 January
2016
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Association News
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Is Your MSA Membership Renewed for 2016?
MSA Membership is on a calendar-year basis. That means that all MSA memberships expired on December 31, 2015, unless they were renewed for 2016 prior to that date.
We keep January and February as a renewal "grace period"; however, memberships not renewed before March 1, 2016 will no longer receive MSA Member benefits, including suspension of your subscriptions to Microscopy and Microanalysis journal and Microscopy Today magazine, as well as being ineligible for the Member registration fee at the annual M&M Conference.
An email will be sent next week to all Members who have not yet renewed for 2016. If you receive that email, please act quickly!
M&M 2016 Call for Papers Submission site is Now Open!
The deadline for paper submissions is February 8, 2016. P
rinted Call for Papers
brochure and a handy poster (for hanging in an office or lab) were mailed with everyone's November Microscopy Today.
Hotel reservations for M&M 2016
will be available as of Tuesday, February 2. Book early for the best availability!
Online Registration
for M&M 2016 meeting will open on Tuesday, March 1.
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Microscopy Today
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This review first appeared in Microscopy Today [MA Sanders, Microscopy Today 24(1) (2016) 34-36]
Mark A. Sanders, Program Chair
University Imaging Centers, University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN 55445
The Microscopy Society of America, the Microanalysis Society, and the International Metallographic Society, the world's leading triumvirate of societies showcasing the smaller worlds around us, had the most successful Microscopy & Microanalysis meeting to date (M&M 2015). The meeting was held in beautiful Portland, Oregon, August 2-6. As a host city, Portland provided outstanding weather, facilities, and hospitality.
The conference included 43 symposia with a total of 1294 scientific presentations (847 talks and 447 posters). There were 1843 scientific attendees and 1,377 exhibitors representing 122 companies. Thus, total attendance was a new all-time high of 3220 registrants. This attendance number was over 10% higher than any previous year. The number of exhibitors was up 18 % over 2014; the exhibition showcased the most innovative microscopy and microanalysis gear on the planet.
From the pre-meeting congress, workshops, and opening reception on Sunday until the last session on Thursday, the crowds were noticeable to all who attended.
Monday's
Plenary session opened the meeting with two distinguished speakers from quite different fields. Nobel Prize
Laureate Prof. Roger Tsien (Figure 1) prese
nted "New Molecular Tools for Light and Electron Microscopy." Centering his talk on probes that facilitate intrinsic labeling, he showed how correlative modes of light and electron microscopy at multiple scales can be used to resolve sub-cellular features. He concluded his presentation by describing how he "closed the loop" on a career goal of his: to create the tools that changed the direction of biological studies for future generations of scientists. The second plenary talk by NASA Astronaut Dr. Donald Pettit (Figure 2) revealed some "out of this world" challenges in "Some Unexpected Difficulties in Microscope Operation in Micr
ogravity." He showed how microgravity environments, cosmic rays, and fluid dynamics affect experiments conducted on the Inter
national Space Station (ISS). Dr. Pettit spent some 370 days in orbit where he conducted scientifically challenging experiments and photographed beautiful views of Earth from an altitude of 249 miles. It was not only great to hear their presentations, in addition our plenary speakers attended lectures, exhibits, and social events throughout the meeting (Figure 3).
Two memorial symposia honored microscopy pioneers who passed away in recent years: Dr. Peter Swann (1935-2013) and Dr. Robert Apkarian (1953-2006). The Apkarian symposium, "Advances in High Resolution Scanning Electron Microscopy," recognized his life, his work in the field of biological electron microscopy, and his service to MSA and other microscopy societies. Dr. Peter Swann's symposium, "Bringing the Real World in to the Electron Microscope," recognized the impact his many contributions made on TEM and materials science. He designed over 600 pioneering instruments, including a differentially pumped gas reaction cell that brought the "real world" inside the electron microscope. Both symposia dovetailed with other symposia on topics that grew from these past leaders.
The exhibition floor
was, once again, the place to learn about the latest tec
hniques and applications. Tutorials and demonstrations took place throughout the meeting. The MSA MegaBooth was again the central hub of the exposition floor, whether to find out what was going on, find a job, schedule a tutorial, or just to relax and read email. The poster sessions in the exhibition area were heavily attended because of the high
quality of the poster presentations and the selection of Portland beers on hand. Daily poster awards were announced for the most outstanding scientific posters, once again reinforcing poster sessions as a highlight of M&M meetings.
Throughout the week, in-meeting courses focused on some perennial topics: SEM imaging, x-ray compositional analysis, specimen preparation for biological microscopy, and analysis of nanomaterials. Attendees also sought out the educational opportunities intended for broader audiences like Project MICRO, Microscopy in the Classroom, and It's a Family Affair.
As the meeting drew to a close on Thursday, concluding a week of engaging science and lea
rning, the weather in Portland was still as fantastic as the hospitality and the sponsored social activities. Those activities included a riverboat dinner cruise, a pedal pub tour of Portland, and winery tours - welcome distraction
s to our jam-packed scientific schedule. We hope the new mobile app this year helped you keep track of it all!
The Executive Program Committee, the large number of symposium organizers, and our meeting management are all quite pleased with the success of Microscopy & Microanalysis 2015. On behalf of MSA, MAS, and IMS, I suggest that you to start thinking about M&M 2016, July 24-28 in Columbus, Ohio!
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Science News
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Researchers Develop Graphene Microphone and Showcase Its Extraordinary Powers
Scientists have developed a graphene based microphone nearly 32 times more sensitive than microphones of standard nickel-based construction.
Read more...
The Fine art of Hunting Microsnails
"Microsnail" is the term for the creatures with shells measuring 5 millimeters or less, sometimes much less. A species described from China.
Read more...
Scientists Create New Super Strong Metal With Nanotechnology
A team of UCLA led scientists have conjured a new magnesium based metal with the help of nanoparticles and it just might find application in a variety of industries ranging from aeronautics and space to automotive and biomedical.
Read more...
Stir no more: Draining Speeds up Bioassays
Three scientists at the University of Washington have proposed a way to speed up this waiting game. Their solution, reminiscent of the magic behind washing machines, could reduce wait times to a fraction of what they once were.
Read more...
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Local Affiliated Societies
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Local Affiliated Societies News
by Bev Maleeff, LAS Director
Support your local affiliated society! Upcoming meetings are:
February 18-20
Texas Society for Microscopy (TSM)
February 25
New England Society for Microscopy (NESM)
March 2
Microscopy Society of Northeastern Ohio (MSNO)
March 15
Minnesota Microscopy Society (MMS)
March 24
Arizona Imaging and Microanalysis Society (AIMS)
March 25
Oklahoma Microscopy Society (OMS)
Check the meeting links for additional details.
Invite students & early career scientists & technologists to your LAS meetings and get them involved!
LAS leaders: In response to questions raised about tax status for non-profit organizations, we are offering a Webinar on tax status for Local Affiliated Societies. On Thursday, 18 February 2016 from 4:00-5:00 PM (EST), MSA legal counsel Paula Cozzi Goedert will be our special guest, addressing tax filing, eligibility for Internal Revenue Service Form 1023-EZ (Streamlined Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and related topics. Please mark the date on your calendars. Connection details will be sent closer to the event. If you are an authorized LAS representative and did not receive the recent e-mail announcement about the webinar, please send a note to
[email protected]
Happy 2016!
Bev
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Focused Interest Groups
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Attention all FIG Participants:
Two Pre-meeting congresses will be sponsored by the Focused Interest Group's at the upcoming meeting in Columbus Ohio.
Exploiting the Diffractive Properties of Electrons for Solving Materials Problems
Organized by Electron Crystallography and Automated Mapping Methods FIG
Essentials of Atom Probe Tomography
Organized by the Atom Probe FIG
Promote your discipline.
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