Reports on other relevant Meetings in 1999

• IUCr XVIIIGlasgow , 4-13 Aug 1999
  • Four Perspectives
• Philips 21st Durham Conference on X-ray Analysis Durham, 20-23 September 1999
• ICDD Workshop on X-ray Powder Diffraction St Helens, 6-8 December 1999

IUCr XVIII, Glasgow 4-13 Aug 1999

As you may have noticed the biggest meeting of crystallographers in 1999 took place in Glasgow earlier this year. Not many of the industria l group attended however a few did manage to get there. A bit of judicious arm twisting, and a couple of pints of beer, produced 4 "volunteers" to write up their experiences of a visit to IUCr, Glasgow.

Colin Small

THOUGHTS FROM IUCr GLASGOW

After several frantic days of preparing posters, arranging travel & accommodation and rearranging my family holiday dates, (yes, there did seem to be some mix-up, which surely could not have been my fault) I was finally in Glasgow for a few days of the IUCr XVIII Congress. The journey by car from Swindon had taken rather less time than anticipated so that I was able to spend a full Thursday afternoon stalking the poster presenters. Unfortunately, this also meant that I had missed Hugo Rietvelds" talk in the morning. Arriving at the conference centre registration desk, I was presented with a weighty conference pack within which I eventually found a small booklet summarising all the presentations. Noti cing that many of the other delegates seemed to find comfort in this booklet, I kept it to one side for easy access. It took approximately 30 minutes of reconnaissance (helped by an plethora of guides), before I saw some familiar, friendly faces - Dave Taylor (representing ICDD) & close by, Kate Crennell (BCA).

I returned to the conference centre early on Friday morning in order to arrange posters (I was acting as a surrogate presenter for 2 other groups) and listen to one of the keynot e sessions that started at 8.25. Following this, I navigated my way through a series of parallel microsymposia. I felt that one of the highlights was a talk given by Bob von Dreele (of GSAS fame) who made the refinement of protein structures from powder data seem almost routine ! I also had to admire the other speakers in the Challenging Rietveld Refinements session who showed us that elegant solutions may be found for even the most difficult problems – and all this with Hugo Rietveld s itting in the front row !

During the lunch period, I had the opportunity to discuss my posters with interested delegates. In what seemed a sea of glossy, colour pictures of proteins (one wavy ribbon looks the same as the next, to me), there were a few powder diffraction studies. I was quite disappointed that the materials I am specifically interested in were poorly represented – I don"t suppose the organisers could please all the people all the time. Also, there did seem to be a sign ificant number of blank poster boards ; naturally several were posters I had been keen to read. The afternoon sessions included a microsymposium on industrial on-line analysis. For me, this gave diffraction spirit through applications in the aerospace, semiconductor, cement and other industries. For some reason, I opted not to attend the Marks & Spencer shopping evening later that day.

The final day of my attendance started with a refreshing talk by Bill Tomlinson who impressed h is audience with several medical imaging applications based upon his "diffraction enhanced imaging" technique. This was followed by microsymposia on phase transitions and thick films all of which left me with a feeling of inadequacy. I left Glasgow with somewhat mixed feelings. The Congress had certainly been well organised, and I was very sorry to have to leave and miss several of the presentations later in the week. The IUCr Congress had attracted several of the worlds "major players" and I found it gratifying to be able to finally put faces to names. However, I found the experience rather solitary – but that"s probably in my nature. Will I attend future IUCr Congresses ? – probably (although the last one I attended was in 1981!), especially if the Congress managers can organise a daily registration fee.

Keith Rogers.
Cranfield University

A VIEW FROM THE EXHIBITION HALL

This was my first experience of an IU Cr congress and manning an exhibition stand. The exhibition saw the most extensive array of crystallography equipment and paraphernalia that I have ever seen together in one place. With over 40 commercial exhibitors it proved to be a popular focus point for delegates, many drawn by the presence of a buzzing internet cafe, food & drink stations and the ever changing poster boards. To name all the exhibitors, their new products and the freebies on the stands would fill the whole Newsletter. It is a pity more of the UK industrial community could not spare their valuable time and training budget to get to this prestigious event. Perhaps a lesson to learn is that there is a need to cater for short visits with focussed days for particular interest groups. With the exhibition open from 9 till 6 for five consecutive days it was surprising to see a last minute rush when delegates were informed that it would close on Monday evening. Perhaps the most amazing event to watch from the sidelines was on t he evening of the J. Monteath-Robertson Symposium Buffet when a hot meal was served in the exhibition hall in little more than an hour to 1400 delegates. With the hall open until 7.30 that evening the flagging exhibitors were first in the queue. The most memorable event especially for our friends from overseas was being led from the opening ceremony by a pipe band to the Welcome reception. I would like to think that everyone went home better informed about our diverse subject.

Dave Taylor.
Consultant

30 Years of Rietveld Analysis: The Next Generation

Held by: Bruker AXS
At: Glasgow University
On: 6th August 1999

Presented by: Dr A. Kern, Bruker AXS, Karlsruhe
Dr Robert Haberkorn, University of Sweden
Frank Stowasser, University of Bochum

The workshop was intended to review the latest developments in the field of Rietveld Analysis. As a non-user of Rietveld Analysis, my reasons for attending the worksh op were to gain some background knowledge on how Rietveld Analysis works and what use it would be in an industrial environment.

An excellent introduction was given to profile analysis, from single line fitting up to the Rietveld method and microstructure analysis. With background explained clearly, the new fundamental parameters approach of Bruker AXS was presented complete with examples of structural refinement. As a current non-user I didn't"t quite follow the need to further refine a wel l documented structure but discussion with other users during the coffee break cleared this up. Also, as a non-user of Rietveld analysis, I had nothing to compare with the new software being showcased, but judging by the approving murmurs in the audience the decreased time to perform a structural refinement was obviously impressive. In addition to structural refinement, ab initio structure solutions from powder data were also presented, which with the new fundamental parameters approach have now bec ome possible. However, the time required to determine new structures seems to be on a scale of months, so still only possible for those with plenty of time to spare!

As an analyst in a commercial laboratory, the applications of Rietveld analysis were very impressive. Quantitative analysis of multi-phase powders has long been a problem, limited mostly by the non-availability of suitable standards for XRD. However, the current lack of certified reference materials can now be overcome by whol e powder fitting by Rietveld Analysis as no standards are required. In addition to standardless analysis, completely overlapping phases can also be quantified. Finally, microstructural analysis was presented, the Rietveld method being able to determine peak broadening due to crystallite size and strain.

Limitations of this method were also discussed, particularly the effects of stacking faults, which unfortunately are not currently taken into account in profile fitting.

Overall th e workshop was of use, particularly the background to Rietveld Analysis and the industrial applications (quantitative analysis, crystallite size and strain). However it is also evident that there is still room for improvement (refinement?), particularly with regards to microstructural modelling and profile fitting.

Nicola Mellor
London & Scandinavian Metallurgical Co Ltd

Impressions of XVIII ^th. IUCr Congress, Glasgow

When I ar rived at the IUCr congress my overall impression was of enormous size and complexity. I have never attended a conference run on such a "galactic" scale. Such a huge exhibition, so many events, so many papers and posters.

Sometimes, at conferences the lectures can actually be a bit of a disappointment, they are a bit dry, cobbled together at the last minute, extremely specialised, etc. You are left feeling that you haven"t really learned anything. The IUCr was totally different. There were s o many interesting papers, which were, for the most part very well presented. There was always something new and interesting to see. I have worked in X-ray diffraction now for nearly 20 years, looking around the IUCr; I was struck by the range of applications and by how little I actually know about some of them.

With six sessions of lectures running simultaneously, my principle problem was deciding which one to join. Why are two lectures, which you would really like to hear always on at the same time?

Fortunately, the conference was very well organised with military style precision. The program was produced as a small booklet, of 142 (!) pages and was well set out and very easy to use. I had no problems finding the right room at the right time. Some of the sessions were so well attended it was difficult to get in, even with such large lecture theatres. If you arrive a bit late and end up at the back of the room it"s difficult to see overheads with lots of small details.

Sadly, I did not see very many industrial crystallographers, from the UK, probably because of the cost and the travelling time to Glasgow. This was disappointing as there was really a lot to be gained from this conference both academically and socially. It"s a shame that some company accountants do not appreciate the value of exchanging information and making contacts.

Judith Shackleton
Formerly of Philips Analytical - Now UMIST

Philips 21st Durham Conference on X-ray Analysis

University of Durham 20-23 September 1999

I had never been to a Durham conference before, and I was regarding it with some trepidation, since I was convinced that everyone else would know far more than me, and I would resort to my usual role of being one of the most insignificant participants who no-one wanted to talk to. However, I couldn't have been more wrong. Not only did the conference turn out to be more interesting than I imagined - I will never forget the onion model of the surfactant or the engine testing video, but I got to see people I hadn't spoken to for ages and meet many new diffractionists. The wide ranging XRD program included talks about on-line diffraction systems in places as diverse as quarries and clean rooms, which I found fascinating, and more applications than I could dream of -I hadn't really realised that a diffractometer could be so useful in the everyday world. The joint XRD/XRF sessions were a good idea, the Hitch Hikers Guides meant that I finally found out what this mysterious XRF thing was. The best part about the serious side of things was that some people found my talk interesting, and I was relieved that my many hours in the X-ray lab and the library trying to produce something worthwhile that would look good on my overheads had paid off! Of course, really what everyone wants to know about conferences is what was the accommodation like and was the food any good. Well, the fo od, especially the conference banquet, was excellent and the accommodation was warm and clean. Mercifully I wasn't in the castle keep, so avoided the stair marathon, although the walk too and from the conference centre just about made up for it. There was also no chance of sitting lonely in your room, not only were we kept busy all day and revived by frequent coffee breaks, but we were kept occupied all evening, relaxed by the odd free drinks reception and enlivened by a quiz night. The overall feel of the conference was that you were there to learn and to enjoy, and no effort was spared in order to achieve both these aims. I was extremely glad that I went, and would recommend it to anyone working in or interested in X-ray diffraction. I had a wonderful time, and am already considering what job to get in order to be able to go again in 2 years' time!

Samantha Price
University of Cambridge

ICDD Workshop on X-ray Powder Di ffraction

St Helens College, 6-8 December 1999

This workshop on x-ray powder diffraction was the first of a series. The International Centre of Diffraction Data (ICDD) plan to build on the success of their extensive US experience and run two workshops a year at locations around the world. The instructors were John Faber and David Taylor, two highly experienced people in the x-ray diffraction (XRD) field.

The wide-ranging program included sessions on qualitative analysi s, phase identification, specimen preparation, diffractometer set-up and calibration. There were opportunities during the workshop to gain 'hands-on' experience with search / match exercises, using both manual and computer methods, progressing to exercises on semi-quantitative analysis.

I found the workshop both educational and informative, and it provided an opportunity to meet up with other diffractionists, new and old.

Debbie McCarthy
Laporte Absorbents