Paul F. Becher
Oak Ridge National Lab

“The ability to discuss current findings on topics that are important to my work with colleagues at society meetings and to read their papers in its journals has been instrumental in my career. At the same time, I have accumulated a host of friends through my participation in the society.”

Dr. David J. Green
The Pennsylvania State University

“Young professionals are invariably advised about the importance of being member of a professional society. Of course, such advice is not always heeded. As I look back at my career I realize now what a critical role The American Ceramic Society has played and the truth of such advice. It placed me in a network that was personable enough to let me meet many leading scientists in the field but large enough to encounter the critical issues in ceramic science and technology.

The conferences also proved to be important in my on-going education and the network provided me with job opportunities. As I developed as a researcher, I needed to communicate my ideas not only to my research peer group but also to others involved in ceramic technology. Again, The American Ceramic Society has given me the vehicles for this expression.

In my position now as Senior Editor for the Journal of the American Ceramic Society (JACerS) I see the importance of such publications. JACerS is the worldwide leading publication in the field of ceramic science. JACerS adds value to my work as an author by its critical and through review process. It is an easily accessible journal with a tremendous reputation. As I travel around the world and meet other scientists, I am still amazed when they say they are familiar with my work. Membership in ACerS has clearly provided me with the bricks and mortar to build a career. I'm not sure if I listened to that advice early in my career but I have certainly benefited from following the wise and directed path.”

Dr. John R. Hellmann

The Pennsylvania State University

"As a member of The American Ceramic Society for over three decades, I have been continually impressed with its ability to serve its members on several fronts: opportunities for professional development, stewardship of resources, and advancing the science and technology of ceramics. By offering opportunities to disseminate my group's research findings in high quality technical fora, as well as in the world's premier ceramics journals, the Society has contributed greatly to my satisfaction and success as a materials scientist and engineer. The collegiality and professionalism of my fellow members at Society gatherings has resulted in many long, fruitful and enjoyable relationships. Thank you, American Ceramic Society for all you've offered to me in my career as a ceramist!"

Professor

Neil Alford

Imperial College of London

“The main value I get from being a member is

   1. Access to the Journal of the American Ceramic Society - the best journal in the field and the best respected, with high quality papers and excellent reviews.
   2. The annual meetings are excellent for Networking. International collaboration is on the increase and the ease of electronic communication means that it is straightforward for my group in the UK to collaborate with colleagues in the US but there is little substitute for face to face discussions over a beer.”

Henry Paris

Vice President, R&D

Steward Environmental Solutions, Inc.

"Being a member of both the American Ceramics Society and ASM provides a strong benefit to me. The focus of ASM moved it focus from its historical grounding in metals to a broad view of the whole materials world. Obviously AcerS has a historical focus on ceramics. Even though many of our universities merged ceramics, polymers and metals into Schools of Materials Science and Engineering in the late 1970’s, each of our professional organizations still carry a subliminal predilection towards their original core focus. This is a good thing in my opinion because, frankly, metallurgists and ceramists usually approach the discipline of materials from different perspectives. As a practicing scientist and engineer who is required to draw on current technology of many materials, the ability to use resources in both ASM and ACerS (And TMS) and to see materials through their different perspectives has proved highly valuable in shaping my approach to problem solving in the materials world."

John H. Givens, Ph.D.

President

Resource Strategies

"I have been a member of ACerS since 1987 and ASM since 1983. I joined ASM during my undergraduate studies and ACerS while still attending graduate school. As a materials scientist working in process integration technology for silicon based IC manufacturing, I find the multiple memberships invaluable for accessing the information contained in the collective references, journals, conferences and refereed publications of each society. Throughout my career, I have worked on assignments/projects that have involved a number of areas of interest that overlap the societies, but each society has still provided utility because of the differences in perspective and focus within the science and engineering of the membership. In addition to the technical information, the societies also provide business related news, outlets for networking, local activities and when necessary resources for career assistance.

I cannot speak for other industries, but for my field, the advances, changes and incorporation of new materials and related technologies happen so rapidly that I have to leverage all of the resources available through technical societies such as ACerS and ASM. Just to reinforce the importance of this last statement and to truly show that value I place on these memberships, I also pay dues to TMS, AVS, IEEE, ECS and ASME. My level of participation varies between the societies but the return I obtain from each investment in membership more than justifies the yearly dues."

Dr. Toni Marechaux Sr. Scientist, Strategic Analysis, Inc.

Dr. Dongming Zhu NASA Glenn Research Center