In Memory of our Microanalysis Colleague Daniel Kent Ross
We are saddened to hear of the passing of our colleague Daniel Kent Ross.
One more day to get the Early Bird registration rate for M&M 2021!
Don’t miss out on the discounted registration fee for M&M2021!
The Early Bird registration rate deadline was extended to June 15, 2021. Register by this Tuesday and save money at all registration levels.
Congratulations to the 2021 Major Award Winners!
The Major Awards of the Society honor distinguished scientific contributions to the field of microscopy and microanalysis by technologists and by scientists at various career stages, as well as distinguished service to the Society. The honor will be conferred at the upcoming Microscopy & Microanalysis 2021 (M&M 2021) meeting.
Please congratulate this year’s awards winners!
PRESIDENTIAL SCIENCE AWARD
Hideyuki Takahashi
JEOL Ltd
PRESIDENTIAL SERVICE AWARD
John Fournelle
University of Wisconsin, Madison
PETER DUNCUMB AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN MICROANALYSIS
Yimei Zhu
Brookhaven National Laboratory
KURT F.J. HEINRICH AWARD
Katherine Burgess
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
ZEISS SCOPEs Grant: Apply to win a free microscope for your K-12 classroom
Carl Zeiss Microscopy, LLC, a MAS Sustaining Member, is pleased to announce the Science Classroom Outreach Program for Educators (SCOPEs) Grant. Each month, they will award one winner with a ZEISS classroom microscope package including an optical microscope, digital camera, and software.
Combined with video chat software or in-person smartboard/projector, students can live tour microscopic specimens, teachers can collect UHD 4K images for lecture notes and homework assignments, and science programs as a whole can be taken to the next level.
Who can apply for this grant:
- K–12 science educators who are looking for a way to virtually share microscopy lessons.
- Schools located in the United States.
Anyone interested can find out more information and apply here: ZEISS SCOPEs Grant
Virtual EPMA Workshop from Athens
The Agricultural University of Athens has announced that it will be holding a five-day workshop from 5-9 April 2021 on the use of the electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA). There will be a particular emphasis on modern developments and geological applications. The workshop is designed to educate undergraduates, graduates, and early career researchers in the theory and practice of EPMA. The program consists of a set of online lectures covering topics ranging from conventional major element quantitative analysis to new developments in X-ray mapping, trace element analysis, measuring oxidation state and water content of hydrous glasses, and characterizing meteorites. A poster presentation from participants on the first day using Gather.Town will help participants get to know each other and highlight topics of interest for the rest of the course. Additionally, participants will have the option to acquire one to two days of hands-on data on the EPMA housed at our lab (Laboratory of Mineralogy and Geology; Agricultural University of Athens).
Interested individuals should consult the meeting website.
The votes are in: 2021 MAS Leadership Election Results
Thanks to everyone who voted in the 2021 MAS Leadership Election!
Joining MAS Council in the new year are:
President-Elect: Pat Camus
Treasurer – Dave Tomlin
Director – Angela Halfpenny
Director – Josh Taillon
Commercial Director: Steve Seddio
Happy Holidays from MAS! Wishing you a new year of health and happiness.
Heather Lowers, MAS President
The M&M 2021 Submission Site is now open!
Get ready for M&M 2021! Mark your calendar and Save the Date for the premier microscopy education and networking event of the year — Microscopy & Microanalysis 2021, August 1-5, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania!
Go to the M&M 2021 website and click on the Submit Your Paper button, or go directly to the submission site:
The submission deadline is Thursday, February 18, 2021 at 11:59 PM, U.S. Eastern Time.
This year, presenters will have to option to indicate their presentation preference (Virtual or In-Person) during the submission process. Even if you know you cannot attend the in-person meeting, please still submit your paper! The submission site will not open again after the deadline.
Look for the M&M 2021 Call for Papers Brochure with the November/December issue of Microscopy Today. For more information on M&M 2021, visit the website at https://www.microscopy.org/
Upcoming: ASTM E42 Surface Analysis Community Forum on 11/06/2020
ASTM committee E42 on surface analysis invites you to attend our community forum discussion on issues affecting credibility in XPS analysis and interpretation.
ASTM E42 Surface Analysis Community Forum
Friday, November 6, 2020,
12:00 EST (18:00 Europe, 17:00 UK, 09:00 Pacific US)
Duration: 90 minutes
ASTM WebEx Meeting Registration Link
https://astm.webex.com/astm/j.php?RGID=r9eef58a8e94646b8d9cb098bb0a671f5
Registration required to receive meeting login.
Data in the literature that is poorly acquired, analyzed, or presented can have far reaching effects on the credibility of any technique. Ensuring that the community has the resources available to help the expanding user base will benefit us all
Join us for a virtual discussion of this surface analysis research community topic and help determine the best solution path that addresses these pressing issues.
Leading experts will lead discussion with participants, laying out the specifics of the problem, explaining how this has progressed and the resources currently available, and then looking forward to how we can improve the resources available and their distribution, with a goal of providing tools to improve research results.
The Problem, as it affects the research community
Matt Linford will describe a multi-institutional and multi-country analysis of XPS reported in three scientific journals which demonstrates significant problems in the analysis of XPS data appearing in the literature. He will describe a quantitative assessment of the problems and report information learned about the most common issues that have been observed.
The Structure of the current toolkit
Mark Engelhard will then provide a short summary of early issues in XPS analysis which motivated the creation of the standards committees ASTM E42 and ISO TC201, and will summarize the types of standards and guides that have been created, and explain some of the inter-relationships among relevant surface analysis standards in E42 and TC201. Recent investigations questioning the adequacy of the reporting of analysis information specified in ISO and ASTM standards will be discussed, as an example of the limitations of the standards and guides in meeting the community data reporting challenges.
The Strategy Going Forward
Don Baer will relay the development of recent guides that are intended to help address the issues and explain what is still in the pipeline. He will explore other tools that might be useful, including the possibility of an XPS reporting guide that could indicate prescribed reporting for levels of confidence and the work towards normalization of these. One objective of this presentation is to seek community input on tools and/or other approaches on how to decrease the incorrect XPS data reports in the literature. Such discussion can guide development of ASTM 42, ISO TC201, AVS Recommended Practices and other activities.
Together, we can build a framework to ensure that resource is available for the research community to help improve the quality of surface analysis result reporting!
MAS webinar: “TKD 101: An Introduction to Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction”
Please join us for another MAS webinar! Chad Parish, Research and Development Staff Member in the Radiation Effects and Microstructural Analysis Group, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and long-time MAS member will talk about about the basics of Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction, analytical strategies and error sources and show a few examples of practical materials problem solving using TKD.
The live webinar will consist of a 50-minute presentation, followed by a Q&A. The webinar is free but requires a registration.
When: November 20, 2020 at 1 p.m. EDT.
Registration: https://umn.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN__vfPG3FBQAOzcYuIVfso2g
Webinar description: Over the last two to three decades, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) emerged as one of the most powerful and exciting methods in electron microscopy to quantify the crystallographic microstructures of materials. Over the last decade or so, transmission Kikuchi diffraction (TKD) has emerged as a vital and important complement to EBSD.
In TKD, a thin specimen (as might be used for transmission electron microscopy) is mounted into the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and held very near (<10 mm) the objective lens. Electron Kikuchi diffraction patterns are then acquired using the EBSD hardware, but in transmission mode and from the electron exit surface of the foil, as opposed to reflection mode from the entrance surface as in EBSD. This provides improved spatial resolution, often 10 nm or finer, compared to several hundred nm or coarser in conventional EBSD. This opens unprecedented capabilities for materials analysis.
This seminar will (1) briefly discuss the basics of TKD and put them into their historical perspective compared to EBSD; (2) discuss how to acquire TKD data, with emphasis on artifacts, errors, and things to watch out for; and (3) show a few examples of practical materials problem solving using TKD.
This work is supported by US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Fusion Energy Sciences, under contract number DE-AC05-00OR22725.
Keywords: SEM, TKD, EBSD
Webinar Speaker: Dr. Chad Parish is a Research and Development Staff Member in the Radiation Effects and Microstructural Analysis Group, Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory. His research involves electron microscopy to solve problems in materials for nuclear energy systems. Chad has been an MAS member since 2004 and the Secretary of MAS since 2018.
MAS webinar: “Correcting the Scientific Record: RNA Mediation of Pd Metal-Metal Bonds”
Please join us for another MAS webinar on September 22 2020 at 2 p.m. (EDT)! Leonard Donovan, Oak Ridge National Laboratory will talk about RNA Mediation of Pd Metal-Metal Bonds and his role in correcting the scientific record. The live webinar will consist of a 50-minute presentation, followed by a Q&A.
Solicitation of Nominations for MAS Fellow and New Nomination Deadline
***New Deadline for MAS Fellows Nominations***
Dear MAS Members,
The Microanalysis Society is soliciting nominations for the 2021 Class of MAS Fellows. This 2021 Class should represent outstanding MAS members who have made sustained contributions to the field and the Society. Fellows serve as ambassadors of the Society to the community and the greater public. They should inspire younger individuals to reach for greater achievements. The Awards will be presented at M&M 2021.
Please consider any nominations you wish to make and submit a 2021 Fellow nomination package. The deadline for 2021 nominations is September 30, 2020. You may find directions for the nomination at https://the-mas.org/awards/mas-fellows/.
Our long-term target is that no more than 10% of MAS membership will be designated “Fellow” at any given time. With the first three Classes of Fellows, we achieved this goal. Hereafter, we expect to elect about 0.5% of the membership (about two) each year.
Thank you in advance in behalf of the Fellows Committee of MAS.
Tom Kelly
Chair, MAS Fellows Committee
The Virtual M&M 2020 Schedule Is Out Now!
The virtual M&M 2020 schedule is out now! https://www.microscopy.org/Man
Have a look at the meeting website: https://www.microscopy.org/Man
To register for the ‘Preparing for M&M’ webinar, presented by the Microscopy Society Student Council on July 16 at 4 p.m. (EDT), go to:
https://docs.google.com/forms/
MAS Webinar: Surface Microscopy and Microanalysis in an Industrial Research and Development Laboratory: General Electric – Research
Please join us for our first MAS webinar on July 15, 2020 at 2 p.m. (EDT)! Vin Smentkowski will cover various techniques for Surface Microscopy and Microanalysis in the Industrial Research and Development Laboratory at GE. The live webinar will consist of a 50 minute presentation, followed by a Q&A.
Tutorials and webinars in the MSA Online Video Library
If you are currently looking for online contents such as tutorials and webinars to pass time, give this a try:
The MSA Online Video Library provides you with free access to videos of M&M Tutorials and other MSA sessions for online viewing and downloading/archiving. The topics span a wide range from covering different analytical techniques or sample preparation to “How to Get Funding for Instrumentation When Budgets Are Tight”.
Lehigh Microscopy School cancels 2020 session
BETHLEHEM, Pa., USA: In line with the exceptional measures taken by Lehigh University to mitigate the risk of exposure and spread of COVID-19, the 2020 Lehigh Microscopy School, originally scheduled for May 31-June 5, 2020, in Bethlehem, Pa., has been canceled.
The Lehigh Microscopy School, a weeklong series of courses that keeps engineers, scientists, and technicians abreast of developments in scanning electron microscopy, was set to mark its 50th anniversary.
“Although we are disappointed to cancel this year’s programming, without question, the safety of our lecturers, participants, and staff is our top priority,” says the school’s director, Chris Kiely, a professor of materials science and engineering in the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science.
Registered participants will receive full registration refunds.
The next session of the Lehigh Microscopy School is scheduled for June 6-11, 2021. For more information and the latest updates, follow the Lehigh Microscopy School on LinkedIn.