CONFERENCES on Friction and Surface Finish were held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology during June 5–7 under the joint auspices of the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Metallurgy. Representatives of the automobile, aviation, oil, machine tool, grinding, general machinery and other industries took part. The object of the Conferences was to bring before engineers associated with the many industries concerned, a summary of present knowledge regarding friction and finish, and to bring out by discussion an appreciation of what new information is needed and an indication of the most promising directions for future research. The discussion was too extensive to report here, but the following notes indicate matters which were especially interesting to those present.