The Society of Powder Technology, JAPAN (SPTJ) was established in 1956 with the mission to foster interactions between society members to enable and facilitate advances in powder technology as well as in the powder and powder technology industries. From a material perspective, a powder, which is an assemblage of small solid particles, exhibits very unique behavior. For example, depending on the circumstances, a powder can behave like a gas, a liquid, or a solid. Furthermore, because of the larger specific surface area relative to a bulk material, powders can have very unique properties. This is particularly true for nanosized particles. The unique behavior and properties of powders gives them a wide range of industrial applications that makes them ubiquitous in our daily lives. For example, powders and powder technology are important in energy, food, medicine, cosmetics, construction, art, and advanced materials.

Powder technology includes the science and engineering to synthesize, handle, beneficiate, process, and characterize powders, powder systems, and particulate bodies. Powder technology is founded in the fundamentals, developments, and advances in a variety of fields, including chemical engineering, material science, pharmaceuticals, powder metallurgy, environmental technology, energy technology, nanotechnology, interface science, colloid science, aerosol science, and many others. Thus, it stands to reason that representatives from many of these disciplines make up the Society of Powder Technology, JAPAN.

Advances in powder technology have and continue to evolve through multidisciplinary interactions between academia, government, and industry. Industry plays a key role in the society, and about thirty percent of SPTJ members are from industry (i.e., from industrial laboratories to manufacturing divisions). Industry-academia collaborations are critical to powder technology advances, and are promoted by the society. Likewise, industry-academia collaborations are promoted by the Association of Powder Process Industry and Engineering, JAPAN (APPIE), an important counterpart to the Society for Powder Technology, JAPAN.

In the spirit of collaboration, to share information, and to promote advances in powder technology, the SPTJ holds a meeting in spring and autumn annually. Additionally, to exchange information between academia and industry on the state-of-art in powder technology, a technical conference is held every June. Furthermore, to discuss issues relevant to the future of powder technology, the advanced seminar on powder technology is held annually in the July-August timeframe.

The Society also organizes and sponsors many international conferences. The International Conference on the Characterization and Control of Interfaces for High Quality Advanced Materials (ICCCI), which is held every three years, is one such conference. The World Congress on Particle Technology (WCPT), and the Asian Particle Technology Symposium (APT) are also very important international conferences sponsored by the Society.

Powder technology information is also shared through the Societys technical publications. On a monthly basis, the Journal of Society of Powder Technology, JAPAN publishes research papers, review articles, and technical information. The Society has also published the International Journal of Advanced Powder Technology through Elsevier. Many reference books on powder technology have also been published by the Society. Recently, the Powder Technology Handbook was published by the Society through publisher Asakura-Shoten. This Handbook covers the fundamentals and applications of powder technology.

For more information on the benefits of membership, those interested in powders, powder processing technology, and applications of powders and powder technology are invited to visit the Society website (http://www.sptj.jp/eng/) and to attend the events organized by the Society. It would be my honor to be your fellow member in the Society.