IUCr 1996 Triennial Report - International Centre for Diffraction Data (ICDD)

Background

The International Centre for Diffraction Data (ICDD) is a non-profit scientific organization that collects, edits, publishes, and distributes powder diffraction data for the identification of crystalline materials. The current ICDD Board Chairman is Professor R. L. Snyder who succeeded Dr G. C. Johnson in early 1996.

Mission Statement

The International Centre for Diffraction Data will continue as the world centre for quality diffraction data to meet the needs of the technical community. The ICDD promotes the applications of materials characterization methods in science and technology by providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information.

The ICDD organization

The ICDD membership is comprised of scientists from various affiliations - educational, governmental, industrial. Approximately 100 scientists elected from around the world constitute the active membership from which the organization draws its Board of Directors, Subcommittees and Task Groups. The members, who are volunteers, are all actively engaged in developments in the field of X-ray powder diffraction and related disciplines. A paid scientific and administrative staff of about 30 full-time employees is responsible for the production of the various databases offered by the ICDD.

Technical Committee

The Technical Committee (TC) is chaired by Professor T. C. Huang and consists of the Chairs of 15 active Subcommittees: Ceramics, Crystal Data, Data Collection and Analysis, Diffraction Problems, Education, Electron Diffraction, Metals and Alloys, Minerals, New Product Research & Development, Organic and Forensic, Pattern Calculations, PDF Database, PDF Editorial Staff, Search/Match Methods and Target Systems for Technical Committee Activity. These Subcommittees meet twice a year to receive and discuss reports from their Task Groups, and to pass on recommendations through the TC to the ICDD board of directors and Committees for action.

ICDD assisted research

The ICDD sponsors a worldwide Grants-in-Aid Program to provide high quality data and to develop search techniques for the identification of materials by powder diffraction methods. These grants continued at an annual rate of USD 300000. Three Crystallographic Scholarships (USD 2000 each) were awarded in 1994 and 1995, and four in 1996, to students in USA, Canada, UK and Australia. Grants were also made to the Denver X-ray Conference, the European Powder Diffraction Conferences EPDIC III and EPDIC IV, and additional Grants-in-Aid to scientists in the FSU, including one-year free subscriptions to Powder Diffraction and discounts on Powder Diffraction File products.

ICDD educational commitments

The ICDD sponsors a worldwide programme of workshops, seminars and schools, often in association with major powder diffraction meetings. The ICDD Clinic on X-ray Powder Diffraction is comprised of two one-week courses in the fundamentals of qualitative and quantitative X-ray diffraction. The ICDD also sponsors a Clinic on X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry in the fundamentals of qualitative and quantitative X-ray fluorescence. Both the XRF Clinic and the XRD Clinic are conducted annually during the summer months.

Involvement with the IUCr Commission on Powder Diffraction

CPD Secretary, Dr D. Louër (France), is Chairman of the ICDD Data Collection and Analysis Subcommittee and Consultant to the Board of Directors. CPD members Dr J. Fiala (Yugoslavia) and Dr H. Toraya (Japan) were elected members of the ICDD during 1993 and CPD member Professor D. K. Smith, recently retired from Penn State University, was elected as a Distinguished Fellow in 1995. The CPD Chairman, Dr R. J. Hill (Australia), is ex officio IUCr representative to the ICDD, and Dr L. K. Frevel (USA), Distinguished Fellow of the ICDD, is their representative to the CPD. The current ICDD Vice-Chairman (elected in 1996) is Professor R. A. Young, former CPD Chairman and current CPD consultant.

Dr J. Fiala jointly chairs, with Professor R. Snyder of the ICDD, a Task Group on Crystallite Size and Microstrain, which was the main focus of the CPD-sponsored meeting in Slovakia in August 1995, and which may evolve into a round robin study. The ICDD contributed USD 5000 to the IUCr Satellite Meeting on Powder Diffraction in Hangzhou in August 1993, and USD 3000 to assist the attendance of young Chinese scientists. Further support is anticipated for the 1996 satellite meeting on powder diffraction in Denver.

ICDD Activities during the triennium

One of the highlights of the triennium was the dedication of the new ICDD Headquarters in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, in October 1993. The building represents a USD 4.2M investment for the ICDD and offers excellent facilities for conferences, with modern and well equipped lecture rooms. On this occasion, special recognition was given to the Distinguished Fellows of the ICDD, J. W. Caum, W. L. Fink, L. K. Frevel, J. D. Hanawalt, H. F. McMurdie, M. E. Mrose, B. Post, S. Weissmann and A. J. C. Wilson. Awards were also made to Ben Post and Sig Weissmann for `40 years of editing of the Powder Diffraction File'.

Also during 1993, Dr R. Jenkins of the ICDD was presented with the Barrett Award for his outstanding work on diffraction techniques and instrumentation and for his untiring global activities in educating a generation of powder diffractionists. Member H. Hitchcock was given an award by the Director of the Kennedy Space Centre (NASA) as a Manned Flight Awareness Honoree for her contribution to the manned space programme. Dr L. D. Calvert and Professor Y. Takeuchi were elected to join the other members who have been recognized as Distinguished Fellows by the Board of Directors for their sustained outstanding contributions to the ICDD. Dr Calvert is the first such member to be honoured posthumously.

A report by T. Blanton (Eastman Kodak) on silver behenate as a possible candidate for a low-angle standard sample [d spacing (001) = 58.38 Å] was published in J. Appl. Cryst. (1993), 26, 180-184. Search manuals and software for the analysis of organic functional group functionality were made available on CD ROM for operation under Windows.

On 20 December 1995, the then Chairman G. C. Johnson Jr announced to staff and ICDD members that D. Richardson had submitted his resignation as the General Manager of ICDD as of 1 January 1996 and that the Executive Committee had begun the process of locating a new General Manager.

Recent Specific Highlights of Technical Activities

ICDD Products. PDF Set 45, Alphabetical Index & Search Manual: 2000 new patterns; Electron Diffraction Database released in 1995: total entries 82K (new 10K); Crystal Data Identification File 1994 Release (Update G): total entries 200K (new 15K).

Round Robin Studies. Crystallite Size/Strain (co-sponsored by ICDD and CPD); Evaluation of Practices in Ab Initio Pattern Indexing (Chair: CPD Secretary, D. Louër); Profile Fitting; Preferred Orientation; X-ray Reflectivity.

Conference Workshops. Denver X-ray Conference (Colorado Springs, USA), EPDIC IV (Chester, UK), BCA Annual Spring Meeting (Cardiff, UK).

The ICDD clearly continues to be a very dynamic and growing organization, with a strong cooperative relationship with the CPD.

14 May 1996 R. J. HILL, Representative

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