Technology Areas
Our members work in a variety of disciplines within the minerals, metals, and materials fields. TMS serves their technical interests within five broadly categorized technical divisions:
- Extraction & Processing: Covering the sustainable extraction and processing of minerals and metals from mined ores, concentrates, and recycled materials.
- Functional Materials: Covering electronic, photonic, magnetic, and superconducting materials, as well as the materials used in packaging and interconnecting such materials in device structures.
- Light Metals: Covering both traditional (aluminum, magnesium, beryllium, titanium, lithium, and other reactive metals) and emerging light metals (composites, laminates, etc.).
- Materials Processing & Manufacturing: Covering manufacturing from product design to production, integrating process control technology into manufacturing, and basic and applied research into key materials technologies that impact manufacturing processes.
- Structural Materials: Covering the varied aspects associated with the science and engineering of load-bearing materials, including studies into the nature of a material's physical properties based upon its microstructure and operating environment.
Key Activities
- TMS holds two multidisciplinary annual conferences. The largest of these is the TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition, which traditionally attracts more than 4,000 attendees from the around the world. The second is Materials Science & Technology, organized in collaboration with multiple other materials societies. TMS also organizes several specialty meetings each year that bring together professional communities around highly focused research and industrial topics.
- TMS publishes six technical journals, including the monthly member journal, JOM, as well as conference proceedings, textbooks, and other publications.
- TMS offers a growing number of professional development opportunities, in the form of webinars, short courses, tutorials, and workshops.
- TMS convenes respected technical experts and leaders to develop influential technology and/or roadmapping studies and reports, which are then made freely available to the public.
- TMS engages in relevant public and governmental affairs issues, offering its technical expertise as a resource to legislators and advocating for broad-based materials-related research and development.
- TMS builds collaborations within the international professional materials science and engineering community, with joint projects and collaborative ventures being regularly conducted with society partners throughout Asia, Europe, North and South America, Africa, and Australia.
- TMS is a leader in diversity and inclusion initiatives, holding a biennial summit that fosters open dialogue on the topic and sponsoring two major awards that recognize individuals who have overcome or who have helped others overcome adversity to pursue careers in science and engineering.
- TMS is the lead ABET society for materials, metallurgy, and welding programs offered at universities in the United States.
History
TMS’s history dates back to 1871, the year that The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) became one of the first national engineering societies in the United States. In 1957, TMS was established as The Metallurgical Society of AIME, changing its name to The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society in 1989 to reflect a broader technical scope.
Leadership
James J. Robinson is the executive director of TMS. The society is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors made up of TMS members, currently led by 2023 TMS President Brad Boyce.
Contact
The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society
5700 Corporate Drive Suite 750, Pittsburgh, PA 15237
Telephone: 1-724-776-9000 or 1-800-759-4867 (U.S. and Canada)
Fax: 1-724-776-3770
E-mail: MediaRelations@tms.org