WESTERVILLE, OHIO, December 20, 2005 — The American Ceramic Society, in collaboration with the European Ceramic Society and the Ceramic Society of Japan will host the 1st International Congress on Ceramics in Toronto, Canada on June 25-29, 2006 at the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel. This is the inaugural meeting for a global event designed to facilitate discussion and planning concerning major issues that face the ceramic and glass community, culminating in the development of a global roadmap.

Differing positions on the vast array of issues facing the ceramics community will be presented, discussed and incorporated into the global roadmap. Over 65 invited speakers have agreed to lead presentations on key topics facing business, research and technology interests in ceramics and glass providing their vision of the future.

This event features 12 plenary presentations from leaders in ceramics and glass including:

Kazuo Inamori, President of Kyocera Corporation – Keynote Speaker

Satyam Cherukuri, President and CEO, Sarnoff Corporation

Joel P. Clark, Professor, Materials Systems and Engineering Systems, MIT

Katherine Faber, Professor, Northwestern University

Larry Hench, Professor, Imperial College of Science and Technology

Debra Kaiser, Chief, Ceramics Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology

Henry Kressel, Managing Director, Warburg Pincus LLC

Rodney Lanthorne, President Kyocera International Inc.

Lynette Madsen, Program Director of Ceramics, National Science Foundation

Joseph A. Miller, Jr., CTO, Corning Inc.

Joel Moskowitz, Chairman, CEO and President, Ceradyne, Inc.

Shigeki Suzuki, General Manager of Materials Engineering, Toyota Motor Company

“ This Congress is vastly different from the typical scientific meeting; it is structured not around research, but on the vision of industry leaders as to the future of ceramics. A special program has been designed to provide attendees the opportunity to participate in discussions to better understand industry issues and concerns. I expect that the information exchange and the resulting roadmap will be valuable to anyone involved in the field,” said Dr. Stephen Freiman, 1st International Congress on Ceramics President.

Participation in this global exchange and roadmap development is encouraged. Individuals are can submit an abstract for a poster presentation prior to the January 19, 2006 deadline and organizations should consider becoming a sponsor or exhibitor. Visit www.ceramics.org/icc to get more information, submit an abstract or to register for this event.

About The American Ceramic Society
The American Ceramic Society (ACerS) is a 107-year-old non-profit organization that serves the informational, educational, and professional needs of the international ceramics community. The Society's more than 8,000 members comprise a wide variety of individuals and interest groups that include engineers, scientists, researchers, manufacturers, plant personnel, educators, students, marketing and sales professionals, and others in related materials disciplines. ACerS provides members and subscribers in 80 countries with access to periodicals and books, meetings and expositions, and online technical information. www.ceramics.org.