50 Years of the AVS (1953-2003) Era 5: 2003 and Beyond

Although there have been many changes over the fifty years of the society’s activities, there have been few changes in the governance, which is a measure both of how well the founders planned and how those who followed respected the original tenets. Perhaps the most influential factor has been the continued reliance on volunteers to carry out the many tasks involved in a society. Of course, with increasing membership and range of activities over the years, there has been a greater reliance on the AVS staff for administration, but the direction of AVS has continued to be determined by the volunteers who serve at the Chapter, Division, Technical Group and National level, whether on the Board or in committees.

The President, Dawn Bonnell, provided an excellent summary of the 50 years of AVS in the Winter, 2003 issue of the Newsletter.

“My personal perspective is that we engage in the fundamental science, engineering, and technology development that underpin functional devices—first vacuum tube electronics, then microelectronics and solid state devices, now sensors, spin based devices, bio electronics and sensors, and so on. And now, as during all of our existence, we explore the physics of measurement tools as well as the devices themselves. Our founders were prescient in linking science and engineering that led to the innovations of high technology. Our history has demonstrated our eagerness to take on new challenges as both science and technology evolve. In fact, we show not merely a willingness to address new ideas and topics but the tendency to identify, define, and innovate; take the leadership position in exactly the “right” areas—“right” defined as those critical to high tech that drives society. Our heritage has positioned us to continue to be uniquely able to lead in these areas.”

From its foundation, the Society’s official business address was Massachusetts, where both CVT and AVS charters were issued and the official address had to be there. For many years this had been Mars Hablanian’s address but in 2003, it was changed to that of the President-Elect, Bob Childs. Also in 2003, AVS filed a “doing business” application in New York State.

Membership

At the time of the 50^th Symposium, there were still five people who had been members continuously since the beginning of the Society, but Dick Denton died in December. Forty of the over seventeen hundred members in 1963 were still members in 2003.

The total membership continued a slow decline in 2003 but the significant increase in student membership hides a more rapid decrease in the number of member who are employed. At the end of 2002; the total of 5,223 members included 568 students but the latter increased to 656 in 2003 while the total decreased to 5105, and 1283 of the 2002 members did not renew. International membership was 26% with Europe and the Pacific Rim continuing to dominate. However, the 2003 membership total was only 5104.

Declining membership is not an indicator of reduced activity in the range of topics covered by the AVS but of the changes in industrial organization and the workplace. There has always been a significant turnover of the membership, with new members replacing others who had probably moved out of the field. In recent years, more people have been leaving the field due to the economic situation. There is, however, a general trend for individuals not to identify so much with one society throughout their career, even as their interests change, but to become members only when their current technical interests align with those of a society. AVS has, over the years, a number of people who retained their membership even when their current career did not involve AVS topics. The sterling example is Rudy Koehler, who was a Founder Member and is a Fifty Year Member, even though he has not been involved in “vacuum” for over forty years!

The increase in student members has been encouraged by AVS to promote more involvement of younger scientists in society activities. The formation of Student Chapters during the past year has the same objective. Hopefully, some of these young members will see their careers develop in step with the society’s topics and retain their involvement, and membership, in the AVS.

It is perhaps inevitable that, with the somewhat transient nature of a fraction of the membership, the interest of the membership in the governance of AVS has declined over the years, at least as indicated by the return rate of the annual ballot; while about 40% of the members voted in the annual elections in Era Two, this has declined to about 15%. With a large membership, it is inevitable that fewer members have direct contact with the nominees and thus have less incentive to vote. The introduction of electronic voting may help to reverse the decline, by making it easier to cast a vote, especially for members outside the USA.

Membership management was transferred from SLACK to Convention Data Services (CDS) effective January 1, 2003. The growing use of the internet extended to membership renewal with the web-based renewal system being implemented in September, 2002, and advertised by e-mails through February 2003. Anyone who did not renew by February 15, 2003, was placed on suspension; the grace period was extended an extra two weeks beyond the normal January 31 deadline to allow for any problems associated with changing membership management systems. The new Automated Membership Management System (AMMS) was operational in early 2003. The SLACK database was transferred on December 27, 2002, and there were no major issues. The administration site was operational on January 2, 2003, on schedule and there was no impact to member service delivery. The “MyAVS,” site went live on February 21, 2003, only three weeks behind schedule. MyAVS is the first members-only web area for AVS. The site is password protected (user-selectable passwords), and offers a membership directory search, allows edits to personal profiles (address, journal delivery methods, etc.), and carries out financial transactions in real-time (e.g., renewals and adding journals).

Implementation of the Corporate (Sustaining) Membership Program has been a joint venture between the Membership and Exhibitors and Manufacturers Committees and the staff. An annual Corporate Membership costs $500; the benefits include recognition in AVS literature, a plaque, a link to the corporation’s website from the AVS website, free use of the career services center, free literature display at AVS-related meetings, voting benefits equal to one member, single subscriptions to Physics Today and the AVS Newsletter, and short course discounts for one person. To date, the Corporate Members are A&N Corporation, Advanced Energies, Inc. Altair Technologies, Kratos Analytical, Omicron Nanotechnology USA, Process Materials, Inc., Quesant Instrument Corporation, VAT, Inc., Jobin Yvon, Inc., IGC Polycold Systems, and Vacutron Technologies.

Finance

The approximate value of the Society’s assets over the years show a large increase during the 1990s and the sharp decrease in the past few years, which approximately follow the stock market trend. The value of the Society’s investment portfolio follows a similar trend with the increase during 2003 due to the recovery of the stock market. However, even with the sharp decline of the market since 2001, the investments have shown a much higher return than if the funds had been invested in bonds; the original goal set for the Investment Advisory Committee, a return which was 2% higher than Treasury Bonds, is the calculated value in the figure and has been exceeded.

However, there has been a significant decrease in the revenue from other sources, such as the short courses and the Symposium, due to the poor economic situation of the semiconductor industry. This industry has been a prime target of the AVS activities over the years; the Thin Film, Electronic Materials and Processing and the Plasma Science and Technology Divisions and the Manufacturing Science and Technology Technical Group have all been very strongly involved in this area, and the topics of the Magnetic Interfaces and Nanostructures Division have been strongly associated.

While the semiconductor industry is showing signs of recovery, it may not in future provide revenue for the Society to the same extent. The number of R&D personnel now involved in the development of semiconductor manufacturing processes has significantly decreased with equipment suppliers now providing this function for a number of manufacturers.

However, AVS is trying to establish an important position in the new technologies in which R&D activity is being pursued by a number of laboratories and companies. For example, the Nanoscale Science and Technology and the Biomaterials Divisions are involved in the development of technologies which will be the basis for new industries.

Administration

Given the growing use of the Internet, another attempt was made, by the Web Committee chaired by Paula Grunthaner, to re-design the web site to make it easier to find appropriate information. This is probably a task which has to be undertaken every few years as AVS and its members find additional uses for the Internet, and to remove elements that have proved to be less useful. For example, there is some concern that the electronic Newsletter is not read to the same extent as was the printed version.

However, the Internet has made it possible to carry out much of the business of the Society more rapidly and with reduced costs. The December Board meeting had to be cancelled because travel to New York was interrupted by snow. Nevertheless, most of the meeting agenda, including the budget discussion, was still carried out using electronic means, although still including the telephone! It seems reasonable that, in future, meetings will be held by video conferencing without Board members leaving home.

Partially due to the ease of communication, however, it seems likely that the AVS staff will be called upon to do more for more people. Already many of the Chapters have asked the office to carry out much of their administration, including financial affairs. The advantage is that it relieves volunteers from doing jobs in which they lack the expertise which resides in the staff, so that the volunteers can make the most of their increasingly restricted “free” time for the technical aspects of chapter activities, such as selecting topics for a symposium.

In June, 2003, Nancy Hammond, who had served AVS for 19 years as Executive Secretary, and was an Honorary Member, died in New York. She was remembered during the Awards Ceremony at the 50^th Symposium.

The New York office staff got another “work-out” on August 14, when the power failed in New York and large areas of the North-East US and Ontario; they again had to walk down the stairs from the 32^nd floor and find their way home without the trains running. Yvonne Towse had another trying trip home from the office in October due to the crash of the Staten Island ferry which prevented the operation of the service for the rest of the day. In September, the JVST office re-located within Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, to 100 Park Drive.

Awards

At the Awards Ceremony in Baltimore, in addition to the usual awards given for technical accomplishments, there was a special recognition of the 50^th anniversary of the Society. There was also another “first” with the whole ceremony run by women; the President, Dawn Bonnell, the Chair of the Scholarships & Awards Committee, Donna Bakale-Sherwin, and Angela Klink from the New York office. Angela had been responsible for all the details associated with the awards for many years, ensuring that the Committee both received and provided all the information required to make its selections. In recognition, she was presented with an award of her own!

Another indication of the “internationalization” of the Society, the Medard W Welch Award was presented to Matthias Scheffler from Germany, the Albert Nerken Award to Peter Barna from Hungary, and two of the newly elected Fellows came from Italy and Japan. The John A. Thornton, Peter Mark and George T. Hanyo Awards were presented to, respectively, Bill Sproul, Charles Ahn and Ernest Sammann.

The five founding, and continuing, members of the Society became the first Fifty Year Members and five others joined the Forty Year Members group. Unfortunately, only two of the founding members, Collin Alexander and Rudy Koehler, were able to attend the Ceremony; Rudy Koehler was also the second President. At the Awards Reception, following the Ceremony, Collin and Rudy cut the birthday cake for the first decade of the Society. Another four cakes, one for each decade, were cut by Presidents who served during that decade. A group photo of all these Presidents was taken after the Awards Ceremony. In an appropriate touch, the helium-filled balloons, with AVS logo, were anchored to the tables by vacuum flanges provided by one of the exhibitors.

Two new Honorary Members were announced at the ceremony; Fred Dylla and Gary McGuire, who had both served as President and in many other positions in the Society.

The first Dorothy M. and Earl S. Hoffman Award and Dorothy M. and Earl S. Hoffman Scholarships was also presented. In addition to the Nellie Yeoh Whetten Award, the Russell and Sigurd Varian Fellowship and the Graduate Research Awards. The previous limitation of the Varian Fellowship, that it be awarded only to a student who had at least one year of study before graduation, was removed and the name was therefore changed, for 2004, to the Russell and Sigurd Varian Award.

Three undergraduate student research project awards were given in 2003 and were supported by a grant from Thin Film Technology in Mankato, MN. Each award consists of up to $1000 for equipment and supplies used by the student to successfully complete an undergraduate research project related to subjects of interest to the AVS. A student submits proposal with a letter of support from a faculty mentor at the university; both the student and the mentor must be AVS members.

Symposia

In 1953, a major reason for the formation of the society was the organization of a symposium for the exchange of information between manufacturers and users of vacuum equipment. The Symposium continues to be such a forum but now for a much larger range of topics.

The 50^th International Symposium and Exhibition was held at the Baltimore Convention Center in November, 2003. It will long be remembered by the attendees, not only for the program activities, but for the outstanding weather; it was almost 80F for most of the week! However, a plenary speaker had to cancel because of the widespread fires threatening Southern California. The anniversary theme was evident in the advertising poster, in the program book and the registration badges. A 50^th anniversary “gold” lapel pin was also distributed.

Special sessions were held throughout the week to highlight the anniversary, starting on Monday with “Fifty Years of Vacuum Science and Technology”. The whole program contained 1435 papers, 216 of which were invited and 364 were given in two poster sessions held in the Exhibition area. One of these was held during the 3-hour break in oral sessions on Wednesday. There were as many as seventeen parallel sessions on topics ranging from vacuum equipment to “Homeland Security”. The symposium had come a long way from the first one in Asbury Park, where there was a total of thirty-five papers. The visual aids for essentially all the oral papers were PowerPoint presentations on lap top computers driving projectors. The member registration fee was $490, compared to $15 in 1954; it had gone up by a smaller factor than the number of papers, 33 compared to 41, but of course inflation had a major effect on the registration fee. The attendance had increased by a much smaller factor, from 307 to 1574.

One major difference over the fifty years is the ratio of attendees at the symposium to papers presented; in 1954, the ratio was about 9 but is now less than 1. Of course, the attendees in 1954 were almost all from industry, whereas they are increasingly from academic and government laboratories, and about 20% of them are students.

In addition to the program which comprised contributions on topics covered by all the Divisions and Technical Groups, there were five topical conferences; two of these, on “Sputtering” and “Quantitative Surface Analysis”, dealt with topics of long-standing interest in AVS, one on “High-k Dielectrics and Devices” dealt with a new development in semiconductor processing, also of long-standing interest to AVS, while the other two, on “Contacts to Organic Materials” and “Homeland Security”, expanded the scope of the Society. Together, these five topical conferences provide a good example of the evolution of the society over fifty years; the melding of new areas of research and development into existing interests with the common basis in vacuum equipment and processes.

The equipment show was now officially named the Exhibition. There were 168 companies occupying 204 booths, similar to 165 companies and 211 booths the previous year. Due to the business climate, some companies chose not to attend; they were concentrating on shows which had closer links to manufacturing. It appears that the increasing research flavor of the Symposium is reducing the impact for the vendors. Thirty-five of the companies identified themselves as suppliers to the nanoscale community and their booths were clustered in a “pavilion.” However, only three of the many companies which deal with the biomaterials sector showed interest in a “bio pavilion”. Exhibitor Workshops were offered as part of the Exhibition; they included presentations and demonstrations of the latest technology developments by more than twelve companies.

The largest number of booths at any exhibit was 365 in 1989 but there were only 162 companies occupying them; this year, there were actually a few more companies but they occupied only slightly more than half the number of booths. There are now many fewer demonstrations of large pieces of equipment than was the case in Era 3, when many companies actually operated Auger and SIMS instruments during the exhibit and encouraged attendees to bring along their samples. Large deposition systems and a whole range of vacuum components were also on display then. Now, computer displays of such equipment is more usual and the trend seems likely to continue as display capabilities improve even more and the cost of shipping equipment increases. Holographic displays or direct links to operational sites may become standard.

Publications

Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology

The Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology continues to publish high quality papers at about the same rate as in Era 4 and maintains a solid reputation in the scientific community. The publication process is now totally electronic and most members access the papers either on CD or via the Internet, with the number of printed copies decreasing. This has had a significant impact on the cost of delivering the journal content. Although the trend seems likely to continue, print copies will remain key for archiving purposes. It seems unlikely that people would be comfortable relying on electronic versions only, and there are certain occasions where a printed version seems very appropriate.

One such case is the special Supplement issue of JVST A, “50 Years of Science, Technology, and the AVS (1953-2003)”, which was published during 2003. It contained a number of papers on the technical developments in the various topical areas of AVS during the existence of the Society. The topics were “Vacuum Science and Technology”, edited by Paul Redhead and Fred Dylla; Surface Science, edited by Charlie Duke; Thin Films, edited by Joe Greene, Plasma Science and Technology, edited by Joe and Linda Cecchi; Electronic Materials and Processing, edited by Len Brillson; Nanometer Science and Technology, edited by Jim Murday; and Surface Engineering, edited by Bill Sproul. Copies were mailed to all the members and were given to attendees at the 50^th Symposium.

E-First publication was initiated for the 2003 issues of the journal. It permits web posting and electronic viewing of individual articles (regular submissions and Letters) when their final citations are ready. The articles can appear on-line more than two months prior to the printing of the journal. Other articles (e.g., conference proceedings, reviews, shop notes, and brief reports) appear when the issue is ready to close, or about 1-2 weeks prior to printing. The January/February issue of JVST A was posted in mid-November, 2002, and printed in late January. The March/April 2003 was posted in mid-January, and closed in late February. The January/February issue of JVST B 21 was posted in mid-December, and printed in mid-February.

The recent failure of RoweCom, Inc may result in a loss of as much as $108,205 in 2003 revenue. The company had already collected this amount in advance for library subscriptions for the 2003 issues of JVST and passed it on to its parent company, Divine Inc., in the form of a loan repayment. However, the subscriptio0n fees collected were not forwarded to the AIP, the publisher of JVST. Many other journals were also affected and the potential impact to AIP in lost revenue is $2,800,000. Other publishers were also involved and AIP participated, with Elsevier and IEEE, in a legal action. The courts ruled that all publishers will be considered creditors. At this time, the best guess is that we will regain 30 cents on the dollar.

Surface Science Spectra

In 2002, Surface Science Spectra, like JVST, became an "e-first publication" in which articles are placed on the web as soon as they are ready. Instead of the four issues per year as in the past, only one paper copy of the entire volume is printed and mailed; this began with Volume 9. The completed volume will have about the same number of pages as previous volumes. By the time of the 50^thSymposium, Volume 9 was about 90% complete and was completed by the end of 2003, reducing the delay in the publication schedule to about nine months.

Newsletter

The Newsletter went electronic at the beginning of 2003; members are informed by e-mail when a new issue is posted on the web site. However, a print version is still available on request, although the number of print copies is expected to decline in future. The change to electronic format has not affected either the content or the appearance of the Newsletter but it is not yet clear whether it is being read by the same number of members as was the printed version.

Education

During 2003, the Education Committee decided that some of its activities for promoting AVS, through the sale of shirts and mementos, should be transferred to the Publicity Committee while the Committee concentrates on educational activities, such as the Science Educators’ Workshop and the production of educational material in different forms; books, monographs, videos, and computer presentations.

Education activities were important at the beginning of the Society and have played a very important role in AVS since then. The course program is the most obvious product of this educational commitment, but there have been many others, as chronicled in this history. The Science Educators Workshop, which was again held at the 50^th Symposium, has now involved over 200 high school teachers directly and has been propagated by them to thousands of teachers throughout the country. In addition, Chapters have organized other workshops and school programs. The full impact of such programs will not be reflected in the community for some years, but it must surely be very positive.

Courses

As described earlier, the Course Program which was initiated by the Education Committee and carried on by the special Short Course Executive Committee, has provided training in many topics to over thirty thousand people since 1968, without including those who attended courses organized by the Chapters without involving the national committees.

The usual course offerings, with the personal interaction between instructors and students in the same room, were given during 2003. However, attendance was again quite low as the recession in the semiconductor industry continued.

With the possibility of increased use of remote course instruction, AVS reached an agreement with SemiZone, a company specializing in web-based courses, to video some of the AVS courses. Six courses were selected for the initial trial; “Vacuum Leak Detection” by M. Benapfl, “Chemical Mechanical Planarization/Copper Interconnect Technology” by J. Givens, “MEMS” by S. Pang, “Atomic Force and Scanning Tunneling Microscopy” by P. Russell, “Focused Ion Beams” by F. Stevie and J. Orloff and “Full Wafer Particle and Defect Detection” by C.R. Brundle. Prior to the agreement, Abe Ghanbari had recorded for SemiZone a course similar to one he had presented in AVS course programs.

It is somewhat surprising that the video recording procedure is almost the same as was used in the video taping of AVS courses at LLNL twenty years earlier! The instructor sits and talks to the camera while pointing to the visual aids; the only difference is that the laptop computer screen has replaced a piece of paper. Only time will tell whether these remote course instructions will be more popular than they were in the 1980s. The importance of personal interaction between student and instructor and between students in the classroom setting cannot be overlooked.

On completion of a SemiZone course, a certificate is issued jointly by SemiZone and Stanford Center for Professional Development, upon request, and Continuing Education Units (CEUs) can be issued for a processing fee. This has again raised the issue of “certification” for people who have completed AVS courses. The Vacuum Society of Japan does offer such certification for “vacuum technicians” after a summer school program.

Standards and Recommended Practices

The formulation of standards for vacuum equipment was one of the main interests of those who founded the Society. Ben Dayton, who played a large role in these activities is one of the remaining Fifty Year Members. The AVS played a large role in establishing “standards” in these early days and then revived such efforts to generate “recommended practices” during Era Three, The Society is currently in one of those periods of relatively low activity which have occurred over the years.

While the Committee works away at developing procedures to deal with new vacuum equipment, there is not the same demand, at least yet, for defined procedures in activities of the other Divisions and Groups. It might be useful for other topical areas to examine whether development of such practices could help those working in the field. However, the requirement for developing standards and recommended practices comes from industrial interests, not scientific research.

Divisions

The activities of the Divisions during 2003 have not differed much from earlier years. The main emphasis is almost always on developing an excellent program for the Symposium. Of course, the program for 50^th Symposium did require some changes in topic, or emphasis, with special sessions on the historical aspects of the technology. Representatives of the Divisions also contributed to the Supplemental issue of JVST.

The number of Divisions has continued to increase over the years as new topics found a home in the Society. So far, none of the Divisions has been dissolved due to inactivity.

Technical Groups

The Technology and Sustainability Technical Group (TSTG) was approved by the Board in May, 2003 with R. Bersin as the Chair. The Group’s goal is to help focus attention on the scientific and technological areas required to address environmental and sustainability problems. Sessions on these topics had been held at the Symposium since 2000.

Chapters

Chapters were established as a means of organizing scientific activities in a specific area of the country. While some Chapters are still very active in doing this, the need in other areas seems to have waned and Chapter activity has also declined and, in some cases, disappeared. The most dramatic case was the demise of the Greater New York Chapter, which was partly due to changes in the large industrial laboratories in the area. However, there are several other factors which may be having an effect.

Internet access has provided communication between people with common interests which is independent of geography or time. Members in commercial operations have less time for involvement in activities outside work; whereas companies used to actively encourage involvement, it is now usually frowned on. Members at universities already have access to seminars on a regular basis within their institution. However, Student Chapters may provide a new focus on campus for activities in topical areas relevant to AVS.

This was the first year for the operation of the newly authorized Student Chapters. Both a manual and a quick reference booklet were produced to assist students in the formation and operation of a chapter. The University of Florida Chapter was the first Student Chapter, having been approved in December, 2002; its initial activities included a talk by Larry Kazmerski on January 28 and a field trip to the A&N Corporation in Williston, Florida. By mid-2003, it had about 40 members. The Northwestern University Chapter was approved in May, 2003 and the University of Central Florida in July, 2003.

Interactions

Government Interactions

Increasing emphasis is being placed on activities intended to influence the US government in its allocation of research funds. These include membership in various groups (FMS. ASTRA) and participation in Congressional visits. This may not be surprising given the increasing fraction of the membership from academia. However, it is rather at odds with the emphasis on becoming a more international society; it hardly matters to members in Europe how the US research budget is administered.

Interactions with Societies

The main interaction continues to be with the AIP, but this is mainly through the publication of the journals, the Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology and Surface Science Spectra.

AVS is still somewhat different from the other members of AIP because of its strong industrial involvement, but the differences are becoming less as the AVS membership is drawn more and more from universities and non-industrial organizations. In many ways, the Society for Vacuum Coaters has followed the AVS in its earlier days by catering to, and encouraging, membership by the industries involved in vacuum coating.

International Interactions

Although AVS continues an involvement with IUVSTA, the Society’s recent budget issues may result in decreased participation in the IUVSTA activities. AVS has hosted the International Vacuum Congress every fifteen years or so; the next occasion in this cycle would be in 2016, and a bid to act as host would not be due till 2010.

History

For the 50^th anniversary, the History Committee arranged for a special supplemental issue of JVST with invited papers on the development of science and technology over the period of the society’s existence. After an introduction by the issue editors, Paul Redhead and Fred Dylla, there were groups of papers on topics reflecting the main Divisions, with an editor for each one. Paul and Fred were also the editors for Vacuum Science and Technology; the others were Charlie Duke for Surface Science, Joe Greene for Thin Films, Joe and Linda Cecchi for Plasma Science and Technology, Len Brillson for Electronic Materials and processes, Jim Murday for Nanometer Science and Technology, and Bill Sproul for Surface Engineering, The cover of the supplement featured the photograph of the past Presidents and major Award winners on a gold background. All those attending the 50^th Symposium received a copy.

The same design and photograph had been used on the poster which advertised the 50^th Symposium during the year. The 50^th anniversary logo was used throughout the year, including the registration badges for the Symposium. The gold coloring was also used in various publications, including the Symposium program book and the Awards brochure.

A display of images of the Society throughout the 50 years was on show; these consisted of five large panels, each one covering ten years of the Society’s history. See - http://www.avs.org/information/timeline. The photos and images were selected by Jack Singleton and the eye-catching presentation was due to Della Miller. Jack made the interesting observation that there were few, or no, photos of many individuals who were important in the history of the AVS; Fred McNally, who was the initial motivator for the formation, appeared only in one group photo and was not prominent in that!

Excerpts from the video interviews which had been video-taped by Jim Lafferty over the past decade were shown during the Symposium. The excerpts were selected from the many hours of interviews with people who had been active in the founding of the Society and in its administration, people involved in the development of vacuum and associated technologies, and winners of AVS Awards. These were then transferred to a set of three DVDs by Greg Adams at Jefferson Labs; in the process, he was able to reduce some of the background noise. The DVDs provide many insights into the early days of both the Society and the science and technology. Some of the former appear in this history of the Society but the latter are also very interesting history; for example, Alfred Niehr discusses how the mass spectrometer was developed into a manufacturing tool for the Manhattan project. The set of DVDs can be purchased from the AVS.

During the Awards Ceremony, Fred Dylla, Paul Redhead and Bill Westwood were presented with plaques in appreciation of their efforts in “preserving a permanent legacy of the first 50 years of AVS”. Of course, many others had also made major contributions to this, especially Jack Singleton and Jim Lafferty.

However, the History Committee must always be looking ahead. Otherwise, who will produce the history on the 100^th Anniversary in 2053? It recently purchased a reproduction copy of a 1709 book "Physico-Mechanical Experiments On Various Subjects, Containing An Account of Several Surprising Phenomena Touching Light and Electricity, Producible on the Attrition of Bodies." by Francis Hauksbee which contains excellent descriptions of pumps, a bell jar system and experiments. While searching for "vacuum bibliographies", Bruce Kendall encountered a bizarre listing of the AVS collection which had been through an automatic translation process, during which all foreign words were anglicized. Thus, Kahlbaum's book on Vapor Pressures became Baretree's book on Rising Mists! Who knows, perhaps future versions of the AVS history will be generated by computer!