|
|---|
Industrial Group of the BCA
August 1997 NewsletterContents
EditorialThe new format Newsletter we introduced for the last issue seems to have been well received, so we have decided to stay with it for the time being, but we are always open to (constructive) suggestions or criticism and input. We have a fairly busy newsletter this time, with a mixture of forthcoming meetings, articles and reports. Your input is always welcome, and if you wish to contribute, please contact Bruce Fox, or any of the committee members. Steve Norval has provided two items for this edition, an excellent Help! note on standards, and an example of elevated temperature XRD with the monitored thermal decomposition of zinc acetate to zinc oxides, presented as a conto ur map below.
Chairman's MessageA lot has happened in the six months since the last Newsletter. Another well attended Pharmaceutical Special Interest Group meeting in March, Spring meeting at Leeds in April and a Diffraction at Elevated Temperature Workshop in June. These are all reported elsewhere in this issue I will just say thank you to all involved with th e arrangements and those who managed to find time to attend. The first Alun Bowen Industrial Lecture at Leeds by Prof. Paul Barnes was well received by a large audience and was a fitting tribute to Aluns' memory. Paul has set a high standard for others to follow. The group AGM saw many changes to our committee and I welcome the election Mary Vickers, Kath Clay and Philip Lake onto the committee and Jo Jutson as our new secretary. I thank the retiring members Colin Small, Craig Adam, Eric Ke lly, Bruce Fox and Derek Hart for their involvement in our activities. I am glad that we have secured the services of Derek Hart as a BCA council member to give an important industrial viewpoint on council deliberations. Our next meeting is the Autumn meeting being organised by Keith Rogers at Cranfield University on 6 November 1997 (see elsewhere for full details and fill in the enclosed registration form now!). This meeting is your last chance to renew your membership the painless way th is year so if you haven't already been to a meeting this year please try to find time to attend. Early next year we have a Pharmaceutical Special Interest Group meeting and a short Spring meeting at St Andrews both reported in this issue. Later next year we plan a workshop on Residual Stress being organised by Kath Clay. If you want a particular topic to be covered in a future meeting or have any other ideas to improve the group or even want to share your experiences in this Newsletter ple ase let me know. The 1999 IUCR meeting takes place in Glasgow so we are starting to plan activities well in advance if you have ideas or comments let me or any committee member know. Finally we are trying very hard to keep our mailing list up to date with the aim of getting a copy onto the desk of every active Industrial Diffraction user in the UK. The circulation is now over 400 and distribution costs are rising so if you have moved out of the field please pass this newsletter to a colleag ue and let me know the relevant changes. We are reviewing the Industrial Group content on the BCA WWW pages and back issues of this newsletter and up to date news of events can be found at:- (http://gordon.cryst.bbk.ac.uk/BCA/index.html) If you have web access please use our pages to keep in touch with our activities. I hope you all enjoy a summer break from the routine of work and come back refreshed with lots of ideas to take the Industrial Group towards the next millennium. Dave Taylor 23.07.97 Mastermind successTony Bell of Cambridge University, Chemistry, has scaled new heights for the BCA by reaching the semi-finals of the BBC' Master Mind series. The heats were held at the Cambridge Union on Wednesday 25th November 1996. Tony's Specialist Subject was " The Novels of Arthur C. Clarke" The famous black chair is muc h more intimidating in flesh than on the screen. Apparently, the title music for Master Mind is taken from a piece called " Approaching Menace" To the anxious spectators this title was all too appropriate. Tony, however, was not at all flustered. He answered the questions calmly, scoring an excellent total of 35 points and coming first. It was down to the Royal Naval, College Dartmouth for the semi-finals on Wednesday 26th February. It' a very imposing, if rather spartan building. Back to t hat intimidating black chair! Tony' Specialist Subject was " The History of the Marathon" He performed brilliantly. The General Knowledge Section appeared to consist entirely of questions about Ancient Greek Architecture and Classical Mythology. No crystallography questions (what' the most common space group etc.) and very few scientific ones. Despite the adverse circumstances, Tony still managed to score 24 points and come third. An excellent achievement and a first for the BCA! Judith Shackleton 18th International Union of Crystallography Congress, GlasgowAugust 4th-13th 1999Members of the Industrial Group will probably be aware that the 18th International Union of Crystallography meeting will be held in Glasgow from the 4th to the 13th August 1999 in the newly built conference centre by the river Clyde near the city centre. Hopefully, 2000-2500 crystallogr aphers will attend, and the meeting will cover all aspects of crystallography. Of particular interest to industrial crystallographers will be the intention to hold a specially focused set of symposia devoted to powder diffraction - a sort of satellite meeting within the framework of the main congress and lasting 3-4 days. British crystallography has a proud past, and remains a world leader, and everyone associated with the congress is keen to present a meeting to remember, and one in which British science is shown at its very best. In part this requires money, and money requires sponsorship. Do you have suitable contacts that might help? The organisers have prepared a glossy sponsorship brochure which is being distributed as widely as possible. If you can help, please contact Chris Gilmore who will provide copies of this document and any form of backup that you need. (I am happy, for example, to travel anywhere for discussions.) My address is: Department of Chemistry,
Telephone 0141 330 5947; Fax: 0141 330 4419; Please mark the dates in your diary, and be there: it will be a great event, and apart from the science, a great social program is planned! Chris Gilmore |
|
