2026 DXC Program

New Developments in XRD & XRF Instrumentation (vendor/commercial presentations permitted)

Chairs:
Tim Fawcett, Emeritus, ICDD, USA, dxcfawcett@outlook.com
Andy Drews, Ford Motor Company, USA, adrews@ford.com

Abstracts should be submitted by technical representatives of a manufacturer. They should discuss specifications, and applications concerning one of their newest and most important products. Talks should include comments about software, XRD and XRF equipment, and accessories. No mention of prices or a comparison with competitors’ products can be included.

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Mining, Recycling, and Sustainable Materials

Chair: Kouichi Tsuji, Osaka Metropolitan University (OMU), Japan, k-tsuji@omu.ac.jp

The Mining, Recycling, and Sustainable Materials session welcomes presentations on X-ray analysis at mine sites, online X-ray analysis in recycling processes, and applications of handheld X-ray analyzers. X-ray analysis of rare earth and rare metal elements are also important in the industrial field and will be discussed.

Invited Speakers:

• Akiko Hokura, Tokyo Denki University, Japan: Mechanistic Insights into Valuable and Hazardous Metal Uptake by Microalgae and Plants Using X-ray Analysis
• Hitomi Nakano, Horiba Ltd., Japan
• Julia Sedlmair, Bruker, USA: Practical Applications of X‑ray Analytical Techniques in Mining and Resource Sustainability
  
• Chiharu Tokoro, Waseda University, Japan: Practical Challenges in Resource Circulation and Practical Use of X-ray Analysis

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Early Career Researchers: Spotlight on the Next Generation

Chair: Sarah Gosling, Keele University, United Kingdom, s.b.gosling@keele.ac.uk

A session for early career researchers to present their work to their peers and hone their presentation skills in a friendly environment. Abstracts are welcome from across the range of topics covered at DXC.

Early career researchers are typically defined as students, post-docs, and academics in their first independent post, or industry equivalents, but please get in contact with the organizers if you are not sure.

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Machine Learning Techniques in X-ray Analysis

Chair: Mathew Cherukara, Argonne National Laboratory, USA, mcherukara@anl.gov

The capabilities provided by next-generation light sources, along with the development of new characterization techniques and detector advances, are expected to revolutionize science across disciplines, but also dramatically increase the complexity and volume of data generated by instruments at the new light sources. Traditional techniques of data reduction and analysis will not be able to keep pace. Machine learning methods applied to a variety of X-ray characterization techniques have shown promise in accelerating, and in some cases improving the accuracy of X-ray data inversion, abstraction and inference. Concurrently, AI-driven experimental automation is accelerating and expanding the capabilities of x-ray instruments. Large language models (LLMs) are being explored as AI-assistants to guide scientific users in experiment design, instrument operation and data analysis.

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State of the Art X-ray Approaches for Cultural Heritage

Chair: Tina Hill, Bruker, USA, tina.hill@bruker.com

This session highlights the rapid evolution of X-ray methods in cultural heritage research, highlighting how techniques such as multimodal imaging and integrative analytical approaches are evolving the field. We invite contributions that advance the frontiers of X-ray analysis—whether through multi-technique studies, innovative open-source tools, or novel methodological frameworks. By emphasizing both hardware and methodological innovation, this session offers a dynamic platform for instrument developers, conservators, archaeologists, and researchers across disciplines to share impactful work and shape the next generation of X-ray–based heritage science.

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X-ray Computed Tomography and X-ray Microscopy

Chair: Martina Schmeling, Loyola University Chicago, USA, mschmel@luc.edu

The session is intended to showcase the capabilities and the variety of applications of X-ray computed tomography and X-ray microscopy. Therefore, contributions in all fields of life, environmental and material science using those two techniques are welcome.

Invited Speakers:

• Ju-Chen Chia, Cornell University, USA
• Gosia Korbas, Argonne National Laboratory, USA

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Biomedical Imaging

Chairs:
Andrew Crawford, Michigan State University, USA, crawf472@msu.edu
Clinton Kidman, University of Saskatchewan, Canada, clinton.kidman@usask.ca

This technical session invites contributions describing the use of X-ray methods for biomedical and biological research. Topics of interest include X-ray fluorescence imaging, absorption-based imaging, spectroscopic imaging methods, and X-ray scattering techniques such as SAXS and WAXS. Contributions describing the integration of X-ray techniques with complementary analytical methods are also encouraged.

Presentations may address methodological developments, instrumentation advances, quantitative analysis approaches, or novel applications of X-ray imaging in biological systems. Work using both synchrotron-based and laboratory-based instrumentation is welcome, including benchtop XRF, micro-XRF, X-ray diffraction, and related techniques.

The goal of this session is to highlight emerging capabilities in X-ray imaging and analysis that enable improved spatial, chemical, and structural characterization of biological materials across multiple length scales.

General XRD

Chair: John Okasinski, Argonne National Laboratory, USA, okasinski@anl.gov

Welcoming abstracts in all areas of X-ray diffraction and related techniques.

Invited Speakers:

• Andrew Chuang, Argonne National Laboratory, USA: Probing Metal Additive Manufacturing with High-Speed Synchrotron X-ray Diffraction: A General Approach to Non-Equilibrium Materials
• Yuting Luo, John Hopkins University, USA: Revealing Li Alloying/Dealloying Dynamics in Anode-Free Batteries via Operando Synchrotron X-ray Energy-Dispersive Diffraction (EDD)

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Industrial Applications of XRD

Chair: Tim Fawcett, Emeritus, ICDD, USA, dxcfawcett@outlook.com

The Industrial Applications session includes both X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction analyses as used by industry scientists. The idea behind this session is to showcase the general approaches used in X-ray analyses for a variety of applications and material types.

Invited Speaker:
Jim Kaduk, North Central College, USA: Boron Site Substitution in B-MFI Borosilicate Molecular Sieve by in situ Neutron Powder Diffraction

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Pair Distribution Function

Chair: Tom Watkins, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA, watkinstr@ornl.gov

Invited Speakers:

• Leighanne C. Gallington, Argonne National Laboratory, USA: In Situ Characterization of Highly Disordered Systems via X-ray Total Scattering Measurements
  
• Yuya Shinohara, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA: Beyond Snap-Shot Structure: Dynamical Measurement using Pair-Distribution Function

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Stress and Texture Analysis

Chair: Tom Watkins, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA, watkinstr@ornl.gov

The Stress and Texture Analysis session seeks to provide a forum to display and discuss the latest techniques and analyses for stress and texture work using diffraction across a broad range of applications.  Contributions are also sought from related areas that impact these analyses including but not limited to elasticity, statistics, validation, modelling, etc.

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SAXS & WAXS

Chair: Tom Watkins, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA, watkinstr@ornl.gov

Invited Speakers:

• Oleg Gang, Brookhaven National Laboratory, USA
• Byeongdu Lee, Argonne National Laboratory, USA
  
• Yuya Shinohara, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA: Bayesian Inference for Improved Resolution and Faster Data Acquisition of lab-based Small-Angle X-ray Scattering

General XRF

Chair: Ursula Fittschen, TU Clausthal, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany, ursula.fittschen@tu-clausthal.de

Authors are invited to submit X-ray fluorescence and related X-ray technique papers to the general XRF session. Such papers on topics that do not fit well into other specific sessions can be submitted to the General XRF session.

Invited Speakers:

• Annelie Lundsrom, Veracio, Sweden: From Entrepreneurial Vision to Industry Standard: Continuous XRF in Mining and Exploration
• Alexander Seyfarth, SGS, USA

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Industrial Applications XRF

Chair: Poulami Dutta, Dow Chemical Company, USA, pdutta1@dow.com

This session will consist of presentations where EDXRF and/or WDXRF are used either for routine elemental characterization or to help solve problems in industry or other settings such as government or academia. Submissions can entail quantitative and/or qualitative XRF applications.

Invited Speakers:

• Nichole Hyslop, University of California at Davis, USA: Assessing Elemental Measurements of Atmospheric Particulate Matter Over the Last 35 Years
  
• Thanh Nguyen and Glenn Williams, V Prep Corp, USA: Urban Mining: Overcoming Heterogeneity in XRF Analysis of Electronic Waste
  
• Ying Shi, Materials Discovery Research Institute, USA: An XRF Method to Quantify Water Loss in Fe–Cr Redox Flow Batteries

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Synergy of Computational Materials and Process Engineer Modeling with Materials Characterization

Chair: Michael Fischlschweiger, Clausthal University of Technology, Germany, michael.fischlschweiger@tu-clausthal.de

Invited Speakers:

• Catherine Dejoie, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, France: Advances in High-Resolution Powder Diffraction for Applications in Materials Science
• Thomas Proffen, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA
• Tim Zeiner, Institut für Thermische Verfahrenstechnik, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), Germany: Thermodynamic Modeling of Swelling and Diffusion in Highly Cross-Linked Polymers with Experimental Analysis

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Spatially-Resolved Benchtop Micro-XRF

Chair: Tina Hill, Bruker, USA, tina.hill@bruker.com

This session explores the expanding analytical capabilities of modern benchtop micro‑XRF, highlighting how recent progress in excitation sources, X‑ray optics, detectors, and signal‑processing algorithms has significantly elevated performance across instruments of all types. Improvements such as smaller and more intense micro‑spots, enhanced low‑energy sensitivity, and more robust quantitative models now support faster, higher‑resolution element distribution—even for complex or heterogeneous samples. The session welcomes examples from all benchtop systems and application areas, emphasizing the technique’s broad utility for non‑destructive, spatially resolved elemental analysis.

Invited Speakers:

• Nichole Valdez, Sandia National Laboratories, USA: Extracting Useful Data from Noise: Turning Diffraction Artifacts from Fluorescence Data into Structural Information
  
• Derek Wright, Lake Superior State University, USA: Optimization of X-ray Backscatter Imaging in a Laboratory Micro X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer: Applications in Structural Characterization in Engineered and Natural Materials