Also recognized during the Sunday afternoon session was Katharine Jensen, the Early Career Adhesion Scientist Award recipient. Jensen is an associate professor of physics at Williams College. Her presentation discussed elastocapillary adhesion in soft gels.

Networking and Mentorship

The society is an inclusive and welcoming organization that encourages, both formally and informally, mentoring of younger scientists. University professors, graduate students, and undergraduate students, as well as professionals in industry and government had many opportunities to network and share ideas. Special events were planned to encourage attendees to mingle and talk, including a Women’s Networking Reception and a Young Researcher Networking event. The annual meeting also offered a poster session and reception that featured 27 poster presentations of the latest innovations.

Nick Shephard, the current president of the Adhesion Society, explained his experience with the society and the annual meeting, “I've been coming for 30 some years. And repeatedly, people say they learned so much, and they establish mentorships immediately and feel very welcomed.”

Diversity and Sustainability

The society also includes scientists from many areas of the world. Among attendees of this year’s conference were scientists from Asia and Europe. It is estimated that over 15% of attendees came from outside the United States. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) was another topic that received a deep dive at the event. In a session devoted to DEI, Kim Felix, outgoing diversity, equity, and inclusion officer for the society, provided a report on the current efforts to expand its DEI initiatives, including work to engage with communities around society meeting locations.

Shephard explained how the organization is focusing on issues of diversity and sustainability, “We've added two chairs that are specifically looking at sustainability and inclusion. We have a very good foundation started there. We are looking at local impact. Wherever we're having the annual meeting, we’re looking to be engaged with that community and making sure ahead of time that they know we're coming. And we might be offering some opportunities for the local community to be engaged and learn about the teaching of science and what we do in the society.”

The Adhesion Society Annual Meeting is an opportunity to see all facets of adhesion science, as it brings together scientist from many disciplines. Joelle Frechette, outgoing president of the society summed it up this way, “Adhesion is really multidisciplinary. This meeting really brings a bunch of different scientists from different disciplines. The only way we can address or solve problems is by working together. This meeting is perfect for that. With industry, government and academia, it's a very intellectually diverse group. And that's really what makes it fun.”

The 2025 Adhesion Society Meeting is scheduled to take place in New Orleans in February 2025. Visit www.adhesionsociety.org for membership information and event updates as they become available.