|
|
About Us
In 1956 the Wilmington Chapter of the American Society for Metals was
chartered with William E. Lusby as its first chairman. In those
days the chapter was very much the “DuPont” chapter since most of the
membership were employees of the DuPont Company.
In the late 50's a dinner meeting followed by a
technical presentation was the usual meeting format. Meetings
were held in such places as the Powder Mill Restaurant in Greenville,
Sammy Green’s in the Merchandise Mart, and Fabian’s in Claymont.
The chapter began a transition in the 70's when a
diversity of member backgrounds and company affiliations was
evident. The result was a general strengthening of the chapter's
leadership and active members through the early 80's, among them Fred
Schmidt, a future Allen Ray Putnam Award winner, and Alex Wilson, a
FASM award winner. Of course, recognition of other FASM award
winners from the chapter, including Mike Streicher, C. Ernest
Birchenall, Norm Nielsen, and Don Warren, among others, indicates the
technical expertise that has been a long strength of the chapter.
We held MEI courses, as well as weekend symposia, on topics such as
Corrosion, Friction and Wear, and Failure Analysis that were attended
by members up and down the east coast. The result of these
efforts in the 70's and 80's was a five-star rating from national in
1981, our 25th anniversary. That year we celebrated the
anniversary with a dinner dance for the membership at the Mendenhall
Inn that was attended by Allan Ray Putnam and his wife.
1983 marked a major change; the Wilmington Chapter
name was changed to the Brandywine Valley Chapter to more accurately
describe the geographic area represented by our membership and to
reflect the significance of this region to the growth of the steel
industry in the U.S.
Our membership is no longer identified with one or
two large companies. Rather the 21st century reflects the
national trend toward diversity of membership. Our current
members represent 50 organizations locally and nationally.
The stated purpose of the Brandywine Valley chapter
is the promotion and dissemination of materials oriented technical
information, to its members and to the public. To this end the
chapter continues to conduct a series of technical meetings each year
which are open to the public.
Despite its ups and downs, the Chapter has achieved
a five-star rating in the last several years and in 2007 we celebrated
our 50th Anniversary with a special meeting attended by several founder members and ex-Chairmen. Our continued vitality is a testament to the dedication and hard work of your officers
and executive committee.
Membership in the Brandywine Valley Chapter ASM
International is open to any person, over the age of 18 whose interests
lie in the field of materials technology. Persons interested in
membership should contact any chapter member or the membership
chairman:
Arthur H.
Graham
610-388-6778
E-mail
xxahgraham51@snip.net
|
