The MS&T’05 student program kicked off on Saturday, Sept. 24 with the student chapter development conference. Thirty-nine Material Advantage student chapter officers were in attendance. During this time, the officers were presented with an overview of the Material Advantage program and pointers about making the most of the benefits available through Material Advantage. Dan Thoma, from Los Alamos National Laboratory, gave a presentation on how to network and the importance of networking. This was followed by a round table discussion, including conversations about internships and job searching led by Emily Kinser, a recent graduate from Iowa State; and Material Advantage chapter and committee operations led by Clarissa Yablinsky, a graduate student at The Ohio State University. The day ended with a trip to Dave & Busters for dinner and fun.

Sunday, Sept. 25 began with an orientation session. The purpose of this session was to acclimate students to the conference schedule and identify events that may be of interest. Orientation was followed by a lively presentation on resume building and career tips by Victor A. Greenhut, professor of ceramics and materials engineering at Rutgers University. The day continued with a career forum featuring Anthony J. Deardo from the University of Pittsburgh and John Allison from the Ford Motor Co., both discussing their careers and answering many questions from the students about careers in materials science engineering.

Later in the day, students were matched with volunteers for scheduled mock interviews in order to practice the art of interviewing. The interviewers included Priya Manohar and John Hayward of Robert Morris University, Aladar Csontos of U.S. Nuclear Reg. Commission, Diane Thompson of Joy Mining Machinery and Victor Greenhut of Rutgers University.

The evening concluded with a lively student mixer attended by students, faculty and society members. At this event, AIST was officially welcomed into the Material Advantage program, and the following awards were presented: the Material Advantage Most Outstanding Chapter, the Material Advantage Chapter of Excellence Award and the World Materials Day Award.

The final MS&T’05 student program, a student speaking contest, was held on Monday, Sept. 26. Eight students entered the contest, wherein they presented their papers to a panel of volunteer judges. The judges selected four contestants to advance to the final round. The finalists included John Romankiewicz, Northwestern University; Kendra Erk, Purdue University; John Foltz, Michigan State University; and Daniel Skorski, Alfred University. Romankiewicz received first place for his presentation entitled, “Confocal Microscopy of Cadmium Sulfide Nanowires,” while second place was awarded to Erk for her talk on “High-temperature Brazing of Nickel Titanium.”

Between the planned activities and conference technical sessions, students relaxed and enjoyed the Material Advantage student union. This designated student area included chapter posters, electronic games, computers, couches, tables and an employment board, where students could display their resumes for potential employers and employers could display job openings. These resumes are now available on the Material Advantage Web site at www.materialadvantage.org. The student program at MS&T’05 provided a good mixture of education and fun. Students attending this conference had a tremendous number of opportunities to enrich their career potential.