Ames Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, Ames, Iowa
Ames Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, Ames, Iowa
David Jiles Leads Formation of New Topical Group in the American Physical Society
Ames, Iowa -- After more than two years of negotiations, David Jiles, senior physicist at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Ames Laboratory, has succeeded in getting approval from the American Physical Society (APS) for the formation of a new topical group on Magnetism and its Applications. The group will better represent and coordinate the interests of the magnetism community within the APS.
Jiles' efforts to get approval for Magnetism and its Applications represent a significant achievement since there have been no topical groups added to the APS since 1987. Coordinating a large mail campaign, he was able to obtain signatures from over 300 of his colleagues in support of the proposed group. In addition, he successfully presented the rationale behind the request for the new topical group to the APS council at its May meeting, where Magnetism and its Applications was voted in 32-10.
"This approval underlines a growing commitment within the APS to support more applied activities and will enable the group to sponsor meetings and also coordinate activities of the APS in magnetism and its applications with other societies, such as IEEE and the Magnetics Society," explains Jiles.
Noting that there are a lot of jobs available in applied magnetism and that the magnetics industry has a market value of about $120 billion per year worldwide, Jiles says, "This is a huge industry, which is in need of commensurate levels of research and development to support it."
He adds that magnetism is a truly multidisciplinary subject and ideal for developing research collaborations with industry that will still allow fundamental research to be carried out in conjunction with the applied work. "It seems that magnetism is tailor-made for the present climate in which universities must strive for industrial links and yet still pursue academic work," Jiles says.
Last revision: 4/17/98 mab
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