april 2011 - The American Ceramic Society
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april 2011 - The American Ceramic Society
bulletin AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY emerging ceramics & glass technology ApRI l 2011 Finding the Right Combination for Protecting Intellectual Property Understanding patents and patent procurement costs • Business, licensing and intellectual property management • Ceramic Leadership Summit preliminary schedule • Structural Clay Products and Glass & Optical Materials Divisions meeting previews • 0 10 $ ve w! a S no STAND OUT in the marketplace with Ceramic Materials Courses Don’t wait to increase your knowledge. Engineers, technologists and operations professionals looking to advance their careers or boost their skill set are ideally suited to attend these courses. Save money with our early-bird rates, which end 30 days before each course. May 11-12, 2011 Mechanical Properties of Ceramics and Glass Instructors: George D. Quinn, NIST, and Richard C. Bradt, University of Alabama Location: Columbus, Ohio May 14-15, 2011 Fundamentals of Glass Science & Technology Instructor: Arun K. Varshneya, Saxon Glass Technologies Location: Savannah, Georgia October 20-21, 2011 Fundamentals of Glass Science and Technology & Fractography Lab Instructor: Arun K. Varshneya, Saxon Glass Technologies Location: Columbus, Ohio October 20-21, 2011 Sintering of Ceramics Instructor: Mohamed N. Rahaman, Missouri University of Science and Technology Location: Columbus, Ohio Register today! www.ceramics.org/shortcourses contents April 2011 • Vol. 90 No. 3 feature articles Understanding patents and managing patent-procurement costs . . . . . . . . . 24 Robert J. Sayre With changes in world markets plus recent Congressional and judiciary actions, it’s important for ceramists and materials scientists and engineers to consider new strategies to protect their innovations. Minimizing and predicting patent-related expenses is a key component of these strategies. Business, licensing and intellectual property management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Wendy Hankle Protecting intellectual property is growing in importance for researchers and their sponsoring institutions. Best practices to protect revenues while spurring commercialization are still evolving, but innovators, schools, labs and government agencies are making strides and providing better resources and guidance to innovators. Ceramic Leadership Summit 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Speakers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 General sessions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Hotel information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 2011 Glass & Optical Materials Division annual meeting preview . . . . . . . . 37 Invitation from the program chair and program overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Fundamentals of Glass Science and Technology Short Course. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Hotel information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 GOMD schedule-at-a-glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Symposia schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Poster session and student poster competition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 cover story Finding the Right Combination for Protecting Intellectual Property Business, licensing and intellectual property management – page 30 Structural Clay Products Division Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Schedule of events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Plant tours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Hotel information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Gettysburg area attractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 departments News & Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 • Netzsch planning high-temperature materials conference this fall in Boston • Glass commission to hold ‘summer school’ for new researchers • Sapphire crystal makers’ business on upswing ACerS Spotlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 • Society’s Structure Review Project • Messing stars at New England Section meeting • Toledo Glass and Ceramic Award meeting — April 21, 2011 • Register for Cements 2011 • Super early bird savings for Ceramic Leadership Summit 2011 Ceramics in the Environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 • LED disposal safety questioned • ACEEE: All-gasoline and natural-gas 2011 U.S. vehicles not ceding ‘greenest’ label yet • Tesla: We are close to ‘closed loop’ battery recycling with reusable alloys, slag American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 Ceramics in the Environment LED disposal safety questioned – page 11 Ceramics in Energy Argonne extends cathode technology to Envia – page 18 1 AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY bulletin Executive Staff Charles G. Spahr, Executive Director and Publisher, cspahr@ceramics.org Editorial and Production Peter Wray, Editor ph: 614-794-5853 fx: 614-794-4505 pwray@ceramics.org Tess M. Speakman, Graphic Designer Editorial Advisory Board James C. Marra, Chair, Savannah River National Lab Kristen Brosnan, General Electric Alexis Clare, Alfred University Olivia Graeve, Alfred University Linda E. Jones, Alfred University Venkat Venkataramani, GE Research Customer Service/Circulation ph: 866-721-3322 fx: 301-206-9789 customerservice@ceramics.org Address 600 North Cleveland Avenue, Suite 210 Westerville, OH 43082-6920 Advertising Sales adsales@ceramics.org National Sales Patricia A. Janeway, Associate Publisher pjaneway@ceramics.org ph: 614-794-5826 fx: 614-794-5822 Europe Richard Rozelaar media@alaincharles.com ph: 44-(0)-20-7834-7676 fx: 44-(0)-20-7973-0076 contents April 2011 • Vol. 90 No. 3 departments, continued Advances in Nanomaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 • Layered graphene found to provide stable storage of hydrogen • Arkema, INES collaborate to develop PV research lab • Nanocrystals lead to larger grains at lower temperatures: Possible polysilicon production cost breakthrough? Ceramics in Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 • DOE announces support for new projects • Tosoh says its new sputter targets add 1 percent to solar energy conversion • Lux Research: Concentrating Solar Power deserves gigawatt focus in 2011 • Argonne extends cathode technology to Envia • Convert rather than intercalate lithium for battery applications Research Briefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 • Double perovskites developed for high-temperature applications • Japanese group ‘prints’ amorphous silicon photovoltaic cell created using silicon inks • Not your average melt: At absolute zero, quantum fluctuations appear to liquefy glass • Extreme caution suggested: Superhydrophobic surfaces may have weak icephobic properties • Two groups find cheaper, easier route to ‘cloaking’ in visible light resources International Journal of Applied Glass Science preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . Journal of the American Ceramic Society preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . International Journal of Applied Ceramic Technology preview . . . . . . . . Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Classified Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Display Advertising Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 42 43 44 45 47 Officers Marina Pascucci, President George Wicks, President-elect Edwin Fuller, Past President Ted Day, Treasurer Charles Spahr, Executive Director Board of Directors Rajendra K. Bordia, Director 2008-2011 William G. Fahrenholtz, Director 2009-2012 David J. Green, Director 2010-2013 Michael J. Hoffmann, Director 2008-2011 Linda E. Jones, Director 2009-2012 William Kelly, Director 2008-2011 William Lee, Director 2010-2013 James C. Marra, Director 2009-2012 Kathleen Richardson, Director 2008-2011 Robert W. Schwartz, Director 2010-2013 David W. Johnson Jr., Parliamentarian 2 American Ceramic Society Bulletin covers news and activities of the Society and its members, includes items of interest to the ceramics community and provides the most current information concerning all aspects of ceramic technology, including R&D, manufacturing, engineering and marketing. American Ceramic Society Bulletin (ISSN No. 0002-7812). ©2011. Printed in the United States of America. ACerS Bulletin is published monthly, except for February, July and November, as a “dual-media” magazine in print and electronic format (www.ceramicbulletin.org). Editorial and Subscription Offices: 600 North Cleveland Avenue, Suite 210, Westerville, OH 43082-6920. Subscription included with American Ceramic Society membership. Nonmember print subscription rates, including online access: United States and Canada, 1 year $75; international, 1 year $131.* Rates include shipping charges. International Remail Service is standard outside of the United States and Canada. *International nonmembers also may elect to receive an electronic-only, e-mail delivery subscription for $75. Single issues, January–November: member $6.00 per issue; nonmember $7.50 per issue. December issue (ceramicSOURCE): member $20, nonmember $25. Postage/handling for single issues: United States and Canada, $3 per item; United States and Canada Expedited (UPS 2nd day air), $8 per item; International Standard, $6 per item. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to American Ceramic Society Bulletin, 600 North Cleveland Avenue, Suite 210, Westerville, OH 43082-6920. Periodical postage paid at Westerville, Ohio, and additional mailing offices. Allow six weeks for address changes. ACSBA7, Vol. 90, No. 3, pp 1–48. All feature articles are covered in Current Contents. American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 news & trends Netzsch planning high-temperature materials conference this fall in Boston for the meeting is Boston’s Millennium Hotel. Discounted room rates are available by using the code NETZSCH_ HITEMP2001. Netzsch makes thermal analysis instruments for thermophysical properties measurement. For a conference brochure, visit: www.hitemp2011.com n Netzsch Instruments has announced that it is launching a conference on high-temperature materials, applications, testing, processing and diagnostics. Netzsch is calling the inaugural meeting “Hi Temp 2011” and will hold it in Boston, Mass., Sept. 20–22. According to the Netzsch website, Hi Temp 2011 “will include presentations of cutting edge results on materials, such as thermoelectric materials, thermal barriers, piezoelectrics, nuclear reactor materials, radioactive waste, high-temperature ceramics, catalysts, and insulating materials.” Netzsch says there will be a lot of focus on state-of-the-art characterization methods and thermal analysis. In terms of the scope of the meeting, Netzsch says it intends to cover the following topics: • Energy applications; • Aerospace applications; • Melts, glass and amorphous materials; • Thermal and structural properties measurement in ceramics and thin films; • Processing–property relations in dielectric and piezoelectric ceramics; • Thermoelectric materials; • Ultra-high–temperature ceramic multilayer coatings; and • Construction materials The deadline for submiting abstracts is April 10, 2011, and information about acceptance of abstracts will be mailed by May 1. Registration is available online. The “early registration” period for discounted fees ends May 31, 2011. The venue American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 3 news & trends (Credit: ICG.) The International Commission on Glass has announced it is holding its third annual summer school event for new researchers in glass science and technology in Montpelier, France, July 4–8, 2011. The school’s program is specifically aimed at new Ph.D. students and others just starting research for the glass industry. The ICG is still working on the final program, but the preliminary announcement says, “Each day will start with a discussion of available measurement/ simulation methodologies and their contribution to our understanding of glass structure, both on different length scales and for a broad spectrum of inorganic glass-forming systems. These lectures will underpin talks on properties and their structural dependence, e.g., optical behaviour, viscosity and aging, nucleation and crystallization.” The commission says lectures will come from world-class experts. It also says there will be ample time for discussion of how these concepts can be applied to the students’ projects. Preregistration begins April 4, 2011, and the registration deadline is June 1, 2011. Visit www.icg.group.shef.ac.uk n Mathematical simulation of silicate glass. 4 (Credit: Thermal Technology.) Glass commission to hold ‘summer school’ for new researchers 90-kilogram sapphire crystal. Sapphire crystal makers’ business on upswing It appears that because of strong demand in the LED markets, companies that have a hand in making the sapphire substrates for LEDs are doing quite well, financially and technically. For example, Illinois-based Rubicon Technology announced a few weeks ago that it has begun making 12-inch wafers for LEDs. Silicon-wafer size growth has been playing a role over the past two decades in driving down semiconductor chip prices. Polished sapphire wafers have grown from the 2-inch standard size, to then 4-inch and 8-inch sizes. Thus, the 12-inch wafer marks a substantial achievement. Part of the trick of making larger wafers is forming large crystals of pure sapphire. Currently, the LED industry seems to be centered on boules in the 80- to 90-kilogram range, but Rubicon has demonstrated that it can produce a 200-kilogram crystal. In a press release, company president and CEO Raja Parvez asserts that, “Rubicon’s ability to affordably produce larger wafers, free of defects, is key to helping industries that make and use LEDs scale to the volumes necessary to support the growth needed in the general lighting and consumer electronics. […] our customers can depend on us for uniform, particulate-free sapphire wafers as well as flat, stress-free wafers. High-quality sapphire wafers help our customers produce high quality LED wafers at volumes supporting the LED supply chain.” In 2010, Rubicon said it had inked a $71 million 6-inch wafer deal with an unnamed “major LED chip manufacturer” that extends through 2011. No mention is made in the new announcement about who might be interested in buying the 12-inch wafers, but the company goes out of its way to mention that Philips Lumileds and Lextar Electronics are using the 6-inch variety. The industry’s transition to largerdiameter wafers in LED production already has started. Earlier in 2010, Rubicon announced that the company entered into a $71 million agreement with a major LED chip manufacturer for which Rubicon will provide 6-inch polished substrates. Companies, such as Philips Lumileds and Lextar Electronics, have announced 6-inch production of LED wafers built on sapphire. Rubicon describes itself as “a vertically integrated manufacturer with capabilities in crystal growth, high-precision core drilling, wafer slicing, surface lapping, large-diameter polishing and wafer-cleaning processes. Demand seems strong (according to Bloomberg. com, Parvez last week said that wafer prices are up 30 percent compared with the previous quarter), and investors seem to like what they see in Rubicon: When the company released its quarterly report February 18, Rubicon’s stock price jumped 20 percent. Another example of the industry doing well is Thermal Technology LLC. Unlike the vertically integrated Rubicon, Thermal Technology focuses on making and selling “crystal growth equipment and high-temperature furnace systems.” In other words, it sells the equipment so other companies can make the boules and then slice and prepare the sapphire wafers. In early December 2010, Thermal Technology – a privately held company American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 – announced it would begin marketing equipment to make 90 kilogram boules using a Kyropoulos growth method. That development must have struck a chord because the company released another announcement February 10, 2011, that trumpets that the company already has received 59 orders for the new crystal grower “from customers in Taiwan, Korea and China. In total, these growers will produce 5.2 million TIE (two-in-equivalents) per year.” Sino-America Silicon Products, one of the company’s LED-producing customers in Taiwan, had a company-wide party to celebrate the creation of one of the 90-kilogram crystals grown with the Thermal Technology system Matt Mede, Thermal Technology’s president and CEO, seems pleased. He says in a press release, “Previously, the Russian growers were the industry standard. The superiority of our design, crystal size and tool capability is quickly making Thermal Technology the industry leader in this market sector.” Visit Rubicon Technology: www. rubicon-es2.com and Thermal Technology www.thermaltechnologyinc.com n Europe says it is ramping up its strategic materials plan The European Union recently announced a major new “vision” for dealing with strategic commodities and raw materials. The EU published a communication that lists 14 raw materials (antimony, beryllium, cobalt, www.hitemp2011.com Tuesday, September 20 to Thursday, September 22, 2011 Millennium Hotel Boston, MA fluorite, gallium, germanium, graphite, indium, magnesium, niobium, platinum metals, tantalum and tungsten as well as the rare-earths) it has identified as being at a higher risk of supply interruption and highly important to the region’s economy. The EU says its new efforts build on a 2008 plan on raw materials, but appears to be, in part, a reaction of how speculative derivative trading in raw materials has caused increased volatility in supply prices/availability. In September 2010, the European Commission implemented new regulations about derivative markets and trading. However, it appears that it will take further steps to eliminate systemic risks. Besides regulatory steps, the EU says it will pursue expanding the possibility of opening new mines in the region so HiTemp 2011 is intended to foster discussion and debate regarding the most recent understanding of high temperature materials and the state of the art in their experimental studies, processes, and diagnostics for scientific and technological applications. Experimental studies of high temperature materials n 10 keynote lectures n 28 contributed lectures n 3 poster sessions Leading Thermal Analysis American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 5 their leadership in the ceramic community. Ceradyne continues to be an active ACerS member and is very pleased to participate in the first Ceramic Leadership Summit. I look forward to being a part of this meeting. news & trends as to make it less dependent on extercome to a similar plan is the DOE’s that we opened the first crucible facnal suppliers: “Although the EU is very Critical Materials Strategy published in tory in Tianjin for the development and manufacture of high-technology import-dependent on metals, Europe is December 2010. Joel P. Moskowitz ceramic crucibles to meet our Chinese endowed with strong industrial minerVisit: EU Business www.eubusiness. CEO, President, of the Board customers’ requirements.” als and building materials industries. com and Natura Chairman www.natura.org n Ceradyne, Inc. Tianjin has a good transportaMoreover, despite dependence on mettion and educational infrastructure. als imports, there are important deposCeradyne opens solar materials Consequently, there are a number its of many metals in many regions of manufacturing facility in China of high-tech and industrial developthe EU. Therefore, the potential for ment projects going on in the city’s mining in Europe is strong, and many “Binhai New Area,” which includes the Member States are making use of their Tianjin Airport Economic Area, where deposits. However, in spite of this, 714-549-0421 www.ceradyne.com Ceradyne has announced the openCeradyne has built a plant on a 13.7many barriers to mining exist, some ing of a new factory in Tianjin, China. acre plot. (It has been reported recently of which are administrative and some Ceradyne Tianjin Advanced Materials that, for the first time, Binhua’s GDP which are often due to the sector being exceeds that of the more familiar subject to various overlapping and con- will produce high-purity ceramic cruci4049-CER_ACerS_hlfislnd~f.indd 1 5/21/10 12:29:49 bles for the forming of large polysilicon Pudong area ofPMShanghai.) flicting policies.” ingots for use in the manufacturing of These mining proposals are causCeradyne’s scope extends well beyond photovoltaic silicon solar cells. solar components. In an interview filmed ing some concerns, because they also According to a company press in 2009, Ceradyne’s founder and CEO refer to creating or modifying “land release, this is the company’s second Joel Moskowitz discussed the company’s use policy planning” and “putting in high-purity ceramic crucible manufacplace a clear authorization process for strategy to expand into nonarmor areas, turing facility in China. exploration and extraction.” There are such as specialty crucibles for preparing Bruce Lockhart, Ceradyne’s vice fears that these decisions will override solar-grade polysilicon. president responsible for the company’s environmental standards, and at least “Next year they may call us a solar solar energy efforts, says, “This is a very company and in five years maybe they will one report says an EU commissioner has said that one set of protected lands, exciting event for Ceradyne and partic- call us an aluminum company” he said. Natura 2000, may be opened to mining. ularly for Ceradyne Thermo Materials. Visit: Ceradyne www.ceradyne.com It was only three and a half years ago n Another major component of the plan seems to be having a moreconscious effort to develop long-term New $200M Ecomagination Challenge launched agreements with African nations: “As an example of the EU’s commitment to trends, etc. A Twitter feed also is GE has unveiled the 2011 version help developing countries to use minavailable. In addition, GE has a blog of its $200 million Ecomagination ing as an instrument for development about the Challenge. Challenge on the theme of “Powering and poverty reduction, as part of the Ideas submitted are competing for Your Home.” The 2011 theme is a EU-Africa Joint Strategy for 2011-13, two levels of rewards: Actually prizes logical departure from the one in agreement was reached to cooperate in range up to $100,000, but the big 2010, “Powering the Grid,” but mainthree main areas: governance; investkahuna is the pool of $100 million+ tains the open innovation/community ment/infrastructure; and geological available in the form of commitments feedback system used last year. knowledge/skills. This cooperation will of venture capital investments in the Although the submission period for also explore how resource-rich countries best ideas. entries apparently has been closed, a can better link the extractive industry Final judging is done by a panel basic idea can be registered and then to local industry and communities.” that includes individuals from GE’s followed up with a concept submisThe plan also includes: business units, representatives from sion via Ecomagination Challenge • Increasing materials innovations academia, venture capital firms, website. and substitution options; government research specialists and The website utility isn’t limited • Stimulating urban mining/mateothers. They are supposed to conduct to submitted ideas. Science and rials recycling; and technology aficionados can view the their evaluations “based on merit; • Studying the effect of raw mateoffered ideas, submit comments, give reliance on science and engineering rials and commodity prices on food Facebook “likes,” see who else supfundamentals; innovative character; supplies. ports the ideas, see similar ideas, view potential to create significant societal The nearest the United States has 6 American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 Congress members concerned about United States rare-earth defense strategy Two U.S. senators from Alaska and a U.S. representative from Colorado are upset about what they perceive is the Department of Defense’s lax attitude toward the strategic supply of rare-earth elements. Senators Mark Begich and Lisa Murkowski along with Representative Mike Coffman in late January dispatched a long letter to DOD Secretary Robert Gates to express their concerns about the agency’s dependence on non-U.S. suppliers of REEs. They wrote, “[E]arly indications are the DOD has dismissed the severity of the situation to date. Based on initial discussions with the DOD Office of Industrial Policy, we understand the effort to precisely ascertain and fully comprehend DOD consumption of certain rare-earth elements is still an ongoing effort. In our view, it is a funimpact; commercial feasibility in light of applicable market dynamics; and other factors deemed appropriate by the judges.” The quality of last year’s entrants was surprisingly high and diverse. So, American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 damental responsibility of DOD industrial Policy to have a comprehensive understanding of the security of our defense supply chain, which requires understanding detailed knowledge of the sources and types of components and materials founds [sic] in our weapon systems.” if you have an idea or just want to browse through those of others, it’s worth stopping in every week or so. Visit: GE Ecomagination at http:// challenge.ecomagination.com n The trio continued, “[M]anufacturing capabilities required to convert materials into the components needed for our defense systems are virtually non-existent in the United States today, and, to our knowledge, no prime contractor has long-term supply agreements to ensure access in a fully secure supply chain. Given the dwindling domestic supply chain and struggle to accurately identify DOD consumption of rare-earth elements, we respectfully disagree with Director Lambert’s initial assessment.” The three elected officials go on to recommend that the DOD demand contractors account for all REE consumption, define the agency’s current and future demand for REEs and propose “real solutions on rare-earth availability” in its upcoming report to Congress (National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011). Murkowski is the ranking member on the Senate Energy Committee. Begich sits on the Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation and Armed Services Committees. Coffman has weighed in on REE issues before and, in 2010, introduced the Rare-Earth Supply chain Technology and Response Transformation (RESTART) bill. It should be noted that Alaska is one of several states that may have exploitable REE reserves, and Colorado is home to REE mining company MolyCorp. n 7 Attention ACerS Members The Society needs your input on the STRUCTURE REVIEW PROJECT ACerS has started an important project related to the Society’s division, class and committee structures that may impact the future organization of the Society. Should the Society be organized differently to better serve the members and the ceramics community going forward? To answer this and other questions Project Chair Raj Bordia urges all members to participate now in two ways: 1. Go to the membership survey at www.surveymonkey.com/s/SRP1 and answer a few questions related to WHAT the ACerS community needs. Your responses will give committee members the information to then figure out HOW to organize to deliver it. Your opinions and insights are important, so please participate! 2. Leave feedback and/or ask questions at the online forum at ceramics.org/ community. The forum allows members to discuss the possibilities and give input in an open-ended format. Read comments left by fellow members and then share your thoughts on whether you think the Society’s current division, class and committee structures are meeting your needs. To learn more about the Structure Review Project, read the open letter to membership from ACerS President Marina Pascucci. It appears on page 6 of the January/February 2011 issue of the Bulletin, or go to the online forum and click on the link to it. Please participate and help shape the future of your Society. Thanks in advance for your involvement. acers spotlight R.T. Vanderbilt Co. Norwalk, Connecticut www.rtvanderbilt.com Capital Refractories Ltd. Chesterfield, United Kingdom www.capital-refractories.com Liqtech NA Inc. White Bear Lake, Minnesota www.liqtechna.com Mold Release Products Inc. Hockessin, Delaware www.lubekits.com Starfire Systems Inc. Schenectady, New York www.starfiresystems.com Messing stars at New England Section meeting The New England Section of The American Ceramic Society kicked off its 2011 meetings on Jan. 24, when Gary L. Messing, Distinguished Professor of Ceramic Science and Engineering at Penn State, delivered a presentation on recent improvements to the transparency of polycrystalline ceramics for solid-state lasers. Despite American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 Gary Messing, right, discussed transparent polycrystalline ceramics with MIT’s Harry Tuller at the New England Section meeting. the blustery conditions, 40 attendees negotiated the snow-covered New England roads to hear the former ACerS president speak. For up-to-the-minute information and additional meeting dates and details, visit the Section website at www.neacers.org. n Toledo Glass and Ceramic Award Meeting – April 21, 2011 Mark your calendars! The Michigan/ Northwest Ohio Section of ACerS is holding its annual Toledo Glass and Ceramic Award Meeting on Thursday, April 21, 2011, at The Toledo Club, 235 14th Street, Toledo, Ohio. This year’s award recipient is Prabhat K. Gupta, in recognition of his outstanding contributions in the areas of glass-forming ability; glass thermodynamics; relaxation and phase separation in glasses; strength of glass fibers as well as for a creative teaching style and dedicated service to glass-related scientific organizations. After graduating from IIT Bombay with highest honors in metallurgical engineering, Gupta pursued graduate studies at Case Western Reserve University in 1966 under the guidance of the late Alfred Cooper. After completing his Ph.D. in 1971, he spent a year as a postdoctoral fellow in physics with Joel Lebowitz at Yeshiva University. In 1972, he joined the Vitreous State Laboratory at Catholic University, and, in 1977, he joined OwensCorning Science and Technology Center as a senior scientist. In 1986, Gupta became an Prabhat Gupta associate professor in what was then the Ceramic Engineering Department at Ohio State University, where, at present, he is a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. In 1993, Gupta received the Otto Schott Research Award from the Zeiss Foundation (Germany) for basic research contributions in glass science. In 2009, he was awarded the Glass and Optical Materials Division’s George W. Morey award. He is a fellow of The American Ceramic Society and of the Society of Glass Technology. Don’t miss this opportunity to have dinner with Dr. Gupta and hear his award presentation as well as network with others in the glass and ceramics community. For more information, check the ACerS web site, or call Janet Bailey at 248-348-6585 or write her at jebailey@ wowway.com. (Credit: The American Ceramic Society.) ACerS recognizes organizations that joined the Society as Corporate Members in the past few months. For more information on benefits of becoming a Corporate Member, contact Nick Schafer at nschafer@ ceramics.org or visit ACerS special Corporate Member web page, www. ceramics.org/corporate. (Credit: June Wang; The American Ceramic Society.) Welcome to our newest Corporate Members Register for Cements 2011 Registration is open for the 2nd Advances in Cement-based Materials: Characterization, Processing, Modeling and Sensing. Sign up before June 11, 2011, to save $125. Co-organized by the Cements Division of ACerS and the Center for Advanced Cement-based Materials, the July 24–26, 2011, meeting will be hosted at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. The technical program will include oral and poster presentations on cement chemistry and nano/ microstructure, advances in multiscale material characterization, alternative cementitious materials and material modification, multiscale concrete durability, advances in computational material science and chemo/mechanical modeling of cement-based materials, as well as smart materials and sensors. 9 acers spotlight This year’s tutorial is geochemical speciation modeling and transport processes applied to cement-based materials and will feature Barbara Lothenbach from EMPA, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology. The Della Roy Lecture, sponsored by Elsevier, will be given by Karen Scrivener, professor and head of the Laboratory of Construction Materials at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland) and founder of the Nanocem Consortium. Register at ceramics.org/cements2011 n Call for papers announced for ‘Energy 2012’ Abstracts can now be submitted for the Materials Challenges in Alternative & Renewable Energy 2012 meeting. The deadline for abstracts is Sept. 19, 2011. “Energy 2012” will feature symposia on: • Batteries and Energy Storage; • Biomass; • Electric Grid; • Geothermal; • Hydrogen; • Hydropower; • Nuclear; • Solar Power; and • Wind Energy. Scheduled for Feb. 26–29, 2012, Energy 2012 will facilitate information sharing on the latest developments involving materials for alternative and renewable energy systems. Make your reservations for sunny Clearwater Beach, Fla., today! Visit www.ceramics. org/energy2012 n Super early bird savings for Ceramic Leadership Summit 2011 Registration is now open for the 2011 Ceramic Leadership Summit. Save $225 when you sign up before May 16, 2011. The CLS 2011 conference will take place Aug. 1–3, 2011, in Baltimore, Md., and will discuss business opportunities, emerging technologies, critical 10 areas for scientific advancement and process innovations challenging the ceramic materials community. The 2011 program is nearly complete. Visit www.ceramics.org/cls2011 n Register for ‘Clay 2011’ Registration is now open for ACerS’s Structural Clay Products Division Meeting 2011. “Clay 2011” is scheduled for May 2–4, 2011 in Gettysburg, Pa. The three-day event will offer two plant tours, and technical presentations from invited speakers. Sign up now to be part of this meeting. Visit www. ceramics.org/clay11 n Call for book authors ACerS is seeking new authors or volume editors for textbooks, handbooks and reference books on ceramics and ceramics-related topics. Examples of book topics include oxides, non-oxides, composites, environmental and energy issues; fuel cells; ceramic armor; nanotechnology; glass and optical materials; electronic/functional ceramic technology and applications; advanced ceramic materials; bioceramics; ceramic engineering, manufacturing, processing and usage; ceramic design and properties; and health and safety issues. Authors and editors of new, original books receive royalties on worldwide sales of their books, while editors of proceedings volumes receive complimentary copies of their books. If you are an interested author or editor, or simply have an idea that you wish to share, please contact Anita Lekhwani at alekhwan@wiley. com or Greg Geiger at ggeiger@ ceramics.org n ICC4 call for speaker nominations extended The American Ceramic Society, under the auspices of the International Ceramic Federation, and in cooperation with the European Ceramic Society and The Ceramic Society of Japan, is pleased to organize and host the 4th International Congress on Ceramics in June 15–19, 2012, in Chicago, Ill. Invited speaker nominations are due April 30, 2011. Send nominations, including speaker name, address, email address and topic to icc4@ceramics.org. ICC4 proposed theme areas include • Environment; • Energy; • Infrastructure; • Transportation; • Aerospace; • Biology and Medicine; • Security; • Electro-, magnetic-, optical-ceramics and devices; and • Nanostructured ceramics. Join delegates in a global information exchange, network with your peers and share your perspective at ICC4. Visit www.ceramics.org/icc4 n Society’s division and class award nominations open There are four ACerS division and class awards that are still open for nominations. Each of these awards will be presented at MS&T’11, Oct. 16–20, 2011, in Columbus, Ohio. The awards and deadlines are as follows: • Ceramic Educational Council: Outstanding Educator Award. Deadline April 15, 2011. • Glass and Optical Materials Division: Alfred R. Cooper Scholars Award. Deadline June 30, 2011. • Electronics Division: Edward C. Henry Award and Lewis C. Hoffman Scholarship. Deadlines for both are July 31, 2011. Visit www.ceramics.org/awards for details on submitting entries for these awards. Contact Marcia Stout at mstout@ceramics.org with questions. n In Memoriam Tsuneharu Ogasawara 1944–2010 Some detailed obituaries also can be found on the ACerS website, www.ceramics.org/in-memoriam American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 ceramics in the environment Here’s a cautionary lesson about the publicity around hybrid and all-electric automobiles: A respected nonprofit group dedicated to energy efficiency just released its list of “greenest” cars among the 2011 class and seven of the top 13 rely on piston-driven “conventional” engines. In fact, the top performer on the list is the Honda Civic GX, which runs on compressed natural gas. The heavily advertised Chevy Volt only ranked number 13. No diesels made the list. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy says its 14th annual environmental ratings weighs upstream and downstream effects, i.e., manufacturing energy, emissions and disposal/recycling considerations. In a news release, ACEEE vehicle analyst Shruti Vaidyanathan says, “We’re seeing an increasing number of highly efficient gasoline options from both foreign and domestic automakers along with the first electric vehicles. Ford introduced the Fiesta this year and Chevrolet debuted the Cruze, both of which do exceedingly well in our ratings.” Here are the ratings: 1. Honda Civic GX (compressed natural gas) 2. Nissan Leaf (electric) 3. Smart ForTwo Cabriolet/Coupe (gasoline) 4. Toyota Prius (hybrid) 5. Honda Civic Hybrid 6. Honda Insight (hybrid) (Credit: Smart USA.) ACEEE: All-gasoline and natural-gas 2011 U.S. vehicles not ceding ‘greenest’ label yet The gasoline-powered Smart ForTwo Coupe came in third place in a newly published comparison of energy efficiency among autos manufactured in the United States. 7. Ford Fiesta SFE (gasoline) 8. Chevrolet Cruze Eco (gasoline) 9. Hyundai Elantra (gasoline) 10. Mini Cooper (gasoline) 11. Toyota Yaris (gasoline) 12. Mazda 2 (gasoline) 13. Chevrolet Volt (hybrid) As one can imagine, the Volt’s marketing managers are none too happy. A story from CNNMoney.com reports that GM is disparaging the ACEEE’s list and ranking system. When told of the ranking and the rational behind it, the website reports that GM spokesman Rob Peterson said, “I find it kind of laughable. […] It’s one group’s interpre- tation of a measurement of ‘green’.” It’s likely to still be a few years before any of the nascent technologies establishes a dominating position. More likely, a variety of technologies will be required for a long time in certain applications, regardless of the potential, because of other economies and externalities (speed, distance, location). Regardless, the “green” bar is being raised by not-to-beignored amounts each year. Whether it will ever occur by revolutionary amounts remains to be seen. Visit: American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy www.aceee. org n A new report suggests that although LEDs have performance advantages over incandescents and compact fluorescent lights, one can’t assume that LEDs are free from disposal problems. In fact, the paper’s authors, from the University of California (Davis and Irvine), suggest that LEDs may bring their own unique “environmental burdens.” The researchers, who are associated with UCI’s School of Social Ecology, American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 Program in Public Health and UCD’s Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, distinguish between environmental burdens related to resource depletion (e.g., gold and silver) and those burdens related to toxicity (e.g., copper, nickel and lead). The group’s goal was to test whether LEDs could be considered “hazardous wastes” as defined by United States and California standards, to (Piccolo Namek, Wikipedia.) LED disposal safety questioned 11 ceramics in the environment look at how the threat might vary across various LED types and to consider the overall life-cycle impact of LEDs. The latter was done, in part, to help designers and manufacturers make safer products and to help waste disposers and recyclers know how to handle LEDs that are already making their way to landfills. Their findings, published in Environmental Science and Technology (DOI: 10.1021/es101052q), are that some LEDs did pose a threat of leaching toxic materials if disposed of improperly, but the threat was largely related to LED color and intensity. In fact, with one exception, all LEDs exceeded California’s silver, nickel, lead and copper standards. The one exception is low-intensity yellow LEDs. One type of LED – low-intensity reds – exceeded federal lead standards. The group’s methods are pretty straight forward: Grind up LEDs and expose the resultant flecks, nuggets and specks to the equivalent of a multiyear bath in acid rain, and then test for toxic materials in the runoff. This isn’t the first time these researchers have used this type of approach. For example, one of the UCI investigators, Oladele A. Ogunseitan, has been grinding up and testing cell phones and other commercial electronics for some time. Ogunseitan has been the principal investigator in an NSF-sponsored study on strategies for addressing e-wastes. Another group member, UCD’s Julie M. Shoenung, runs the school’s Lead Campus activities that are part of the Research and Education in Green Materials program. In an online story in Gizmag, writer Darren Quick reports that Ogunseitan blames the situation on a lack of proper product testing before LEDs. “Every day we don’t have a law that says you cannot replace an unsafe product with another unsafe product, we’re putting people’s lives at risk,” Ogunseitan tells Quick. “And it’s a preventable risk.” The group says it hopes rapid steps are taken to modify LED products and craft-handling procedure. Group members note that LEDs are already entering the waste stream from auto industry applications (front and rear lights) and hitting the mass market in the form of cheap and ubiquitous holiday lights. On a practical level, the group suggests that anyone having to clean up broken LEDs should treat the situation as if approaching broken CFLs: Wear gloves, mask and use special brooms and other equipment to gather the debris. They also go so far as to suggest special precautions for emergency responders to highway accidents. Visit: Schoenung Research group at UC Davis: www.chms.ucdavis.edu/ research/web/schoenung n With a goal of making sure their car parts are disposed of in the most eco-friendly manner possible, Tesla has launched a new recycling strategy in Europe for its batteries, which are designed to last 7 to 10 years, or about 100,000 miles under normal use. According to a company press release, Tesla Motors has teamed up with Belgium’s Umicore to establish a lithium-ion battery recycling program. Umicore will recycle Tesla’s “dead” battery packs to produce an alloy that will be further refined into cobalt, nickel and other metals. Umicore plans to transform the cobalt into a high-grade lithium cobalt oxide product, which can be resold to battery manufacturers (the company already supplies battery makers with LCO). The company also acknowledges that some byproducts will remain, but says it intends to turn this into a slag containing calcium oxides and lithium that can go into special grade concretes. Tesla says the recycling program will save about 70 percent of CO2 emissions 12 (Credit: Tesla Motors.) Tesla: We are close to ‘closed loop’ battery recycling with reusable alloys, slag Tesla Motors is striving for complete battery recycling in Europe. Above is the battery pack for its Model S electric vehicle. at the recovery stage. “While we work to help lessen global dependence on petroleum-based transportation and drive down the cost of electric vehicles, we are also taking the lead in developing a closed-loop battery-recycling system,” Tesla’s director of energy storage systems Kurt Kelty writes on a company blog. Kelty continues, “The technology to enable this is available today – and it’s profitable! We already reuse cobalt in the batteries. The overall closed-loop recycling system becomes possible, and much more efficient, once the quantities rise to a level to justify the investment for recycling of the other components – especially the plastic.” Kelty claims their system tries to cover every detail. “The only other emissions from the recycling process,” he writes “are CO2, water vapor and dust. The dust makes up about 1 percent of the total output, and it goes to protected landfill. In an effort to reuse every possible part of the process, the Umicore facility even sells the electricity created from an on-site combined natural-gas generation plant to the copper mine next door, which uses the heat in its smelters.” These comments seem to imply that Umicore is doing much better than Tesla’s North American recycler, Kinsbursky Brothers (Toxco Inc.), which Kelty says recycles only about 60 percent of the battery pack. Visit: Tesla Motors www.teslamotors. com n American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 advances in nanomaterials Layered graphene found to provide stable storage of hydrogen can occur and be reversed through a photothermal heating process, but apparently the amount of hydrogen that is stored in the single layer was not measured (the work was focused on methods to manipulate the charge transport properties of the graphene). The JNCASR group, led by C.N.R. Rao, looked at additional research that suggested that hydrogen loading might be better accomplished through the use of multiple layers of graphene, and decided to do some detailed studies in this area. In brief, the group used two methods to form few-layer graphene samples: exfoliation of graphite oxide (forming six to seven layers) and arc evaporation of graphite under hydrogen (forming two to three layers). The researchers hydrogenated both samples (using Birch reduction), and both samples displayed a hydrogen content of approximately 5 weight percent. They found that the hydrogencontaining graphene is stable at room temperature “and can be stored over long periods.” Temperature (°C) Change in the weight percent of hydrogen in few-layer graphene sample created via exfoliation (EGH) and arc evaporation of graphite under hydrogen (HGH). (Inset) The evolution of hydrogen as recorded by gas chromatograph. American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 Credit: Subrahmanyam et al. Hydrogen storage (wt%) Researchers from the Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research in Bangalore, India say they have come across a new approach for using graphene for hydrogen storage. They report in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences they have been able to create samples containing up to 5 weight percent hydrogen, which they say can be completely released through heating or by irradiating with a laser or ultraviolet light source. For comparison purposes, the maximum amount of hydrogen that can be contained in graphene is 7.7 weight percent. This isn’t the first time researchers have looked at graphene. Much of this work has been done in the context of trying to find some sort of suitable solid body for hydrogen storage. Previously, some investigators began thinking about carbon nanotubes. Some storage effects were achieved, but overall the results have been disappointing. Other research also has been done at Columbia University using single-layer graphene showing that hydrogenation When the samples are heated, the hydrogen begins to be released around 200°C and is totally released at 500°C. As mentioned above, they also used laser and UV irradiation to break the C–H bonds and free the hydrogen. The group feels this storage system may have potential applications, and that a better storage system may be achievable. The authors note, “Although Birch reduction enabled us to incorporate 5 weight percent of hydrogen in few-layer graphenes, it may be possible to carry out hydrogenation more effectively by other methods.” They also report they have achieved 3 weight percent storage using graphene nanoribbons, which also fully releases its hydrogen at 500°C. Visit www.jncasr.ac.in/cnrrao n Arkema, INES collaborate to develop PV research lab Arkema and the French National Institute for Solar Energy (INES) are teaming up to create a private–public mixed research lab focused on the development of photovoltaic module technology. Arkema develops polymers used in photovoltaic panels. According to the firms press release, this new joint laboratory will pool Arkema’s expertise in polymers, polymer films and nanomaterials, with the expertise of the INES CEA teams in design and in development processes for innovative photovoltaic modules, silicon and thin layers. This cooperative venture will be in place for an initial four-year period. This structure will help expand the technological offering of the photovoltaic sector in France as well as its com13 advances in nanomaterials Nanocrystals lead to larger grains at lower temperatures: Possible poly-silicon production cost breakthrough? Researchers from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, say they have made a significant step forward in learning how to produce polycrystalline silicon using a process that creates significantly larger grains at lower temperatures. The group thinks it may be a big step toward getting photovoltaic energy competitive with fossil fuel sources. The Arkansas group, lead by Hameed Naseem, professor of electrical engineering and director of the university’s Solid State Lab, uses what it calls a topdown aluminum-induced crystallization process to create poly-silicon with grains as wide as 150 micrometer at temperatures in the 100°C –300°C range. AIC has been used for several years to create small-grained poly-silicon, and, as early as 2001, Naseem, et al., published how the method could be used to create 0.5 micrometer grains at 150°C. In a typical AIC process, some form of chemical vapor deposition first is used to form an initial layer of amorphous silicon. Second, a layer of aluminum is deposited using vacuum deposition or some similar method. Third, the silicon–aluminum layer is annealed, at which point the silicon and aluminum exchange places, and the aluminum catalytically assists the formation conversion of the amorphous silicon to poly-silicon during the exchange. Much of the layer-exchange system was pioneered by Oliver Nast and others at the University of New South Wales (Sydney) in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Naseem tells the Bulletin that what distinguishes his “topdown” AIC 14 approach is that the aluminum simply diffuses through the silicon, causing the conversion to a p-type polycrystalline form rather than exchanging places. Naseem says that with topdown AIC, as the aluminum begins to diffuse, “the poly-silicon starts as nanocrystalline material that coalesces almost explosively and produce these large grains.” He traced his group’s work back to problems NASA was identifying in semiconductors in the 1980s and 1990s. He says the semiconductors were failing, and the problem turned out to be related to aluminum connects that would heat up and contaminate the silicon in the semiconductor. Further investigation showed that the amorphous silicon in the semiconductor was being damaged because it was being converted to poly-silicon. Although this was definitely a “problem” for NASA, other researchers, such as Naseem, realized that this ability could be put to positive use. Naseem says there are several advantages to his group’s approach over other poly-silicon production techniques. Other techniques require hours of heating at much higher temperatures and produce grains in the 0.5 to 5 micrometer range. Furthermore, the processes necessitate batch processing. Instead, topdown AIC rapidly pro- vides large grains at lower temperatures, and, Naseem says, “It is perfectly suitable to making continuous film via automated and semiautomated processes. It can easily be annealed through belt annealing.” These researchers have the idea of making some large leaps in reducing the production cost of solar cells. “The problem with solar energy has been its cost per kilowatt hour. This applies to both production and consumption. With minimal further refinements, our technology will address this problem. The goal is to reduce the costs of silicon-based photovoltaics below those of traditional fossil-fuel-based methods such as coal, petroleum and natural gas,” Naseem says in a university press release. Naseem says the next step for the group is to start testing small prototypes of photovoltaic cells. He hopes to achieve a 12 percent module efficiency. To this end, he has become the chief technical officer of a start-up company, Silicon Solar Solutions, to begin testing and, hopefully, establish a proofof-concept continuous-film processing demonstration. The company received an SBIR Phase 1 grant in late 2010. Visit: www.engr.uark.edu/home/687. php and www.siliconsolarsolutions.com n (Credit: H. Naseem.) petitiveness in this strategic area. An INES promotional video highlights the innovations in solar research at the facility. Visit Arkema: www.arkema.com and INES: www.ines-solaire.com n A new process creates poly-silicon with crystal grains up to 150 micrometers, roughly 30 times larger than grains currently produced in the photovoltaic industry. American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 ceramics in energy DOE announces support for new projects The past month has been busy for the Department of Energy, with many new project and loan announcements coming out of the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. Here is a summary of some of the most recent efforts being launched or renewed. • $5 million available for GATE centers, student graduate fellowships in automotive materials, engineering. The DOE announced in mid-February that it is providing $5 million in new funding for Graduate Automotive Technology Education centers and the grad student fellowships offered in conjunction with the centers. The main goal of the GATE program is to foster domestic production of skilled engineers in the automotive field, and, moreover, use this training as part of a broader strategy to keep the United States a leading player in the world’s automotive markets. The DOE set up these GATE centers at least a decade ago to foster training in automotive-engineeringrelated fields. Back then, based on competitive proposals, the agency selected 10 U.S. universities. It seems that in 2005, DOE fielded a second round of proposals and narrowed the winners to eight U.S. universities who divvied up $4.7 million. This new announcement represents a third round of competition for the agency’s funding. Each center has a particular specialty and has already been providing some fellowships. GATE centers (and their specialties) are currently located at – Penn State (battery systems, flywheels, capacitors, and systems integration and testing); – University of Alabama at Birmingham (lightweight materials, advanced computation and simulation and biomechanics); – University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign (advanced biofuel combustion engines); American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 – Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (fuel cells); – Ohio State University (modeling, controls and system integration of advanced propulsion systems); – University of California-Davis (hydrogen fuel cell vehicles); – University of Tennessee (optimal strategies for hybrid powertrain control and systems integration); and – University of Michigan-Dearborn (lightweight materials and processing). The DOE says in a press release that the funding “supports the administration’s goal of increasing American economic competitiveness by focusing on science, technology, engineering and math education to support job growth and put the nation on the path to outeducate and out-innovate the rest of the world. The funding also will help to achieve President Obama’s ambitious goal of putting one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.” Besides fellowships, DOE says the selected schools can use the awards to fund curriculum development and expansion. Schools have to apply or reapply for GATE funding (application instructions can be found under Reference Number DE-FOA-0000442) no later than April 18, 2011. The DOE predicts that it will fund between five and eight schools again and that each award will be $500,000 to $1 million that will have to cover a five-year period. • Southwestern transmission project gets $343 million DOE grid loan guarantee. Department Secretary Steven Chu announced in mid-February that it will use American Recovery and Reinvestment Act monies to provide a loan guarantee for $343 million to assist a consortium building a 500 kilovolt transmission line poised to transmit 600 megawatts of power throughout the Southwest. The grid loan guarantee is the first of its kind and most likely the first of many. It supports the nation’s push to integrate renewables into a national grid that will demand a strong network of transmission lines to transport the energy from its source. The One Nevada Transmission Line project, or ON Line, is phase one of a two-phase transmission project, the Southwest Intertie Project. SWIP will link Nevada, Wyoming and Idaho to the entire southwest region and California. At the completion of both phases, SWIP will consist of a 510mile transmission system spanning Idaho to southern Nevada. The entire project is estimated to cost $1.6 billion, according to the Department of the Interior. “As our country increases its use of alternative energy sources, new transmission lines like the ON Line project will play a vital role in moving clean energy from one region to another,” says Chu in a DOE press release. DOI Secretary Ken Salazar at the ON Line groundbreaking ceremony last October said, “Traveling through several areas under consideration for wind, solar and geothermal power generation projects, this line will provide the critical transmission infrastructure to bring that potential to western communities.” The ON Line portion of the SWIP project is estimated to cost $510 million to build. The additional $167 million will be gathered from equity and 15 ceramics in energy (Credit: Department of the Interior.) debt from NV Energy, according to a report by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. ON Line should be fully operational by early 2013. The full SWIP project has an operational date of 2014. Fund guarantees for the second phase of the project, known as SWIP-North, most likely will be granted in mid-2011 as Great Basin Transmission (contributing as a joint-venture energy company alongside NV Energy) anticipates having all permit requirements complete at that time. Visit: www.swipos.com. Map of southwestern grid transmission project, Southwest Intertie Project. • DOI and DOE to support major offshore wind initiatives with $50 million investment. Salazar and Chu also announced in early February major steps forward in support of offshore wind energy in the United States, including new funding opportunities for up to $50.5 million for projects that will aid offshore wind energy deployment. They say the efforts will help several high-priority “Wind Energy Areas” in the mid-Atlantic that will spur rapid, responsible development of this renewable resource. In particular, the agencies will be funding 16 – Technology Development (up to $25 million over five years) for innovative wind turbine design tools and hardware, including the development of open-source computational tools, system-optimized offshore wind plant concept studies, as well as coupled turbine rotor and control systems; – Removing Market Barriers (up to $18 million over three years) to conduct baseline studies and targeted environmental research to characterize key industry sectors and factors Various recently announced DOE- and DOI-funded projects address research, development and commerlimiting the deployment of offshore wind, including cialization of cost-effective alternative energy production and transmission. offshore wind market and deployed across the country. economic analysis, environVisit www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/ mental risk reduction, manufacturing sunshot. and supply chain development; and • Energy Innovation Portal con– Next-Generation Drivetrain (up nects innovative energy technologies to $7.5 million over three years) to to the marketplace. fund the development and refinement The DOE has launched an Energy of next-generation designs for windInnovation Portal that it says can play turbine drivetrains. an important link between R&D and Visit www1.eere.energy.gov/ the marketplace. The agency says the windandhydro. EIP has more than 300 business-friendly • SunShot initiative to achieve marketing summaries available to help cost-competitive solar energy by 2020 as DOE announces $27 million in proj- investors and companies identify and license leading-edge energy efficiency ects to advance solar development and and renewable energy technologies. manufacturing. Energy officials describe the Portal Chu also released details of the as an online tool that links available DOE’s “SunShot” initiative to reduce DOE-supported innovations to the the total costs of photovoltaic solar entrepreneurs who can successfully energy systems by about 75 percent. license and commercialize them. They The goal of SunShot is to reduce the say that by helping move these innovacost of large-scale solar-energy systems tions from the laboratory to the marso that they are cost competitive with ket, the Portal facilitates an integral other forms of energy – without subsistep in supporting growing America’s dies – before the end of the decade. clean-energy industries and meeting Chu says that by reducing the cost the Administration’s clean-energy for utility-scale installations by about goals. 75 percent to roughly $1 per watt, Visit www.techportal.eere.energy. which would correspond to roughly 6 gov. n cents per kilowatt-hour, utility-scale solar energy systems could be broadly American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 Tosoh SMD, a maker of the type of sputtering targets often used by photovoltaic manufacturers, says it has developed a new line of transparent conducting oxide targets that can add a 1 percent gain to the solar conversion efficiencies of thin films. According to a company news release, the new TCO targets (available in either indium tin oxide or aluminum zinc oxide, with planar and rotary options) have been specially doped to have improved transparency and other optical properties. The company says the targets “are highly transparent, especially in the visible to infrared range, and they feature high thermal stability, even under humid conditions … [and] enable the deposition of textured surfaces that feature enhanced light-trapping capability. Compared with thin films from conventional TCO targets, a single-junction thin film deposited by a Tosoh AZO TCO target in a silicon solar cell shows a one-point gain in conversion efficiency. Thin films, meanwhile, produced with Tosoh’s ITO TCO target achieve a similar gain in a copper indium gallium selenide-based solar cell.” One CIGS expert seems to be happy with this. According to the release, Makoto Konagai, of the Tokyo Institute of Technology, says that “this invention will contribute to achieving the goal of 18 percent energy conversion efficiency with Lux Research: Concentrating solar power deserves gigawatt focus in 2011 Tech research group Lux Research is warming to concentrating solar power technologies and says that business related to concentrating solar power should be good for 2011 as plants scale up to gigawatt proportions. American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 (Credit: Tosoh SMD.) Tosoh says its new sputter targets add 1 percent to solar energy conversion A rotary version of Tosoh’s new transparent conducting oxide sputtering targets. a focus on low-cost and large-scale production.” (Konagai is most likely referring to an 18 percent conversion efficiency mass-produced CIGS, not lab tests. The NREL reached a CIGS thin-film efficiency mark of 19.9 percent in 2008 and has confirmed that at least one manufacturer has commercial units available that reach the 15.5 percent conversion level.) Despite some technical developments, such as this, interest in thinfilm photovoltaic devices, especially in the United States, has waned as processing and manufacturing prices for traditional silicon PV units has continued to fall. Tosoh, however, says it is hoping to attract worldwide customers who are interested in lowering their overall cost per watt of production. Visit: www.tosohsmd.com/ n A new report from Lux compares four contending large-scale solar-powered generation systems, three being CSP approaches and the fourth a photovoltaic-based generation system model. The three CSP technologies covered in the report, ”Solar Thermal Update: The Renaissance of Concentrating Solar Power,” are parabolic trough, power tower and Stirling thermal systems. The three, plus the photovoltaic mode, are compared and modeled using a hypothetical 100 megawatt plant. Lux’s research has been distinguished in the past because of the quality of the firm’s ability to analyze real-world business factors. This new report produces some interesting findings by focusing on “levelized cost of electricity,” capital costs and internal rate of return. Ted Sullivan, lead author of the report, says in a news release that things haven’t always been shining for CSP. “After a few fits and starts, solar thermal projects have begun to make a big impact on the generation mix in both Spain and the Southwest U.S. Though trough technologies have been dominant to date, we expect power tower solutions to gain increasing prominence as the technology is proven, because their integration with thermal storage technologies smashes through the fundamental constraint that has held solar back to date: intermittency,” says Sullivan, senior analyst at the company. Here’s how the four technologies compared: • Capital expenditures – Winner: Stirling dish systems (because of modularity and relatively cheap Stirling engines). – Runners up: Photovoltaic and CSP tower systems. – At the bottom: Parabolic troughs (because of mirror field costs). • Performance –Winners: Trough and tower systems (Parabolic troughs have best peak efficiency but tower systems have better system yields and capacity factors). – At the bottom: Stirling dish and photovoltaic systems (lower capacity factors and lower energy yield, in kilowatt-hours output per kilowatt of peak power). • Levelized cost of electricity (measured as in dollars-per-Watt hour) – Winner: Stirling dish systems (because their low cost and “decent” performances provide better internal rate of return to investors). 17 – Runner up: Power-tower technology. – At the bottom: Trough and PV systems (of CSP systems, troughs have the most-expensive capital expendi- tures, plus high operation and maintenance costs; PVs have relatively high capital expenditure requirements and “mediocre” performance). Visit www.luxresearchinc.com n Argonne extends cathode technology to Envia Volt. ANL followed that with another recent announcement that it also is licensing its high-capacity manganeserich cathode technology to Envia Systems, based in Newark, Calif. That brings the total number of businesses to (Credit: ANL) In January, Argonne National Lab said it had reached a licensing agreement with GM Ventures and LG Chem to allow the two businesses to use a special cathode technology for lithium batteries, specifically those used in GM’s ANL’s energy storage researchers investigate all stages of a battery: from the basic chemistry at its molecular interfaces, to engineering better cathodes and anodes, to testing completed batteries for performance and durability. The lab has licensed its cathode technology to Envia Systems. 18 five, including BASF and Toda Kogyo. Envia Systems also was recently awarded $3.65 million from the United States Advanced Battery Consortium, a research collaboration group composed of Chrysler, Ford and GM, to develop a high-energy cathode material for vehicle applications and pouch cells. According to a GM press release, Envia’s advanced cathode technology uses inexpensive materials that store more energy per unit of mass than current cathode materials. Because the cathode is a key driver for the overall battery cost, the more energy the cathode delivers, the lower the battery cost because fewer cells are needed. Envia says its HCMR cathode material enables batteries that are distinct in four ways. They use low-cost and safe materials; they deliver unmatched energy density; they provide excellent cycle life; and, they offer an inherent ability to customize battery size and output to meet the demands of a variety of applications, particularly for electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid EVs. Visit: Argonne National Laboratory: www.anl.gov and Envia www.enviasystems.com n Convert rather than intercalate lithium for battery applications Almost two decades have passed since the emergence of lithium-ion batteries on the market. Despite steady improvements in Battery researcher performance, curRosa Palacín. rent technology is struggling to meet the demand for everbetter energy density, power, safety and environmental impact. A core problem lies in the intercalation materials used as electrodes in state-of-the-art lithiumion batteries. These materials have intrinsic limitations in terms of capacity, and hence, energy density. It is now widely recognized that new concepts are essential for future breakthroughs. American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 (Credit: ICMAB.) (Institute for Energy Research.) ceramics in energy One promising avenue under intense investigation is electrode materials that function in a “conversion” rather than “intercalation” mode. In the conversion systems, lithium undergoes a reversible electrochemical reaction with a binary transition-metal oxide (or other suitable counteranion, such as sulfide or phosphide). Stable gravimetric capacities thus can be attained that are several times larger than for common intercalation materials, such as graphite. Further advantages – for example, the potential to tune the operating voltage and choose low-cost environmentally friendly materials – add to the attraction of this approach. So what is hindering commercialization of lithium-ion batteries based on these revolutionary conversion–reaction electrodes? Light is shed on the critical issues – namely, poor cyclability and large voltage hysteresis – by Rosa Palacín and coworkers at the Institute of Materials Science at Barcelona (ICMAB). They have presented their findings in a progress report (doi:10.1002/ adma.201000717) published in the Advanced Energy Materials special section of Advanced Materials. The concepts behind conversion–reaction electrode materials and the characteristic performance of a wide range of transition-metal binary phases also are discussed and strategies for overcoming major obstacles suggested. As the authors point out, “The promise of doubling the storage capacity of current electrode materials certainly justifies the attention of the materials science community to this fascinating reactivity.” – Esther Levy (MaterialsViews. com) Visit: ICMAB www.icmab.csic.es n SIGN UP TODAY! Save $125 before June 24, 2011 2nd Advances in Cementbased Materials: Characterization, Processing, Modeling and Sensing July 24-26, 2011 Nashville, TN, USA Cements 2011 will cover: • Cement chemistry and nano/microstructure • Advances in multiscale material characterization • Alternative cementitious materials and material modification • Multiscale concrete durability • Advances in computational material science and chemo/mechanical modeling of cement-based materials • Smart materials and sensors www.ceramics.org/cements2011 ceramictechtoday.org blog American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 19 research briefs Double perovskites developed for high-temp applications A schematic of a double perovskite heterostructure magnetic tunnel junction. Half-metallic double perovskites such as this, often called “half metals,” are highly sought after as components of spintronic devices because they can either enable or dramatically enhance the performance. The double perovskites of half-metals retain their magnetic ordering and, in principle, their half-metallic behavior, to temperatures as high as 725 K, which makes them very attractive for technological applications. 20 withstand extreme temperatures of up to 1,000°C without burning, because, according to OSU researchers, they’re already oxidized and, therefore, can retain their properties. In an article written in News in Engineering, the university’s College of Engineering publication, Joan Slattery Wall describes the double-perovskite structure as consisting of “eight-sided building blocks, or octahedra – atoms that form four-sided pyramids arranged bottom to bottom. Four of these blocks group together like a cube with a different atom nestled in the center. The cubes stack together to form the perovskite crystal. In the double perovskite crystal, the center atom alternates between two different atoms, for example, iron and molybdenum in Sr2FeMoO6, to manipulate the magnetic qualities.” The team is led by Leonard Brillson, a professor in electrical and computer engineering in the school’s Center for Emergent Materials. He explains that the atomic latticework of double perovskites gives the structure electromagnetic properties that can sense temperature, pressure, magnetic field and voltage. “A perovskite is a building block that has special properties and properties you can design just by choosing the right atom to put in it and these can make sensors and computing elements,” Brillson says in the article. Potential applications for double perovskites include aircraft turbine sensors, computer circuits and phased array antennas. The layered structure prevents loss of electrical signal, because that typically occurs between stacked layers. Wall explains, “Using oxide molecular beam epitaxy, or MBE, a technique to grow crystals on a substrate, Brillson can ’spray paint’ atomic layers one at a time as a thin film on a wafer, carefully forming the perovskite crystals to minimize imperfections and allow electrons to pass through the layers with a particular spin. Spin is a property of electrons that a magnetic field can sense and that doubles the amount of information carried through an electrical circuit.” Brillson is known, in part, among the ACerS community because he presented a well-received tutorial at the Society’s 2010 Materials Challenges in Alternative and Renewable Energy. His presentation (coauthored by Sandra DeVincent Wolf and Duane B. Dimos), “Advanced Materials for Our Energy Future,” can be downloaded at www.ceramics.org/meetings/meetingsarchives/energy-2010-archive. Visit: OSU Center for Emergent Materials www.cem.osu.edu n Japanese group ‘prints’ amorphous silicon photovoltaic cell created using silicon inks Typically, photovoltaic units composed of thin-film silicon materials do not involve amorphous or single-crystalline silicon, and making thin-films with poly-silicon is still a frontier field (see story, page 14). But, researchers at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology may have developed the world’s first thin-film amorphous silicon photovoltaic cell made by using liquid silicon “inks.” The group says its units have an energy conversion efficiency of 1.79 percent, according to Tatsuya Shimoda, professor at the JAIST School of Mate- (Credit T. Shimoda; JAIST.) (Credit: Patrick Woodward; OSU.) In March 2010, the Bulletin carried a story on the work Ohio State University researchers were conducting on the development of a computer-controlled “blowtorch” to simulate the high-temperature environment in gas-turbine engines (to provide rapid thermal cycling of coatings to predict lifetimes as well as understand the effects of impurities ingested in the engines). However, there is more work going on at OSU in the refinement of a material that can withstand the high temperatures of turbine engines. Referred to as double perovskites, these structures of ceramic oxide crystals may be able to JAIST researchers have developed three types of silicon ink: a positively doped (with boron) p-type, a pure silicon (intrinsic) i-type and a negatively doped (with phosphorus) n-type. American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 rials Science, who is leading the team. Although the energy conversion level is not a revolution, the printing process may be a significant innovation. The cells that are created by the group are pin-type (sometimes noted as p-i-n-type), where the p-, i- and n- layers are added to a glass substrate using an innovative “printing” technique. The group uses a method that starts with cyclopentasilane. The CPS is polymerized to make polysilanes. The materials were developed a few years ago when the researchers were learning how to make the polysilane from the CPS (the polymer molecules are made by bonding SiH2 like a chain). At that point, JAIST researchers were able to form amorphous silicon thin-film transistors using a chemical vapor deposition procedure. In time, the group was able to make pin-type cells. However, the group found it difficult to create a uniform polysilane film with all layers being formed through the CVP method. Thus, they shifted their focus to a printing-based process. The researchers say that by printing the layers, they are able to increase the conversion efficiency from the previous (all CVP) method of 0.51 percent to 1.79 percent. They feel confident they can improve conversion efficiency, but they have a long way to go before they catch up with the leading thin-film silicon cells, such as United Solar’s 12 percent efficiency level recently confirmed by NREL. Perhaps it will be more important that they have been able to come up with a process to mass produce amorphous silicon photovoltaic cells using roll-to-roll manufacturing. Visit: JAIST www.jaist.ac.jp n Not your average melt: At absolute zero, quantum fluctuations appear to liquefy glass Investigators at Columbia University, Tel Aviv University’s School of Chemistry and University of Tsukuba (Japan) make the unexpected claim that through quantum mechanics, cooling glass to extreme temperatures actually may cause it to melt. At temperatures near absolute zero, the motion of the atoms in glasses slows, and they start to behave more like waves than particles. The investigators say that the wavelike behavior enables the atoms to flow and squeeze through tiny spaces that would otherwise be too small to navigate. The freedom of movement essentially cause the glass atoms to behave like a fluid instead of a solid, the researchers New release! VersioN 3.3 Phase equilibria Diagrams for CeramiC systems the new CD-rom release includes 900 new figures with approximately 1400 new phase diagrams and provides experimental and calculated data for an unprecedented range of nonorganic material types. Order Version 3.3 Today! www.ceramics.org/phase American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 21 (Credit: Eran Rabani and David Reichman; Wired.) research briefs In a still image taken from a simulation of movement in glass near absolute zero, the red blob represents the possible paths available to a single atom moving around in the crowded environment. For clarity, a possible path is shown only for one of the atoms in the simulation. 22 careful with statistical approaches, to the extent that they use quantum mechanics to predict glass behavior. Reichman tells Wired, “Our paper suggests that you have to be careful. If you’re adding quantum effects, it can make it harder, not easier, to search low-energy states and solve these problems.” Visit: Rabani Research Group: http:// rafiki.tau.ac.il/~rabani and Reichman Group www.columbia.edu/cu/chemistry/ groups/reichman n Extreme caution suggested: Superhydrophobic surfaces may have weak icephobic properties A recent paper from GE Global Research and MIT mechanical engineering researchers casts doubt on the effectiveness of the ability of superhydrophobic surfaces to block ice formation on aircraft, wind turbines, communications towers and other applications where frost frequently appears. The authors of the paper, which is published in Applied Physics Letters (doi:10.1063/1.3524513), note that tests done during ice formation studies on how supercooled water acts on superhydrophobic surfaces appear to Credit Varanasi et al; Appl. Phys. Lett. report in Nature Physics (doi:10.1038/ nphys1865). “We had a pencil-and-paper result a few years ago, but we didn’t believe it,” says team member David Reichman in a story that appeared on the Wired website. “It seemed like a ridiculous prediction.” But the simulations back the idea, he adds. The low-temperature melting has yet to be observed in the lab, however. “The interesting story here is that by quantum effect, we can melt glass by cooling it. Normally, we melt glasses with heat. [. . .] We hope that future laboratory experiments will prove our predictions,” says another team member, Eran Rabani, in a press release. The group has created an animated simulation (available at http://bcove. me/scz3ejv7) that illustrates how the Columbia group thinks the atoms migrate from their original positions over time, behaving like a fluid. The research was inspired by Nobel Prize winner Philip W. Anderson, who wrote that the understanding of classical glasses was one of the biggest unsolved problems in condensed-matter physics. One practical implication of this paper for other glass researchers is to be ESEM images of frost formation on a superhydrophobic surface comprised of an array of hydrophobic square posts with width, edge-to-edge spacing and aspect ratio of 15 micrometers, 30 micrometers, and 7, respectively. (a) Dry surface. (b) – (d) Images of frost formation on the surface. Frost nucleation and growth occurs with no particular spatial preference on all of the available areas, including post tops, sidewalls, and valleys because of the uniform intrinsic wettability of the surface. have been based on spraying or pouring the water. Although this provides some important information, the authors say it is incomplete and may mask more serious dangers, viz., it doesn’t take into account the process of frost formaAmerican Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 Two groups find cheaper, easier route to ‘cloaking’ in visible light tive group also was able to achieve the effect in air. One of these researchers, Shuang Zhang, lead investigator from the University of Birmingham’s School of Physics and Astronomy, predicted bigger things ahead. In a paper published in Nature Communications (doi:10.1038/ncomms1176), he says, “By using natural crystals for the first time, rather than artificial metamaterials, we have been able to scale up the size of the cloak and hide larger objects, thousands of times bigger than the wavelength of the light. Previous cloaks have succeeded at the micron level (much smaller than the thickness of a human hair) using a nano- or microfabricated artificial composite material. It is a very slow process to make these structures and they also restrict the size of the cloaking area. We believe that by using calcite, we can start to develop a cloak of significant size that will open avenues for future applications of cloaking devices.” The Institute of Physics’ Physics World was particularly impressed with the SMART Center’s work, naming it one of the “Top 10 Breakthroughs of 2010.” Visit: SMART Center: http://smart. mit.edu/home.html n In an unusual coincidence, two groups are working in parallel and somewhat ingenious routes using calcite crystals to make objects seem to disappear. Calcite, boron nitride, silicon carbide and other crystals (and some plastics) are known for having birefringence (or double refraction). Briefly put, birefringence causes a ray of light to split into two rays. The property is already used in LCDs and other optical and electronics applications. What’s novel is the two groups – one from the SMART (Singapore MIT Alliance for Research and Technology) Center and the other a collaboration among researchers at University of Birmingham (U.K.), Imperial College, London and Technical University of Denmark – is that they put two prismshaped pieces of calcite next to each other, aligning their optical axes. If the resultant wedge (the SMART group used a 38-millimeter 3 10-millimeter 3 2-millimeter wedge) is then put over an object, it appears to disappear when viewed from either side of the wedge. The SMART group reports in Physical Review Letters (doi:10.1103/ PhysRevLett.106.033901) that the twodimensional effect works for macroscopic objects “larger than 3,500 free-space wavelengths, inside a transparent-liquid environment. Its working color range, encompassing red, green and blue light, has also been demonA pink object under the crystal “cloak” becomes invisible. Two strated.” research groups separately have created an optical cloak made A U.K./Denout of calcite that meets, at least partially, some of the requiremark collaboraments for hiding arbitrarily sized objects. (Credit: SMART Center; Phys. Rev. Lett.) tion (i.e., ice formation without going through a liquid phase). The bad news is that, based on the authors’ microscopy experiments looking at frost nucleation, growth and adhesion, the authors believe that the icephobic properties of superhydrophobic surfaces are questionable. In fact, they say in the paper that ice adhesion can actually increase “wherever frost can form indiscriminately on the surface.” The authors continue in the APL piece, “In-flight ice accretion on aircraft surfaces is usually attributed to the freezing of supercooled water droplets suspended in clouds that come into contact with aircraft surfaces. However, recent studies show that icing clouds could be unexpectedly supersaturated, resulting in heterogeneous ice nucleation. Hence, frost formation could also be an important in-flight ice accretion mechanism on aircraft surfaces. Therefore, it is important to consider frost formation while designing icephobic surfaces and extreme caution must be exercised in the use of superhydrophobic surfaces for icephobic surface treatments on ground and in-flight applications.” The good news is that the authors say the insights from their studies suggest new designs for better anti-icing surfaces. “[A]pproaches that can spatially control nucleation (e.g., promote nucleation on top portions of the texture to form [Cassie–Baxter state] ice) … could reduce ice adhesion and improve the robustness of textured surfaces for icephobicity.” The reference to Cassie–Baxter state is explained in the diagram on the previous page. A water droplet on a solid surface and surrounded by a gas forms a characteristic contact angle. If the surface is rough and the liquid is in close contact with the droplets, the droplet is in what is known as the “Wenzel” state, which promotes ice formation. If the liquid rests on the tops of the asperities, it is in the “Cassie–Baxter” state, which discourages ice formation. Visit: SuperHydroPhobic Coating: http://superhydrophbiccoating.com n 23 Understanding patents and managing patent-procurement costs - Plotting a course through a shifting landscape P atents have attracted much attention from the media, industry, Congress and judiciary in recent years – particularly as patents have spread into software and business methods – raising important new issues and unsettling much of the established order. But what’s new for the ceramist? These changes require new strategies, not just for new industries (whether in software or nanotech) but within the more established order as well. A principal purpose and rationale for patent rights is to encourage innovation by rewarding applicants for the time, effort and expense they often need to develop an innovation. In the domain of ceramics, of course, successful realization of an innovation (Credit: Robert Sayre) United States Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, Va. by Robert J. Sayre 24 American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 may require many years or even decades of research and development, and sizeable funding. Accordingly, innovative ceramists typically operate in a reality different from that of the college kids who may be creating the next Google from a dorm room on a shoestring budget. Nevertheless, our patent system attempts to provide a single, coherent body of law and practices to govern both (and all other) fields. Hence, we have the widely publicized strain on our patent system. The basics The nature of a patent remains largely unchanged in the United States and elsewhere. Specifically, the property right afforded by the “allowance” of a patent is an exclusive right that permits the patent owner to exclude others from making, using, selling or importing his/her invention within the affected territory. Some definitions are in order. There are two types of patent applications: utility and design. Utility applications cover functional inventions, while design applications cover aesthetic features. Ordinarily, when people talk about patents they mean utility patents. In the United States, inventors initially can pursue either a “provisional” or “nonprovisional” patent. A provisional application is never examined and remains “pending” only for one year. Within that one year, an applicant can follow up by filing a nonprovisional application that will be subject to the full examination process. With the nonprovisional application, a priority claim can be made to the earlier provisional application, providing the applicant with the benefit (e.g., over competitors) of an earlier filing date. Accordingly, a provisional application can be thought of as a lower-cost place holder to put an early stake in the ground before filing a nonprovisional application. Often an applicant will file a provisional application, spend the next year further developing the invention and testing the market and then evaluating whether to pursue nonprovisional filing. The value of a patent will largely American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 depend on how the claimed invention is ultimately defined. Accordingly, the art of patent drafting is found primarily in the claims, where the attorney or agent must capture the invention via words and phrases with appropriate breadth, attempting to cover a wide range of permutations. The choice of a single word or phrase in a key patent easily may be worth millions of dollars, and its ultimate value will hinge upon such choices. Thus, it is a mistake to approach a patent just as a commodity. Rather, the inventor should see each as a customdrafted work. Depending on how it is crafted, the value of patents can easily diverge as much as that between a cheap doodle and a Picasso. Another common misconception is that a patent provides an affirmative Patenting a business model based on selling a waste product In one case in the soap-making industry, the patent-applicant had found a new use for a natural oil byproduct that was previously thought of only as a “still bottoms” waste product resulting from the distillation of animal fat and vegetable oil. Surprisingly, the applicant discovered that injection of this waste product into the fuel stream could substantially reduce the resulting emission concentrations of NOx, SOx and CO pumped out by power plants burning hydrocarbons. The applicant wanted to establish an auxiliary revenue stream by selling the waste product to utilities that needed to reduce emissions and sought a patent on this business model. Ultimately, some of the allowed claims focused on the chemistry of the product, while others tied in the concept of providing the waste product to utilities that obtain a benefit from burning the product (e.g., reducing emissions to avoid fines or to meet standards for continued operation) under a pollution-emission regulation. right to practice an invention. It does not. For example, in the competitive field of semiconductors, a single chip may include features covered by many different patents. The scope of some of those patents may be overlapping. This can make it impossible to practice under one patent without also infringing another patent. Such situations sometimes are resolved via cross-licensing. “Patent pools” even have developed in certain industries. However, it is often the case that each participant will need a collection of patents to effectively provide the “price of admission” to the pool. The point is that patents can serve a variety of functions, including as a defense (e.g., to respond with crossclaims if and when a competitor asserts patents) and as an asset to attract financing or partners. Ultimately, however, perhaps the greatest value inherent to patents resides in their utility to legally exclude competition for economic gain. This provides a rare safe haven from the procompetitive restrictions of the antitrust laws in the United States, Europe and elsewhere. Classes of patentable subject matter The scope of patentable subject matter in the United States “may include anything under the sun that is made by man” (a statement by P.J. Federico, a principal drafter of the U.S. Patent Act that has been approvingly quoted by the Supreme Court). Accordingly, classes of patentable subject matter that one may target in a patent can include the following: • Compositions and structures (e.g., a new molecular formula, a new crystalline structure or even a new intermediate composition in a multistep chemical reaction); • Products or components (e.g., a bicycle or a new shock suspension for a bicycle); • Processes and methods; • Computer software; and • Business methods. A ceramist will benefit by thinking about each of these classes as a patent application is being drafted: The 25 Understanding patents and managing patent-procurement costs various classes are often examined differently and each can offer distinct advantages when asserted against a competitor in the context of patent infringement. For example, an inventor may start with a notion of a patent for a new composition. However, in the patent application, the inventor also should attempt to cover the methods of making and the techniques for using the novel composition in desired applications. One also may be able to patent the software governing a unique automated fabrication process, and possibly fabrication tools and new intermediate compounds. Furthermore, if the composition lends itself to new markets and business models, those models also may be patented as business methods. Although the courts have trimmed back the patent eligibility of business methods, these claims remain very much alive where tangible products are involved in real-world applications. (See sidebar for business-method story.) Should you or shouldn’t you? Does the pursuit of a patent always make sense? Of course, the answer is no, and there is a variety of reasons why. The first issue is cost. The median cost for a relatively complex original U.S. nonprovisional patent application – using data from the biotech and chemical fields, the grouping closest to materials science – is $12,000, according to the last cost survey (2008) published by the American Intellectual Property Law Association. Meanwhile, the expected lifetime cost of a U.S. patent is likely to be in the ballpark of $30,000. Although much about the patent examination process cannot be reliably predicted at the outset, a general understanding of expected investments and expenses is critical for budgeting and decision-making purposes. A second reason why a patent may not make sense is the 20-year patent term. Ceramists are well aware that many technologies require decades of research and development before they make a major impact on the market. In this regard, my experience with yttrium barium copper oxide super26 Patent ‘Phase Diagram’ conductors in the late 1980s may be instructive: Although superconductors are now important components in a variety of applications, the payoff did not match the media hype of that era, when fast and huge payoffs were expected. In many cases, the realized commercial value of superconductivityrelated patents, even 20 years after important innovations, has been minimal. Thus, in that context, patents may be a somewhat ill-fitted solution. A third reason why a patent may not make sense is that a patent will be published, disclosing your idea to the world. Consider the trade-off: In exchange for the exclusive allowance and rights provided by a patent, the inventor must disclose the idea to the public. However, if the inventor can keep the idea secret, he or she may alternatively protect the idea as a trade secret. (Nevertheless, many inventions relating to materials can be analyzed after being introduced to the market and are difficult to keep secret.) Evaluating paths to protection In a light-hearted effort to provide a format for interpretation friendly to ceramists, I present the common options for protecting an invention via trade secret or patenting in the format of a phase diagram (though it is not quite a binary system). Depending on the perceived value of an invention, the assessed likelihood of obtaining a patent, the financial resources (and market ambitions) of the applicant and the stage of development of the invention, an inventor can begin to chart a sensible course for protecting the intellectual assets. “Trade secret” is placed at the top because it can provide the lowest-cost alternative (where appropriate, after carefully considering the possibility of being defeated by reverse engineering). On the other hand, if the inventor has an early-stage invention and/or wishes to minimize initial costs (putting you in the lower right quadrant), a “provisional” patent application in the United States or a “utility model” abroad often will be the smart choice. When, however, you have a fairlywell-developed, high-value invention and global marketing prospects, your best choice often will be an international Patent Cooperation Treaty application. Finally, the inventor can simply file a domestic utility patent application in one’s home country, absent sizeable demand abroad or an expectation that foreign customers will be targeted. Managing patent expenses As already noted, the required investment for a U.S. patent can be American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 41 percent mid year 2009 Fiscal year The number of successful U.S. patent applications dropped sharply after 1999. American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 (Credit: Robert Sayre, with data from the USPTO) Successful applications (percent) (Credit: Robert Sayre) Trademark Office introduced an easy and effective online filing system that allows filing of a patent application simply by printing the documents to PDF format and loading them onto the USPTO’s secure online portal. This online ability, combined with increasing client preference for email communications, now allows for a nearThe author, left, with USPTO Director David Kappos. paperless process that would have been almost unthinkable in nearly any legal practice as recently substantial, and this can be multiplied as a decade ago. Besides making the by a few fold for more global protection process much more efficient, it reduces across major markets. The good news the attorney’s overhead and nickel-andis that opportunities for lowering those dime expensing. In addition, software costs are expanding. programs, such as ClaimMaster, now As a first step, inventors benefit exist that provide very effective docuwhen they ask for an attorney’s estiment review, saving hours of attorney mate for at least the cost of preparing time. In fact, there are at least partially and filing the application. Perhaps not surprisingly, if no cost guideline automated and online services, with is established, particularly with an fairly reliable cost estimates, that can associate at a large law firm, there may be used for patent filing, examination be an unpleasant surprise when the and maintenance in nearly every counbill arrives. The inventor also should try worldwide. demand some say regarding which Besides automation, there are some attorney or agent is selected to actually new options available to reduce offiperform the work (considering, particu- cial fees for inventors, especially when larly, experience and qualifications). international markets and protection Moreover, much of patent-law pracare a consideration. For example, U.S.tice, outside of the analytical aspects, based applicants now can select the now can be automated, a situation that Korean Intellectual Property Office to is starting to reshape law firms. For conduct the search and examination example, I left a large firm in Boston a of PCT applications for a substantially few years ago after the U.S. Patent and lower cost than that charged by the USPTO and European Patent Office. Avenues for shortening the time period for examination also are increasingly available, particularly for inventions that provide “green” benefits. Patent applications that provide an environmental benefit are entitled to accelerated examination in this country. Surprisingly, relatively few inventors (perhaps fewer than 1,000) have taken advantage of this accelerated examination option thus far. Beating the odds Ultimately, the best way to save costs is to make a sufficient investment in the preparation of a well-drafted patent application. But depending where one looks in recent history, the odds are not necessarily in the inventor’s favor. The success or “allowance” rate for U.S. patent applications, as of January 2011, is either 45 percent or 62 percent, depending on how “Requests for Continued Examination” are counted (this data and other interesting statistics are available at the USPTO “dashboard” (www.uspto.gov/dashboards/ patents/main.dashxml)). The lower number is the one more frequently reported, and it plunged from highs of about 70 percent from 1998 to 2001 all the way down to percentages in the low 40’s in 2008 and 2009. The allowance rate began to climb back out of this dark hole in late 2009 after the appointment of current USPTO Director David Kappos. I recently had the opportunity to speak with Kappos, and he said his management team is working hard to eliminate what he termed “garbage” rejections and objections by examiners. He said they are removing “dysfunctional incentives” that encourage rejections. Regardless, with an allowance rate still near 50–50, the inventor must clear a fairly high hurdle to obtain a U.S. patent, and an even higher hurdle to obtain a patent that can withstand litigation and provide meaningful coverage. Examiner interaction However, the use of smart tactics in regard to interactions with an examiner 27 (Credit Robert Sayre.) Understanding patents and managing patent-procurement costs Patent-drafting workshop at the ARIPO headquarters, Harare, Zimbabwe, September 2009. ARIPO Director General Gift Sibanda, is seated front row, center, in the dark suit, while I am at far right. can, nevertheless, allow the inventor to improve the likelihood of approval. One advantage for the ceramist is that the experience level of examiners in various materials science-intensive technologies is often higher than that in other fields. Consequently, the examiners in materials science- and chemistry-related technologies are, frankly, often more reasonable than many others (stories abound, for example, of examiners in USPTO’s businessmethod reviews who have taken pride in not having allowed any patent applications in many months or even years). Whether an application is assigned to a veteran examiner or a rookie, it is important for the attorney (and sometimes the inventor) to establish a strong rapport with the examiner. Trust and an open dialogue with the examiner often can secure a patent allowance much more quickly than is otherwise possible. An attorney can do so with strong, clear, respectful writing and communication, always attempting to perceive what the examiner “wants” and the nature of his or her root concerns. In-person interviews The inventor often has a key role to play. An applicant generally has a right to interview an examiner in person or via telephone during the examination. When an application roadblock surfaces, conducting an interview is usually the most efficient way to resolve it. Sometimes the issues can be resolved via a telephone interview, although an in-person interview at the USPTO is often the most effective strategy. Its 28 headquarters are close to the Reagan National Airport, making for an easy one-day trip. Multiple interviews often can be packaged into a single trip when several applications are pending. The key issue in establishing patentability is usually “obviousness.” The foremost requirements for obtaining a patent are that the invention must be new and nonobvious. Thus, obviousness is to be avoided by a patent applicant. In many foreign countries (e.g., in Europe), the term “inventive step” is used rather than “nonobvious,” although the terms are synonymous. The examiner’s determination on the invention’s obviousness entails a fair degree of subjectivity and a wide berth of discretion. Consequently, it is helpful to try to understand how a particular examiner thinks about the claim. The goal is to find clues to where bridges can be built to reach mutually satisfactory agreements as to allowable claim language. When an attorney and inventor visit an examiner’s office, the photos and memorabilia, for example, can provide insights, and, in an in-person interview, the examiner’s nonverbal communication may help identify an opening for allowance. This is far more beneficial than accepting the examiner’s cold words fixed in official print communications. Conventional wisdom among many patent attorneys holds that an inventor should not participate in examiner interviews, for fear that the inventor will say something compromising without considering its legal implications. I disagree. I’ve witnessed how the inven- tor’s participation in in-person and telephone interviews has helped to secure an allowance. Of course, a brief preinterview planning session between the attorney and inventor can reduce the risk of any potential gaffes by establishing agreement as to which points will be pushed to establish patentability. Another consideration is that, as charming as a patent attorney attempts to be, many examiners – who tend to be former engineers – find it refreshing to speak directly with the practitioner who happened to invent the subject matter under examination, and who best understands the invention. The examiner may be much more motivated to help after meeting the inventor and hearing the inventor’s story. Indeed, having an examiner completely reverse a position after an in-person meeting is not uncommon. Unreasonable objections often disappear after the examiner’s interest is sparked and empathy is established. Thus, the inventor–applicant should expect to play a key role in securing an allowance. International patenting Finally, returning to the “phase diagram,” the lower left of it represents the area of patenting internationally. The PCT provides a convenient and cost-effective framework for obtaining patents abroad. A single PCT filing provides at least a preliminary patentability search and opinion, and provides a 30-month window before an applicant needs to ultimately select countries (or regions) targeted for entering the “national phase.” American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 (Credit World Intellectual Property Organization) World Patent Cooperation Countries colored blue are Patent Cooperation Treaty “Contracting States.” As shown in the map, most countries have signed on to the PCT. Accordingly, a PCT application provides a solid choice for preserving the option to pursue patent rights in many countries for a period of time that is usually sufficient to assess market opportunities. Another option for securing a patent abroad in either a PCT or non-PCT member country is to proceed with a direct foreign filing before the patent office of the selected country or region. In either case, an applicant ultimately will need to select the countries/regions where patent rights are sought. Although it is true that patent rights are territorially limited and protection afforded only in those countries where a patent is obtained, the reality may be different: In many situations and technology involved, locking up patents in the United States, Europe and perhaps a small handful of other key countries often is enough to effectively lock out competitors. Key considerations for determining where to file include: • The key markets for customers of a particular technology, • The home countries of competitors, and • The manufacturing hubs for a American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 particular technology (e.g., if you are manufacturing electronics components, you may want to file across southeast Asia). Nevertheless, it is critical that the applicant not be blinded by the current state of the market. With a 20-year patent term, the applicant must think about where the market could be in 10 to 15 years. Right now that increasingly means thinking about China. That nation’s State Intellectual Property Office, in my experience, has been quite good, although enforcement of patents in Chinese courts presents a much greater challenge. What other regions and markets should an inventor consider? One answer is Africa. Perhaps it’s still a bit early to aggressively file patents in Africa, and currently only “Big Pharma” is doing so on a broad scale. But, at least in pockets, an increasing number of African nations are rising fast. Each year, I visit the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (Harare, Zimbabwe) or another African nation as a patentdrafting instructor for the World Intellectual Property Organization (the United Nations agency that manages the PCT). Without exception, I have been impressed by the quality of patent examination at ARIPO and the commitment toward building a strong infrastructure for patents by agents, attorneys, innovators and government officials across Africa. There is no question that a clear understanding of the value and role of patents is well understood across the continent. And many of the same tools and tactics for obtaining allowances from the USPTO will work just the same at SIPO, ARIPO and elsewhere, because there are far more commonalities than difference in patent practice worldwide. About the author Robert Sayre is a patent attorney at Modern Times Legal (www.mxlegal. com) in Cambridge, Mass., and a patent-drafting instructor for the WIPO. He has a B.S. in ceramic engineering from Clemson University and a J.D. from Duke University School of Law. He also is a past chair of ACerS New England Section. n Author Robert Sayre has prepared a full “patent cost report” that outlines typical costs. This report is available at www.mxlegal.com/ resources/free-reports/. 29 bulletin cover story Business, licensing and intellectual property management by Wendy Hankle A bout 26 years ago, glass beads captured the attention of two professors in Missouri, Delbert Day (Missouri University of Science and Technlogy) and Gary Erhardt (University of Missouri-Columbia). No, not the flashy specimens that adorned the regrettable styles of the 1980s. Think smaller. Okay, now even smaller than that. Day and Erhardt’s beads were microscopic spheres capable of traveling through the human body, delivering radioactive materials in an effort to stop cancer. They knew they were onto something, but back then, it sounded too far out – and no one was buying it. Today, the company Day founded, Mo-Sci Corporation, performs independent research and development on glass products plus contractual research for the federal government and commercial companies. Mo-Sci has come a long way from those glass beads, and a once unfathomable idea now has become the basis for a successful, 30 American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 well-known company. How did it happen? Delbert’s son Ted Day explains. “I don’t know if the technology would’ve gone anywhere if Dad wasn’t trying to push it,” says Ted, to whom Delbert sold the business in 1998. “So the choice was to let the technology go to waste, or go out and develop it himself.” It’s a situation many university and federal lab researchers have found – and still find – themselves encountering: A promising technology is ready for primetime, but … how does it get to center stage? A long road Day and Erhardt were not only forward-thinking inventors – they were in the right place at the right time. The 1980s were the beginning of a hot time for technology transfer and saw Congress approve two separate acts: Bayh–Dole and Stevenson–Wydler. The acts, passed in 1980, codified the right for researchers in universities, nonprofits, small businesses and federal labs with intellectual property originating from federal-government-funded research to see financial benefit for their discoveries. The legislation also served to make scientific and technological developments accessible to more users, who were enabled to further develop the technology for financial gain. Before the acts were implemented, “There was no government-wide policy regarding ownership of inventions made by government contractors and grantees under federal funding,” cites a 1999 document by the University of California Council on Governmental Relations. The document continues, “Inconsistencies in policies and practices among the various funding agencies resulted in a very limited flow of government-funded inventions to the private sector.” What this meant from a practical basis was that in 1980, the federal government held title to about 28,000 patents, of which fewer than 5 percent were licensed to industry for development of commercial products, according to a 1999 report of the General Accounting Office. Only rarely – and after a long and arduous process – could Intellectual property resources One of the biggest tools researchers can arm themselves with when considering the ins and outs of technology transfer is an understanding of intellectual property principles. Here are a few places to gain some knowledge. • Rolf Claessen’s IP Newsflash provides a customizable source for information about intellectual property, including press releases, case law and specific patents. Find it on the Web at www.ipnewsflash.com. • The United States Trademark and Patent Office’s Website is a goldmine. Here, one can find information on patents, trademarks, and law and policy. Dig deep into the site – www.uspto.gov – to find an extensive selection of resources. • At www.technologytransfertactics.com, current events and quick bites can be found via a blog, while a newsletter provides more in-depth guidance and strategies. • In a 1993 publication, the potential of a uniform worldwide intellectual property rights system is explored. Global Dimensions of Intellectual Property Rights in Science and Technology includes the published proceedings of a major conference in 1992 exploring the topic as well as case studies and a comprehensive view of IP matters around the globe. • Narrowing the scope a bit, a thorough explanation of IP and technology transfer in this country can be found in Intellectual Property Experiences in the United States Scientific Community. This 2007 report by the American Association for the Advancement of Science Project on Science and Intellectual Property in the Public Interest delves into the how-tos of IP. American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 the inventing organization gain the ownership of an invention. More often, the government held the title and made the inventions available through nonexclusive licenses to anyone who wanted them. As one might imagine, companies without exclusive rights under government patents were less than thrilled to make investments in products, given their competitors also could access licenses to manufacture and market like products. “All of this money goes into technology, but, prior to the act, there was no motivation for anyone to license [it] out,” says technology transfer consultant Marti Elder, who works with the TechLink Center at Montana State University. Ultimately, that meant taxpayers funding the federal research didn’t receive the benefit of products or economic development that could have stemmed from such research. The new laws provided for nonprofit organizations (including universities) or small businesses to retain the title to any invention made as a result of federally funded R&D (with a few exceptions). It also addressed the licensing of inventions to which the government retained title. In return for the rights, universities are required to: • Report disclosed inventions to the funding agency; • File for patent protection; • Actively pursue the commercialization of the inventions; • Share royalties with the inventor and use any remaining income for education and research; • Give preference to small businesses interested in obtaining licenses; and • Work to ensure that manufacturing resulting from the inventions occurs in the United States. And, years later, adjustments to Stevenson–Wydler put finer points on the rights and responsibilities inherent in research done at federal labs. Cooperative research and development agreements, or CRADAs, were created by the Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986, an amendment to Stevenson–Wydler. CRADAs were initially applicable to government-owned and government-operated laboratories, 31 Business, licensing and intellectual property management Patents issued Licenses and options signed Royalty income (000’s) Fiscal year 2011YTD 10 11 3 3 $72 2010 34 25 13 10 $430 2009 40 21 4 27 $196 2008 35 16 7 16 $348 2007 21 22 6 7 $379 2006 35 18 4 7 $186 2005 17 13 2 4 $96 2004 24 13 3 9 $82 2003 14 17 0 0 $56 2002 19 5 4 2 $100 2001 12 4 0 1 $11 Missouri S&T technology transfers activities. but a fiscal year 1990 Department of Defense Authorization again amended Stevenson–Wydler to extend the right to use CRADAs to government-owned, contractor-operated labs. “The idea behind the CRADA is that we have this fantastic investment in facilities and personnel funded by the taxpayers,” says Elder, whose TechLink group helps DOD labs partner with private-sector companies to solve problems and create new business opportunities. Companies can access such resources, but have to pay for them. Should an invention result, the CRADA protects both parties. “Companies do have the rights to their intellectual property, to license anything new that comes about from it,” she says. “It’s a really good mechanism for companies to access testing and equipment they may not already have access to.” Finding the right resources Access to resources – and the benefits that can come from acquiring them – is a huge issue when it comes to moving a technology from bench to market. Work with university, federal and private partners has been at the core of SAGE Electrochromics’ efforts to develop reliable high-performance, energy-saving electrochromic technology for commercial and residential buildings. The company’s “smart glass” technology helps lower energy bills by 32 allowing users to adjust the tint of windows based on temperature and energy needs. In the summer, users can press a button to tint windows, controlling solar heat gain. In the winter, they can clear the tint to allow more light – and additional heat – in. The company was founded in 1989 by John Van Dine and initially operated out of a small laboratory in Valley Cottage, N.Y., before moving its operations to the Department of Ceramic Science and Engineering at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. “Rutgers offered some lab space to SAGE at a very reasonable price. I think it was the first time they had tried to nucleate a company at the Center for Ceramic Research” at Rutgers, says Neil Sbar, SAGE’s vice president of technology. In 1991, Van Dine submitted a proposal in the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Advanced Technology Program General Competition. That proposal was unsuccessful, but Van Dine, encouraged to strengthen his plan by working with a technology partner, formed a joint R&D venture with the 3M Corporation. (The two companies brought in scientists from Rutgers’ center as collaborators.) The plan was to build on SAGE’s electrochromic synthesis and processing experience and draw on 3M’s module technology, manufacturing and commercialization skills. (Source: Office of Technology Transfer and Economic Development.) Patent applications filed Disclosures received The joint venture submitted a successful proposal in the Advanced Technology Program’s 1992 General Competition. ATP eventually provided $3.472 million toward research, matched by $3.821 million from 3M and SAGE. The smart windows developed by SAGE, 3M and the Rutgers professors have a series of thin conducting layers that change optical properties with the application of electrical voltage. “This was an important partnership in moving ahead in materials and device structures,” says Sbar. Rutgers faculty are on some of SAGE’s patents. Rutgers (and other universities) also offered “special capabilities we were able to take advantage of,” says Sbar. In late 1998, after several years of R&D at Rutgers, SAGE moved to its pilot line phase. It made a geographic move as well, taking its operations west to Minnesota. For the next five years, it refined production processes and continued to develop its products. Third-party entities, including the Department of Energy, also took part in the testing. Sbar says there are pluses and minuses to working with universities such as Rutgers and the University of Minnesota (a more recent partner). “Getting grants, it’s nice to have a university to partner with, especially with the [National Science Foundation],” says Sbar. A university partnership is also beneficial to companies needing resources. “On the other hand, I think we contributed a significant amount of money from the university for them to acquire some special analytical tools, so it was a mutually beneficial relationship,” says Sbar. “The negative side is the way the university functions. If you have urgent stuff that needs to be done right away, a university is probably not the best place.” SAGE recently announced that Saint-Gobain made an $80 million equity investment in the company. Saint-Gobain is contributing its electrochromic glass intellectual property to SAGE. Both companies’ manufacturing and R&D efforts in this arena will be merged to make windows in Faribault, Minn. American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 (Credit: SAGE) The development of SAGE’s glass-tinting technology involved support from universities, private labs and the NSF. Working with government partners Pro-Perma Engineered Coatings is another company navigating the waters of technology transfer with an outside entity – the federal government. The company manufactures a glass-based coating for reinforcement bars, which is an engineered mixture of glass, clay and water that is applied as a slurry to rebar, then heated to more than 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit. The coating sticks fast to steel, promoting bonding with concrete and working to prevent corrosion from water or salt. This coated rebar is expected to be a competitor to polymer-coated and galvanized rebar currently used in the construction industry. Although the technology is young, the demand for PPEC’s product could be great. “There’s a $4 billion market just for corrosion-resistant rebar in the U.S.,” says Mike Koenigstein, managing partner of PPEC and a Missouri S&T grad with a bachelor’s in ceramic engineering. “Worldwide, it’s huge.” The technology in use by PPEC was originally developed by the Army Corps of Engineers, which used it to create blast-resistant walls. PPEC gained a license for that original technology through the federal government, but sought help from Missouri S&T researchers to provide more data, says Koenigstein. PPEC has been working with the Corps for six years. Four years ago it contacted the university. “It wasn’t until we got to Missouri S&T that things really picked up,” he says. It was at S&T that a special formulation of the coating was developed by a team of researchers led by Richard Brow, American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 curators’ professor of materials science and engineering and Genda Chen, professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering and interim director of the Center for Infrastructure Engineering Studies at Missouri S&T. As a party to the invention, PPEC was able to get the exclusive license for the technology. “We’re getting small jobs through the Corps, and that’s helping pay the bills. It can really make a difference on a lot of levels,” Koenigstein says. For instance, he says, such work also serves to challenge the conception that the ceramic industry is concerned only with whiteware. “One of the things we have to do is make people understand what our products can do,” says Koenigstein. To that end, PPEC also engaged the services of a technology transfer consultant working at Montana State’s TechLink center. “There are a lot of pitfalls out there,” says Koenigstein. The consultant “was very, very helpful to us and a good sounding board,” he says. Technology transfer offices Serving the same purpose as a consultant – except in a different setting – is the university technology transfer office. These offices are resources aimed at identifying research with commercial potential and determining the best way to exploit it. The offices deal with the nuts and bolts related to patenting and licensing as well as work to link the products of research with potential commercial users. The commercialization process varies. It can involve licensing agreements, joint ventures, partnerships or spinoffs. Staffers often have business, legal and research background. So, what’s been the result of this type of attention? According to the Association of University Technology Managers, before 1980, fewer than 250 patents were issued to U.S. universities annually. It was rare that discoveries were commercialized. By Fiscal Year 2002, 5,327 new license agreements were signed. Moreover, according to the AUTM’s website (www.autm.net), “Between FY 1991 and FY 2004, annual invention disclosures increased more than 290 percent (to 18,178), new patents filed increased nearly 450 percent (to 11,089) and new licenses and options executed increased about 510 percent (to 5,329).” Also in FY 2002, AUTM members reported 569 new product introductions, and almost 23 percent of members’ 26,086 active license agreements saw product sales by licensees. According to AUTM’s FY 2007 U.S. Licensing Survey, in 2007, total research expenditures by U.S. universities, hospitals and research institutions was $48.8 billion. Of that amount, industry support for R&D on college campuses represented 7 percent of the overall funding of university research, an amount eclipsed by the 65 percent provided by federal agencies, but not insignificant. Prior to becoming director of the Office of Technology Transfer and Economic Development at Missouri S&T, Keith Strassner spent 25 years in the chemical industry. “One of the things the university wanted was some33 Business, licensing and intellectual property management one who could talk business, who had done licensing and intellectual property management,” he says. Strassner came to Missouri S&T about five years ago, after Missouri’s system, which previously had such an office only in Columbia, acted to establish technology transfer offices at each of its four campuses. Doing so “gets us a lot closer to the inventors and the laboratories,” Strassner says. Early on, staffers in the office meet with faculty and graduate students to educate them on technology transfer, intellectual property and how to best protect their and the university’s rights, Strassner says. Staffers also research the marketplace to see what’s been patented and if an idea truly is patentable. Should that be the case, the office aids in filing the patent, seeking out potential licensees or partners – or supporting researchers in starting their own businesses, if there is interest in doing so. The process Licensing revenues are divided depending on the formula adopted by an individual institution. That said, an equal three-way split among researcher, university department and university as a whole is not uncommon. University revenues often help pay for graduate research assistants, equipment, funding for further research, a portion of the legal fees associated with patenting and licensing as well as the expenses of the technology transfer office staff. Despite the financial benefit the revenue-sharing elements provide, “I don’t think it’s the primary reason” for faculty members’ interest in commercializing their research, says Arundeep S. Pradhan, immediate past president of AUTM and associate vice president for Technology Transfer and Business Development at Oregon Health and Science University. “In talking with faculty and working with faculty over the years ... really, they want to see their research being used in a tangible form that has public benefit.” A university may request equity in a company in exchange for a license. It also could charge up-front fees, milestone fees and due diligence fees, Pradhan says. Licensing agreements 34 combine financial and nonfinancial obligations. Says Pradhan, “The university will stay involved, but it’s a handsoff involvement ... we do want to make sure that when we license a technology, that appropriate resources are allocated for the further development of it.” And if there are problems, the university can terminate the agreement. “From one respect, we are stewards of the intellectual property that was created by taxpayer funds, and we’re interested in making sure that the technology is getting utilized,” Pradhan says. The deals that the office strikes with licensees vary, according to Strassner. Faculty start ups get a sweeter deal than do outsiders, but the university doesn’t want to put too high of an initial burden on a company, he says. “Our real operating philosophy is shared success – we don’t want to put them out of business.” And once money from the licenses comes in, inventors get onethird of every $1 as a royalty payment. The rest goes to their department and the university system, Strassner says. Licensing versus spinoff It’s fair to say it’s more common for a university researcher to opt for licensing a patent rather than starting a spinoff company. The decision “is made at the technology transfer office level by the faculty member whose invention it is. A large part in guiding the decision is if he or she is saying, ‘I really want to establish a company around this,’” Pradhan says. If so, “most technology transfer offices will work with them on business opportunities, marketing, etc.,” he says. “Twenty years ago, we would have just given them the license and said, ‘good luck,’ but now we’ve learned.” Says Pradhan, faculty “already work 60 hours a week [and] being an entrepreneur is another 50 to 60 hours a week. It’s a time commitment, and you have to talk about what’s going to happen here. Here are the nuts and bolts and pieces you need to make a company be successful.” Along with the technology, those important elements include proper management and sufficient capital, he says. The decision to start a spinoff company or license the technology “depends on the industry, it depends on the technology, on desire – there are many things that go into that decision,” Pradhan says. “Sometimes, it’s just a lot easier to license it.” The Office of Technology Transfer and Economic Development at Missouri S&T operates a Small Business and Technology Development Centers service location under a contract with the University of Missouri Extension and funded by the Small Business Administration. “We can help them put a business plan together, help them file for business registration, raise capital, all those things,” Strassner says. “If you want to start your own business, we’re kind of a one-stop shop. ... We made it really easy, so if you want to start your own business, you can start your own business.” Strassner continues, “The benefit of a spinoff is you do create jobs, you do create employment opportunities,” and those typically remain in the community, a key feature because economic development is one of his office’s major goals. That said, he says, “We want to make sure everybody goes into it with their eyes wide open. [A startup] is not one-hour-a-week on the side. It’s a lot more complicated than that.” Although “complicated” seems to lend itself effortlessly to technology transfer efforts, the environment has evolved a lot since Delbert Day’s day. Moving from the lab bench to selling yourself – and your widget – isn’t an easy transition for many researchers to make. Today, however, more resources are available to protect the interests of researchers, license holders, universities and laboratories. It’s a good thing, too – although trailblazers such as Day still inspire awe. “Delbert Day is kind of the one that young faculty on campus look to and say, ‘I want to do that with my own business,’” says Strassner. “Delbert is one in a million, though. Usually, you’ve got either a great engineering mind or a great science mind. But, he knows business too, and that combination is a very unique mindset.” n American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 super early bird savings! Ceramic Leadership Summit 2011 August 1–3, 2011 • Hyatt Regency Baltimore • Baltimore, Md. The Ceramic Leadership Summit 2011 will discuss business opportunities, emerging technologies and critical areas for scientific advancement and process innovations that challenge the ceramic materials community. The meeting consists of four general sessions and three concurrent tracks. CLS 2011 provides the unique opportunity to participate in facilitated discussions, to address nontechnical issues that help shape the future of ceramics and to interact with other leaders from the ceramics and glass materials community. Super Early Bird pricing ends May 16 Sign up now to save $225. Access the complete technical program at www.ceramics.org/cls2011 Tuesday, aug. 2, 2011 GeneRAL SeSSion 1 10:00 a.m. To NooN advancing materials Technology in a Complex World Corporate leaders provide their perspectives on the global economic, technological and environmental challenges and opportunities facing the ceramic materials and technologies community. each talk will be followed by a facilitated dialogue with Summit participants. advanced Ceramics for sustainability – View from siemens Corporate Technology Speaker: Wolfgang Rossner, R&D Manager, Siemens AG, Corporate Technology GeneRAL SeSSion 2 1:30 To 3:00 p.m. From Researcher to Business Leader Start-up businesses are an integral part of the ceramic materials community. Some people have successfully transitioned from being a researcher to launching and managing a business. Three tech-savvy leaders of ceramics-related companies provide case studies on building businesses based on materials technology. The case studies will be followed by a facilitated panel discussion. Bart Riley Ted Day Marina Pascucci Speaker: Bart Riley, Founder, CTo, A123 Systems Speaker: Ted Day, President, Mo-Sci Corporation Speaker: Marina Pascucci, President, Ceranova Corporation ! GeneRAL SeSSion ion 3 oon g n i om 3:30 To 5:00 p.m. Business opportunities and strategies in emerging markets C S Wolfgang Rossner emerging applications and Challenges in using Ceramic materials at general electric Speaker: Krishan L. Luthra, Technology Leader – Ceramics & Metallurgy, Ge Global Research Krishan L. Luthra Know someone at your company, institution or university who is a rising star? Nominate that person to be a part of the Future Leaders program at the Ceramic Leadership summit. participants will build leadership development plans that they can take away and continue working on throughout the year. To nominate young professionals or for more information, contact megan Bricker at mbricker@ceramics.org. WedNesday, aug. 3, 2011 3:15 To 5:00 p.m. CLoSinG GeneRAL SeSSion Connecting Research, Technology and manufacturing Research and innovation are critical to development of technology that can transform the world. What are some of the programs in the United States and in europe that make a connection among research, technology and manufacturing? How do these programs or similar programs help the ceramic materials community? Speaker: Alexander Michaelis, Director, Fraunhofer institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems Alexander Michaelis American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 35 Ceramic Leadership Summit 2011 The three concurrent tracks: energy innovations, Business of Ceramics and innovative Applications for Ceramic Materials each offer five sessions on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2011. Register at www.ceramics.org/cls2011 before May 16 to save $225. eneRGy innovATionS 8:30 To 9:25 a.m. Batteries: Where are We Heading? 1:00 To 2:55 p.m. Business Valuation Speaker: Coming Soon! innovATive APPLiCATionS FoR CeRAMiC MATeRiALS 8:30 To 9:25 a.m. ultra-High-Temperature Ceramics for extreme environmental applications 9:30 To 10:25 a.m. Ceramic Components for Fuel Cells and other energy applications Speaker: John olenick, enrG inc. Speaker: Allen oppenheimer, A. M. oppenheimer inc. Speaker: Coming Soon! 9:30 To 10:25 a.m. glass & Ceramics for advanced Biomedical applications John olenick 10:45 To 11:40 a.m. Will solar energy Be Widely adopted? Speaker: Ryne Raffaelle, national Renewable energy Lab Speaker: Steve Jung, Mo-Sci Corporation 1:00 To 1:55 p.m. Ceramic applications in the automotive Industry 1:00 To 1:55 p.m. Role of Ceramics in Nuclear energy Speaker: Michael J. Hoffmann, Karlsruhe institute of Technology (KiT) Speaker: Coming Soon! 2:00 To 2:55 p.m. advances in glass strength and Their Impact on society 2:00 To 2:55 p.m. materials Needs in alternative & Renewable energy for the automotive Industry Speaker: Mark verbrugge, General Motors Research & Development Center BUSineSS oF CeRAMiCS 8:30 To 9:25 a.m. Business Trends for Ceramics-Related Industries Speaker: Thomas Abraham, innovative Research and Products inc. Thomas Abraham 9:30 To 10:25 a.m. Raw-materials Trends Impacting the Ceramics and glass Community Speaker: Coming Soon! 10:45 To 11:40 a.m. The market outlook for energy-Related Technologies Speaker: Kevin See, Analyst, Lux Research 36 Speaker: Louis Mattos Jr., The Coca-Cola Company Louis Mattos Jr. HyaTT REgEnCy BaLTiMoRE 300 Light street, Baltimore, md 21202 402-592-6464 | 888-421-1442 When making a reservation by phone, please mention The american Ceramic society room block to secure your reservation at the negotiated conference rate. Room Rates single/double/Triple/Quad– $199.00 plus tax government– $161.00 (access code: aCsgoV0711) Cut-off Date July 8, 2011 make reservations online at www.ceramics.org/cls2011. American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 2011 GlASS & OpticAl MAteriAlS DiviSiOn AnnUAl MeetinG May 15 -19, 2011 Hilton Savannah DeSoto Hotel Savannah, Ga. USA Sign up before April 15 to save $125! www.ceramics.org/gomd2011 Invitation to attend GOMD 2011 We invite you to join more than 300 of your colleagues in Savannah, Ga., to discuss your research and share knowledge about the physical properties and technological processes important to glasses, amorphous solids and all optical materials. GOMD 2011 includes sessions headed by technical leaders from industry, government laboratories and academia that cover the latest advances in glass science and technology as well as a focused examination of the amorphous state. GOMD 2011 is designed for those involved or interested in the scientific research and development, application and manufacturing of all glass types. GOMD 2011 program chairs Joseph V. Ryan joe.ryan@pnl.gov Pacific Northwest National Lab Amanda Brennecka alyoung@sandia.gov Sandia National Labs International Journal of Applied Glass Science Edited by David Pye, co-edited by Mario Affatigato Fundamentals of Glass Science and Technology Short Course Register for this two-day short course, taught by Arun K. Varshneya, Saxon Glass. Professional engineers, scientists, administrators and students who wish to rapidly acquire a general idea of glass or append their education in materials engineering should attend. Course topics include commercial glass families, glassy state, nucleation and crystallization, phase separation, glass structure, glass technology, batch calculations, glass melting and forming, glass properties and engineering principles, and elementary fracture analysis. Copies of the newest IJAGS will be available at GOMD 2011. Launched March 2010, the International Journal of Applied Glass Science endeavors to be an indispensable source of information dealing with the application of glass science and engineering across the entire materials spectrum. Order your print subscription today! Visit www.ceramics.org/ijags Hilton Savannah DeSoto Hotel Reserve your room by April 15, 2011, to secure the conference rates. Please call 912-231-1633 or 800-455-8667. Room Rates $139.00 plus tax – single/double/triple/quad American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 $ 99.00 plus tax – student $106.00 plus tax – government 37 2011 GOMD Annual Meeting Sign up by April 15 at www.ceramics.org/gomd2011 GOMD schedule-at-a-glance Sunday, May 15, 2011 Registration Welcome Reception 3:00 – 7:00 p.m. 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Monday, May 16, 2011 Registration Stookey Lecture of Discovery Concurrent Technical Sessions Lunch on Own Concurrent Technical Sessions Poster Session 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. 9:20 a.m. – Noon Noon – 1:00 p.m. 1:00 – 5:40 p.m. 6:30 – 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 17, 2011 Registration George W. Morey Award Concurrent Technical Sessions Norbert J. Kreidl Award for Young Scholars* Lunch on Own Concurrent Technical Sessions Conference Dinner Noon – 1:00 p.m. Noon – 1:00 p.m. 1:00 – 5:40 p.m. 7:00 – 10:00 p.m. Wednesday, May 18, 2011 Registration Concurrent Technical Sessions Lunch on Own Concurrent Technical Sessions 7:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. 8:00 a.m. – Noon Noon – 1:00 p.m. 1:00 – 5:40 p.m. Thursday, May 19, 2011 GMIC Symposium** Registration Concurrent Technical Sessions Short Course** 7:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. 7:30 a.m. – Noon 8:00 a.m. – Noon 1:30 – 5:30 p.m. 7:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. 9:20 a.m. – Noon 8:00 am – 5:00 p.m. Symposium I: Glass Science Lead Contact: John Mauro Jincheng Du May 18, 2011 1:00 – 5:40 p.m. Session B: Glass Structure and Properties Session 1 Session 2 38 Randall E. Youngman May 17, 2011 May 17, 2011 Stéphane Gin Pierre Frugier May 17, 2011 May 17, 2011 9:20 a.m. – Noon 1:00 – 5:20 p.m. Session D: Ancient Glasses Organizer: Session 1 Denis Strachan May 18, 2011 10:20 a.m. – Noon Session E: Non-silicate Glasses Organizers: Session 1 Session 2 Andriy Kovalskyy Juejun (J.J.) Hu May 16, 2011 May 16, 2011 9:20 a.m. – Noon 1:00 – 3:20 p.m. Session F: Glass–Ceramics Organizer: Session 1 Amanda Brennecka May 16, 2011 3:20 – 5:20 p.m. Session G: Surface and Interfacial Phenomena Session 1 Carlo G. Pantano May 18, 2011 8:00 – 10:20 a.m. Symposium II: The Amorphous State Lead Contact: Joseph V. Ryan Session A: The Glass Transition and Relaxation in Glasses and Glass-Forming Liquids Session 1 Session 2 Session 3 Prabhat K. Gupta May 16, 2011 May 16, 2011 May 17, 2011 9:20 a.m. – Noon 1:00 – 5:40 p.m. 9:20 a.m. – Noon Session B: Model/Experiment: Links and Limits Organizer: Session 1 Session A: Atomistic Modeling of Glass Structures and Interfaces Organizer: Session 1 Session 2 Organizer: *Free boxed lunches will be available to attendees on a first come, first served basis. **Separate registration is required for these events. Session 1 Organizers: Organizer: Friday, May 21, 2011 Short Course** Organizer: Session C: Glass Corrosion David Drabold May 17, 2011 1:00 – 5:40 p.m. Session C: Topology and Rigidity Organizers: Session 1 Pierre Lucas John Mauro May 18, 2011 8:00 a.m. – Noon Session D: Medium-Range Order Organizer: Session 1 Paul Voyles May 18, 2011 1:00 – 5:40 p.m. 9:20 a.m. – Noon 1:20 – 5:20 p.m. American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 May 15–19, 2011 | Hilton Savannah DeSoto Hotel | Savannah, Ga. USA Session E: Amorphous Metals Organizer: Session 1 Session 2 Session H: Ion Conductors and Energy Storage Materials Joseph V. Ryan May 18, 2011 May 19, 2011 3:20 – 5:40 p.m. 8:00 – 10:00 a.m. Session F: Spin Glasses Organizers: Session 1 John McCloy Kostya Trachenko May 19, 2011 8:00 a.m. – Noon Session G: Water Dynamics – Role in Glass Structure and Properties Organizer: Session 1 Minoru Tomozawa May 16, 2011 3:20 – 5:40 p.m. Organizer: Steve W. Martin Session 1 Session 2 May 16, 2011 May 16, 2011 Symposium IV: Glass Technology Lead Contact: Jim Marra Session A: Glasses for Energy and Environmental Applications Organizer: Amanda Billings Session 1 Symposium III: Optical Materials and Devices Session 1 Mark Davis May 17, 2011 Session B: Glass Strength Organizers: Elam Leed 1:00 – 4:20 p.m. Session B: Photosensitivity and Photomodification Session 1 Pierre Lucas Kathleen Richardson May 16, 2011 Richard K. Brow May 18, 2011 Organizer: 8:00 – 10:20 a.m. Brad Tischendorf Session 1 Organizers: 8:00 – 11:20 a.m. Session C: Glasses for Medicine and Biotechnology Session A: Optical Absorption Organizer: May 19, 2011 Session 1 Lead Contact: Adam J. Stevenson 9:20 a.m. – Noon 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. 3:20 – 5:40 p.m. May 19, 2011 10:20 a.m. – Noon Session D: Glass Melting and Processing Organizer: Rajiv Tiwary Session 1 May 18, 2011 1:00 – 3:20 p.m. Session C: Optical Ceramics Organizers: Session 1 Session 2 Adam J. Stevenson Robert J. Pavlacka May 16, 2011 May 16, 2011 9:20 a.m. – Noon 1:00 – 3:20 p.m. Session 1 David Scrymgeour May 17, 2011 9:20 a.m. – Noon Session E: Optical Coatings Organizer: Session 1 Session 1 May 18, 2011 1:00 – 5:20 p.m. Mary Bliss May 18, 2011 Session 1 Dana C. Olson May 18, 2011 American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 May 18, 2011 3:20 – 5:40 p.m. Robert A. Schaut Poster abstracts will be accepted for all sessions and symposia. Students are encouraged to enter their presentations in the annual poster competition for professional recognition and cash awards! Session 1 May 16, 2011 6:30 – 9:30 p.m. 10:20 a.m. – Noon Session G: Solar Energy and Photocatalysis Organizers: Matthew T. Lloyd Gang Chen Poster Session & Student Poster Competition Organizer: S. K. Sundaram Session F: Sensors and Scintillators Organizer: Organizer: Session 1 Session D: Active Optics Organizer: Session E: Liquid Synthesis and Sol–Gel-Derived Materials 8:00 – 11:40 a.m. Become a Corporate Sponsor Platinum ($5,000) Gold ($3,500) Silver ($2,000) To participate, contact Pat Janeway at 614-794-5826 or pjaneway@ceramics.org 39 Register now! Structural clay ProductS diviSion Meeting Gettysburg, Pa. USA • Gettysburg Hotel • May 2-4, 2011 The Three-day evenT will offer Two planT Tours and presenTaTions from inviTed speakers. sign up online aT www.ceramics.org/clay11. Schedule eventS of Monday, May 2 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. Registration Welcome reception Tuesday, May 3 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. 8:00 a.m. to Noon Noon to 1:30 p.m. 1:30 to 4:00 p.m. 1:30 to 4:00 p.m. 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. Registration Plant visit to Rocky Ridge molded brick plant (Rocky Ridge, Md.) Return to Gettysburg Hotel; Attendees on own for lunch Registration Technical session Supplier’s mixer Wednesday, May 4 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Plant visit to Watsontown Brick Company (Watsontown, Pa.) Plant tourS Featured activities at this meeting are plant tours. The organizing committee has selected two very interesting brick manufacturing plants to tour. Join us on these excursions to explore these manufacturing facilities: Redland Brick’s Rocky Ridge molded brick plant has a rich history that dates back to the 19th century. Rocky Ridge’s roots go back to the 1800s when Baltimore-area brick plants were supplying all of the major East Coast cities. Today, the plant’s brick are used by designers, architects and homeowners to capture the warm, traditional appearance that only wood mold products can provide. Rocky Ridge’s brick combine the best of old-world beauty with today’s innovative computer technology. Although fired in a modern computercontrolled kiln, the brick are formed by methods that are simliar to centuries old brickmaking. Brick are formed, as they were by artisans of colonial times, by placing soft mud into sanded wood molds. The sand provides the final brick color and is used to release the clay from the mold. The end result is a distinctive brick that provides a unique warmth and depth to any building exterior. Watsontown Brick Company, a family-owned brick manufacturer located near the Susquehanna River in North Central Pennsylvania, is an innovator and industry leader producing quality brick and pavers for more than a century. Founded in 1908 to provide street pavers for surrounding towns, Watsontown Brick today is a premier manufacturer and marketer offering a vast variety of extruded and molded brick to builders, architects and contractors throughout the Northeast. Watsontown Brick Company’s quality products, including architectural, facing, refractory and “green” brick as well as masonry units and pavers, begin with abundant access to superior raw materials: native red shale and plastic yellow shale from an on-site quarry; water that is drawn from deep wells, 40 filtered and quality tested; and the finest sands available from throughout the country. In the past decade Watsontown Brick has opened two new plants to meet the changing needs of architects and builders. The fully automated extrusion plant with its high-temperature kiln – inaugurated in 2001 – was designed to provide increased production and the ability to manufacture a much wider range of products, including a multitude of types, sizes, shapes and colors that meet stringent FBX specifications. In 2008, the opening of the molded brick plant further extended Watsontown Brick’s line of architectural bricks. The molded brick, also available in a full range of colors, sizes and shapes, are designed to meet the highest aesthetic standards whether for traditional, contemporary or renovation projects. hotel InformatIon Gettysburg Hotel One Lincoln Square, Gettysburg, PA 17325 Phone: 717-337-2000 | Fax: 717-337-2075 When making a reservation, mention The American Ceramic Society room block to receive the conference rate. Rates $107 Single/Double $127 Suite GettySburG area attractIonS For a complete list of attractions, visit www.ceramics.org/clay11. Historic Gettysburg Walking Tour The Gettysburg Convention and Visitors Bureau and Main Street Gettysburg offer a self-guided walking tour of Historic Downtown Gettysburg. Walk the streets where soldiers fought, civilians lived and President Abraham Lincoln paraded to the National Cemetery for the 1863 dedication services. Learn more about life in Gettysburg before, during and days after the fateful days of the Civil War. Enjoy the historic buildings, many dating back to pre-Civil War times. These attractions are within close proximity to the Gettysburg Hotel: •DavidWillsHouse–footstepsfromthehotel; •StevenB.Wiley&TheLincolnLeadershipInstitute–footstepsfrom the hotel; •Battlefield–0.25milesfromthehotel; •GettysburgNationalMilitaryParkMuseum&VisitorCenter–1.5miles from the hotel; •PresidentEisenhowerHomeandFarm–1.5milesfromhotel; •GhostsofGettysburg–0.2milesfromthehotel. American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 resources International Journal of Applied Glass Science preview All ACerS members are provided free online access to the International Journal of Applied Glass Science. Go to www.ceramics.org, enter your username and password and then go to the “Publications and Resources” menu. Print subscriptions (not free to members) are also sold online by Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, www.wiley.com. New papers are posted to the “Online Early” page as soon as they are ready for publication, even before the issue is printed. Below are samples of what’s coming. Coatings on Glass-Ceramic Granules for Dental Restorative Biomaterials Kathrin Michel, Carlo G. Pantano, Christian Ritzberger, Volker Rheinberger and Wolfram Höland This international research team used self-assembly in aqueous solution and fluidized-bed techniques to produce nanocoatings on leucite–fluoroapatite glass–ceramic granules. They used the glass–ceramics to prepare powder compacts for veneer materials for metal frameworks, including multiunit dental bridges. An Overview of the Structure and Properties of Silicon-Based Oxynitride Glasses Paul F. Becher, Stuart Hampshire, Michael J. Pomeroy, Michael J. Hoffmann, Michael J. Lance and Raphaelle L. Satet These authors review the current understanding of the properties, structural parameters and interrelationships of silicon-based oxynitride glasses. The review includes silicon-yttrium-aluminum-based oxynitride glasses and silicon-rare earth (most of the lanthanide series elements)metal (primarily aluminum or magnesium) oxynitride glasses. The latter glasses have elastic, thermal, mechanical and optical properties that can be correlated with the strength of the rare-earth bond. High-Power Solid-State Lasers: A Laser Glass Perspective John H. Campbell, Joseph S. Hayden and Alex Marker These authors from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Schott North America review the composition and properties required of high-energy/high-power, petawatt and high-average-power laser systems that are used for fusion energy ignition demonstration, fundamental physics research and materials processing, respectively. They note that advances in these laser systems will require new glasses and new melting methods. American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 Edge Strength Testing of Thin Glasses Suresh T. Gulati and John D. Helfinstine Gulati and Helfinstine of Corning Incorporated review various tests for measuring edge strength and present the theory and application of four-point vertical bend tests. They provide guidelines for designing the width and thickness of the test specimen relative to its length that obviates the onset of lateral buckling. They also provide three simple inspections to verify the validity of the test. Role of Sulfur and Its Diffusion in Silicate Glass Melts Günther H. Frischat, Monika Szurman and Thomas Pfeiffer This research team from Germany used a radioactive tracer method to determine sulfur diffusion in a technical alkali-poor barium alumoborosilicate glass melt and on three Na2O-modified glass melts. The team reports that diffusion increased almost exponentially with increased Na2O content and is related to the Eyring diffusivity derived from viscosity. Preventing Sodium Poisoning of Photocatalytic TiO2 Films on Glass by Metal Doping Murat Erdem Kurtoglu, Travis Longenbach and Yury Gogotsi These researchers examined the effects of silver, cobalt, copper, gallium, molybdenum and tantalum doping on the prevention of poisoning of sol–gel TiO2 films from sodiumbased substrates. They report that molybdenum was superior to other dopants in terms of photocatalytic activity, in the presence of sodium and in a sodium-free environments. Thermal Stability and Crystallization Kinetics of MgO–Al2O3–B2O3–SiO2 Glasses Manuela Reben and Hong Li Reben and Li studied the effects of iron on the thermal properties and crystallization kinetics of relevant glasses used to prepare MgO–Al2O3–B2O–SiO2-based lowdielectric glass fibers under various heat-treatment conditions. They believe that the iron in the glass functions as a nucleation agent that enhances crystal population density in the melt without altering a primary phase field. They also conclude that neither crystallization nor amorphous phase separation can be expected for drawing fibers between 1200°C and 1300°C in a commercial operation. 41 resources Journal of the American Ceramic Society preview All ACerS members are provided free online access to the Journal of the American Ceramics Society (searchable to 1918). Go to www.ceramics.org, enter your username and password and then go to the “Publications and Resources” menu. Print subscriptions to this journal (not free to members) are also sold online by Wiley–Blackwell Publishing, www.wiley. com. New papers are posted to the “Online Early” page as soon as they are ready for publication, even before the issue is printed. Below are samples of what’s coming. Precursor Homogeneity and Crystallization Effects in Chemical Solution Deposition-Derived Alkaline Niobate Thin Films Mark Röscher, Stefan Tappertzhofen and Theodor Schneller A German research team prepared chemical solution deposition-derived potassium niobate and sodium niobate thin films using an alkoxide approach under a protective atmosphere. This team reports that the quality and homogeneity of the resulting thin films significantly depends on the preparation of the alkaline precursor and that a more sensitive potassium niobate system is obtained if the precursor solution is stabilized by acetylacetone. Formation of Hydroxyapatite Whiskers by Hydrothermal Homogeneous Precipitation Using Acetamide Hongquan Zhang and Brian W. Darvell Zhang and Darvell used hydrothermal homogeneous precipitation from aqueous solution and acetamide to prepare well-crystallized, compositionally homogeneous hydroxyapatite whiskers with uniform morphology and high aspect ratio. They report that the slow hydrolysis of acetamide provides a stable and continuous growth environment with a low degree of supersaturation, which facilitates rapid growth of long hydroxyapatite whiskers directly from the hydrothermal solution. On the Conversion of Bulk Polycrystalline Y2O3 into the Nanocrystalline State Bernard H. Kear, Jafar F. Al-Sharab, Rajendra K. Sadangi, Stuart Deutsch, N. Beril Kavukcuoglu, Stephen D. Tse, Adrian Mann, Oleg A. Voronov and Christopher S. Nordahl These researchers from Rutgers and Raytheon used a reversible phase transformation process to convert fully dense polycrystalline Y2O3 directly to the nanocrystalline state. 42 They report that the process involves a forward transformation from cubic to monoclinic symmetry under a high pressure, and a reverse transformation from monoclinic to cubic symmetry under a lower pressure. Crack-Tip Toughness from Vickers Crack-Tip Opening Displacements for Materials with Strongly Rising R-Curves Stefan Fünfschilling, Theo Fett, Rainer Oberacker, Michael J. Hoffmann, Gerold A. Schneider, Paul F. Becher and Jamie J. Kruzic This team of American and German researchers proposes rigorous and approximate methods to determine intrinsic crack-tip toughness from crack-tip opening displacement measurements on Vickers indent cracks for materials with steeply rising R-curves. They suggest that such methods are attractive because of the relative ease of producing indentation cracks and analyzing the crack-tip opening displacements. They also suggest that their approximation method saves considerable computational effort. Atomic Layer Deposition of Alumina onto Carbon Fibers Amit K. Roy, Wolfgang Baumann, Steffen Schulze, Michael Hietschold, Thomas Mäder, Daisy J. Nestler, Bernhard Wielage and Werner A. Goedel This German research team used atomic layer deposition to successfully coat bundles of carbon fibers with alumina via sequential exposures to trimethylaluminum and water. The team reports that the fibers were not damaged, individual filaments were coated separately with a smooth layer, no fiber bridging was observed, the coating was conformal and adhered well to the fiber surface, and the alumina coating significantly improved the oxidation resistance of the carbon fiber. The Reduction and Luminescence Characteristics of Sm2+ Doped in Ba3BP3O12 Crystal Jiayu Wang, Yanlin Huang, Yadong Li and Hyo Jin Seo This team of researchers from China and Korea used an X-ray irradiation reduction method under a reducing atmosphere to obtain Sm2+ ions doped in Ba3BP3O12 polycrystalline samples. They used X-ray powder diffractometry to investigate them. The team reports that the luminescence properties and stabilities of the Sm2+ ions are highly dependent on the sample preparation conditions. American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 resources Int’l Journal of Applied Ceramic Technology preview All ACerS members are provided free online access to the International Journal of Applied Ceramic Technology. Go to www.ceramics.org, enter your username and pasword and then go to the “Publications & Resources” menu. Print subscriptions to this journal (not free to members) are sold online by Wiley–Blackwell Publishing, www.wiley.com. Effects of Thermal Cycling on the Formation of Oxide Scale of Fe–Cr Alloy Interconnects for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells New papers are posted to the “Online Early” page as soon as they are ready for publication, even before the issue is printed. Below are samples of what’s coming. These researchers from AIST in Japan report that the oxide scales formed in iron-chromium alloy interconnects used in solid oxide fuel cells consist of spinel-based oxides formed by fast diffusion of manganese along the grain boundaries of the alloy. They also report that, although the oxide scale/alloy interface showed strong contact without exfoliation, some cracks were found at the oxide scale surface. Preparation and Characterization of PLLA/ CaSiO3/Apatite Composite Films Huixian Yu, Congqin Ning, Kaili Lin and Lei Chen This team of Chinese researchers used a solvent evaporation technique and CaSiO3/apatite composite, prepared by a biomimetic method, to fabricate poly-L-lactic acid/ CaSiO3/apatite composite films. The team reports that the powder/solution ratio used during the immersion controlled the composition and particle size of the CaSiO3/apatite and that the β-CaSiO3 content controlled the ability of the films to form apatite in vitro. Electrical Properties of Epitaxial 0.65Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3∙0.35PbTiO3 Thin Films Grown on Buffered Si Substrates by Pulsed Laser Deposition Juan Jiang, Sung-Gi Hur and Soon-Gil Yoon This team of researchers from Korea used conventional pulsed laser deposition under an oxygen atmosphere to grow 0.65Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3∙0.35PbTiO3 thin films on La0.5Sr0.5CoO3−δ/CeO2/YSZ/silicon substrates. The team reports that the thin films exhibit epitaxial perovskite structure, high dielectric constant, low dissipation factor and good polarization–electric field hysteresis characteristic. Silica Effect on Porous Calcium Phosphate Ceramics from the Freeze Gelation Route Maxim Pulkin, Dietmar Koch and Georg Grathwohl This team of German researchers used the environmentfriendly, low-cost, freeze gelation technique to prepare near-net-shape silicon-modified calcium phosphate ceramics from silica-containing hydroxyapatite suspensions. The team reports that the addition of silica affects the sintering behavior and the phase composition of the samples and that it allows in-situ control over the hydroxyapatite/silicon–hydroxyapatite to tricalcium phosphate/silicon–tricalcium phosphate ratio. American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 Teruhisa Horita, Masashi Yoshinaga, Haruo Kishimoto, Katsuhiko Yamaji, Manuel E. Brito, YuePing Xiong and Harumi Yokokawa In-Situ Preparation and Enhanced Mechanical Properties of Carbon Nanotube/Hydroxyapatite Composites Ting Lei, Li Wang, Chun Ouyang, Nian-Feng Li and Le-Shan Zhou This team of medical and ceramics researchers from China modified multiwalled carbon nanotube/hydroxyapatite composites, prepared by in-situ chemical precipitation, with poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) wrapping or dodecyl benzene sulfonate adsorption. They report that the fracture toughness and the flexural strength for the fully dense compact are increased by an optimum addition of poly(vinyl pyrrolidone). Fabrication and Characterization of Hydroxyapatite–Forsterite–Bioactive Glass Composite Nanopowder for Biomedical Applications Maryam Mazrooei Sebdani and Mohammad Hossein Fathi This research team from Iran used a sol–gel method to fabricate a novel hydroxyapatite–forsterite–bioglass composite nanopowder on which an apatite layer was formed when it was immersed in simulated body fluid. The team suggests that this composite nanopowder is a good candidate for biomedical applications. Grain Growth Kinetics of Glass–Ceramic Produced from Power Plant Fly Ash A. Sukran Demirkiran, Senol Yilmaz and Ugur Sen These researchers from Turkey used a heat-treatment process to produce glass–ceramics from power plant fly ash. They report grain growth behavior of the diopsite- and augite-containing glass–ceramic phases produced. 43 resources Calendar of events April 2011 5–6 Micro Manufacturing & Nano Manufacturing Conference & Exhibits – Drury Lane Conference Center, Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.; www.sme.org/ micro 5–7 CICMT 2011: IMAPS/ACerS 7th Int’l Conference and Exhibition on Ceramic Interconnect and Ceramic Microsystems Technologies – Westgate Hotel, San Diego, Calif.; www.imaps.org/ceramics 5–6 Composites Manufacturing 2011 – Dayton Convention Center, Dayton Ohio; www.sme.org/composites 21 ACerS Michigan/Northwest Ohio Section’s 2011 Toledo Glass and Ceramic Award Meeting – The Toledo Club, Toledo, Ohio; www.ceramics.org/sections/ michigan-and-northwest-ohio-section/ or Jan Bailey, jebailey@wowway.com 26–29 9th European Conference on Industrial Furnaces and Boilers – Hotel Palácio, Estoril, Portugal; www. cenertec.pt/infub 17–19 Plant Maintenance & Design Engineering Show 2011 – Place Bonaventure, Montreal, Canada; www. pmds.ca 24–26 RAPID 2011 & 3D Imaging Conference & Exposition – Hyatt Regency, Minneapolis, Minn.; www.sme. org/rapid 26–29 Ceramics China 2011 – Import and Export Fair Complex, Guangzhou, China; www.ceramicschina.com.cn Annual Conference – Hyatt Regency, Bellevue, Wash.; www.sme.org/conference 5–8 Fractography of Glasses and Ceramics VI – Jacksonville, Fla.; www.fractographyvi.com/index.html 8–10 ACerS Southwest Section Annual Meeting – Omni Mandalay Hotel, Las Colinas (Dallas-Irving), Texas; www. ceramics.org/sections/southwest-section 19–23 2–5 26–July 1 7th Int’l Dendrimer Int’l Symposium on Olfaction and Electronic Nose 2011 – Rockefeller University, New York City, N.Y.; www. engconf.org/11as.html 3–4 Structural Clay Products Division Meeting – Gettysburg, Pa.; www. ceramics.org/clay11 8–12 Engineering Ceramics 2011 – Smolenice Castle, Slovakia; www. engcer11.sav.sk 12–15 Advances in Applied Physics and Materials Science 2011 Congress – Mirada Del Mar Hotel, Antalya, Turkey; www.apmas2011.org 12th Conference of the European Ceramic Society – City Conference Center, Stockholm, Sweden; www.ecers2011.se Symposium 2011 – Gaithersburg, Md.; www.mrs.org/meetings 27–July 1 Semiconductor Technology for Ultra Large Scale Integrated Circuits and Thin Film Transistors – Hong Kong, China; www. engconf.org/11ax.html July 2011 10–14 PACRIM9: The 9th Int’l Meeting of Pacific Rim Ceramic Societies – Cairns, Australia; www. austceram.com/pacrim9.asp 10–14 Materials Division Spring Meeting – Hilton Savannah DeSoto Hotel, Savanna, Ga.; www.ceramics.org/gomd2011 9th Int’l Conference on Advances in the Fusion and Processing of Glass (held in conjuction with PACRIM9) – Cairns, Australia; www. austceram.com/pacrim9.asp 16–20 Mineral Processing: An 21–24 27th Convention of Mexican 15–19 GOMD 2011: Glass & Optical Introduction to the Principles – Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colo.; www. csmspace.com/events/minproc 44 28–29 NSF Ceramic Materials PI Workshop 2011 – Arlington, Va.; www. ceramics.org/nsfworkshop August 2011 1–3 Ceramic Leadership Summit 2011 – Hyatt Regency, Baltimore, Md.; www. ceramics.org/cls2011 June 2011 Int’l Workshop on 5–7 Society of Manufacturing Engineers 7–11 Piezoelectric Materials and May 2011 2–4 INTERTECH 2011 – Hyatt Regency O’Hare, Chicago, Ill.; www. intertechconference.com 24–26 Cements Division/Center for Advanced Cement-Based Materials Annual Meeting – Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn., www.ceramics.org/ divisions/cements-division Ceramics Industry – Cancun Palace Hotel, Cancun, Mexico; www.soceramnorte.com.mx/ Applications 2011 for Clean Energy Systems – Hotel Roanoke, Roanoke, Va.; www.cpe.vt.edu/ehw 21–25 7th Int’l Conference on Borate Glasses, Crystals and Melts – Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; www.regonline.com/ borate7 28–Sept. 1 Korean Ceramic Society and Korean Powder Metal Institute Sintering 2011 – Jeju Island, Korea; www.sintering2011.org September 2011 12–14 imX Interactive Manufacturing Experience – Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nev.; www. imxevent.com 20–22 Hi Temp Conference (Netzsch North America Instruments) – Millennium Hotel, Boston, Mass.; www. hitemp2011.com October 2011 2–7 EPD 2011: 4th Int’l Conference on Electrophoretic Deposition – CasaMagna Marriott Hotel, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; www.engconfintl. org/11ab.html Dates in RED denote new entry in this issue. Entries in BLUE denote ACerS events. denotes meetings that ACerS cosponsors, endorses or otherwise cooperates in organizing. American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 Phone (614) 794-5866 • Fax (614) 891-8960 classified advertising Career Opportunities Business Opportunities Business Services consulting/engineering services QUALITY EXECUTIVE SEARCH, INC. R e c r u i t i n g a n d S e a rc h C o n s u l t a n t s Specializing in Ceramics JOE DRAPCHO 24549 Detroit Rd. • Westlake, Ohio 44145 (440) 899-5070 • Cell (440) 773-5937 www.qualityexec.com E-mail: qesinfo@qualityexec.com richard e. Mistler, inc. • Consultation • Slip Development • Table Top Tape Casters Senior Editor Are you an experienced science writer or reporter (with a credentialed background in one of the physical sciences or engineering) with a strong understanding of digital and prepress publishing processes? The American Ceramic Society is hiring a Senior Editor to report, write and develop print, video and online content, and assume some production management responsibilities. This full-time position is located in the ACerS headquarters office in Columbus (Westerville), OH and offers competitive compensation plus a strong growth potential for the right candidate. Information on the position requirements and application process can be found on the ACerS Career Center at: www.ceramics.org/careers/ • Morrisville, PA 19067 • Development Machines • Product Machines www.drblade.com email: tapecast@juno.com www.ceramictechtoday.org NC STATE UNIVERSITY Senior Editor Are you an experienced science writer or reporter (with a credentialed background in one of the physical sciences or engineering) with a strong understanding of digital and prepress publishing processes? The American Ceramic Society is hiring a SeniorScience Editor to & Engineering Materials American Ceramic Society report, write and develop print, video and The Department Materials and Engineering at North Carolina State online content, and of assume some Science production Approved By: ________________________________________ University isresponsibilities. accepting applications for a Postdoctoral Research Scholar. The management This full-time Signature Required position located inathe ACerS positionis requires Ph.D. in headquarters Materials Science or related field. Experience in office in Columbus (Westerville), OH and offers advanced electron microscopy is preferred. The selected candidate will be a physical Corrections Needed competitive plus a strongthe growth member ofcompensation a team investigating mechanisms governing the effects potential for the right Information on properties of an electric fieldcandidate. on the processing and ceramics. Approved as is, noof corrections the position requirements and application proAll applications must submitted online via https://jobs.ncsu.edu, search for cess can be found on the be ACerS Career Center Please FAX back approvals with a signature. position #101877. CV and contact information for three references are required. at: www.ceramics.org/careers/ Fax # 614-891-8960 POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH SCHOLAR PROOF DELKI Ć & ASSOCIATES INTERNATIONAL CERAMIC CONSULTANTS Review of applications will begin immediately. North Carolina State University is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer. In addition, NC State welcomes all persons without regard to sexual orientation. Persons with disabilities requiring accommodations in the application and interview process, please call (919) 515-3148. American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 • Worldwide Services • • Energy Saving Ceramic Coatings & Fiber Modules • Feriz Delkić Ceramic Engineer P.O. Box 1726, Ponte Vedra, FL 32004 Phone: (904) 285-0200 Fax: (904) 273-1616 45 classified advertising custom finishing/machining Customer service is the paramount goal of Technical Products, Inc., the world’s largest distributor of Corning’s Macor, a machinable glassceramic with outstanding thermal, mechanical, electrical and chemical properties (needs no post firing). TPI offers fabrication and technical assistance along with stock items of rods, bars, sheets and disc, ready to ship in 1-3 business days. Macor can be machined in intricate shapes and precision parts while withstanding high temperatures, up to 1000ºC, demonstrating high electrical resistivity and dielectric strength. Applications include semiconductor, defense, medical, scientific and aerospace. 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Fifth Ave., Columbus, Ohio 43219-1797 (614) 231-3621 Fax: (614) 235-3699 E-mail: sales@harropusa.com American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 www.ceramictechtoday.org 47 SAVE THE DATE! MAY 3-4, 2011 bulletin Advertiser L A R U T TRUC S CLAY TS C U D PRO N O I S I V DI ING T E E M GETTYSBURG, PA THE 2-DAY ANNUAL MEETING INCLUDES TWO PLANT TOURS AND PRESENTATIONS FROM ATTENDEES. JOIN 48 THE MAILING LIST TO APRIL 2011 AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY Page No. AdveRtIseR Index Advertiser Page No. ACCCO Inc./Burley Clay Products remmert@acco-in.com www.acco-inc.com 46 Quality Executive Search Inc. 440-899-5070 www.qualityexec.com 45 AdValue Technology 502-514-1100 sales@advaluetech.com www.advaluetech.com 45 Richard E. 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Netzsch Instruments NA LLC 781-272-5353 nib-sales@netzsch.com www.netzsch.com 5, 47 ceramics.org/clay11 Powder Processing & Technology 219-462-4141 x224 www.pptechnology.com 46 PremaTech Advanced Ceramic 508-791-9549 info@prematechac.com www.prematechac.com 46 Europe Richard Rozelaar media@alaincharles.com ph: 44-(0)-20-7834-7676 fx:44-(0)-20-7973-0076 Classified Advertising/Services Pat Janeway pjaneway@ceramics.org ph:614-794-5826•fx:614-794-5822 600 N. Cleveland Ave, Suite 210 Westerville, OH 43082 American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 3 Organized by: Co-sponsor: ® Materials Science & Technology 2011 Conference & Exhibition Oct. 16–20, 2011 Columbus Convention Center Columbus, Ohio Exhibition Dates: Oct. 18–19, 2011 Reser ve your b ooth by Ap ril 29 th to sav e! Contact Pat Janeway at pjaneway@ceramics.org to sign up. www.matscitech.org