RMS Appoints New Chief Executive


The Royal Microscopical Society has announced Allison Winton as new Chief Executive.


Since 1839, the RMS has been championing microscopy, supporting scientists at all stages of their career and promoting the science to a wider audience. But behind the scenes, a dedicated team of offi ce staff ensure the Society is serving its members and hosting high quality events to scientists all over the world.


Allison Winton, recently appointed Chief Executive of the Society, has been a part of this team for over 30 years and in that time has run more than 15 successful mmc events (previously MICROSCIENCE), established the Corporate Advisory Board - building a closer partnership between the RMS and microscope companies and led the organisation of the European Microscopy Congress in Manchester, emc2012. Through organising these international events and attending RMS committee meetings for the past eight years, Allison has developed great and infl uential connections between the RMS and many prominent scientists and trade representatives. It is these networks, relationships and her deep understanding of the Society as a whole that make Allison a great leader for the future of the RMS.


On her appointment, Allison said: “I feel incredibly honoured and privileged to be in this role and I’m looking forward to steering the Society over the coming years.


“I am extremely lucky to have a very professional, highly motivated, friendly and enthusiastic team of staff in the offi ce as well as an excellent range of scientifi c sections, outreach, journal and infocus committees and the corporate advisory board, who all have so much enthusiasm for being part of the RMS, and helping to develop and keep it on a secure and successful footing moving forward.


“The next few years are going to be a busy and challenging time for the Society and the RMS Offi ce in particular. We are currently implementing a new CRM system, as well as phase 2 of our website. We have a full programme of RMS events, as well as being appointed as the Professional Congress Organisers for ELMI 2018 in Dublin and the 2020 European Microscopy Congress in Copenhagen. The Society will be assessing training, and how this can be developed more, by setting up a focussed interest group. It is hoped that we can improve our working relationship with various Research Councils and become more involved with lobbying as the ‘voice’ of microscopy. For me, the top priorities for the RMS are to serve the needs of our members and to continue being a facilitator and organiser of microscopy events and networking opportunities, which I feel go hand in hand.


“My vision is for the Society to become the ‘go to’ place for anyone wanting to know anything about microscopy, imaging and cytometry!”


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Brand New Tomography Meeting


Following a number of successful UK symposiums, the fi rst ToScA North America symposium will take place in June 2017.


ToScA, Tomography for Scientifi c Advancement, was established in 2013 by Dr Farah Ahmed from the Natural History Museum, to provide an annual meeting dedicated to those using tomography, fi lling a gap that had become apparent for users of this rapidly emerging technique.


By focussing on the technique rather than a fi eld of research, ToScA presents huge opportunities for cross-disciplinary networking and is a great meeting for students to both present their work and gain a huge amount of insight and knowledge.


Through its annual meetings, ToScA has brought together a community of both researchers and commercial representatives who are able to discuss and collaborate both at the meeting and back in the workplace.


To further this, in 2016 RMS | ToScA membership was created to solidify the large network of users and offer members benefi ts and discounts at the annual meetings.


For the fi rst time in 2017, ToScA will be hosting a meeting in North


America at the University of Austin, Texas, allowing the community to become even more international and bring together a larger audience of users.


The confi rmed Keynote Speakers demonstrate the quality of science that will be presented and discussed at this new meeting; John Kappelman, The University of Texas, Stephen Gatesy, Brown University, Lawrence Witmer, Ohio University and Richard Ketcham, The University of Texas. With a number of hands-on workshops and informal networking events planned, it really is a meeting that should be in your diary.


ToScA North America will take place from 6 – 8 June 2017 at the University of Austin, Texas. Registration and more information can be found at www.rms.org.uk/tosca-usa


For UK tomography and microCT users, the 2017 ToScA UK meeting will take place from 6 – 8 September at the University of Portsmouth. Abstract Submission and registration are now open at www.rms.org.uk/tosca2017


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Coloured X-ray micro-computed tomography (µCT) image of a chrysanthemum fl ower. Image by Dan Sykes, Natural History Museum


RMS Vice-President’s Medal Awarded


Dr Sam McFadzean, University of Glasgow, announced as the 2017 winner of the RMS Vice-President’s Medal.


The Vice-President’s Medal from the Royal Microscopical Society is awarded every two years and recognises the ‘unsung heroes’ of microscopy by making an award to an engineer, technician or laboratory research support scientist.


The RMS are proud to announce the 2017 Winner of this Medal as Dr Sam McFadzean, University of Glasgow for his sustained and outstanding contributions to the research and management of the Kelvin Nanocharacterisation Centre (KNC) of the University of Glasgow.


Initially employed as a junior technician in the Chemistry Department at Glasgow, Dr McFadzean learned his trade on different analytical instruments, working part time for a PhD based around transport measurements in membranes, before taking responsibility for high resolution electron microscopes in that department.


He moved to the School of Physics and Astronomy in 1998 and has been responsible for the installation and upkeep of fi ve major systems in the department.


On top of this, his role has expanded over the years to include substantial managerial duties at the KNC including training all


their advanced microscopy users, undertaking the majority of the industrial contract work and advising and managing the IT infrastructure, which is becoming more and more essential with the large datasets that are now being produced!


Notably, he co-ordinated the technical aspects of the installation of the KNC’s most recent electron microscope including the design of the microscope suite’s low-noise architecture; truly demonstrating the trust and respect the department as a whole has for Dr McFadzean.


Recently Dr McFadzean has been at the forefront of the customisation of the KNC’s instruments. He was integral to the development of a fast electrostatic shutter that has subsequently been incorporated into every high-performance Electron Energy Loss Spectrometer sold by Gatan worldwide.


Recently he has customised the hardware used for differential phase contrast electron microscopy leading to work recently published with Dr McFadzean as a co-author. This work now extends to the group’s development of pixelated detectors for STEM imaging, which is likely to have substantial impact on this research fi eld in years to come.


When asked about his award, Dr McFadzean said “I was frankly amazed to fi nd out that I had been awarded the RMS Vice-President’s Medal. I am thrilled at the thought that not just my colleagues here in Glasgow but also the wider UK microscopy community appreciate and acknowledge my efforts to support the people (staff, students and external contacts,) the instruments and the ever growing datasets they produce here in Glasgow. I have the great fortune to lead a small but highly dedicated team of support staff and I would hope that my personal success also refl ects well on them.”


Professor John Chapman, who worked with Dr McFadzean for many years, commented: “I have never heard anyone speak other than with admiration and gratitude for the expert assistance received from Sam. His contribution has been and continues to be outstanding”


Dr McFadzean will be presented with his Medal at mmc2017 in Manchester by RMS Vice-President Professor Pete Nellist. Registration is now open at www.mmc-series.org.uk


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