The ICDD moves forward

In the 1940's, with support from the Dow Chemical Company, the General Electric Company, Penn State U., the American Crystallographic Association, the Inst. of Physics (British), the National Bureau of Standards, and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), the 'Joint Committee on Chemical Analysis by X-ray Diffraction Methods' published a collection of 1,000 data cards of X-ray powder diffraction patterns. The importance of this information to science and industry was immediately recognized. Today, this collection has increased to over 60,000 well-characterized numerical representations of X-ray diffraction patterns. It is known throughout the world as the Powder Diffraction File.

As the Powder Diffraction File grew and matured, so did the organization that created it. Today, it is known as the Int'l Centre for Diffraction Data (ICDD). The ICDD mission is to collect, edit, publish, and distribute to the public, data in suitable form to serve as reference standards within the area of materials characterization, and to sponsor suitable research projects for the improvement, development, and utilization of data for such purposes.

ICDD's first headquarters was located in a single room in a rented house on Heister Street in State College, PA. After outgrowing that single room and three subsequent locations, the Int'l Centre is proud to announce the relocation of its new international headquarters to New-town Square, Pennsylvania. The new headquarters - a striking brick and glass one story building of 25,000 square feet is situated on a 6.5 acre site located about 17 miles northwest of the Philadelphia Int'I Airport. A conference section of the building was designed to support the Int'l Centre's meetings and educational programs, seminars, and the ICDD XRD and XRF clinics. The Int'l Centre has grown over the years from a group of three individuals to a volunteer membership of more than 100 scientists and a staff of 30.

The Int'l Centre is developing methods to streamline its editorial process to provide for more rapid, accurate and cost-effective entry of data; state-of-the-art CD-ROM development to enhance its most popular product; the use of video for education and training; the publishing of a data base containing full diffraction patterns for materials such as clays and polymers and the presentation of ancillary X-ray diffraction references on CD-ROM. These projects coupled with the Intl Centre's Grant-in-Aid program to develop and improve the utilization of the Powder Diffraction File, present tomorrow's solutions to today's challenges. The members and staff of the Int'l Centre extend to all interested diffractionists an invitation to visit the headquarters when in the Greater Philadelphia area.

Gerald G. Johnson Jr. & Julian Messick