For three exciting days (July 12-14, 2010) in the “City of Ice Sculpture”, Thin Films Society convened the ThinFilms2010 Conference (the 5th International Conference on Technological Advances of Thin Films & Coatings), in conjunction with the maiden conference of COMPO2010 (the 1st International Conference on Advanced Polymer Matrix Composites). Hosted by the Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), this is the first time that ThinFilms2010 ventured abroad away from its conventional base in Singapore. Under the diligent administration of our gracious hosts, ThinFilms2010 successfully catered to the conference needs of over 700 participants coming from over 35 countries.
The ThinFilms2010 opening ceremony featured opening remarks from the Conference co-chairs (Prof Sam Zhang, TFS President, and Prof He Xiaodong, HIT) followed by the formal celebratory announcement of the first year anniversary of the Thin Films Society, where all regional TFS Vice Presidents were honored for their contributions in advancing the goals of the society. Following congratulatory remarks from the guests of honor (Prof Du Shanyi, Academician and Honorary Director of CCMS, and Prof Yi XiaoSu, Member of Executive Committee of ICCM), the keynote speakers, Profs Joe Greene (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champagne) and Stan Veprek (Technical University Munich, Germany) delivered much-awaited talks on self-organized III-V Superlattices and the secrets behind Superhard Coatings, respectively.
The Conference then launched 11 parallel tracks of oral presentations, one for each of the 12 Symposia under ThinFilms2010. At the same time, 495 posters were featured throughout the conference venue.
On the evening of the first day, all the regional TFS Vice Presidents had their first Vice Presidential Meeting to discuss the global strategy of advancing TFS, both in broadening its reach, as well as deeping its roots. All the TFS VPs then attended a special dinner given by our HIT hosts, where liquour facilitated the sintering of all the regional VPs, who came from many different countries, into a cohesive whole.
On the evening of the second day, ThinFilms2010 hosted a banquet for all participants. Our hospitable HIT hosts prepared an entire two-hour program of performing arts, ranging from Chinese opera to Chinese Wu-Shu, drawing entirely from the student body of HIT. Our hosts intended this to be an evening not to be easily forgotten, and they succeeded. The evening also featured the prominent display of the top 10 Finalists in the ThinFilms2010 Poster Competition, where banquet attendees can vote for the top 3. All Finalists received certificates of award, while the top 3 received additional cash prizes. This year, the top 3 prizes went to entries from Malaysia, China, and South Korea.
Throughout the 3 days, the wonderful and exciting city of Harbin greeted us with fine weather, exotic food, and warm and gracious people. Before the conference began, many attendees can be seen roaming Zhong Yang Jie or climbing Long Ta, or heading out to Tai Yang Dao, and many no doubt will do the same after the conference. With wonderful beer and unique North-Eastern sausages, Harbin is a wonderfully befitting locale for ThinFilms2010 as its first voyage overseas. Photos from the Conference are available at FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Thin-Films-Society/155738001141844)
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