History

When the 3rd International Congress on Electron Microscopy (ICEM) was held in London in 1954, the International Federation of Societies for Electron Microscopy (IFSEM) was founded. It was agreed that IFSEM should sponsor regional conferences in Europe (EUREM) and Asia, as well as the Oceania Regional Conference (AORC). All three events were quadrennial but occurred in biennially staggered intervals. The AORC and the EUREM took place in the same year. This arrangement has not changed with the renaming of the different conferences.

The first AORC was held in Tokyo, Japan in 1956. The second AORC was held in Calcutta, India in 1965. Then the AORC was not held again until 1984. It was renamed as the Asia-Pacific Conference on Electron Microscopy (APEM) and restarted in Singapore in 1984. In 2012, the name was futher changed to Asia Pacific Microscopy Conference to encompass for the ever expanding microscopy techniques.

CAPSM was founded to foster the development of all aspects of electron microscopy by supporting existing activities and stimulating new ones. The Committee supports and initiates specialised meeting, symposia and workshops. CAPSM also assists individual researchers and regional research groups in meeting their needs such as technical staff training, while facilitating the interchange of information from past meetings.