A message from the Vice President of the Institute of Materials (East Asia)

On behalf of the President of Institute of Materials (East Asia), Associate Professor Michael Khor, who is on a sabbatical leave at Davis in the States, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to all the participants of this year Annual IoM Conference. The Conference has grown from strength to strength since it first started in 1993. I recall there were only a handful of participants. However, even in the midst of the recession in South East Asia in the last two years, the number of participants were well above 150.

We have continued to receive strong support from our members, sponsors, industries, and also form the Institute of Materials, UK. We hope the Conference this year will be equally successful. I would like to thank Dr Sam Zhang, the Chairman of the Conference and his team , for organising the Conference this year with the interesting theme "Advanced Materials for the New Millennium ". The theme is particularly relevant as we enter boldly into the 21^st Century.

We in the Materials Community strongly believe that Materials will impact even more on our daily lives in the New Millennium. We live in an age of wireless communication, portable office, increasing miniaturisation, mobility and leisure, and will require the use of a wide variety of designer and smart materials to meet all types of societal needs. This ranges from meeting the needs of an affluent living style to provision of basic education, food production, purification of water, environmental control, housing, health, meaning work and wealth creation for a bulging world population and of a greying generation.

On the other hand, it is also estimated that we will, in the not too distant future, be spending more on information than on the basic needs such as food and shelter. It is therefore not surprising that we now see more and more countries investing in satellite technologies, life sciences, healthy living style, and so on.

In all these human activities and endeavours, be it trying to produce lap top computer and microprocessors capable of running at 100 Giga Hertz or higher clock speed, or sending men to colonise space with manned mission to Mars and other planets, Materials, particularly very smart materials, will continue to play a vital role in achieving these aims.

I would like therefore to thank all of you for your continued support, and in particular our sponsors without their generous financial support, it would be impossible to organise the IoM Conference in such a salubrious surrounding as Mandarin Hotel for such a tiny registration fee.

Most important, I hope you will find the Conference meaningful and educational. It is also an opportunity to network and make friends in the Materials Community. For those of you who are planning a career in Industry and Business, I strongly advise you to become a member of the Institute. There are many benefits. For companies, we have the Industrial Affiliate Schemes. Please contact the IoM (East Asia) Website, or Tel 790-6090 for more information.

Associate Professor Peter Hing

Vice President

The Institute of Materials (E. Asia)