January 1997 Newsletter

Contents

1. Editorial
2. Chairman's Message
3. Pharmaceutical Materials Meeti ng 19 March 1997 - Advance Notice
4. BCA Spring meeting 1997 Leeds - Advance Notice
5. Workshop Diffraction at Elevated Temperature 4 June 1997 - Advance Notice
6. Autumn Meeting 6 November 1997 - Advance Notice
7. Special Interest Groups Information
8. Sensitivity Round Robin Update
Reflectivity Meeting Report
9. Autumn Meeting 7 November 1996 Report
10. Industrial Group Awards Brian Bellamy & Alun Bowen
11. Help! - Setting Proportional Counters, � Peaks from Sellotape
12. Committee 1996 Addresses

Editorial

Happy New Year! To celebrate 1997, we have decided to offer you a new format for the Newsletter, with more emphasis on the events to come and less reporting on the previous meetings. To this end, only abstracts of the papers presented will be offered together with contact details so that further information can be obtained direct from the presenters. It is also envisaged that fuller reports will appear on the WorldWide Web site, which will be updated more frequently.

Logo Competition

The Industrial Group is considering its own additional distinctive logo which will be used in conjunction with the existing BCA logo on letterheads. It will also be used on Crystallography News items to simplify identification of Industrial Group content. A competition to design a suitable logo is being held. Please submit your entry to Dave Taylor (address on back page) as a drawing or a PC readable image file before 10 April 1997. The entries will be judged at the Sp ring Meeting with a prize for the one selected.

Call For Posters

In an attempt to improve the quality of our presence at the Spring Meeting, we are appealing for posters to be presented. Whilst we all appreciate the time and effort that these demand, and that there are severe restraints within Industry on peoples' time, the impact and utility of this mode of presentation cannot be stressed too highly. If you have a subject suitable for inclusion, please contact Steve Norval as s oon as possible.

Help!

A new feature in this issue is the Help page, where we hope that items or problems of interest can be aired. Please send any copy for inclusion in the next issue to Bruce Fox.

Special Interest Groups

It has been decided by your committee to generate a selection of Special Interest Groups within the Industrial Group, and on Page 6, Steve Norval expands on the concept, and asks for feedback on the idea.

Bruce F ox

Chairman's Message

I wish all our members a happy New Year. I hope that your Resolution was to attend one of our meetings in 1997 or better still to offer a talk or present a poster. I'm sure that you will find something of interest in our programme, if not the let myself or any committee member know and we'll try to fit it into our future plans.

We are committed to developing Special Interest Groups (SIG) and the first meet ing of the Pharmaceutical Group under the BCA umbrella takes place in March. The Leeds spring meeting has two Industrial Group half day sessions and a workshop. Our plenary has been renamed the "Alun Bowen Industrial Lecture" and I'm sure that Paul Barnes will set a high standard for others to follow.

The workshop sees Ron Jenkins putting us right on the Instrument sensitivity problems highlighted by the Round Robin exercise. A copy of his new book Introduction to X-Ray Powder Diffraction -Jenkins and Snyder (Wiley & Sons) is included in the workshop fee (I paid £65 for my copy) so it has to be good value. Watch out for a review of the book in Crystallography News. You still have time to register your poster for Leeds we have been busy twisting arms and I'll be disappointed if we don't improve on last years total (3). Don't forget there is a £50 prize.

In June we hold a workshop on Diffraction at Elevated Temperature. If you have equipment, or plan a future p urchase this is one not to miss, it could be the start of another SIG. The Autumn meeting sees Ian Langford reviewing the last 20 years of diffraction and Mike Glazer predicting the future of the technique. Remember attending an Industrial Group meeting (excluding spring meeting) qualifies for BCA membership or renewal.

I have enjoyed almost a year as chairman. I was saddened by the deaths of Alun Bowen and Peter Salt - both contributed to my personal knowledge of diffraction and will be s adly missed.

Meetings on Reflectivity and Industrial Crystallography were well attended and I thank Bruce Fox and Jo Jutson for their efforts and Frank Cullen for the local arrangements at Harwell. Industrial Group awards were made to Alun Bowen (accepted by Chris Bowen) and Brian Bellamy.

Full details of our future meetings are reported in the Newsletter. If you can' find anything of interest in our programme then we are guilty of omission so please tell myself or any committee m ember any subject matter you would like covered in our future meetings.

I look forward to our 1997 programme and I'm sure I'll see you at one of our meetings.

Dave Taylor 7.1.97