in focus

Dear Fellow Members and Friends of MetSoc:

As the immediate Past President of the Metallurgical Society of CIM, it is my very pleasant task to edit this third issue of the third volume of mLink, the electronic news letter of MetSoc , through which it communicates with its members and friends. As the current editor, it is my pleasure to share with you the opportunities and challenges MetSoc has faced since the last issue of mLink was published, and the manner in which the Board of Directors of MetSoc has responded.

- Over the past several decades, the interests of many members of MetSoc have moved away from the traditional field of metallurgy and metallurgical engineering to "materials", that include non-metallic and intermetallic materials, nano and bio-materials etc. In this regard, the issue facing MetSoc is "is the Society fulfilling the professional needs of these members, the number of which is increasing each year?"

- With increasing interests of MetSoc members in the field of materials, does Canadian Metallurgical Quarterly continue to be one of their main source to search for information regarding the latest research developments in materials. - The Canadian metallurgical and materials related industry is truly international in scope, and is being increasingly influenced by global issues rather than by only national matters. With ever increasing globalization of the metallurgical industry, the issue is "can a single professional society, like Met Soc, provide all the services its members require and expect to receive?".

To discuss these and other related issues, and to explore appropriate solutions, the Board of Directors of Met Soc initiated a Strategic Planning process during COM 2009 in Sudbury. Since then, the Executive Committee of Met Soc has had several tele-meetings, and a second strategic planning meeting of the members of the Board of Directors is scheduled on December 10, 2009 in Montreal.

To address the globalization related issues, Met Soc also signed an MOU with TMS in February 2009 (Please consult the second issue of the third volume of mLink for details). Since then, a joint task force has been established to determine the ways in which the two societies can complement each other's activities and increase collaboration to provide new opportunities and enhance the quality of services to their respective members. To further achieve this goal, Met Soc is also participating in tripartite discussions with TMS and SME (Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration of USA). A detailed progress report on these issues should be available in the next edition of mLink.

As many of you experienced, COM 2009 in Sudbury was a great success where Nathan Stubina and his organizing committee did an excellent job in arranging an outstanding technical and social program. Met Soc would like to thank Nathan and his team, and the Met Soc office staff, Ms. Brigitte Farah, Ms. Ronona Saunders and Ms. Anne Brunet for their dedicated work.

COM 2010 will be held on Oct. 3-6 in Vancouver. It's Chairman, Greg Richards, and his organizing committee are working diligently to make this event an even a greater success than was Com 2009 in Sudbury, challenging as this task will be.

The year 2011 will be a very special year for us; MetSo will celebrating its 50th anniversary. To mark this occasion and celebrate 50 years of history, and an even more exciting future, of MetSoc, COM 2011 will be held in Montreal on Oct. 2-5, 2011 under the the Chairmanship of Dr. Cesar Inostroza. It is not too early to mark your calendar and plan to attend what promises to be an extraordinarily exciting event.

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