TMS Attendees Volunteer With "Hands On New Orleans"
(March 5, 2008, NEW ORLEANS, LA, USA) - More than 55 people attending the TMS 2008 Annual Meeting & Exhibition in New Orleans will spend Saturday, March 8, working to restore the Mary D. Coghill Elementary School area in the 9th Ward damaged by Hurricane Katrina. The group will work from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., creating recreational areas for the students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
The students are being taught in trailers behind the damaged school building, and there is no immediate plan to rebuild the school. The volunteers will be turning the drab grounds into a more inviting space for the students, installing playground equipment and picnic tables, and painting ground murals including sidewalk games.
The volunteers come from as close as Alabama and as far away as New Zealand, and range from college students and professors to executives and board of directors. "Our profession has a role in solving many of the pressing problems that society faces - things like sustainable energy, global warming and improved materials utilization," says TMS President Bob Shull. "As we considered that our Society's annual meeting would be held in New Orleans, we realized that there was an opportunity for TMS and its members to make a direct and personal contribution."
TMS coordinated this project with the assistance of the nonprofit organization Hands On New Orleans. TMS has held its annual meeting in New Orleans previously, most recently in 2004.
The TMS 2008 Annual Meeting & Exhibition is being held at the Ernest Morial Convention Center from March 9-13. More than 3,000 materials science and engineering professionals from 70 countries are expected to attend.
TMS is the professional organization encompassing the entire range of materials science and engineering, from minerals processing and primary metals production to basic research and the advanced applications of materials. Included among its professional and student members are metallurgical and materials engineers, scientists, researchers, educators and administrators from six continents. For more information, visit www.tms.org/annualmeeting.html; to schedule an interview or obtain a press pass, contact Nancy Commella, communications manager, at (724) 776-9000, ext. 218; e-mail ncommella@tms.org.
Maintained by webmaster@wpi.eduLast modified: April 11, 2008 08:51:18