E-Archive

VOL. 9 July ISSUE YEAR 2008

Interview

in Vol. 9 - July Issue - Year 2008
FEMS Junior EUROMAT 2008 14-17 July
Lectures in Lausanne can be fun!

Lectures in Lausanne can be fun!

Relaxing at lake Geneva

Relaxing at lake Geneva

Focusing on Younger Materials Scientists and Engineers:

FEMS puts high store on doing all it can to attract talented youngsters into the Materials Science and Engineering field and to help them in their careers. Since 1992, FEMS has sponsored the biennial Junior EUROMAT series of conferences that provide a platform for mainly MSc and PhD students to gain experience in presenting their work to others. The ninth event in this series takes place, as usual, at the University of Lausanne (UNIL), Switzerland, on 14-17 July 2008.
The past three Junior EUROMATs have been run as poster conferences, but with a difference - the presenters are each allowed up to three minutes with two slides to give an oral introduction to their posters in the lecture theatre. This has proved to be a very popular format and is being continued this year.
There are usually more than 300 participants in Junior EUROMAT and 2008 is no exception. The programme, which can be viewed on the website, www.junior-euromat.fems, includes 315 contributions by young presenters of almost 40 different nationalities. While most come from European countries, with 48 from Germany, 31 from the Czech Republic and 26 from the Russian Federation, others come from further afield.  For example, 6 are from Japan, 2 from USA, and 1 from China. The two Americans are prize-winners from the 2008 TMS Technical Division Student Poster competition run by the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society. Two years ago, Rejanah Steward, a graduate student at the University of Tennessee, and John Romankiewicz of Northwestern University, won the opportunity to present their research at Junior EUROMAT, and Steward won again, taking second place in her category and winning 50 EUR for her efforts. Virtually every aspect of materials science and engineering is covered within the 14 main topic areas of Junior EUROMAT (see box):

 Topic Areas at Junior EUROMAT
A: Mechanical Properties: Plastic Deformation, Fatigue, Fracture, Creep;
B: Magnetic Properties, Superconductivity, Electronic Materials;
C: Corrosion, Wear, Biocompatibility
D: Fundamental Aspects: Diffusion, Transformation, Dislocation Theory
E: Metals: Al-, Mg-, Ti-, Ni-Alloys, Steel, Intermetallics, MMCs, Foams
F: Ceramics, CMCs, Glass
G: Polymers, Polymer-based Composites
H: Processing: Casting, Rolling, Extrusion, Powder Technology, Machining, Joining;
I: Surface Engineering: Laser, Spraying, CVD
K: Simulation Methods and Modelling Methods;
L: Materials Characterisation: Mechanical Testing, Advanced Analytical Techniques, NDE, Metallography;
M: Biomimetic and Bioinspired Approaches; Biofunctional Materials;
N: Nanostructured Materials;
P: Electronic and Photonic Materials

The Surface Engineering topic area covers all aspects of surface technology from the effect of surface finishing on the properties of protective coatings to the surface modification of a dental Co-Cr-Mo alloy by laser irradiation. Among the 13 presentations will be one by A. Ciski of the Institute of Precision Mechanics in Warsaw entitled “Influence of Cryogenic Treatment on the Properties of Shot-peened W300 Hot Working Tool Steel”.  Bohler W300 tool steel is commonly used for hot working dies. The combination of shot peening and cryogenic treatment allowed optimization of the tribological properties of the material and dies treated in this way demonstrated a 40 % increase in lifetime relative to that of conventional dies.   
Situated on the bank of Lake Geneva, UNIL is an ideal venue for such a gathering.  Not only is it extremely picturesque, but inexpensive accommodation is available in youth hostels and guest houses at prices ranging from about 33 to 66 EUR per night.  There are also places available in Civil Army accommodation for only 18 EUR per night, and campsites can also be found for those on a very low budget.
The registration fees at Junior EUROMAT are also kept as low as possible in order to facilitate attendance. They range from 100 EUR for students from Eastern Europe to 150 EUR and 220 EUR for those from Central Europe and other places, respectively. Fees for non-students are not much higher, ranging from 170 to 250 EUR and 350 EUR, respectively.
Particular thanks are due to Peter Schepp of DGM in Frankfurt (one of the two FEMS Member Societies in Germany) for having conceived these conferences, and to his colleagues, especially Anja Mangold and Beatte Tölle, for helping him with the organization. Information about Junior EUROMAT can be found at the following website: www.junior-euromat.fems.org.

Job Fairs

At its meeting in Lausanne on 31 March, the FEMS Executive Committee gave its backing to the organization of a small job fair during Junior EUROMAT.  This is being organized by Hélène Réglé, with help from the other members of the Committee. It is intended to be the prototype for larger job fairs to be held at future conferences in both the Junior EUROMAT and EUROMAT series, beginning with EUROMAT 2009 in Glasgow on 7-10 September next year. Companies interested in participation should apply to ‘helene.regle@arcelormittal.com’ in the first instance.