The beginning of June saw the cities of Tokyo, Kyoto, and Shanghai host to several weeks of interdisciplinary exchanges on a broad spectrum of materials topics. The meetings began with the MRS International Meeting on Advanced Materials (May 30 - June 3) and continued with the Shanghai Workshop on Characterization of Ion Implantation in Silicon (June 2-3) held as part of the 7th International Conference on Ion Implantation Technology in Kyoto (June 7-10), the 6th International Conference on Ion Beam Modification of Materials (June 12-17), and the JSAP-MRS International Conference on Electronic Materials (June 13-15).

During the week preceding the meetings, the International Trade Center grounds at Harumi were the site of an Advanced Materials and Engineering Exhibition. Machine tools, CAD/CAM, and advanced materials exhibits filled three pavilions. The Materials Research Society was represented in the advanced materials area where, through a brochure translated into Japanese, the Society and its programs were introduced to the exhibit's visitors.

The concept for the MRS International Meeting on Advanced Materials held May 30 to June 3 took root several years ago and represents the first “MRS-style” event to be organized in Japan. Based on the enthusiastic participation by Japanese scientists and by a healthy complement of foreign scientists, it should repeat. MRS First Vice President R.P.H. Chang has been responsible for the interaction between the Materials Research Society and the meeting Organizers.

General chairmen for the event were S. Somiya of the Nishi Tokyo University (currently a Principal Editor for Journal of Materials Research) and M. Doyama of Nagoya University. They assembled some 20 topical symposia which were held in two buildings of the Sunshine City complex in the Ikebukuro district of Tokyo. All the sessions were very well attended, with total meeting registrant numbers reaching over 1,500.

Journal of Materials Research was conceived and launched in less than two years from initial conception and is now in its third year of publication. The Journal's immediate success is a result of its unique purpose and of the meticulous attention given it by a few dozen committed seientists. With little or no Publishing management experience, they were guided by their need for scientific information as they developed a Journal that would fill a void in the literature on advanced materials. The following is a description of the Journal's evolution from inception to the valuable scientific medium it is today.

Journal of Materials Research will soon begin its fourth volume, a very satisfying milestone for those of us who helped launch it. The Journal was designed to fill a unique role for researchers and the libraries which serve them. It's worth recounting how the myriad of qualitative and quantitative aspects of the Journal's creation quickly fell into place, for it's a story of dedicated volunteers, lofty goals, and an Organization which itself, at the time, was almost too young to tackle so formidable a task.

The Materials Research Society (MRS) was founded in 1973 expressly to provide a forum for reporting scientific research on new materials in an interdisciplinary format, encompassing physical, chemical and engineering developments that all affect the advancement of materials. The opportunities to do this under the auspices of the existing societies at that time were few or nonexistent.