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History of the Materials Division
The following is extracted and edited from MD-Vol.70, "75
Years of the ASME Materials Division," edited by V. K. Stokes,
GE Corporate Research and Development, published in 1995 by
ASME. (ISBN NO. 0-7918-1760-1)
This is a brief History of the Materials
Division of the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers. To place this history in proper perspective, one
must journey back at least a full century. Names change, but
what is now called the Materials Division is as old as ASME
itself. No other division can make such a prior claim!
Materials are so central to mechanical engineering that they
have been a part of ASME since its inception in 1880. The
iron and steel industry, which represented an activity of
great economic value to the United States in the 1880's, started
it all. This industry also presented a tremendously rich field
for technical mechanical engineering investigations. Many
problems needed to be solved. These problems required mechanical
engineers, and the solutions to these engineering problems
would add greatly to the wealth and welfare of our country.
The need for ASME to address the engineering problems of the
iron and steel industry was documented in the proceedings
of the earliest meetings; the first ten illustrations in the
first volume of ASME Transactions (1880) were part of an iron
and steel paper. Since then technical papers relating to the
iron and steel industry have continued to constitute an important
part of the literature. During the early part of this century
(1912-1927), the Society was experimenting with what is now
known as a division. Although iron and steel engineers were
not included in the first set of divisions, the formation
of our Division can formally be traced to the Forest Products
Division, one of the twelve divisions formed in 1920. The
name was changed to the Wood Industries Division in 1925.
After proper experience had been gained, an Iron and Steel
Division was authorized by Council in 1927. When the importance
of nonferrous metals emerged to the appropriate level, the
name of the Division was changed to the Metals Engineering
Division (1940). Still later, when non-metals as well as metals
deserved study by the Division, the present name of Materials
Division was authorized by Council in 1972.
For apparent lack of activity, in the mid-1980s there was
talk of abolishing the Division. At an MD Executive Committee
meeting in 1984, a good part of the meeting was consumed in
expressing indignation over a letter received from Headquarters
questioning the viability of the Materials Division - the
Council on Engineering Committee on Technical Planning had
determined from an audit that the Division lacked continuity.
At ASME Headquarters in the fall of 1985, it was demonstrated
to ASME that the health of the Materials Division was improving
and that it should not be dissolved. Demographic information
was presented showing that despite its poor showings at WAMs
and low level of Divisional conference development, the Materials
Division had a substantial number of primary members and fellows
upon whom it could draw for help. Apparently, ASME was convinced
that the Materials Division did have a future. A restructuring
of the Division was initiated and areas of focus were defined
and active recruitment began. During the following year, new
interfaces were developed with the Aerospace, Applied Mechanics,
and Production Engineering Divisions. The years 1984-1989
were critical for the survival of the Division; the hard work
invested by the Division Executive and Technical Committees
helped to stabilize the Division and to lay the foundation
for its growth in the 1990s.
To deal with problem areas in the functioning of the Division,
major changes were instituted during the 1990's. First, an
emphasis was placed on balancing the Executive Committee by
aggressively recruiting key individuals representing different
aspects of materials. Also, a conscious attempt was made to
attain a balance of committee members from academia, industry,
and national laboratories. Responsibilities of the members
were balanced, a two-year planning cycle was initiated for
the Winter Annual Meeting technical programs, and considerable
attention was focused on developing and giving structure to
the Technical Committees. New Technical Committees were created
and inactive ones were abolished. Fresh talent was proactively
recruited. Ambitious goals were established for improving
both the quality and the number of technical papers at the
Winter Annual Meetings and the Division Newsletter was revamped
and was used as a tool to increase the primary membership
of the Division.
Partly as a result of renewed interest in materials materials
have been identified as one of the five critical technologies
for the nation the Division is now humming with activity.
The quality of our symposia has improved while the symposia
organized by our seven technical committees now cover a broad
range of materials. The breadth of technical issues in materials
is now beginning to be reflected in the broad range of papers
in our Division Journal, the ASME Journal of Engineering Materials
and Technology.
The first materials paper published by ASME appeared in the
1880 issue of Transactions (Vol. 1). Materials papers of highest
quality have appeared in the literature of the Society every
year since. The Division has always addressed national issues
and the far-reaching needs of the entire profession in addition
to its outstanding publication record. These issues and needs
include:
- Early actions of the Metals Engineering Division
in converting from peacetime industries to wartime industries
in World War II.
- Establishing the prestigious Journal of Engineering
Materials and Technology.
- Establishing the Federation of Materials Societies
that enabled the whole materials community to unite to
advise the U. S. Congress on matters of national importance.
Continuous creditable activity since 1880! No Division
can lay a prior claim. No other Division can boast of a
longer period of unbroken service to the profession. And
no other Division can point to as many Giants in its ranks.
A whole century! A century of Giants!
Over the history of the Materials Division, we must acknowledge
the contributions and service of the Past
Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the Division:
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