Advanced Electrical and Electronics Materials: Processes and Applications K.M. Gupta and Nishu Gupta

As we add another year to the history of the Materials Research Society (MRS), it’s the perfect time to pause and reflect on the Society’s achievements in 2015 and to thank our volunteers and staff who deliver our community-driven programs and services.

2015 was a year of celebrations. The MRS Fall Meeting celebrated its 40^th year in Boston and continues to be considered a main focal point of the materials community. With a meeting model unique to MRS, the program is not developed by Society leadership. Instead, year after year, materials researchers working in the field, with firsthand knowledge of what is most important to the community, create exciting, informative and world-renowned events that carry on the “great meetings” legacy.

The Society also celebrated a long tradition of editorial excellence with MRS Bulletin’s 40^th anniversary and 30-year anniversary for Journal of Materials Research (JMR). The Bulletin commemorated its milestone with a special December issue on Materials & Engineering: Propelling Innovation, as well as a special session at the MRS Fall Meeting on the same topic. JMR observed its landmark year with the first JMR Paper-of-the-Year Award, announced during the MRS Spring Meeting.

And new to our publishing portfolio—MRS Advances. Launched during the 2015 MRS Fall Meeting, this online-only, peer-reviewed journal features impactful and emerging research based on topical clusters defined by MRS Meetings, with inaugural content already available.

The MRS OnDemand® Webinar Series continued to flourish in 2015, with an expanded Webinar Wednesdays program engaging researchers in over 50 countries with free, live monthly webinars complementing the MRS Bulletin issue’s theme topic.

In just a few short years, the Materials Research Society Foundation has developed a strong program to support community-driven programs in education outreach and peer recognition. In 2015, the Foundation funded six grassroots outreach projects from four countries—Israel, Sweden, Mexico and the United States—as well as nine University Chapter Special Projects. The University Chapter Program now boasts over 100 Chapters—20% outside the United States. And in an effort to reduce barriers for engagement, the Foundation continues to fund free electronic memberships for students studying in developing countries. A recent Board vote expands the program for 2016, reducing membership dues for professional members in developing countries as well. But with your help, there is so much more we can do. Please consider a donation to the Foundation. Every gift makes an impact.

Impact of Materials on Society, our Foundation’s new introductory materials science course bridging research in engineering, humanities and social science, is garnering rave reviews. Developed in partnership with MRS, the University of Florida, the U.S. Department of Defense and Bruno White Entertainment, the flexible, modular lessons in this undergraduate course teach students that engineering shapes, and is shaped by, social and cultural variables, and that careers in engineering are not only about math and science, but also about social problem-solving.

While still in predevelopment, the Foundation’s pioneering new international traveling science exhibition, Strange Matter Green Earth, celebrated its first Ruby Level Sponsor—Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração (CBMM) in 2015. This interactive exhibition will enable millions of people across the globe to explore ways in which advances in materials can lead to a more sustainable future. More information on the Foundation, its good works, and how you might help can be found on the last page of this report.

And as always, this is the perfect time to celebrate the nearly 1000 volunteers plus members, leadership, headquarters staff, vendors, advertisers, exhibitors, sponsors, host cities and the materials community without whom these incredible accomplishments would not have been possible. Together we advance the MRS mission … to advance materials … and to improve the quality of life.

Now turn the page and find a remarkable array of people, projects, places, premiers and previews that defined our year—by the numbers!

Oliver Kraft, PhD

2015 MRS President

Todd M. Osman, PhD

MRS Executive Director

Looking back to 2015, we are delighted to see all the Materials Research Society has accomplished. Our members, volunteers, exhibitors, sponsors, partners and headquarters staff are all to thank for the tremendous success of our Society. We are pleased to present a year-end review summary of some of our biggest achievements this past year.

• broadened the reach of the Society’s mission with the help of over 1000 volunteers from across the globe

• served an MRS membership of over 16,000 students and professionals hailing from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics and engineering—the full spectrum of materials science

• furthered our global engagement by representing women and men from 91 countries around the world in our membership and meetings

• boasted over 100 MRS University Chapters, now with 20% outside of the United States

• invested in the growth of the materials profession and the communities it serves with the help of 14 MRS Corporate Partners, who help support the Materials Research Society Foundation and its programs

• announced 6 Materials Research Society Foundation grants and 9 University Chapter Special Project Awards at the 2015 MRS Spring Meeting

• honored 91 MRS members through the MRS Awards Program

• advanced 1 mission—to promote communication for the advancement of interdisciplinary materials research and technology to improve the quality of life

• garnered 4.1 million page views on the MRS website

• strengthened MRS presence on social media, generating over 10,000 likes on the MRS Facebook page alone

• reported the latest breakthroughs in materials science through the MRS news site, Materials360 Online, publishing 109 original news stories in 2015

• recorded 69 interviews with materials science experts during the 2015 MRS Spring and Fall Meetings via MRS TV, accumulating over 15,142 views on the MRS Meeting playlist

• expanded the MRS OnDemand Webinar Series with 14 live webinars throughout the year, allowing people in 50 countries access to valuable educational information on timely, interdisciplinary topics

• increased combined downloads across all MRS publications, hosted on Cambridge Journals Online, to a total of over 1.5 million downloads

• celebrated a long tradition of editorial excellence with MRS Bulletin’s 40^th Anniversary and Journal of Materials Research’s 30^th Anniversary

• ranked in the top 10% of materials science journals with MRS Bulletin, which had an Impact Factor of 5.667 for 2015

• received 25% more submissions to the Journal of Materials Research from 2014 to 2015 over previous five-year average

• released 2 new topical special issues of MRS Communications

• published 15 review articles in MRS Energy & Sustainability—A Review Journal’s first full year of publication

• achieved 4.8 million abstract downloads on the MRS Online Proceedings Library Archive

• launched the new peer-reviewed, online-only journal, MRS Advances, with the 1^st content available in December of 2015

• extended the breadth and scope of the MRS Book Collection, now with 11 books and textbooks in our portfolio

• reported a readership of over 65,000 for the Materials360® e-newsletter, now in its 15^th year of publication

• offered 106 technical symposia at the 2015 MRS Spring and Fall Meetings, bringing in over 12,000 total on-site attendees

• increased the usage of the MRS Meeting App to 6790 users at the 2015 MRS Spring and Fall Meetings

• celebrated our 40^th Fall Meeting in Boston

• provided MRS Spring and Fall Meeting attendees the opportunity to talk directly to over 400 international exhibitors about the latest techniques and advances in materials research

• expanded MRS Career Central, now including the MRS Job Board and enhanced Career Fairs at the MRS Spring and Fall Meetings, which accommodated 838 job seekers on-site

• achieved record attendance of 1851 at the XXIV International Materials Research Congress (IMRC), held in partnership with the Sociedad Mexicana de Materiales

• hosted more than 1250 scientists at various conferences and workshops through the MRS Conference Services program

• continued to bring materials research to the public with the 13^th year of the international traveling exhibit, Strange Matter, reaching over 5 million exhibition attendees on 3 continents to date

• sent a record-breaking 4510 letters to the U.S. Congress through the MRS Materials Voice platform

• provided 62% international (non-U.S.) coverage of science policy news in MRS Bulletin, Materials360 Online, and social media

• partnered with the University of Florida, Bruno White Entertainment, and the U.S. Department of Defense to produce 10 educational videos for Impact of Materials on Society, an undergraduate course that studies the interrelationships between society and materials science

• received the 1^st Ruby Level Sponsor of the new traveling science exhibit, Strange Matter Green Earth, which will enable millions to explore ways in which advances in materials can lead to a more sustainable future

2015 MRS Officers

President

Oliver Kraft

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

Immediate Past President

Tia Benson Tolle

The Boeing Company

Vice-President/President-Elect

Kristi S. Anseth

University of Colorado Boulder

Secretary

Sean J. Hearne

Sandia National Laboratories

Treasurer

Michael R. Fitzsimmons

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Executive Director

Todd M. Osman

Materials Research Society

2015 MRS Board of Directors

Charles T. Black

Brookhaven National Laboratory

Alexandra Boltasseva

Purdue University

C. Jeffrey Brinker

Sandia National Laboratories

David Cahen

Weizmann Institute of Science

Stephen J. Eglash

Stanford University

Sossina M. Haile

Northwestern University

Andrea M. Hodge

University of Southern California

Hideo Hosono

Tokyo Institute of Technology

Karen L. Kavanagh

Simon Fraser University

Fiona C. Meldrum

University of Leeds

Kornelius Nielsch

Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research, Dresden

Christine Ortiz

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

David J. Parrillo

The Dow Chemical Company

Sabrina Sartori

University of Oslo

Eric A. Stach

Brookhaven National Laboratory

Loucas Tsakalakos

General Electric—Global Research Center

Anke Weidenkaff

University of Stuttgart

2015 Committee Chairs

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

Bruce M. Clemens

Stanford University

AWARDS COMMITTEE

Albert Polman

FOM Institute AMOLF

GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

Kevin Whittlesey

California Institute for Regenerative Medicine

MEETINGS COMMITTEE

David S. Ginley

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

MEMBER ENGAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Yves J. Chabal

The University of Texas at Dallas

PUBLIC OUTREACH COMMITTEE

Elizabeth Kupp

The Pennsylvania State University

PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE

Richard A. Vaia

Air Force Research Laboratory

Supporting projects and initiatives created by the materials community, for the materials community, the Materials Research Society Foundation advances the MRS mission to “promote communication for the advancement of interdisciplinary materials research and technology to improve the quality of life.”

In 2015, the Foundation funded six exciting grassroots outreach projects:

Polycraft: Educational Innovation through Gaming The University of Texas at Dallas This project educates students about polymer chemistry and materials science, incorporating live real-life demonstrations of processes—such as 3D printing and extruding—with a modified version of the game Minecraft.

Would You Agree to Have Perovskite-Based Photovoltaic Cells? Weizmann Institute of Science This outreach project provides a module on sustainable energy (perovskite-based solar cells) to Arabic teachers in Israeli high schools to raise students’ awareness of the interactions between science and society and to encourage them to consider STEM careers.

Materials Touch Rice University

This project enables visually disabled children and adults to experience materials science in a safe learning environment specifically designed for their needs, generating a materials-aware population and a diverse workforce.

Ask a Scientist Ask a Scientist Corporation

Submitted and driven by students, this project utilizes modern technology (i.e., smartphones, internet) to illustrate that the ability to perform a critical search and analysis of internet content is a vital skill to future generations.

Mucus, It’s Snot What You Think—The Video Kungliga Tekniska Hogskolan (KTH)

This informational video showcases the amazing properties of mucus, a unique biomaterial, and offers the general public insight into the world of materials that compose our bodies.

Hagamos con-Ciencia (Let’s Make Conscience with Science)

Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional Unidad Saltillo

This outreach program exposes 5^th and 6^th grade students in rural and/or impoverished areas of Mexico to the excitement of science and technology. The goal is to raise student interest in science, support educational efforts with revised science subjects, and show how materials science impacts their daily lives.

Additionally, in 2015 the Foundation:

• funded nine MRS University Chapter Special Projects

• supported over 100 MRS University Chapters around the world

• honored outstanding contributors to the progress of materials research through 12 MRS awards

• funded free electronic MRS memberships for university students studying in developing countries

• offered professional and career development programs

• provided postdoctoral support

• and afforded diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Looking forward to 2016, we know that with your help, we can do more. Donate to the causes you care about. Visit http://www.mrs.org/foundation-donation to learn more about the good work the Foundation is doing, and to make a donation.