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2016 Symposia Report

Over 200 materials educators from around the world gathered in Cambridge and Berkeley for stimulating discussions at this spring's Materials Education Symposia. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with almost everybody saying they would recommend the Symposia to their colleagues.

Comments included: "There is no other opportunity like this to meet materials educators" and "This is my first time at the Symposium and I can guarantee I will be here next time". The collegiate, supportive atmosphere was particularly valued by attendees.

Symposia 2016

Overview by Prof Mike Ashby

Chair of the Symposia’s Academic Advisory Committee

Mike AshbyThe 8th International Symposium was terrific! It came just three weeks after the 7th North American Materials Education Symposium (NAMES), hosted by the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at UC Berkeley, which was an exceptionally stimulating forum for sharing recent ideas and experiences. The International Symposium too was the biggest and, to my mind, the most diverse and far-reaching thus far.

This year’s events were well-attended and lively, and the reports provided here aim to give you a flavor of the presentations and discussions.

Download the report from UC Berkeley »

Download the report from Cambridge »

I am personally grateful to all those who joined me on the Academic Advisory Committee, helping to put together the strong program from the many excellent submissions. I would also like to thank the following for their help and continuing support: ASM International; American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), Materials Division; International Federation of Engineering Education Societies (IFEES); The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS); the University of Cambridge; and The University Materials Council (UMC).

I would like to end with my sincere thanks to Matthew Sherburne, Mark Asta, Peter Hosemann and the Materials Department at Berkeley who were gracious hosts and did so much to make this excellent Symposium run so smoothly. Finally, my sincere thanks to the Granta team that made this excellent International Symposium run so smoothly.


Presentations will be posted on the Symposium Archive soon. These will be accessible to all participants, who will be notified of their availability. See also:

See you all next year!

Following the success of this year's events, the Academic Advisory Committee will meet soon to decide on next year’s Symposium themes. They encourage those interested in sharing their materials education experiences to keep an eye on the Symposium website and consider submitting an abstract for a talk or poster... or both!