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156

In 1957, the CVT changed its name to the

American Vacuum Society, Inc. The first biennial

equipment exhibit was held in conjunction with

its 1961 Symposium. Since 1965, an equipment

exhibit has been a part of every Symposium.

These exhibits have proven to be of great interest

to the registrants, and of considerable financial

help to the AVS. The 40

th

 anniversary Sympo-

sium, which was held in Orlando in 1993, had

over 1,300 attendees and 900 papers. Both the

50

th

 and 60

th

 anniversary Symposia, held in Balti-

more, Maryland, and Long Beach, California, had

over 2,200 attendees with 1,400 papers.

AVS is a tax exempt not-for-profit organisa-

tion. The founders of AVS were mainly drawn

from industry and industrial participation has

continued to be strong as participation from

government labs and universities grew. With

membership drawn from all three sectors, AVS

provides a forum for interaction between them.

Over the years, the AVS has developed a close

association with the American Institute of Phys-

ics becoming a full member society of AIP in

1976. The AIP has been publishing the “Journal

of Vacuum Science and Technology” for the AVS

since its inception in 1965.

The AVS is governed by an elected Board

of Directors consisting of a President, Presi-

dent-Elect, Past-President, Secretary Clerk,

Treasurer, and six Directors. The President

serves a one year term and Directors two year

terms. Two trustees are also elected each year

for three year terms; the six trustees are respon-

sible for selecting the winners of the various

awards presented by AVS for scientific and

technical achievement at all levels from post-

graduate studies onwards.

In the 1960’s, the AVS Board of Directors formed

Technical Divisions to provide a home and give

support to those new disciplines that have bene-

fited most from improved vacuum technology.

These included a Vacuum Metallurgy Division in

1961 (which changed its name and focus to the

Advanced Surface Engineering Division in 1999),

a Thin Film Division in 1964, a Surface Science

Division in 1968, a Vacuum Technology Division

in 1970, an Electronic Materials and Processes

Division in 1979 and a Fusion Technology Division

in 1980 (which became the Plasma Science and

Technology Division in 1986). There are now ten

Technical Divisions which also include Applied

Surface Science (formed in 1985), Electronic

Materials and Processes, Magnetic Interfaces

and Nanostructures (2000), Nanometer Science

and Technology (1992), and the newest, Bioma-

terials Interfaces Division, which was added in

2003. The Divisions provide technical guidance

to the Society. They play a strong hand in the

content of the annual International Symposia,

and they sponsor or co-sponsor topical sympo-

sia related to their own special fields of expertise.

To foster new areas of technology, the Board estab-

lished Technical Groups, which are intended to be

a stepping-stone to division status or a temporary

organisation for a developing area of technology.

Frederick A. McNally was responsible for the formation of the American Vacuum Society

(AVS). Through his efforts, an organisational meeting was held in New York City on June

18, 1953, to discuss the formation of a permanent organisation that could bring together

both the theoretical and practical knowledge of the many different fields using a vacuum

as a production or research tool. This meeting resulted in the formal organisation of the

“Committee on VacuumTechniques” (CVT) less than a week later, and its formal incorporation

in Massachusetts on October 19, 1953. Since its first symposium the following June in Asbury

Park, New Jersey, the group has convened an annual symposium in every succeeding year.

THE AMERICAN VACUUM SOCIETY (AVS)

Original (1986) by J. M. Lafferty; Updated in 2000 by

W. D. Westwood, and in 2018 by Joe Greene and Ivan Petrov

www.avs.org