The history of the Vacuum Metallurgy Division (VMD), which is now the Advanced Surface Engineering Division (ASED), of the American Vacuum Society is reviewed briefly. The focus of the VMD moved from vacuum melting of materials. to metallurgical coatings. The division sponsored two conferences, the Conference on. Vacuum Metallurgy and the International Conference on Metallurgical Coatings. As the interest in vacuum metallurgy eventually subsided, interest grew in the deposition of metallurgical coatings. However, the emphasis at the Metallurgical Coatings conference has changed from just depositing coatings to surface engineering of a component. Today, the challenge is to use the tools of surface engineering with advances in deposition technology such as high-power pulsed sputtering. To align itself with the changing interests of the majority of its members, the VMD changed its name to the ASED. (C) 2003 American Vacuum Society.