The XIII SBPMat Meeting was the context chosen for the launch of a publication on the current overview of materials research in Brazil, prepared by the IOP (Institute of Physics) Publishing for SBPMat. The report was distributed to all participants who picked up their material at the meeting – over 1,600. Furthermore, the IOP stand at the exhibitors´ area distributed the document throughout the event. Also, SBPMat is working on sending the publication to university libraries, funding agencies and other entities in Brazil and overseas. The digital version of the document is available on the web.
UK physicists Susan Curtis and Michael Blanks, who work as reporters and editors in IOP magazines, visited about 20 Brazilian institutions to prepare the report. The duo interviewed more than 50 scientists, including researchers working in the field of materials, leaders of the Brazilian scientific policy and coordinators from laboratories, research centers, projects and institutes. A highlight was given to interviews with two important foreign scientists in the field, who spoke about the Brazilian overview and other topics: the 2013 presidents of the Materials Research Societies in Europe (E-MRS) and the United States (MRS), Portuguese Rodrigo Martins and Argentinian-born Orlando Auciello, respectively.
The result was a magazine format document, titled “Science impact. A special report on materials science in Brazil”, composed by 14 reports and interviews, along with the introduction signed by the SBPMat president, Professor Roberto Mendonça Faria.
Brazil shows that materials matter
The report shows a very positive evolution in materials research carried out in Brazil since the beginning of this century, resulting from increasing public investments and strategies from federal and state entities to support postgraduate education, research and innovation, among other reasons.
In its 42 pages, the report discusses recent results of research conducted in Brazil on topics such as carbon nanomaterials, materials with applications in health, research aimed at improving the performance of materials used in various industries, materials for more efficient and cheaper optoelectronic and photonic devices and systems, natural materials optimized by research, and materials to produce and store solar energy.
In addition, Curtis and Blank mapped the open laboratories in Brazil in the field of materials, which share their equipment to users in academia and industry from the country and abroad. They also reported, throughout the document, numerous cases of transfer of knowledge and technology from the university to the industry through the creation of spinoff companies and through projects with large companies such as Camargo Correa, Embraco, Petrobras and Vale. Interesting pieces of information on the history of Materials Science in Brazil complement the publication.
About the duo of physicist-journalists
Michael Blanks is news editor at IOP´s Physics World magazine. During his graduation in physics at Loughborough University he spent a year at Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart (Germany). He began working at IOP in 2007, after finishing his PhD in experimental condensed matter physics.
Susan Curtis has nearly two decades of experience in publishing and editing science magazines and websites at IOP. She graduated in physics from the University of Surrey and has been a researcher at the company BP.
Link to the digital version of the document: http://mag.digitalpc.co.uk/fvx/iop/scienceimpact/BMRS2014/