ASTM International
A primary source of voluntary standards for materials, products, systems, and services, the 30,000 members of ASTM International (formerly the Amerian Society for Testing and Materials) contribute their time and expertise to the development and maintenance of standards and related technical information. More than 12,000 standards are published in the 75-volume Annual Book of ASTM Standards.

Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3)
The U.K.-based Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, a professional organization representing the materials science and engineering community, is governed by an elected Council and with a membership of over 18,000 individuals throughout the UK and Europe. The Institute represents a formidable range of expertise across the disciplines of ceramics, metals, polymers, and composites. A comprehensive list of British, international, and other materials societies are available. A list of university materials departments is also available.

Edison Welding Institute (EWI)
The Edison Welding Institute (EWI) is a leading engineering organization with more than 160 engineering, technical, and support-staff personnel with expertise in virtually every welding and joining technology for use with metals, ceramics, and plastics. EWI operates as a nonprofit industrial consortium, working with its more than 400 member companies to provide applied research, consultancy, training, and general technical support. Medical manufacturers have used EWI’s expertise to assess the weldability of nitinol; develop processes for refractory metals such as platinum, platinum-iridium, tungsten, and molybdenum; join dissimilar materials such as ceramics to stainless steel; and assess the seal integrity of plastic materials.

PolySort
This commercial Web site focuses on the plastics and rubber industry. An important feature of the site is a searchable database of plastics and rubber suppliers, many of whom offer medical-grade materials. The site carries news briefs from Lexis-Nexis pertaining to the plastics and rubber industry and has a bulletin board where users post technical queries and sourcing needs. The calender of events is also quite comprehensive.

Society for Biomaterials
The Society for Biomaterials promotes advances in biomedical materials research and development through cooperative research, educational programs, clinical applications, and professional standards in the biomaterials field.

Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE)
The Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE) is an international professional member society that provides information on materials and processing technology via technical forums, journal publications, and books in which professionals in the field can exchange ideas and air views. The society provides a forum for scientists, engineers, and academicians.

Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. (SPI)
Founded in 1937, the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. (SPI) is the trade association representing one of the largest manufacturing industries in the United States. Its 1700 members represent the entire plastics industry supply chain, including processors, machinery, and equipment manufacturers and raw-material suppliers. The U.S. plastics industry employs 1.5 million workers and provides $304 billion in annual shipments.

Surfaces in Biomaterials Foundation
The Surfaces in Biomaterials Foundation brings together those who share the common goal of participating in the future of surface biomaterials research. The foundation exists to ensure sponsorship of workshops and symposia, to further the exchange of information and ideas within the surface science and biomedical communities, to help in understanding of interfacial problems common to many researchers and development engineers, and to provide a forum that allows interaction and dissemination of surface and interfacial information.

Materials Research Society
The Materials Research Society is a non-profit organization which brings together scientists, engineers, and research managers from industry, government, academia, and research laboratories to share findings in the research and development of new materials of technological importance.

UK Centre for Materials Education
The UK Centre for Materials Education aims to support and promote innovative learning and teaching practices in the materials sciences. The UK Centre for Materials Education is a member of the Learning and Teaching Support Network (LTSN) and is based at the University of Liverpool.

Ampersand Ventures
This venture capital firm focuses exclusively on the specialty material and chemical industry. Portfolio includes companies developing microfluidics systems for genetic analysis, automated cancer diagnosis, and reagents and electrophoresis systems for research applications.