The Materials Research Society (MRS) will hold its 2018 MRS Fall Meeting and Exhibit at the Hynes Convention Center and the Sheraton Boston Hotel in Boston, Mass., November 25–30. The Meeting will include technical programming, tutorials, an award ceremony, poster sessions, a career fair, and other special activities.
MRS meetings focus on leading interdisciplinary materials research in both fundamental and applied areas, coordinated by more than 200 scientists from both academia and industry worldwide. The Meeting’s core is its technical program, which includes 57 symposia that are organ-ized into the following nine clusters.
Symposium clusters
The General Interest cluster features symposia on hot topics such as Machine Learning, Robotics, and the newest addition, Synthetic Biology—An Accelerator of Materials Research and Development.
The Broader Impact cluster includes symposia regarding sustainability in materials science and preparing for a career in higher education in materials science.
The Biomaterials and Soft Materials cluster includes nine symposia that cover a diverse range of topics related to biomaterials and soft materials. Both experimental and modeling approaches will be emphasized, and organic and inorganic materials will range from the nano- to macroscale. Symposia will include topics on the fabrication, characterization, and application of soft materials and interfaces.
The Characterization, Mechanical Properties and Structure–Property Relationships symposia cover structure-property relationships, in situ and in operando analysis of electrochemical materials and interfaces, ultrafast optical probes for materials characterization, materials property changes under irradiation, and solid-state chemistry of inorganic materials.
The Electronic, Photonic and Magnetic Materials cluster focuses on a broad range of advanced functional materials for electronics, sensing, and novel devices. Topics range from fundamental studies to device design, modeling, and industrial applications. The exciting and growing area of 2D materials beyond graphene will also be featured.
The Energy—Transfer, Storage and Conversion cluster is a range of 15 selected topics that highlights everything from flexible low-cost photovoltaics, advanced perovskite materials and devices for next-generation photovoltaics, to high-efficiency silicon photovoltaics. A symposium on nuclear waste management and a symposium on progress in practical solutions for carbon capture technology are featured as well.
The Nanomaterials cluster features four symposia that cover current progress in nanomaterials and nanotechnology. Carbon nanomaterials, such as graphene and carbon nanotubes, as well as related noncarbon materials, such as boron nitride, are topics of significant interest in the community. A connecting theme of the symposia in this cluster is assessing how the synthesis and structure of the nanomaterials affect their function and application.
The Processing and Manufacturing cluster features seven symposia that cover diverse processing topics such as plasma-based processing, architected materials processing, electromagnetic fields for materials synthesis, intermetallic alloys for structural and functional applications, and high-entropy alloys.
The Thermal Properties and Thermo-electric Materials cluster includes three symposia that cover a diverse range of topics, including all types of caloric materials, thermal analysis of materials, development of new thermal analysis methods, and emerging low-temperature thermal energy-conversion technologies.
Plenary session and awards
The Plenary Session Featuring The Fred Kavli Distinguished Lectureship in Materials Science presentation will be held on Monday, November 26, at 6:30 pm, in the Sheraton Boston Hotel, Grand Ballroom. This year’s plenary speaker, Paula T. Hammond, is the David H. Koch Chair Professor of Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering.
The MRS Awards and Recognition Program Featuring the Von Hippel Presentation will convene on Wednesday, November 28, at 6:15 pm, in the Sheraton Grand Ballroom. The Von Hippel Award, David Turnbull Lectureship, MRS Medal, Materials Theory Award, The Kavli Foundation Early Career Lectureship in Materials Science, the inaugural MRS Nelson Buck Robinson Science and Technology Award for Renewable Energy, MRS Bulletin Postdoctoral Prize, MRS Postdoctoral Awards, Graduate Student Gold and Silver Awards, and the Arthur Nowick Graduate Student Award will be presented. For up-to-date award recipient information, visit www.mrs.org/fall2018.
Special sessions and events
Symposium X talks provide Meeting attendees with an overview of leading-edge topics. Featured speakers are Sergei Kalinin, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Monday); Dae-Hyeong Kim, Seoul National University (Tuesday); Mariana Bertoni, Arizona State University (Wednesday); and Erik Bakkers, Tech-nische Universiteit Eindhoven and Delft Technical University (Thursday).
LATE NEWS—HOT TOPIC events for the Fall Meeting include Symposium GI01: Machine Learning and Data-Driven Materials Development and Design and GI03: Synthetic Biology—An Accelerator of Materials Research and Development.
Essentials of Getting Your Work Published, a professional development offering, is planned as a Hub Stage event on Monday, November 26. New this year is Essentials of Abstract Writing, which will allow journal authors to have one-on-one critiquing of their abstracts at the Career Fair.
Poster sessions will be held in the evenings Monday through Thursday. The Meeting chairs will award prizes of up to $500 for the best posters during each evening session.
The Government Affairs Committee will host Research Funding Opportunities sessions on Tuesday and Thursday. These sessions provide interaction between government agency presenters and MRS membership. Invited talks will be followed by roundtable Q&A sessions with individual program managers. Confirmed agencies are the US Department of Energy—Office of Science; National Institutes of Health—National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering; National Science Foundation (NSF)—Division of Materials Research; and the NSF Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation.
The iMatSci Innovation Showcase provides a platform for independent technology leaders and those at universities, research labs, and startup companies to demonstrate the practical applications of their materials-based technologies. The entities behind these innovations will generally be pre-revenue and seed-stage innovators that are actively seeking partners, funding, or avenues for moving toward product commercialization. However, iMatSci will also consider showcasing innovative technologies that are emerging from an existing corporate entity. iMatSci will take place on Tuesday, November 27 and Wednesday, November 28.
Science in Video (SciVid), a high-impact materials science video competition, will showcase the finalists as they compete for recognition and prizes. Members will be asked to vote on their favorite videos to determine the People’s Choice winner. A viewing station and instructions will be located at the Public Outreach Center in The Hub and in several locations throughout the Meeting. The SciVid awards ceremony will take place on The Hub Stage, Wednesday, November 28, at 3:00 pm. For more information, visit www.mrs.org/sci-vid.
An ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) Information and Evaluator Retraining Session will be offered to anyone who wants to learn more about the process, is preparing for an upcoming accreditation visit, or wants to ask questions about how to prepare a materials department for an accreditation visit. The training will be held on Tuesday, November 27, from 7:15 pm to 9:30 pm, and the session can be attended without registering for the Meeting. Remote access will be available if unable to attend in person.
New to this Meeting, a kick-off presentation for the Open Data Challenge, a team competition for students to curate or develop their own materials data set, and apply materials informatics to that data set to learn something new. The competition is open to anyone who is passionate about materials science, materials informatics, or open scientific data. There will be two opportunities to attend a kick-off session (Monday, November 26, at 3:00 pm and Wednesday, November 28, at 4:00 pm) on The Hub Stage. For more information, visit www.mrs.org/open-data-challenge.
HOTELS IN BOSTON
MRS receives meeting space at a greatly discounted rate as a result of contracting a large block of sleeping rooms at the official meeting hotels. In order to keep meeting costs as low as possible and minimize the financial risk to MRS, we encourage you to utilize official MRS housing while you are attending an MRS meeting. Hotels offering discounted rates for the 2018 MRS Fall Meeting are listed below. To make reservations, visit www.mrs.org/fall-2018-hotels .
▪ Sheraton Boston Hotel
39 Dalton St., Boston, Mass. 02199
617.236.2000 or 888.627.7054
Group Rate: $208 single, $218 double
Additional persons: $20 ea.*
Deadline: November 4, 2018
▪ Boston Marriott Copley Place
110 Huntington Ave., Boston, Mass. 02116
617.236.5800
Group rate: $202 single, $219 double,
$229 triple, $239 quad*
Deadline: October 31, 2018
▪ Hilton Boston Back Bay Hotel
40 Dalton St., Boston, Mass. 02115
617.236.1100
Group Rate: $215 single/double,
$230 triple/quad*
Deadline: November 2, 2018
▪ The Westin Copley Place
10 Huntington Ave., Boston, Mass. 02116
617.262.9600
Group Rate: $204 single, $214 double
Additional persons $20 ea.*
Deadline: November 2, 2018
▪ The Colonnade Hotel
120 Huntington Ave., Boston, Mass. 02116
617.424.7000
Group Rate: $204 single, $204 double,
$224 triple, $254 quad*
Deadline: November 2, 2018
▪ Boston Park Plaza
50 Park Plaza at Arlington St.,
Boston, Mass. 02116
800.225.2008 or 617.426.2000
Group Rate: $180 single, $180 double,
$200 triple, $220 quad*
Deadline: November 2, 2018
▪ Embassy Suites Boston at Logan Airport
207 Porter St., Boston, Mass. 02128
617.567.5000
Group Rate: $159 single
Additional persons: $10 ea.*
Deadline: November 6, 2018
*plus applicable taxes and fees
The NSF will provide Speed Coaching sessions at the Public Outreach Center. The Division of Materials Research will be present to discuss funding opportunities, future program ideas, and sustainability.
The MRS Public Outreach Committee (POC) is presenting two new professional development programs. Both will have limited participation availability, so program preregistration will be required:
1. Communicating Science to Non-Specialists—Science Communication Workshop. The POC, in collaboration with the Princeton Center for Complex Materials (PCCM), is planning a full-day interactive workshop, boxed lunch provided, on Sunday, November 25, from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. This session is from the PCCM’s Science Communication and Education Network Workshop Series, and is a proven NSF-funded model for scientists to engage in public and face-to-face interactions with group activities, discussions, and lectures. All participants will receive feedback and time to reflect. There will be three modules discussing different topics in science. This is an excellent program to aid researchers in fulfilling their Broader Impacts criterion for governmental agency grant proposals.
2. Workshop: Effective Public Policy Engagement Strategies for Researchers. The POC and Government Affairs Committee are teaming up with Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s International Policy Lab to present a half-day interactive workshop on Sunday, November 25, from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm.
This workshop will provide an essential introduction to the policymaking process through the lens of the US federal government, while providing specific steps researchers can take to engage policy stakeholders and articulate the policy implications of their work. Rather than focus on the policies and funding decisions that support research, it will instead provide an understanding of how research results can and should impact the difficult decisions policymakers must make. Participants will develop:
• A better understanding of the role research and evidence play in the creation of public policy
• Strategies for informing the policymaking community with research results
• An initial pitch for policy audiences
• An appreciation of the importance of building two-way dialogues with policymakers
More information on POC programs and registration information will be available online on the 2018 MRS Fall Meeting and Public Outreach pages.
For more information
Registration for the 2018 MRS Fall Meeting includes a complimentary one-year membership to MRS beginning January 1, 2019, through December 31, 2019. The deadline to preregister for the Meeting is November 9, 2018, 5:00 pm (ET). International travelers are reminded to allow ample time to obtain a visa, if necessary. For additional details about the Meeting, contact MRS Member Services: info@mrs.org (email) or 724-779-3003 (phone). Details of various events and activities will be available via the MRS Meeting App and in the Program & Exhibit Guide available on-site. The MRS website can also be accessed for updated information on confirmed talks, details of special events, information on obtaining a visa, and preregistration:www.mrs.org/fall2018.
2018 MRS FALL MEETING REGISTRATION RATES*
* 2018 MRS Fall Meeting registrations include MRS Membership from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019.
