Out of concern for the health and safety of event participants, SAMPE North America announced that it has decided to officially cancel the 2021 Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE) Conference & Exhibition, scheduled for May 24-27 in Long Beach, Calif.

“As a leadership team, we have closely monitored the evolving COVID-19 situation and the response to it,” said Tim Shaughnessy, president, SAMPE North America. “Ultimately, it became clear that we will not be able to hold a May event of the same caliber as previous SAMPE Conference & Exhibitions. We’re confident that cancelling is the right decision, based on the information available. Connectivity and knowledge exchange are the core of our annual live event. Until we can offer a safe way for our industry partners to interact face-to-face, we will develop new opportunities to engage our audience.”

SAMPE reports that it plans to launch a new technical community platform designed specifically for professionals in the global advanced materials and process industries. The platform will provide a space for the community to make connections with vetted peers in private sector, government, and academia; share research and solutions; access the latest developments through SAMPE and industry content; and collaborate with partners to improve their businesses.

“We know that progress can’t wait,” said Zane Clark, CEO, SAMPE North America. “Whether we interact at an in-person event or virtually, our commitment is to provide innovative solutions that offer meaningful business and information exchange. SAMPE was founded to find solutions to current manufacturing and materials issues through an industry-government-academic network, and we will continue to do so. Our community is a collection of problem solvers—not having the ability to gather in person is simply another problem for us to solve. We’re already well on our way to achieving that goal.”

For additional information, visit www.nasampe.org.