The Materials Research Society of Singapore (MRS-S) was created in 1999 as a not-for-profit organization to serve a rapidly emerging materials science community in Singapore. The founding President of the Society was Prof Shih Choon Fong who remains its Principal Advisor. The Society is affiliated with the International Union of Materials Research Societies (IUMRS). Since its inception the focus of MRS-S has been to promote materials science not only to researchers in Singapore, but also to publicise the niche capabilities of local researchers throughout Asia and further a field. To this end, the Society's major activity is the organization of a biannual event – the International Conference on Materials for Advanced Technologies or ICMAT – that is held in July and attracts more than 1500 delegates from all over the world. MRS-S also awards prizes on annual basis to outstanding Honours students at the local universities in Singapore. As the Society matures it plans to expand its activities through: organisation of smaller, specialist conferences, and provision of scholarships to graduate students.