|
Rustum Roy (The Pennsylvania State University),
co-founder of the Materials Research Society, 1977 president
and one of its principal architects since 1967, and Harry C.
Gatos (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), co-founder and
the first MRS president (1973-1976), unveiled the Semi-Perpetual
Motion Mobile at Penn State's Materials Research Laboratory (MRL),
marking the birthplace of MRS. During the dedication ceremony
held on August 29, 1999, current MRS president Ronald Gibala
(University of Michigan) presented to Roy and the University,
an MRS Council resolution,
"The Council of the Materials Research Society commends
and thanks its charter members from The Pennsylvania State University
and the University itself for their incisive roles in the formation
and growth of the Society."
The Motion Mobile consists of a 12-in. diameter
pink quartz sphere precisely machined to fit a partial spherical
cavity in a natural block (about a 3 ft. cube) also of translucent
rose quartz. Cut into the base is a passage for a stream of water
and a light; the water flow is enough to keep the glowing sphere
rotating continuously on a glowing pink base. The structure sits
on a wooden platform. The stone sculpture is the design of Manfredo
Egger of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and is manufactured in his works
there. Inscribed on the marble surface of the platform is the
dedication, "This
building is the birthplace & home for ten years of the Materials
Research Society. The quartz sphere symbolizes the contributions
of materials research to the world, and its rotation the power
of innovation driven by the everflowing water of new ideas. Dedicated
August 29, 1999."
Also present at the dedication were co-founder
and first Secretary of MRS Mark B. Myers (Xerox); past MRS presidents
Kathleen C. Taylor of GM Research and Development Center (1987),
Elton N. Kaufmann of Argonne National Laboratory (1985), and
R.P.H. Chang of Northwestern University (1989); Ernest Hawk,
the first staff person to run the Society; and John B. Ballance,
current executive director of MRS.
Comments made during the Dedication Ceremony
of the Materials Research Society Birthplace:
Harry C. Gatos (Co-founder and 1973
- 1976 MRS President):
The founders of MRS were just a small but driven minority with
a vision of a "materials-blind" materials Society.
Rustum Roy (Co-founder
and 1977 MRS President):
The first real steps toward forming MRS were taken in 1967 when
I approached Fred Seitz, then President of the National Academy,
and he appointed a committee which led to the founding of MRS
after many steps. The inaugural meeting of the Society was held
at Penn State on May 23, 1973. The theme was a perfect cross-cutting
topic: Phase Transitions.
Elton N. Kaufmann
(1985 MRS President):
My first introduction to MRS occurred as I walked down the hall
at Bell Labs and came across an MRS council meeting. They not
only let me sit in on the meeting, but allowed me to vote as
many as three times.
Kathleen C. Taylor
(1987 MRS President):
"From time to time we considered whether we should keep
the Fall Meeting in Boston. The Boston location was working well
for us, and besides my family lives in Boston and I expected
to be there during Thanksgiving, just before the Meeting. So
I voted 'no' on moving out of Boston."
Ronald Gibala
(1999 MRS President):
I served as a symposium co-organizer at the 1988 Spring Meeting
in Reno. Near the end of the Meeting, I recall the owners of
the hotel/casino telling the Society officers "Don't even
think about bringing your Society here again. Your people
are in meetings all day and at poster sessions the whole evening.
Our gambling income has gone to nothing!" My reaction was
"Gosh! These are my kind of people!" Being President
of MRS is a fun job. MRS is a unique Society; it is interdisciplinary
and is egalitarian and progressive. Its uniqueness reflects the
qualities of those people who decided to start it a few decades
ago.
Mark B. Myers
(Co-founder of MRS and 1973 MRS Secretary):
The "founders" had an idea and they needed a worker,
so they invited me.
Note: The history of the founding of the Society
is described in the September 1993 issue of the MRS
Bulletin
|
