PEIZHEN KATHY LU

Present Position

Chapter Affiliation

Background Information

Statement

Vision and Philosophy

More important than ever, we, as scientists and educators, carry a larger responsibility to improve public understanding of science so that we can ensure the allocation of our precious resources to make the greatest impact on the betterment of our society. This is especially vital when other issues demand more urgency or when the economy goes rough. This is why I am self-nominating to serve as the Associate Director of the Research & Doctoral Universities Constituency Group. I have expressed such a desire in previous years and this year I am doing it again. We must continuously educate the general public not only to understand and support the work we do, but also to participate in the discovery and education endeavors we take. We must make our science not only visible, but also indispensable to the daily lives of the general public. As scientists, we have the duty to explain to the public how our work is making a difference in our society and why the investment is worth it. Science will not advance with just a cohort of educated scientists working in their labs isolated from the real world. Science only progresses when educated scientists can effectively lead a well-educated public to advocate this as a common cause. We must understand the needs of the public at each and every level, become part of them, and serve them from the beginning to the end. We cannot confine ourselves in our daily routines and view science exploration as our privileged way of living our lives.

For different governmental entities, we also carry the indispensable responsibility to promote the importance of science in order to sustain and enhance the funding support of our research enterprise—the greatest one in the world. Even though we still enjoy the leadership position in science and technology, the recent economic downturn and the rapidly increased investment in research and development from other countries have cast a long shadow on our long-enjoyed scientific leadership position in the world. Our governmental bodies do not always have the best knowledge about our fields or the most comprehensive view about the societal needs in science. We must actively and strategically interact with our legislatures and constituencies to ensure a healthy level of financial support. We need to actively engage law-makers, government agencies, and executive offices to continue and strengthen the funding support that our communities highly need. We cannot afford to let the scientific enterprise suffer. History has been the best witness on this. The early civilization, the industrialization, and some of last century’s great scientific breakthroughs did not happen in our country. For our hard-earned scientific leadership position in recent decades, we cannot let it slide because it will take many more decades of unstopping work to catch it up. The economic price we have to pay is just too grave.
 
With the continuous globalization, manufacturing has been moving to lower cost regions/countries. With the creation of wealth in those places, the education and infrastructure are correspondingly being improved. As a result, if we continue our old way of thinking and conducting science, our citizens would be left with diminished opportunities for prosperity. We must explore new sciences and education models to produce talents who can handle the changing higher education landscapes and make up the missing opportunities in our society. We must look at how to start our education reform from K-12, to college, up until post-graduate education. In our graduate programs, international students have taken >50% of the enrollment for a long time. In the past, most of these students chose to stay because of the better prospect in life in our country. In recent years, many students have chosen to go back to their home countries because of better economic conditions, more employment opportunities, stronger support in research and development, and the lengthy immigration process in our country. On the other hand, we are seeing a huge increase in international undergraduate student enrollment. Thus, we face two challenges: how to reinvent ourselves to produce more adaptable undergraduate and graduate students and how to allocate our resources in the face of increasing international students in every classroom of our campuses.

Women have made striking gains on science. Still, a large gap is present. In 2014, just 20.8 percent of computer science doctoral degrees were earned by women (down from 22.1 percent in 2004); 22.8 percent in engineering (encouragingly up from 17.7 percent in 2004). To make continuous progress in science, we need to tap into this precious resource for our full use. Otherwise, years of investment in their education would be wasted. This means that we need to look at our policies, infrastructures, and resources to see how we can make the largest impact on science by encouraging women scientists’ participation and maximizing their contribution. We need to be strong supporters and advocates of women in science and engineering.

With continuously shrinking government funding, we must look at other places for support to advance and promote science. In our country, corporate support of science has been steadily declining for many decades. I think there are two reasons for this: one is the far distance of some scientific work from applications to give Corporate America any excitement, the other reason is the immense pressure for the companies to take care of the bottom line and maximize profits. We must do all we can to help our industries grow. We must also find new means to get companies involved in our scientific research and education and support us more.

If I am elected as the Associate Director of the Research & Doctoral Universities Constituency Group, I will work hard with all colleagues to address the issues outlined above. I will work diligently with the Directors to effectively manage our Society’s activities, properties, and affairs in order to make the biggest impact on the general public. I will treasure every opportunity our Society has to offer and help the Directors to set policies and establish concrete and tangible goals, reflecting my desire to improve our Society’s standing on the above issues. I will contribute all my knowledge and insight for the improvement of our science communities. I will make sure we have the best Executive Director and Board for the smooth and effective operation of our daily activities with our allowable annual budget.

I will actively participate in managing the activities, property, and affairs of the Society, interact frequently with my constituency to maximize our Society’s mission and make the largest impact. I will contribute to conducting meetings of regional or constituency groups and take responsibility to proactively work with, give advice to, and contribute to the health of the local chapters. I will communicate frequently with my constituency group and the headquarter. I will conduct meetings of my constituency group at the Society’s annual meeting each November. Also, throughout the year I will remain abreast of Society activities by reading the Executive Director’s monthly updates and other Society communications, and by replying to email ballots on business matters of a time-sensitive nature. I will widely share the Society’s programs, history, mission, organizational structure, and strategic plan and be the strongest advocate for the Society as I can be among peers and in the community. I will actively identify potential sources of support and participate in solicitations and other fundraising efforts as needed. I will contribute wisdom and talent to fashion and promote Society practices and programs, recruit members, and participate actively in the revitalization of different chapters.

Relevant Experience

1. Secretary of National Institute of Ceramic Engineers, 2011-2012.
2. Vice President of National Institute of Ceramic Engineers, 2012-2013.
3. President-Elect of National Institute of Ceramic Engineers, 2013-2014.
4. President of National Institute of Ceramic Engineers, 2014-2015.
5. Spriggs Phase Equilibria Award Committee for American Ceramic Society, 2017 – 2020.
6. Committee on Greaves-Walker Award for American Ceramic Society-NICE (2016-2017).
7. Member of ACerS/NICE: Arthur L. Friedberg Ceramic Engineering Tutorial and Lecture Award Committee, 2016-2017.
8. Member of the Ellen Swallow Richards Diversity Award and Frank A. Crossley Diversity Award Subcommittee of TMS, 2017-2020.
9. Panelist of NSF Workshop on Emerging Opportunities in Ceramics and Glass, Arlington, VA, September 12-14, 2016.
10. Chair of the Nanomaterials Technical Division, American Nano Society, 2014.
11. External Board Member of Tennessee Solar Conversion and Storage using Outreach, Research and Education (TN-SCORE), 2014-2015.
12. Advisory Board Member for Sintering 2017 International Conference, San Diego, CA, 2017.
13. Advisory Board Member, Sintering2014 International Conference, Dresden, Germany, 2014.
14. Member of the Committee on Society Awards Karl Schwartzwalder-Professional Achievement in Ceramic Engineering Award Sub-Committee, 2009-2014.
15. Associate Editor of Journal of the American Ceramic Society.
16. 2018-present JOM Journal Advisor and Guest Editor.
17. 2014-present Editorial Review Board of Frontiers in Energy Research, section Fuel Cells.
18. 2014- present Editorial Board Member of Annals of Material Science & Engineering.

Previous Experience with Sigma Xi Programs

I have been a Sigma Xi member since 1998. When I was at Ohio State University, I actively participated in different local chapter events. At Virginia Tech, I have participated in some activities and nominated candidates for memberships. So far, I have not held any officer positions at Sigma Xi. With the progression of my career, my leadership positions in other organizations, and my involvement in conference organization and federal funding review activities, I have a strong desire to make a bigger impact in Sigma Xi by bringing my higher education experience, my understanding of different government agencies, and my experience in extensive research activities.