Denver X-ray Conference: 61st Annual Conference on Applications of X-ray Analysis

This year's Denver X-ray Conference will take place August 6–10, at the Denver Marriott Tech Center Hotel in Denver, Colorado. Sticking to its long-standing history, the conference plans to offer attendees "A unique mixture of sessions on training, education, and applications and papers containing details about state-of-the-art techniques and future developments in X-ray analysis." Here is a brief overview of these offerings.

Workshops

Workshops will be held Monday and Tuesday, August 6 and August 7, with morning sessions from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and afternoon sessions from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Topics include "3D Imaging," "Residual Stress," "Nanostructures," "Basic XRF," "X-ray Reflectivity," "Two-Dimensional Detectors," "Energy Dispersive XRF," "Rietveld Analysis," "Phase Identification," "Quantitative Analysis," "Trace/TXRF Analysis," "Cultural Heritage," and "XRF Sample Preparation."

Awards and Plenary Session

This year's plenary session celebrates the life and work of Robert L. Snyder. An educator and researcher, Snyder was Professor Emeritus of Ceramic Science at Alfred University (Alfred, New York), Chairman of Material Science and Engineering at The Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio), and co-chair of the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Georgia Tech (Atlanta, Georgia). He was chairman of the ICDD from 1996 to 2000 and a member of the Denver X-ray Conference Organizing Committee. His research focused on the characterization of advanced materials by X-ray diffraction, especially advanced ceramics and nanomaterials. The plenary session in Snyder's honor will be held Wednesday morning, August 8, and will include remarks from the chairman of the Denver X-ray Conference, W. Tim Elam of the University of Washington (Seattle, Washington) and the session chair Scott Misture, of NYS College of Ceramics at Alfred University.

The presentation of the 2012 Birks award will be given posthumously to John Criss during the same plenary session. The Birks award recognizes outstanding contributions to the field of X-ray spectrometry. The award was named in honor of L.S. (Verne) Birks for his many contributions to the X-ray analysis field.

Following the award presentation, the plenary session continues with oral presentations from: Paolo Scardi and L. Gelisio of the University of Trento, in Trento, Italy, ("Diffraction Analysis and Atomistic Modeling of the Real Structures of Nanocrystalline Materials"); Herbert E. Goebel of LabXA of Munich, Germany ("D-74 Milestones that Gave Momentum to XRPD"); and Janos Kirz of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in Berkeley, California ("F-10 New Dimensions in X-ray Microscopy"). The conference program will continue through noon Friday, August 10, with special sessions on a variety of topics.

Exhibits and Special Events

Exhibits will be held in the Rocky Mountain Event Center, on the ground floor of the hotel. Exhibit hours are 11:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 12:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, and 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. on Thursday. Some 30 companies will be there to demonstrate their instruments and answer questions.

Finally, there will be several special events throughout the week. On Monday evening from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. there will be an XRD poster session with a wine and cheese reception sponsored by PANalytical and ICDD. On Tuesday evening from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. there will be an XRF poster session with a wine and cheese reception sponsored by Chemplex Industries, Inc. On Wednesday evening from 5:45 to 7:00 p.m. there will be a vendor-sponsored reception in the exhibit hall. On Thursday evening from 5:45 to 9:00 p.m. there will be an off-site event called "A Taste of Colorado Tour" where guests can sample some of Colorado's microbrews and spirits.

New to the conference this year are several "green" initiatives including abstracts on USB drives and a small program that will replace the "Book of Abstracts."

Please visit www.dxcicdd.com for more details.