During 2010, I was approached by Jim DeYoreo—then MRS Vice President—to be a volume organizer for MRS Bulletin and accepted this new challenge. The volume organizers select the themes for each issue and also select the individual technical articles that appear in the publication. The volume organizers also perform some editorial work in conjunction with the Guest Editors and MRS Bulletin editorial staff.

Some theme issues are proposed by materials researchers on the basis of their interests. However, these proposals are usually not sufficient to fill an entire volume (12 issues). Consequently, one of the first actions requested of every Volume Organizer is to generate a list of topics for theme issues of the Bulletin.

In a fit of caffeine-induced frenzy, I generated the following list of potential theme topics and sent the list to the editorial office.

MATERIALS FOR MULTICOLOR, RECONFIGURABLE BODY ART

THE EFFECTS OF VOLCANIC ASH ON MATERIALS FOR TRANSPORTATION Rapidly biodegradable toys

MATERIALS FOR PERSONAL BODY ARMOR

(OR HOW TO SURVIVE ARMED ENCOUNTERS AT STARBUCKS)

Solid materials with no electrons

Nutritious foods with NO CALORIES

CHARGE TRANSFER DYNAMICS OF CONCRETE

Symmetric and antisymmetric enantiomorphic materials

MATERIALS FOR EXODERMIC EXPRESSION OF ALPHA-KERATIN FIBERS

INCANTATIONS FOR MODERN MATERIALS PROCESSING

Dynamic self-assembly at the yochtometer scale

QUANTUM SIZE EFFECTS IN YOTTAMETER MATERIALS

So far, not one of these materials theme topics has made the cut for MRS Bulletin in 2012. If you have an interest in being a Guest Editor for a theme issue in any of these areas, please contact me immediately (so that we can alert the proper authorities).