HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Fountains of Fire
We wish all of our readers a happy and prosperous 2006,
filled with some fireworks and lots of success.

This NASA close-up image of the sun reveals an active surface with coronal loops emerging and disappearing all over the Sun's surface. The loops can span a length of about 250,000 miles, or about 30 times the diameter of Earth. On the other hand, you can imagine that these solar fireworks are celebrating the new year of 2006.

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Washington Update from the Federation of Materials Societies
Reported by the ASM Federal Affairs Committee

The National Summit on Innovation was hosted by the Commerce Department on December 6. The organizers of the Summit released a statement outlining three major "tasks and implementation steps" including:

" Revitalize Fundamental Research: Increase the federal investment in long-term basic research by 10% a year over the next seven years with focused attention to the physical sciences, engineering, and mathematics; allocate at least 8% of the budgets of federal research agencies to discretionary funding focused on catalyzing high-risk, high-payoff research;

" Expand the Innovation Pool: By 2015, double the number of bachelor's degrees awarded annually to U.S. students in science, math, and engineering, and increase the number who become K-12 science and math teachers; reform U.S. immigration policies; provide incentives for the creation of public-private partnerships to encourage U.S. students at all levels to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

" Lead the World in the Development of New Technologies: Provide focused and sustained funding to address national technology challenges in areas that will ensure national security and continued U.S. economic leadership, including nanotechnology, high-performance computing, and energy technologies.

This is a brief summary of the first section of the report. The entire update contains five sections:

INNOVATION TAKES CENTER STAGE

NASA AUTHORIZATION - "RULES AND TOOLS"

DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION INCREASES S&T FUNDING

A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH IN THE SENATE

FOCUS ON ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF NANOTECH

News from Advanced Materials & Processes

DOE signs agreement to build zero-emissions power plant

The Department of Energy has signed an agreement with the FutureGen Industrial Alliance to build FutureGen, a prototype of the fossil-fueled power plant of the future. The nearly $1 billion government-industry project will produce electricity and hydrogen with zero emissions, including carbon dioxide.

The FutureGen Industrial Alliance will contribute $250 million to the project. Current Alliance members include American Electric Power, Columbus, Ohio; BHP Billiton, Melbourne, Australia; CONSOL Energy Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa.; Foundation Coal, Linthicum Heights, Md.; China Huaneng Group, Beijing, China; Kennecott Energy, Gillette, Wyo.; Peabody Energy, St. Louis, Mo.; and Southern Co., Atlanta, Ga.

At the heart of the project will be coal gasification technologies that can eliminate common air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides and convert them to usable byproducts such as fertilizers and soil enhancers. Mercury pollutants will also be removed. www.fossil.energy.gov.

Ladle furnace has capacity to treat 750,000 tons of steel per year

A contract for the engineering, supply, and turnkey installation of a new ladle furnace with a capacity of 85 tons has been awarded by Sheffield Steel Corp., Sand Springs, Okla., to the Industrial Solutions and Services (IS&S) division of the Siemens Group, Germany. Up to 750,000 tons of a full range of carbon and low-alloy steel grades will be treated annually in this furnace. The contract will be implemented by the IS&S daughter company Voest-Alpine Industries Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa. Start-up of the new ladle furnace equipment is scheduled for the fall of 2006.

Sheffield Steel Corp., the only steel manufacturer in the state of Oklahoma, is a minimill currently capable of producing 650,000 tons of steel per year. The company supplies hot-rolled steel bar products, concrete reinforcing bar, fabricated products (such as fence posts, railroad track spikes, and fabricated and epoxy-coated rebar for highway and construction purposes) and various types of billets.

For more information: Wieland Simon, Siemens Group, Schuhstrasse 60, 91052 Erlangen, Germany; tel: 49 9131 7-46169; fax: 49 9131 7-25074; e-mail: wieland.simon@siemens.com; Web site: www.siemens.com.

Rick Howard, General Manager, Sheffield Steel Corp., 2300 Highway 97, Sand Springs, OK 74063; tel: 918/245-1335; fax: 918/245-9343; e-mail: jrhoward@sheffieldsteel.com; Web site: www.sheffieldsteel.com.

Plastic diode could lead to flexible computer circuits

An organic polymer tunnel diode that could one day lead to plastic computer memory and plastic logic circuits on computer chips has reportedly been invented by researchers at Ohio State University, Columbus. Today, computer chips are mainly made of inorganic silicon.

The diode transmits electrical current at room temperature, and its design lends itself to easy, inexpensive manufacturing for smart cards and other memory devices, says Prof. Paul Berger. Instead of working with one plastic molecule at a time, Prof Berger and his students painted a thick layer of plastic on top of traditional chip materials, with a specially-designed layer of titanium oxide sandwiched in-between.

For more information: Prof. Paul Berger, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210; tel: 614/247-6235; e-mail: berger.143@osu.edu; Web site: www.osu.edu.

Dual materials system strengthens hybrid composites

Hybrid composites in which dual systems enable structures to carry heavier loads with less material have reportedly been developed by UniStates LLC, Waltham, Mass. Unlike ordinary composites, these new hybrid composites have load-bearing systems that operate in tandem and can be activated sequentially. One system carries initial loads while the other system "stands by" to add more strength on demand for heavier or different types of loads. Each system specializes in carrying certain types of loads, such as compression or tension. The design enables less material to function more effectively and allows the hybrid composites to be 20% to 30% lighter and substantially stronger than conventional counterparts.

According to chairman and CEO Charles Owens, "At the heart of our new manufacturing technology is the simple innovation of adding beads to continuous fibers to make beaded preforms that create products with a revolutionary three-dimensional response to stress."

For more information: Wendy E. Owens, UniStates LLC, P.O. Box 541106, Waltham, MA 02454; tel: 781/444-8025; e-mail: unistates@unistates.com; Web site: www.unistates.com.

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Instron® introduces its new Advanced Video Extensometer (AVE). This high-performance, non-contacting extensometer meets and exceeds the performance of traditional contacting extensometers. Designed with absolute measurement capabilities, the extensometer can determine elongation of specimens resulting from mechanical strain in both axial and transverse directions, making the AVE ideal for testing metals. With its unique non-contact measurement design, the extensometer has no influence on the specimen, ensuring accurate test results. AVE contains no moving parts, so mechanical wear, unreliable results or inaccurate target tracking are never a risk. The extensometer's high-resolution digital camera and advanced real-time image processor generate accurate strain measurements for convenient review and storage of test results.

For more information about Instron.

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Thank You for Providing Valuable Input to Your Society
Part 2: The Membership Experience (and Likelihood to Renew)

December 13, 2005 From ASM International
By Jackie Earle
ASM Membership Committee

Last spring, I was involved in the planning and implementation of an ASM International Membership Satisfaction Survey. The survey was prepared to help staff and volunteer leaders to measure member satisfaction for products, services and the "overall perceived value" that is placed on the ASM membership experience. A total of 1,440 web-based surveys were completed by ASM members, and the staff and volunteer leaders would like to thank those who took the time to participate. We hope you will consider participating in future surveys to help us make continuous improvements to YOUR society.

To better understand the perceived value that ASM offers to its members, respondents were asked a question to gauge the member's "expectations" versus their actual experience as an ASM member.

Respondents were asked, "Since joining ASM, would you say that your membership has exceeded, met, or fallen short of your expectations?" I'm excited to report that 83% of members responded that ASM International has exceeded or met their expectations:

Membership Experience vs Expectations

Exceeded Expectations: 8.7%
Met Expectations: 74%
Fallen Somewhat Short: 16.1%
Have Not Met Expectations: 1.3%

Satisfaction can also be measured by a member's "intent" to remain a member in the future. By gauging how likely a member is to maintain his or her membership, ASM can draw some further conclusions regarding the member's level of satisfaction. The following graph provides a glance at the member's likelihood of remaining a member in the future.

Again, I'm excited to report that 85% of members responded that they are very likely or likely to renew their membership with ASM International.

Likelihood of Maintaining Future Membership in ASM

Very Likely: 36.6%
Likely: 48%
Somewhat Likely: 12.9%
Not Likely At All: 2.5%

A demographic analysis revealed that members who have been affiliated with ASM for five or more years are much more likely to continue their membership when compared to members who have been affiliated with ASM for fewer than five years.

Another key finding was the importance of volunteerism, supporting the mantra: "The more you put into ASM, the more you'll get out of it!" Members who are more involved with ASM are:

• Far more likely (more than twice as likely) to recommend ASM to others compared to those who are less involved with the organization

• Far more likely to believe that their membership experience has met or exceeded their original expectations when compared to those members who are less involved.

In response, let's all work together to engage more members and increase volunteerism in order to increase member satisfaction!

In our next update, we'll cover Our Response to Solicit Future Involvement. Thanks again for helping us to improve the ASM member experience!

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