Members of the International Centre for Diffraction Data met on 8–12 March 2021 for their Annual Spring Meeting of Members. Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, ICDD's mission of exchanging ideas and information was observed a bit differently as members, guests, and staff joined together, from the comfort of their own location, to attend committee and subcommittee meetings through a virtual, Zoom platform.
Spring Meeting week began with committee meetings on Monday – including Finance, Marketing, and Scholarship. The Finance and Marketing meetings reviewed past statistics and shared plans for the future. The Ludo Frevel Scholarship Committee celebrated 30 years and a total of 221 scholarships awarded overall.
Tuesday began with welcoming remarks from ICDD's Executive Director, Tom Blanton, and ICDD's Chairman of the Board, Andrew Payzant, Oak Ridge National Lab. Both were excited to see the membership "together" again, even if it was a virtual setting. Tom and Andrew also welcomed many members who had never been able to attend the Spring Meetings at ICDD Headquarters in Newtown Square, PA, due to travel funding and time constraints. Later in the afternoon, Justin Blanton, ICDD Manager of Engineering and Design, and Steffen Weber, ICDD Senior Software Programmer, gave a well-received demonstration about “New Features” that will debut in the 2022 versions of the Powder Diffraction File™ and JADE®. Following Justin and Steffen's presentation, the Conference Services department hosted a challenging game of “Around the World” trivia. Everyone put their pre-2020 travel experience to the test, answering international trivia questions, and competing to win one of three prizes. Congratulations to Amy Gindhart, ICDD; Alexander Missyul, ALBA Synchrotron Light Source; and Leopoldo Suescun, University of Uruguay, on their award-winning knowledge!
Eleven different subcommittees were able to meet in Zoom meetings on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of meeting week. The subcommittees discussed different ways to enhance the PDF® (Powder Diffraction File™) and reviewed current events in their field of interest. Many great conversations took place, with several action items that will keep the staff and membership busy throughout the year.
On Friday, members, guests, and staff watched a live lecture by Keynote Speaker and 2019 Nobel Prize Laureate, M. Stanley Whittingham, SUNY at Binghamton Materials Research Center. Dr. Whittingham presented his work, The Lithium Battery: The Origins and the Role of Structure and Disorder. Dr. Whittingham's research on lithium batteries began back in 1972, while he was working at Esso, now known as ExxonMobil. He shared how the lithium and lithium-ion batteries have evolved throughout his years of research, including how they are being used today in hopes for a cleaner planet. After Dr. Whittingham answered questions, Tom Blanton presented Dr. Whittingham with a plaque that displays the first Powder Diffraction File entry (PDF# 00-28-0595) for LiTiS2 that was collected from Stanley Whittingham and Fred Gamble's paper published in the Materials Research Bulletin in 1975. It was a pleasure and honor to have Dr. Whittingham speak during the Annual Spring Meeting.
Following the keynote presentation, Robert Dinnebier, Max-Planck Institute, led the Technical Committee Meeting. ICDD's Regional Co-chairs shared current news and events from their region of the world. The meeting concluded with the Subcommittee Chairs reporting on their committees’ activities, with some proposing motions for the ICDD Board of Directors.
Meeting week concluded with the Annual Meeting of Members on Friday afternoon, hosted by ICDD Chairman of the Board, Andrew Payzant, Oak Ridge National Lab. Tom Blanton, ICDD's Executive Director, reported on ICDD Headquarters’ activities of the past year. ICDD Treasurer, Jim Kaduk, Poly Crystallography, Inc., also gave a report on the financial outlook of the organization.
During the Annual Spring Meeting, the 2020 and 2021 ICDD Awards were announced (Figure 1). The Distinguished Fellow Award is given to members who have given long and meritorious service to ICDD and are currently recognized as Fellows.
The 2020 Distinguished Fellow Award was granted to Scott Misture, Alfred University, USA, honoring his long and meritorious service to the ICDD for over two decades.
The 2021 Distinguished Fellow Award was granted to Timothy Fawcett, Emeritus, ICDD, USA, honoring his long and meritorious service to the ICDD since the early 1980s, extending through his tenure as Executive Director, and continuing today as a very active member.
Figure 1. Esteemed recipients of the ICDD 2020 and 2021 Awards.
The ICDD Fellow Award, given to individuals who have given their time and talents beyond that normally associated with ICDD membership, was granted to three very noteworthy members of ICDD:
The 2020 Fellow Award was granted to Steve Hillier, The James Hutton Institute, UK, honoring his contributions to ICDD, in particular, his leadership as Regional Co-chair of the UK and Ireland.
The 2021 Fellow Award was granted to Charlene Greenwood, Keele University, UK, honoring her contributions to ICDD, in particular, her leadership as Chair of the Bioceramics Task Group, and most recently, for her appointment as a Director-at-Large, ICDD Board of Directors, serving the term 2020–2024.
The 2021 Fellow Award was also granted to Stanley Whittingham, State University of New York at Binghamton, USA, honoring his pioneering efforts and distinguished contributions to ICDD in areas of crystallography, powder pattern development, and pertinent crystal chemistry research of battery materials.
The ICDD's McMurdie Award, which recognizes distinguished work that improves the PDF's ability to identify and characterize materials, was presented to two prolific members of ICDD for their exceptional contributions to the PDF:
The 2020 McMurdie award was granted to James Kaduk, Poly Crystallography, Inc., USA, for his extensive contributions to the PDF of both organic and inorganic patterns plus his expertise in editing patterns in the PDF.
The 2020 McMurdie award was also granted to Peter Zavalij, University of Maryland, USA, for his extensive contributions to the PDF of ceramic patterns, particularly of battery materials, and ensuring the quality of the Battery Material Subfile.
To view the past, and current, winners of the above-mentioned awards, please visit: https://www.icdd.com/icdd-awards-and-scholarships/.
Spring Meeting week is always enjoyed by all who attend, and the 2021 virtual event was no exception! Mark your calendar with the 2022 Spring Meetings dates, 14–18 March 2022. We hope to be able to see everyone at ICDD Headquarters next year.
