PACIFIC POLYMER FEDERATION NEWSLETTER   No. 13

November 24-27, 2003

Editor: Varawut Tangpasutadol            

 

Supawan Tantayanon (Chulalongkom University,Bangkok,Thailand), President, James E. McGrath (Virginia Polytecnic Institute& State University, USA.) Vice President, Vipavee P.Hoven (Chulalongkom University, Bangkok, Thailand), Secretary, Pranee Phinyocheep (Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand), Treasurer

 

Members of the Council: Graeme Moad (Australia), Mitsuo Sawamoto (Japan), Hardy Chan (Singapore), Wayne D.Cook (Australia), Tisato Kajiyama (Japan), Yu-Der Lee (Taiwan), Francoise Winnik (Canada), Sung Chul Kim (Korea), William H. Daly (U.S.A.), Franco Rabagliati (Chile), Chee-Cheong Ho (Malaysia), Fosong Wang (China), Takeshi Ogawa (Mexico) Tim Lodge (U.S.A.), Louis Man Lay Leung (China), Ramiro Guerrero (Mexico), Dang Van Luyen (Vietnam), M. Sugandi-Ratulangi (Indonesia), David Officer (New Zealand)

 

President's Message: Supawan Tantayanon

In the present rapidly changing world, there must need more coorperation and collaboration in sharing knowledge and infor­mation.  Part of the long-term strategy of the Pacific Polymer Federation to foster and develop excellence in polymer science and technology in Pacific Basin is through the biennial Pacific Polymer Conference.  As the past 7 successful conferences, it has been proved the vital role of the Federation on building the Pacific Polymer Com­munity.  They offered timely and highly practical technical information and knowledge on various aspects of polymer science and technology.

 

The 8th Pacific Polymer Conference (PPC-8) is not only being held for the first time in Thailand but also in South East Asia.  This opportunity provides a stimulating environment for individual scientist as well as the young scientists in this region to professionally and socially mingle with hundreds of colleagues from the pacific basin polymer network and the other region of the world.  You will find PPC-8 to be one of the most comprehensive and diverse technical programs in a stimulating and broadening friendly environment through cross-disciplinary mix of vast culture and scientic interest.

 

On behalf of The Pacific Polymer Federation, I wish all of you successes in your fields, prosperities and good health.

 

Supawan Tantayanon, President of PPF

 

Minutes of PPF Council Meeting, Beijing International Convention Center Beijing, China, 17.00 - 19.00, July 8, 2002

 

Attendees: S. Tantayanon, C.C. Ho, D. Officer, F. Wang, F. Rabagliati, G.A. George, H. Chan, K. Horie, M. Sawamoto, S.C. Kim, T. Ogawa, V.P. Hoven, T. Kajiyama

Guests:    A. Abe, C. Y. Kim, R. Quijada, K. Kenshida

 

Welcoming Remarks: S. Tantayanon, the President of PPF welcomed the Cpincil Members and guests at 19:00 on July 8 2002. The council members and guests then introduced themselves in turn. S. Tantayanon as the chairperson outlined the meet ing agenda and made a remark that there were no representatives from Canada, USA, Indonesia and Vietnam at the Meeting.

 

Approval of Minutes: The previous PPF Council Meeting held on December 4, 2001 in Oaxaca, Mexico was seeked for approval.  After minor corrections of two name spelling, J.E.McGrath and W.H. Daly, the minutes was approved by the Council Members.

 

Report on PPC-8 and PPC-9:  V.P. Hoven reported that the organizing committee of PPC-8 has finalized the conference schedule and the venue.  The conference was scheduled to be held on November 24-27, 2003 at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, Bangkok, Thailand. There would be four microsymposia organized concurrently with the main scientific sessions. Details were listed in the second announcement. S. Tantayanon as the Chairperson of PPC-­8 Organizing Committee suggested that each member country should propose the list of invited speakers and submitted to the Organizing Committee by the end of September to be in time for the publication of the third announcement.

Since there were no representatives from USA, no information was updated on the status of PPC-9 organization.

 

Election of PPC-10 host: M. Sawamoto announced that Japan was ready and would behonored to organize PPC-10.  Nara was proposed as an alternatively attractive site to hold the conference, besides the renowned cities as Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka.  Since Nara located in a close vicinity of other large cities such as Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, it would be conveniently accessible via express train and JR.  Nara, one, the oldest capital of Japan was fully decorated by magnificent historical architectures as well as preserved nature.  It was then a perfect location for both scientific and non-scientific activities.  An overview of Nara-Ken new Public Hall as a tentative venue was briefly presented. Two-story and one roof building could accommodate a medium­sized conference with up to 500 people.  A relatively large hall was appropriate for Opening/Closing ceremony and plenary lecture. There were a number of medium-sized rooms suitable for small meeting and poster presentation.  It was also very close to shopping area and hotels.  After deliberation, the meeting unanimously voted Japan as a host for PPC-10 and agreed to hold PPC-10 in Nara in 2007.

 

Representatives from Australia, Taiwan (China), Chile and Korea all expressed their interest to hold PPC-11 in 2009.  After extensive discussion, it was suggested that it is too early to decide on which member country should be the host for these PPC Conferences.  The Coulcil Meeting agreed to postpone the decision on the issue regarding the host of PPC-11 until the next Council Meeting in Bangkok during PPC-8 in November, 2003.

 

Next Council Meeting: The next council meeting was scheduled to be held in November, 2003 in Bangkok during PPC-8.  The Polymer Society of Thailand will be the host of the meeting.

 

Others: S. Tantayanon announced that PPF will co-host the symposium entitled "Macromolecules in the 21st Century" which will be held in Vienna, Austria on October 7-9, 2002.  The symposium is under the auspices of Austrian Trade Association and Society of the Chemical Industry (Austria).

 

The issue related to the revision of PPF constitution on a number of aspects was raised by several council members. A.Abe suggested that the constitution was lastly updated during PPC-5 when he was the president.  M. Sawamoto and S.C. Kim offered to bring an original constitution and an updated constitution from PPC-5, respectively to the next Council Meeting.  There should be also a sub­committee responsible for the revision. The meeting agreed to discuss about this issue in the next Council Meeting in Bangkok.

 

Several Council Members also commented that there was some wrong information and spelling in the list of Council Members. S. Tantayanon suggested that each country member should send the correct information in order to make a revised official list. D. Officer requested PPF to endorse The International Polymer Symposium which would be held in Australia, a week before.

 

PPF CONSTITUTION, up-date

 

1. NAME AND OBJECTIVE

          The name of the organization shall be the Pacific Polymer Federation, hereafter called the FEDERATION; it shall be an organization to advance and benefit polymer science and technology.

1.2     ThcobjectivesoftheFEDERATIONshalibetoencourage and facilitate; (i) Interaction between polymer organizations involving the Pacific;(ii) Exchange of scientific knowledge, participation in national polymer meetings, and visits by polymer scientists of the Pacific.

 

2.MEMBERSHIP OF THE FEDERATION

2.1     ne founding members of the FEDERATION shall be; (i) The Society of Polymer Science, Japan; (ii)Me Division of Polymer Chemistry, Inc., American Chemical Society; (iii)Fhe Polymer Division of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute.

2.2     MembershipoftheFEREDATIONshallbeopentoallsocieties and associations of scientists and engineers, geographically situated in, or near, the Pacific Basin, which have at least part of their activities devoted to polymer science and / or technology.

2.3     Member of organizations shall not be committed by any action in conflict with their charters, constitutions, or bylaws or those of their parent organizations.

2.4     Other societies or associations, meeting the requirements of Sections 2.2, shal I be encouraged to join the FEDERATION.  'ne societies or associations may apply to join the

FEDERATION by sending its application to the Council (defined by Section 3.2). The organization will be admitted by a vote of at least two-thirds of the Council.  The membership will become effective on January 1, following the vote of admission.

2.5     There shall be no regular annual subscription required of member organizations,

2.6     AmemberorganizationmayresignfromtheFEDERATION by submitting its resignation in writing to the President of the FEDERATION at least one year in advance.

 

3.       ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION

3.1     The operating year shall be from January I through December 31.

3.2     Council

i.The FEDERATION shall be administered by a Council. ii.Each of the founding organizations shall have two representatives, the organization responsible for the next Pacific Polymer Conference and the organization responsible for the Conference following that shall have two

representatives respectively, and each of the other member organizations shall have one representative on the Council. iii.The Council shall elect a President, a Vice-President and a SecretaTy-Treasurer for a term of two years.  One reelection shall be permitted.

 

iv.The Council shall appoint all committees and committee members to conduct such matters as may be delegated to them.

3.3     Duties of the Council

       i. The Council shall conduct all the business of the FEDERATION.

       ii. Decisions of the Council must be by a majority vote, with a minimum of one half the total Council members constituting a quorum for the vote.

       iii.No Council decisions requiring a specific course of action by a participating organization            shall be valid without the approval of the members or proxy delegates of that organization.       iv. Expenses of the Council members incurred through participation in Council meetings   may be provided by the treasury of the FEDERATION or the member organization.

3.4     Officers

The officers of the FEDERATION shall be the President, the Vice-President, and the SeCTetary-TreasUTer.

3.5     President

i.ThePresidentshallbeelectedbytheFEDERATIONCouncil as stated in Section 3.2. The President shall be the chair of the Council.

The duties of the President shall be to coordinate the activities of the FEDERATION and to maintain contact with the member organization through their representatives on the Council.  The President shall prepare an annual report on the activities of the FEDERATION.

iii. In the case of President's inability to serve, his duties shall be assumed by the Vice-President until a new President is el ected by th e Co un ci 1.

3.6    Vice-President The Vice-President shall be elected by the' FEDERATION Council from its             members as stated in Section 3.2.iii.  In the absence of the President, the duties of the that         office shall be assumed by the Vice-PTesident.

3.7     Secretary-Treasurer

The Secretary-Treasurer shall be elected by the FEDERATION Council from its members as stated in Section 3.2.iii.

3.8     Committees

All Committees and committee chairs shall be appointed by the Council.  Expenses incurred in performing their duties will be home when possible by the organizations to which the individual members belong.

 

4.       FINANCIAL BUSINESS

ne FEDERATION shall cover its activities through the support by external funds.  Such funds may be used for attendance of representatives at Council meetings, and/or to sponsor FEDERATION activities.  The President shall report the financial status of the FEDERATION at every Council meeting.  The extent of the activities of the FEDERATION shall be determined annually by the Council of the FEDERATION.

 

5.       OPERATION OF THE FEDERATION

5.1     The Council of the FEDERATION shall be operated by regularly scheduled           meetings and bycorrespondence.  A council meeting shall be held at each Pacific           Polymer Conference and at such other times as determined by a majority of Council           members or by the President of the FEDERATION.  A member organization may           appoint properly qualified proxy delegate(s), who will have voting right(s), to attend meetings of the Council.

5.2     The FEDERATION may organize international meetings or conferences on any aspect of polymer science and technology.  The organization of conferences may involve all or some of the member organization of the FEDERATION.

These may be of the following types:

i.Meetings of the international standing and interest Organized by national bodies and sponsored by the FEDERATION.  To achieve FEDERATION sponsorship, a plan of the meeting must be submitted to the President of the FEDERATION for consideration by the Council, which may suggest modifications bt'-tore approval is given.  The financial management of the meeting shall be the responsibility of the organizing national body.  Members of all national bodies affiliated to the FEDERATION who wish to attend a meeting sponsored by the FEDERATION shall be treated as if they were members of the organizing national body,

ii.Meetings of international interest, conceived and promoted by the Council.  Although the initiative of such meetings shall reside with the Council, the organization of such meetings shall be delegated to the Council members of the chosen country of venue.  The financing of the meetings, together with the acceptance of any profit or loss, may be accepted by the participating body or bodies of the hosting country.

Alternatively, the financing may be organized by the Council through external funding. 

iii.The Council shall organize the Pacific Polymer Conference every two years according to Section 5.2,ii.

5.3     'Me policy of the FEDERATION toward publication of the proceedings of any of its meetings shall be determined principally by the publication policy of the organizing national body or bodies.  Prominent recognition of the FEDERATION sponsorship shall accompany all such publications.

5.4     The FEDERATION may produce a bulletin (or other fon-ns of information) for distribution to members and other interested organizations.

5.5     The Council may plan and execute other activities of interest to the FEDERATION.

 

6.    AMENDMENTS OF THE CONSTITUTION

       Any member organizations of the FEDERATTION may propose an amendment to the Constitution of the FEDERATION by submitting it in Writing to the President of the FEDERATION.  Adoption of an amendment to the Constitution shall require an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Council.

 

7.    DISSOLUTION OF THE FEDERATION

The FEDERATION may be dissolved only by a unanimous vote of the Council of the FEDERATION prior to dissolution of the FEDERATION.  All debts of the FEDERATION must be discharged and all its affairs settled.

 

Established:  October 19, 1987 (Tokyo, Japan)

Amended: December 14, 1993 (GOLD Coast, Australia)

Amended: August 6, 1996 (Seoul, Korea)

 

PACIFIC POLYMER CONFERENCE - PPF-8

November 24-27, 2003 in Bangkok, Thailand:

Pre-registration: 30 countries, Expected Attendance 400 plus 390 Thai.