles when I was a student! I never forget this wonderful experience, which is a gift to me for my MAS presidency!

Now, the situation of MAS is very healthy: over 550 members (the highest in 21st century) and decent finance. New challenge would be to keep this high membership and activities, which is one of the fundamental missions to make the society stronger towards the 75th anniversary and beyond. I have no doubt that the New President Rhonda Stroud and the council members will lead us to the next stage of the society!

Finally, I would like to finish this message by citing a phrase from an old Japanese song:

“Sayonara (Good Bye)” is not a word for farewell but a long-term promise to see you again!

Thank you very much for your tremendous contributions and kind supports to MAS and “Sayonara!”

Masashi Watanabe
Past President

UM hosts the 2018 MAS TC on EBSD

/in /by
EBSD 2018 TC

Katharina Marquardt presents at EBSD-2018

The latest Microanalysis Society Topical Conference on Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) took place this May 23–25 at the University of Michigan. The organizers, Steve Niezgoda (OSU), Marc DeGraef (CMU), Elena Miranda (CSUN), Andrew Cross (Wash U – St Louis), Bobby Kerns (UM) and Emmanuelle Marquis (UM) ensured a comprehensive program with speakers including Katharina Marquardt (University Bayreuth, Germany), John Wheeler (University of Liverpool, UK), Maurine Montagnat (Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement, France), Angus Wilkinson (Oxford University, UK) and Ralf Hielscher (Chemnitz Technische Universität, Germany) to cover the range of new applications and analyses methods relevant to EBSD.

The meeting brought together a total of over 170 participants internationally including post-docs, researchers, vendors and over 70 graduate students. The conference featured three days of lectures and animated conversation on EBSD applications and developments within materials, geo-, and planetary sciences, engineering, and industry. The dynamic conference format combined interactive live demonstrations from vendors using equipment at the Michigan Center for Materials Characterization to showcase the latest EBSD hardware and software with poster and plenary sessions.

Along with a workshop and presentation on sample preparation and data analysis, Day 1 provided lab demonstrations on a flexible sign-up basis. Students and others seeking even more hands-on insights on EBSD methods were also treated to tutorials in geoscience and engineering materials within the (MC)2 laboratory space. The theme of Day 2 was “EBSD for Characterization of Microstructure Evolution” and also featured a poster session with over forty presenters. Winners of the best poster student awards are Penny Weiser (U Cambridge) for Geological Sciences and Tian Liu (U Alabama) for Materials Sciences. Day 3 emphasized advances in EBSD technology and data analysis, such as Bayesian approaches on how to most effectively use data mining approaches to assist in analyzing materials.

Represented vendors throughout the duration of the conference included BLG Vantage, Bluequartz, Buelher, Bruker, Cambridge Press, EDAX, EXpressLO LLC, E.A. Fischione, Gatan, Hitachi, JEOL, Leica Microsystems, Mager Scientific, NanoMEGAS, Oxford Instruments, TESCAN, Thermo Scientific, and ZEISS Microscopy.

MAS Director Emma Bullock heads up the Smithsonian Science Education Academy for Teachers

/in /by

In early August, 2017, a group of 21 teachers from around the US took part in the Smithsonian Science Education Academy for Teachers (SSEATs) on Earth’s History and Global Change. This program is designed to introduce K-12 teachers to world-class scientists, strategies for science education, and provide resources to take science back to their classrooms. MAS Director Emma Bullock was the Science Coordinator for the week, and accompanied the teachers as they explored how our earth formed, what happens during mass extinctions, and how humans have changed the environment around them.

During the course of the week, the teachers visited the National Museum of Natural History, the National Air and Space Museum, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and the Carnegie Institution for Science. Early in the week, Dr. Bullock introduced the teachers to meteorites, and explored what they can tell us about the origins of our Solar System, and other planetary bodies. This was followed by a tour of the U.S. national meteorite collection, where the teachers had the opportunity to hold pieces of the moon and Mars in their hands. At Carnegie, the teachers interacted with more world-class scientists, and had the opportunity to get hands-on with a mass spectrometer to age-date some zircon crystals. The group also learned how to perform geochemical analysis using a field-emission JEOL scanning electron microscope equipped with an Oxford EDS system.