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A look ahead
Be accountable: ASM is your society By Dr. Robert C. Tucker, Jr., FASM
ASM President, 2003-04
We, the members, must assume more responsibility and accountability for the well being of our society.
As with virtually every other technical society, ASM is suffering from declining membership, lower attendance at conferences, smaller exhibitions and generally reduced income. These trends must be reversed.
The size of the staff has been substantially reduced over the last few years, and a number of other steps have been taken to further reduce our costs. We, the members, must now step up and do some of the things we previously relied on the staff to do.
While this will help financially, I believe it will also yield better conferences, publications, and other benefits. For example, can our members assume a larger role in organizing and producing conferences and expositions? Certainly!
The International Conference on Metallurgical Coatings and Thin Films, sponsored by American Vacuum Society, has done it successfully with virtually no AVS staff support since its inception almost 30 years ago.
To cite just one example within ASM, the ASM Thermal Spray Society serves as a role model for member involvement and commitment in several areas including, but not limited to conferences.
What is needed -- and is being achieved -- is a partnership throughout the society between our members and staff so that ASM can once again grow and become financially viable while satisfying the needs of its members and the materials community at large. To that purpose, Stan Theobald, our managing director, has reorganized the ASM staff and instilled a new culture focused on better serving the membership.
Stan is fully supportive of a greater partnership between the staff and the members, and the Board of Trustees and many ASM members have already taken note, and welcomed, the change.
Growth opportunities in new technical areas
To attract new members and maintain a leadership position in materials science and engineering, ASM must become involved in emerging fields of technology. This does not mean we will diminish in any way our efforts in our traditional areas of strength! The following have been initiated through the Strategic Council on Membership and Services Development.
Medical Devices: The 2nd Materials & Processes for Medical Devices Conference is being planned, and a new Handbook of reference information for medical devices professionals will be released soon.
Surface Engineering: We are organizing a third Congress to be held in Orlando in August 2004. Our first topical conference, on surface engineering for gears, will be held next March in Detroit. A joint effort with NIST will produce guidelines for evaluation and specifications for surface engineering.
Nanotechnology: A Symposium on Nanotechnology to be held at the annual event in 2004 is being organized.
Green Manufacturing: Programming for an "Environmentally Benign Manufacturing Symposium" in 2004 is well underway.
Importance of ATAC: Our Advisory Technical Awareness Council (ATAC) and the Federal Affairs Committee are expected to be a major resource for the identification of new emerging technologies and recommend specific actions for ASM in these areas.
Strategic planning: Actions to be taken
For our society to make a positive impact on our profession, our Board of Trustees, working with the affiliate societies and various committees and councils, must maintain a strong, creative and well-considered strategic direction.
From this direction, our member-driven committees and councils must be able to develop programs to satisfy the needs of the professional engineering community we serve.
Through the work of our Strategic Planning Team this summer, key member leaders and staff laid the foundation for the ASM of the future. In draft form, here is an early look at the critical issues facing ASM, and the related strategic objectives being discussed:
First Critical Issue: Advances in global communication technology require changes in the way ASM delivers information. Our Strategic Objective: Deliver information and communicate in media formats preferred by members and customers.
Second Critical Issue: Manufacturing and corresponding intellectual strength will move offshore. Demand in the U.S. for materials science and engineering positions will decline. Our Strategic Objective: Acquire and disseminate information to members and customers -- from wherever in the world it is available, to wherever in the world it is requested. Focus on regions of the world in which manufacturing employment and materials science and engineering are growing.
Third Critical Issue: Corporations do not recognize the "value" of ASM. Our Strategic Objective: Provide information of the value ASM brings to corporations, academia, and government. Improve the value proposition for individuals and corporations.
Fourth Critical Issue: Identify emerging technology niches more quickly, and take necessary actions. Our Strategic Objective: Initiate processes to identify, evaluate, and take appropriate actions on emerging technology opportunities for membership and new products.
Fifth Critical Issue: Identity of the profession of Materials Science & Engineering and of ASM is being lost. Our Strategic Objective: Improve the recognition of the Materials Science & Engineering profession and the brand identity of ASM International.
Sixth Critical Issue: The financial viability of ASM needs to improve over time. Our Strategic Objective: Develop a long-range financial plan that provides an improved financial position through the effective implementation strategic objectives.
As you can see, these critical issues, and our strategic objectives, show a continuity of priority for our society. I'd like to cite the work of previous ASM presidents, particularly Don Muzyka and Gordon Geiger, for re-energizing the society and re-focusing our efforts to achieve our society's mission: "To benefit our members in the metals and materials community by providing technical knowledge, education, networking and professional development."
With the leadership of our Board, the enthusiasm of our members and the efforts of our staff, we will make our vision a reality: "To be the first stop resource for technical knowledge, education, networking, and professional development for members and customers in the metals and material community."
The space allotted here does not permit me to review all of the current activities in ASM, so please visit the ASM web site, stay in touch and get involved! It's to your benefit and as well as your organizations benefit.
Be responsible, be accountable - ASM is your society!
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