UM hosts the 2018 MAS TC on EBSD

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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

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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.