Welcome to AsCA

Among the three Regional Associates of the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr), the American Crystallographic Association (ACA), the European Crystallographic Association (ECA) and the Asian Crystallographic Association (AsCA), we are the youngest and the fastest growing. Established at the Perth IUCr Congress in 1987, AsCA has now been in existence for 20 years and is entering a mature phase of its life and looks forward to further growth in keeping with economic developments in the region..

The past two decades have witnessed great progress in the crystallographic activities of the region and AsCA has helped in this.  The triennial meetings of the Association continue have grown in size and stature over this time, with the Hong Kong meeting in 2004 having 350 participants, the Taipei meeting in 2007 attracting over 400 delegates and the recently concluded meeting in Beijing over 500. The quality of the science at the recent meetings has been outstanding and was commented on by several attendees from Europe and the United States.

A significant step towards improving the participation of AsCA region crystallographers in the affairs of the IUCr was taken at the General Assembly where a Regional Association of countries including Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam were admitted as a member of the IUCr. The dues will be paid by the Crystallographic Association of Japan (CrSJ) and the Society for Crystallographers in Australia and New Zealand.

A new crystallographic group has been formed. The first meeting of the North African Crystallographic group will be held in Casablanca in November this year. I urge all members of AsCA who are able to attend what promises to be an exciting meeting in an exotic location.

Time is drawing close for the AsCA meeting in Busan. Registration is very strong and this should be a great scientific event. The IUCr Executive will be holding a meeting in Busan immediately prior to the AsCA conference.

I look forward to seeing many of you at the forthcoming meeting in Busan, Korea (October 31 - November 3, 2010).

Mitchell Guss

President 2007-2010