The symposium was attended by internationally recognized speakers from sixteen countries. Sixty-six papers were presented at the symposium of which fifty-four are contained in this proceedings volume. Much of the symposium centered around technological opportunities in molten salts and related materials. In keeping with this theme, Prof. Niels J. Bjerrum in his 1996 Max Bredig Award address emphasized that molten salt electrochemistry has a rich past with a bright future in numerous technologically important areas, including alloy electrodeposition, production of amorphous metals, electrosynthesis of superhard materials, electro-catalysis, and corrosion. Of course, the basis for these technological advances is derived from the fundamental understanding of molten salts provided by numerous researchers', and excellent papers were presented that provided further insight into the complexity of molten salt thermodynamics, transport properties, structure, and spectroscopy.