President's Report



4th February 1999


This is my first report since being elected as President at the 1998 Annual General Meeting. Firstly I would like to express my sincere thanks to the retiring President, John MacLeod, who has expertly guided the course of the ANZSMS over the past four years. The efforts of the other outgoing committee member, Kevin Shaw, are also greatly appreciated, particularly his active role in helping to revise the ANZSMS Constitution to meet new statutory requirements. Particular thanks go to Karina Watkins for her contributions as Treasurer since 1996. Karina will be retiring from the Central Committee at the 1999 Annual General Meeting. I welcome Noel Davies, convenor of ANZSMS-16 in Hobart, as a new member of the Central Committee.

The International Mass Spectrometry Society, which was founded at the 14th International Mass Spectrometry Conference in 1997, is now legally constituted and the ANZSMS has been invited to join as a Charter Member. Personal membership of the IMSS is also available. We congratulate John MacLeod for his election as Secretary of the IMSS. Further information can be obtained from the IMSS web site.

The ANZSMS E-Mail discussion group has grown to 60 users. Approximately one third are financial ANZSMS members, another third have Australian E-mail addresses, while the remainder are non members from other countries. Currently there are no restrictions on the group and all members are urged to subscribe via the ANZSMS WWW site and help widen discussion on various mass spectrometry issues. Any suggestions as to how the WWW site can be improved are most welcome.

With the increasing number of new mass spectrometers being installed in laboratories there is a need for basic tuition for newcomers to the field. The Central Committee is currently exploring ways of making short courses in mass spectrometry available for such users. It is anticipated that these would be available via the WWW, on CD-ROM or as part of future ANZSMS conferences.

Although there was no mid-Conference ANZSMS lecturer last year, it is hoped to be able to invite a distinguished mass spectrometrist to present a series of lectures across Australia and New Zealand, following ANZSMS-17. The committee welcomes suggestions for possible lecturers.

The Society has again been able to provide financial assistance to students who are attending and presenting a paper at ANZSMS-17. A total of 14 students from Australia will each receive $300, while one student who is travelling from NZ will receive $600. The overall expenditure of $4,800 is in line with previous Conference subsidies and demonstrates the commitment of the Society to supporting young mass spectrometrists.

Finally, I would like to thank the organizing committee for the ANZSMS-17 Conference. This is the first occasion that our conference has not been held at a major city location and, judging by the many favourable comments, likely to be the model for other future conferences.


John Traeger

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