Archive

Posters for the 5th International Materials Education Symposium, 2013

Posters: Day One

Listed in alphabetical order of first author

 

Posters: Day Two

 

Poster Abstracts: Day One

Poster A1

Materials Science and Engineering Training And Education

Nihed Chaâbane, Eric Royer, Servane Coste, Nadia Novacki
CEA, INSTN, UEINE, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France

As a part of the French Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission – CEA, the National Institute for Nuclear Science and Technology (INSTN) is a higher education institution under the supervision of the French Ministries. The international courses covering a wide range of topics related to materials science, neutronics, thermo hydraulics, reactor principles and operation, are generally organized once a year. Theoretical courses are complemented with laboratory work and also technical visits in French facilities. The training sessions aim at providing a thorough background in physical and chemical characterization of surfaces at different scales, metallurgy and properties of Zirconium alloys for nuclear applications and other materials for future nuclear systems. Different physical and chemical phenomena (diffusion, segregation, oxidation, contamination) involving the surface of the materials may intervene at different depth scales. The study of these phenomena involves the use of the appropriate analytical techniques, from the most conventional (Raman spectroscopy, Scanning electron microscope, Scanning tunneling microscope…) to the most innovative requiring Synchrotron X-Ray. In the framework of a multi-disciplinary approach joining together specialists of material science, solid-state physics, physico-chemical interface, it is possible to describe the global behavior of the surface from the microstructure and physical mechanisms at the micro- and nanoscopic scale. Different examples of materials such as SiC/SiC composites, thin Silicon films, ceramic and metallic materials are treated. These schools are designed for PhD students, post-docs and scientists working at European research institutions and also opened for young professionals working in material industry.

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Poster A2

Increasing Engagement in the Materials Science Classroom Through the Use of Guided Inquiry in a Technology Rich Learning Environment

Elizabeth Dell
Associate Professor Mechanical Engineering Technology at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York
Co-Authors: Robert Garrick, Spencer Kim and Larry Villasmil-Rochester Institute of Technology

This paper describes an effort to increase student engagement and learning in the Introduction to Materials Technology course that is part of the Mechanical Engineering Technology core curriculum. Rather than use the traditional lecture as the approach to teaching, students work in teams to solve guided inquiry problems. The approach used is called Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning or POGIL.  POGIL is based on the learning cycle approach of exploration, concept selection and application. The use of POGIL is supported and enhanced by utilizing this approach in a Technology Rich Environment (TRE). The TRE consists of using a specially designed classroom that is equipped with multiple backlit projection screens for enhances visualizations and tablet PCs for each student.  The tablet PC’s have collaborative software that allows digital inking, note taking, student polling, submission of student work and a play back feature. Additionally, students have access to sources on the Internet and software programs, including Granta’s Cambridge Educational Software (CES) Edupack Materials Selection software. Tools being used to assess the effectiveness of this strategy have included student surveys (pre and post) and focus groups regarding the effectiveness of this intervention, student grades (incoming GPA versus course grade) and analysis of student responses on exam questions.  Overall, students reported enhanced engagement using this approach and recommended its use in more courses. Preliminary data has shown that the majority of students benefit from this approach with lower incoming GPA benefit the most from this approach.

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Poster A3

Inter-university Project Based Learning activity for Innovation in Materials and Product Design Teaching

T. Guraya, M. Iturrondobeitia1, L. Cabedo, J Gamez2, D. L.  Sales, T. Ben3, G. Olivella4
1. Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, 2. Universidad Jaime I, 3.Universidad de Cádiz, 4. Granta Design

idM@ti is an interuniversity network for innovative teaching in the field of Materials Science and Engineering that was created in 2010 by the initiative of seven Spanish universities and is widely open to all the Spanish speaking community. Within this network, we share experiences and educational resources with the aim of continuous improvement in teaching.

This year, we have implemented a new experience based in ‘’Project Based Learning’’ in three universities. The project has been developed with students from different engineering disciplines (Industrial Engineering and Industrial Design), with previous knowledge on Materials Science. The students were selected by different criteria (either volunteers or selected by degree level). Although the specific project objectives have slightly changed at each university their all share the shame common aim: to elaborate a proposal to launch a new product to the razors market through the assumption of roles of Industrial Designers and Materials and Process Engineers.

For the development of this product, the teams had meetings were they discuss the organisational tasks, the approaches to use, the results and the proposal itself with the support of CES EduPack. During this project, we encourage our students to contact their peers from other universities and share information with the aim of obtaining better results in the task that each group show weaknesses.

In terms of evaluation, we have considered several aspects of the results obtained by the students:

• Progress in Learning Skills and attitude during the execution of the project. (Planning, role acquisition, teamwork, and self-responsibility)
• Project results, product proposed, its originality, functionality and the explanation on how materials and process were selected and a LCA analysis.
• Finally, we have evaluated the skills obtained in terms of Materials and their Processes; these results have been compared with those students that did not followed the PBL methodology. 

The experience has been extremely positive from both students and academics. It will be shared with other academic institutions at the III idm@ti Workshop that will take place in June 2013 in Bilbao.

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Poster A4

Materials in Spanish Design

R. Izquierdo, L. Cabedo , J. Gámez-Pérez, J. Galán
Industrial Systems Engineering and Design Department (ESID)
Universitat Jaume I – Castellon - Spain

The present work shows the results of a Project carried last year 2011/2012 in the first course of Industrial Design and Product Development Engineering undergraduate studies at Universitat Jaume I (Castellón, Spain).

It has been a coordinated educational project between two subjects belonging to the first course of the above mentioned degree: Materials I, and Artistic Expression I. In this project, a group work has been proposed to students concerning the materials used by renowned Spanish designers in some of their designs, being these designs chosen by the students.

As a result of their group work, each group has been asked to develop a Google Site about their chosen product, where there should appear the information of that product, the type of material used for each of the parts the product consists of, and the effect those materials selection has had in the design novelty.

Therefore, this educational project has tried to find a triple aim:

a) To raise first course students awareness of the interdisciplinary nature of their profile by means of the coordination, in a single activity, of two of their subjects that, apparently, are farthest apart in their curricula and contents.

b) To raise students awareness of the importance of Materials Science in their education as Design and Product Engineers, as many students do not get aware of it until they have to face a real product design project.

c) To acquaint students with the most common materials used in product designs, as well as with the opportunities these materials offer from a technical, aesthetic and artistic point of view.

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Poster A5

Research on Durable Junction of Multimaterials

Lecomte-Beckers Jacqueline1, Nathalie Gerlach1, Lecomte Jacky2
1.University of Liege,  Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department, Liege, Belgium
2.SIRRIS, Collective Centre of the Belgian Technology Industry, Liege, Belgium

This collective project aimed to assess the potential of adhesive bonding in various applications in the field of building construction. This evaluation takes into account technical, economical and ecological aspects and provides a methodology that can be easily transferred to other applications. One part of this study is to investigate alternatives to welded solutions currently used in heat exchangers.

A heat exchanger of a heat pump (PAC) is traditionally constituted of a copper heat pipe on which are fixed one or more copper blades in order to enhance heat transfer. Heat exchange efficiency is mainly dependent on the thermal conductivity of the tube /blades assembly. The fastening system of the blades and the selected materials influence the tube length needed to capture a given energy from the atmosphere. A finite element model which simulates heat exchange between biphasic elements is used to quantify the required tube length to obtain equivalent thermal exchange in various configurations:  welded blades on copper tube, bonded blades on copper tube, aluminum blades and tube, complex extruded profiles. This tube length variation has a direct impact on the cost as well as on the ecological footprint of this exchanger.

A software is developed to evaluate and compare production costs of these different configurations including material costs and manufacturing costs. The environmental impact is assessed by quantifying CO2 emissions during the life cycle of the heat exchanger using CES software EduPack Module Eco design. This choice simplifies the analysis and thus promotes the adoption of this evaluation process by the industrial sector.

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Poster A6

Materials Engineering in a Business Engineering Master Programme

S. Neukermans1 and L. Froyen2
1.Faculty of Economics and Business, KU Leuven, Belgium
2.Department of Metallurgy and Materials engineering, KU Leuven, Belgium

In this contribution we present our approach to a materials engineering course in the master programme in business engineering at KU Leuven (University of Leuven, Belgium). Besides physics, electronics, energy technology and quality control, material engineering is part of the compulsory science, engineering and technology component that accounts for 10 % of the ECTS-credits in the 3+2  year bachelor-master programme. The study material includes the “Materials; engineering, science, processing and design (Ashby et al.)” textbook combined with the Granta CES-EduPack software (Level 2).

The didactical approach consists of a series of lectures (approx. 40 hours), a number of non-compulsory master classes (covering fundamentals of elasticity, plasticity and practical sessions training the use of the software package) and a group assignment. The latter involves the motivated material selection for a practical example through which students have to demonstrate their understanding of material properties and the relation between basic physical properties, shaping and material behaviour. The students are expected to report on their assignment in the form of a wiki. Since an advanced treatment of subjects cannot be expected within the given science and engineering package mentioned above, the focus lies on the integrated approach between basic physical principles and properties, technological processes and economical and ecological aspects.

 

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Poster A7

Research Based Developing of Basic Course of Polymer Technology

P.S. Pietikäinen and A. M. Mauno
Aalto University School of Chemical Technology, Espoo, Finland

It is well-known that highly motivated students achieve better learning results in higher engineering education. This research stems from an idea that the students' conceptual understanding could reflect their underlying motivational factors [1,2] to study. The research was carried out during the years 2009-2012 in the course Basics of Polymer Technology (3 ECTS). This course is compulsory for students in four different degree programmes and it is taken by 150-200 students yearly during one 6-week period. The majority of the students is 2nd year Bachelor students.

To compare both the factual and conceptual learning of students from different degree programmes, a two-part questionnaire was designed. The same questions were given to the students at the very beginning and in the end of the course. The first part contained questions of both substance knowledge and attitudes. The aim was to evaluate the development of students’ understanding of basic concepts of polymer technology. The second part was an essay titled “Me and polymers ten years from now”. The aim of this question was to discover how the students’ conceptual understanding of utilising polymers had developed during the course. [3,4,5] The results of the first parts of the study have been reported in [6,7, 8].

The results show that degree programmes have socialized their students effectively already in the very beginning of the studies to have quite clear professional identity. One group of students saw themselves in a role of biomaterial developers where as another group had the idea that polymeric materials will not be important for them professionally. The results are being be utilized in developing this course in particular and, more generally, in developing the education on degree programme level. The study also indicates usefulness of educational research as tool in developing engineering education.

References

[1] Tolstrup Holmegaard, H., Ulriksen, L. and Möller Madsen, L., Why students choose (not) to study engineering,  Annual Congress. Sefi 2010, 19-22.9.2010, Trnava, Slovakia.
[2] Woolnough, B.,(1994) Factors affecting students’ choice of science and engineering,  Phys. Educ. pp. 329-368.
[3] Zander, R, S. and Zander, B.,( 2002) The art of Possibility, Penguin Books, London.
[4] Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrisson, K.,( Research Methods in Education, fifth edition RoutledgeFalmer, Taylor & Francis Group London and New York.
[5] Biggs, J. and Tang, K., (2007) Teaching for Quality Learning at University. Open University Press, New York.
[6] Pietikäinen, P. and Zitting, E., Developing tools to test conceptual learning in polymer technology, Annual Congress. Sefi 2010, 19-22.9.2010, Trnava, Slovakia.
[7] Pietikäinen, P., Mauno, A. and Zitting, E., Testing conceptual learning to reveal student’ motivation and commitment, Annual Congress. Sefi 2011, 27.-30.9.2011, Lisbon, Portugal.
[8] Pietikäinen, P., Mauno, Conceptual Knowledge and Learning Reflect to Students' Motivation, AnnualCongress. Sefi 2012, 23.-26.9.2012,Thessaloniki, Greece.

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Poster A8

Models of Dislocations in Crystals

Rajesh Prasad
Associate Professor, Department of Applied Mechanics, IIT-Delhi, India

Crystal structures and associated defects are important concepts taught in introductory courses in materials science to engineering undergraduates. Presentations of these concepts require three-dimensional visualization. Thus two-dimensional figures used in textbooks or drawn on blackboards are often inadequate in imparting a clear view of crystals or defects. To overcome this problem most teaching laboratories in material science present students with three-dimensional models. These models are often successful in showing concepts related to periodicity, coordination number, close packing etc. However, in the view of this author, in most cases, the models for dislocations in crystal, are not adequate. In the present work a simple method for making attractive models for dislocations in crystal structure is suggested. In particular, we have models demonstrating edge dislocation, screw dislocation, models showing constancy of Burgers vector, prismatic dislocation loops of both interstitials and vacancy types, low-angle symmetric tilt boundary etc. Way of constructing these models will be described and their use in classroom will be suggested. Below is an example of a model in which a dislocation enters as a positive edge dislocation from the front face but comes out as a negative screw dislocation from the left face thus illustrating the constancy of Burgers vector when a dislocation changes its direction.

In our opinion, solid three-dimensional models often offer better visualization than even 3D-computer graphics. The models presented here have been tested in an introductory course on materials Science (Course AML120: Materials Science at IIT-D) for undergraduate engineering students. The response of the students has been highly enthusiastic.

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Poster A9

Teaching Material Science and Engineering Communication:
An Integrated Teaching, Writing and Communication Program

Raj Rajendran1 and Revathi Viswanathan2
1. Department of Mechanical Engineering School of Mechanical and Building Sciences, B S Abdur Rahman University, India
2. Department of English, School of Science and Humanities, B S Abdur Rahman University, India

Background and motivation

The ongoing project study mainly aims at evaluating the effectiveness of interdisciplinary approach to teaching material science to Master level Mechanical Engineering students. It is believed that an engineering curriculum should lend itself an opportunity to integrate various disciplines, thereby facilitating students’ knowledge of various subjects. It is worthwhile to state that engineering students need to have adequate proficiency in using technical and business English while discussing a technical subject with their customers, vendors, managers, technicians and so on. Today most engineering recruiters specifically seek recent graduates with good communication skills too. A new endeavor has been taken in B.S.Abdur Rahman University to facilitate interdisciplinary instruction in engineering departments. The purpose of this ongoing project study of mechanical department is to ensure students’ effective use of the language while presenting their work and preparing the report on materials science. It is believed that this would improve the students’ communication skills in addition to their technical skills in order to meet the corporate expectations. In this presentation the presenters would share their experiences to highlight the significance of interdisciplinary collaboration. 

What was done? Methods used and why?

The first module in materials science introduces the students to the concepts of materials selection and the criteria used in this process. In the first phase of study, the students were asked to assume that they were working for a company that manufactures a product and is planning to bring out a new design. They are asked to prepare a report (which could be used in a product review analysis) on the materials used, why they were chosen, properties required for that application, cost analysis, manufacturability.

To begin with, the students had to prepare a report relating to their work and present them with their observation before the class. They were asked to suggest alternative materials for designing any new tool or house-hold article. Students discussed the use of new alternative material, the need for replacing the old one, the features of new alternative material and the drawbacks. While the core subject teacher offered suggestions relating to technical subjects, the language teacher focused on students’ communicative ability, presentation skills and language usage. It was found that students had understood the concept very well while making presentations. However, they either lacked clarity of presentation or had to work on communicative ability or organization of points. In the light of these observations, the students have been asked to modify their presentations in the light of the suggestions provided. The questionnaire was provided to the students for feedback on teaching, goals, assessment and generic skills.

In the second phase, students would be oriented to Google docs. They would prepare their reports and submit them for corrections to be done in Google docs. A survey questionnaire would be given to the students for evaluating the effectiveness of integrating humanities with material science engineering.

Results, i.e., include some evidence and analysis. What was found? Conclusions and significance, including wider application

This case study has provided an opportunity for the students to develop the skills required for the real life situation. They have gained practical experience of the materials selection methodology. It has made the students understand the need for enhancing the key skills such as report writing, analysis and interpretation of data.

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Poster A10

CES EduPack Campus Licence: SWOT & Feedback at UPC-BarcelonaTECH

Núria Salán1,2,3, Gustavo Olivella2, Laia Haurie3, Jordi Segalás3, Yadir Torres1, Arlindo Silva2, Magda Figuerola4
1. GidMAT-RIMA
2. IdM@ti
3.UPC-BarcelonaTECH
4. Granta Design

En este trabajo, partiendo de una iniciativa del grupo de Innovación Docente en Materiales del Proyecto RIMA (GidMAT-RIMA) y de la Red IdM@ti, se plantea un ejercicio de análisis del efecto de la instalación de una licencia CAMPUS del software CES EduPack en la Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC-BarcelonaTECH). En cursos anteriores, se disponía de licencias individuales, disponibles para unos pocos departamentos, con limitación de acceso por parte del personal docente e investigador y también del alumnado; en estas condiciones, tan sólo un pequeño porcentaje de materias y contenidos eran explotados por parte de la comunidad UPC.

En este curso 2012/13, y a raíz de la instalación de una licencia CAMPUS, con el mismo coste global que las licencias individuales, el acceso ha sido total para la comunidad académica, con lo que se han incrementado notablemente las materias que han podido incorporar este software y su potencial en la actividad docente, y se ha facilitado que el estudiantado, de manera autónoma, se familiarice con la base de datos de selección de materiales, análisis de diseño de componentes y consideraciones mediambientales de la selección realizada.

Para realizar este estudio, se han considerado las descargas realizadas desde el 1 de septiembre hasta el 1 de febrero (medio curso) y se han consultado opciones docentes que, hasta la fecha, no había sido posible considerar dada la limitación de uso, o la no disponibilidad, del software CES EduPack. El análisis SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) ha puesto de manifiesto la bondad de la situación actual y la mejora de la calidad docente en numerosas actividades. Una selección de comentarios de feedback, por parte del profesorado, da consistencia a las evidencias mostradas por el análisis.

Translation:

This project started by an initiative of the Innovative Teaching Materials RIMA Project group (GidMAT-RIMA) and the IdM@ti network. The outline of the project is based in analysing the effect of installing a software CAMPUS license of EduPack in the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC-BarcelonaTech). In previous years, only individual licenses were available in few departments with a limited access for the teaching and research staff and students. Under these conditions, only a small percentage of subjects and contents in the UPC community were profiting.

In the academic year 2012/13, thanks to the CAMPUS license installation, (whose overall cost is the same than the individual licenses) the whole academic community has been able to access this resource. The number of subjects whose syllabus includes this software have been increased significantly helping the students get used, in an autonomous way, to the material selection databases, the component design analysis and learn more about environmental aspects.

For this study, the number of downloads from September 1 to February 1 (half an academic year) have been considered and other teaching resources have been consulted, which weren't being considered in the past because they were difficult to obtain taking into account the limitations of the use or the availability of the software EduPack. The SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) has revealed the good perspectives of the current situation and the improvement in teaching quality in a large number of activities. Some teachers' feedback gives consistency to the evidence shown by analysis.

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Poster A11

Case Studies in Mechanical Design Course

M. Segarra, A.I. Fernández, J.M. Chimenos
Consolidated Group in Educational Innovation Structure, properties and processing of materials (GIDC e-ppm). Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain

Since the introduction of the new degrees according to the EEES, new teaching methods and activities have been developed to be implemented in all courses. The subject of Mechanical Design of Equipment is taught in the third year of the Chemical Engineering degree at the University of Barcelona. The present activity is a part of the continuous evaluation of the student, which also includes lectures and laboratory sessions.

The aim of this activity is to use the online resources to improve student engagement, and to incorporate learning for graduate attributes such as problem-solving and team-work. A problem-based project is planned that can incorporate these elements.

Students meet in groups of four, choose a quotidian object on which they will do their study, which includes a historical review of its form and components, but it is also desirable to do a little market research to compare materials used in current products and price. Since the subject deals with the mechanical design, selected objects must obviously have a mechanical requirement. The aim of the project is to determine if the object (or one of its components) is being manufactured with the most efficient material at the price fixed by the seller, following the design process and with the help of the CES-EduPack software.

Google Sites has been chosen as the platform to incorporate all the information for each group, as it is very easy to administrate permissions and follow the participation of each student in the overall work of his/her group.

Once the work is completed, the rest of students can access to the uploaded information and evaluate the work of the other groups (peer evaluations).

Safety harness, percussion timbale, golf club, and fire extinguisher are some examples of the projects developed during this semester.

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Poster A12

Hands-on Preparation and Testing of Solution-processed Semiconductor Devices in the Undergraduate Classroom

Jia Sun1, Orla Wilson1, Michael Reese1, Byung J. Jung1, Thomas Dawidcyk1, Mingling Yeh1, Bal M. Dhar1, Bhola N. Pal1, Phylicia Trottman1, Ian McCue1, Lily Berger1, G. Ross Blum1, Erik Heinemann1, David McGee2, Jonah D. Erlebacher1, and Howard E. Katz1
1.Department  of  Materials  Science  &  Engineering,  Johns  Hopkins  University,  Baltimore, MD,
2.Department of Physics, Drew University, 36 Madison Ave., Madison, NJ

We report the successful development of a multi-part laboratory module for building and testing an organic semiconductor transistor in an undergraduate laboratory class that (a) illustrates many materials science concepts, (b) was tested and developed primarily using undergraduate research students, and (c) was statistically shown to be a more effective method for students to learn important materials science skills, device operation, and the scientific method in laboratory classes than the more traditional device testing                approach more commonly found in these classes. The primary device vehicles for this module, transistors that can be made using solution deposition during regular class sessions, are described and procedures for their fabrication given.  Student data and assessments of student learning gains from their experiences are also described.

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Poster A13

Teaching Experiences with CES EduPack in Training Mechanical Engineering Students at BSc and MSc Courses at the University of Miskolc

Miklós Tisza1, Maria Berkes Maros2
1. Professor, Head of Department of Mechanical Engineering 2. Associate Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering,University of Miskolc, Hungary

The new two-level BSc and MSc training of Mechanical Engineering students has been introduced at the University of Miskolc in accordance with the Bologna process during the recent five years. In this new training system special degree courses were developed in both BSc and MSc level for teaching materials sciences and materials processing technologies. Both in Materials Sciences and in Materials Processing Technologies the primary focus is on the classical mechanical engineering aspects but obviously the new groups of advanced materials and processes are also included.

In this training system the application of CES EduPack concerning both the material and process aspects is widely used when elaborating the new curriculum for these courses. Additionally, a new methodology focused on the use of new information technologies particularly the application of interactive e-learning platforms and simulation based analysis in teaching, learning and evaluation has been developed and continuously applied.

This paper will present how the academics and students have used the learning resources provided by CES EduPack. The paper will also show the methods of on-line assessment that have been used to test not only the student’s knowledge but also their ability to use the capabilities and resources of CES EduPack and computer aided simulation packages, too.

Acknowledgements
The work described in this paper was carried out as part of the TÁMOP-4.2.1.B-10/2/KONV-2010-0001 project in the framework of the New Hungarian Development Plan. The realization of this project is supported by the European Union, and co-financed by the European Social Fund.

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Poster A14

Supporting Callister-based materials science courses with CES EduPack

Arlindo Silva1, Hannah Melia2,Rebecca, De Rafael2, Mike Ashby3
1. TULisbon, Instituto Superior Técnico, Dept. Mechanical Engineering, Portugal
2. Granta Design Ltd, Education Division, Cambridge, UK
3. University of Cambridge, Engineering Dept., Cambridge, UK

CES EduPack is an effective way of visualizing fundamental concepts in materials science and an important tool in replacing tedious tables full of numbers with powerful plots that correlate properties. It is often thought that CES EduPack is not compatible with a science led approach. The underlying assumption is that CES EduPack is just a materials and processes selection tool, and is somewhat useless in conveying other more fundamental concepts related to the structure of matter or the bonding of atoms. Nothing could be further from reality! It lets you explore the universe of materials visually. Illustrating how composition and thermal treatments affect the properties of Steel and other metals for example. The level 3 standard data table and the Elements data table, are particularly useful to support the teaching of introductory materials science courses. Other special editions are available for more focused teaching on architecture, eco-design, polymers, aerospace, bio-engineering and other disciplines. It frees the professor from scavenging for reliable data on materials and empowers students to embark on independent study and discovery. The poster will show examples of how CES EduPack can support teaching and learning in materials science.

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Poster A15

Estimation and modelling tools for advanced teaching and research

Charlie Bream, Nick Ball, Cristiano Cesaretto

Granta Design, Cambridge, UK

The world of materials is continually evolving with the number of new materials and models, which describe their performance, rising at an almost exponential rate. This presents a challenge, to both research and advanced teaching, of how to identify and communicate the benefits of these new materials and theories over existing solutions and, in the case of research, how to identify the most promising options before embarking on costly development projects. This issue can be addressed using the ‘Synthesizer’ tool, in CES Selector, which allows custom models to be added to the software, enabling the performance of new materials and structures to be predicted and compared against existing solutions on material property charts.

Some recent examples of this modelling capability include the development of ‘Synthesizer’ models to: predict the performance of balanced multi-layer materials, estimate part cost (combined material and processing costs) and, develop materials with controlled thermal expansion.

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Poster A16

Granta Design's Teaching Resources Website

Hannah Melia, Magda Figuerola and Michelle Hsieh
Granta Design, Cambridge, UK

The new Teaching Resource Website contains over 225 resources contributed by academics in the Materials Education Community. The resources are intended primarily for materials related courses at the undergraduate level across Science, Engineering and Design disciplines. Most are password protected and only available to educators using CES EduPack, however a growing number are also now open access. The site includes:

• Exercises with Worked Solutions (350+)
• PowerPoint Lectures (70+)
• Videos and Webinar Recordings
• Databases and Project Files
• Teach-yourself manuals
• White Papers

Granta plans to continue adding more resources and we are very interested to hear about good resources that we should be linking to, good resource websites we should be collaborating with and any other ideas.

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Poster A17

GRANTA MI—A Framework for Capturing and Re-Using Research Data

Dave Cebon(1,2), Jorge Sobral(1), James Goddin(1) and Stephen Warde(1)
1. Granta Design, Cambridge, UK
2.Cambridge University Engineering Department, Cambridge, UK

Research groups in materials and related subjects amass more and more information each year—e.g., raw test data, meta-data providing context for these tests, analysis results, research notes, images and, increasingly, video. As data piles up and PhD and post-doctoral researchers come and go, it can be hard to make the most of this resource. Useful data is lost, buried in filing cabinets, hidden away on PC hard drives, or scattered around the department network. Much of this data is never re-used. Information that could be of value to collaborators or industrial sponsors is not made available to them in a format or location that makes it usable.

Industry has faced similar problems. For example, the Material Data Management Consortium (MDMC) is a collaboration of aerospace, defence, and energy enterprises that has worked with Granta Design to develop an industry-standard system for managing, controlling, sharing, and using its valuable materials data. These companies want to protect their investments in materials science.  The result of this work is GRANTA MI™—software that allows a research group, department, or company to capture all of its materials data in a single, central database, to manage that data, and to make it available to authorized group members and collaborators through a web browser interface that makes the data simple to search, browse, and apply. GRANTA MI can now be applied in academic research to make best use of the investments of time, effort, and research funding that university departments and their sponsors make in materials research.

This poster will show how GRANTA MI can be applied in academia, taking examples from the Transport Research Group at the Cambridge University Engineering Department, and from several European Union collaborative projects in which Granta is currently engaged with a range of academic and industrial partners. It will also discuss the application of materials data management techniques to projects like the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI). This focuses on the development of a new era of materials innovation and data management frameworks that will serve as a foundation for strengthening both industry and research. Finally, the poster will comment on the educational benefits of such an approach—preparing research students for some key practical considerations and systems that they will encounter should they move into industry and want to maximize the impact of their work.

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Poster A18

Merging materials science and manufacturing technology in education—a Danish approach at DTU

Karen Pantleon, Rajan Ambat, and Marcel A.J. Somers
Technical University of Denmark, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Produktionstorvet, Building 425, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark

Materials education relies on an interdisciplinary interplay of different areas of expertise, such as physics, chemistry, mechanics, biology, etc. As material related phenomena play a role in each of these disciplines it can be difficult for students to identify the multidisciplinary, but self-contained, nature of materials science and engineering. It is crucial that materials science and engineering not only satisfies the pure curiosity of interesting phenomena, but is rather driven by the need of proper materials selection and optimization for high-technology products in specific applications. That implies that the education in materials science and engineering not only comprises general principles or rules for the various types of materials, but that it emphasises the relationship between the internal structure of materials and the complex manufacturing chain for advanced products on the macro- and micro-scale.

The MSc program “Materials and Manufacturing Engineering” at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) is targeted towards the integration of materials and manufacturing technologies specifically to cater industrial needs. The status of materials in Denmark encounters particular challenges: i) although introductory materials courses are part of several BSc educations, there is no dedicated BSc program on materials science and ii) Danish industry is dominated by the application of materials, rather than their production. Supported by research based teaching and case studies on industrially relevant applications of materials, the students obtain professional competences on the relationship between the microstructure of materials, the relevant processes (manufacturing and post-treatment), the associated properties, the performanceunder operating conditions of a specific product.

The poster presents an overview on the MSc program in “Materials and Manufacturing Engineering” at DTU and exemplifies how it provides both scientific knowledge and practical skills to meet the requirements of permanent product development in industry.

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Poster A19

CES EduPack Teaching Resources in Spanish

P. Torres, G. Olivella
Granta Design Ltd.

CES Edupack is a resource that was developed specifically to support teaching of materials-related topics in higher education. It serves both a science-led approach and a design-led approach. More than 800 universities worldwide now use it to support their teaching on materials and also on sustainability. There are a number of teaching resources available from our website that accompany the software: 250+ supporting materials that include PowerPoint lectures, sets of exercises with worked solutions, interactive case studies, teach yourself booklets, white papers, getting started guides and video tutorials for the CES Edupack software and materials and process selection charts. These resources can be used freely by academics as they see fit to support their teaching.

Due to our growing commitment in Spanish speaking countries, Granta has helped to create a community of educators that is currently developing teaching resources specifically for Spanish speaking university curricula. The present poster presents the work done so far and future perspectives.

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Poster Abstracts: Day Two

Poster B1

Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering

Dr. Oana Bretcanu
Newcastle University

Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering is a new module offered by School of Mechanical and Systems Engineering at Newcastle University. The module is designed for stage 4 Master of Engineering (MEng) undergraduates, taking the Mechanical Engineering with Bioengineering stream and for Biomedical Engineering MSc postgraduates. The aim of this module is to help the students to gain a greater depth and breadth of knowledge in the field of Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, from fabrication methods to medical applications.

The module started for the first time in the academic year 2012/2013 and had 17 students. A study regarding the improvement of students interactions during the lectures was carried out in October-November 2012. The students were asked to answer to different questions individually or grouped in teams (4 or 5members) for a limited time. It was noticed that they prefer the team work and became more enthusiastic when it was a debate. The students were more active when they received clear guidelines for the group discussions (such as: advantages/disadvantages of hydrogel contact lenses; how would you sterilise a hernia mesh?; how would you improve the biocompatibility of a bone cement?). The preferred time limit for the group activities was 15minutes. The students found the open discussions at the end of the teams activities more interesting and useful than a plain 60 minutes lecture.

In conclusion, short team activities will be introduced for each lecture in the Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering module.

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Poster B2

Materials Identification used to Redesign Products by using Eco-Design.
A novel approach in the mechanical engineering curriculum at the University of Lille 1 – sciences and technology.

Jean Yves Dauphin, and Ion Cosmin Gruescu*
University of Lille 1, Sciences and Technology, Mechanical Engineering Department, France

*corresponding author

Numerous products are actually designed and promoted on the markets by only considering as major criterions their selling price and lower production costs. The materials choice is in this context neglected and the design process guided by integrating programmed obsolescence.

The eco design methods and materials choice tools constitute a very useful alternative permitting to design new products, environmentally friendly and with longer lifetime duration. By trying to redesign existing household appliances with similar performances and functionalities to existing ones it was tried to identify several materials in order to obtain information necessary for a correct materials choice. Taking in account some difficulties encountered during this procedure, the need of a rigorous approach and of simple tools permitting to overcome such difficulties appeared.

We decided then to propose to the mechanical engineering students a coupled identification procedure and a materials choice methodology allowing obtaining correct information, useful in the redesign of an existing product. Several aspects of this approach are presented here. The materials identification procedure is introduced in a practical manner, allowing conducting several experiences without using complicate identification tools (e.g. a plastic can be identified by the only water floating and/or flame tests).  The functional parameters of a product are equally measured and analyzed based on researches concerning the materials properties. The manufacturing processes are equally treated by integrating energy reduction costs problems. This permits to make new materials choices or to confirm the use of existing ones by integrating environmental footprint criterions.

In the Mechanical Engineering department of the University of Lille the previously described procedure is successfully applied and developed by insisting on the connections between materials, processes, environment and design in order to underline the importance of the materials choice during the entire lifecycle of a product.

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Poster B3

Expanding the Material Awareness among Design Students using Individual Material Collections as an Educational Tool

Karen Marie Hasling, PhD student and Vibeke Riisberg, associate professor
Kolding School of Design

The poster aims to share the idea and initial experience with introducing individual material collections (IMCs) as educational tools for improved material understanding and awareness among design students at Kolding School of Design, Denmark.

The potential in using IMCs is based on observations and studies of one of the material courses conducted at Institute for Product Design, Kolding School of Design, which identified difficulties with articulating and identifying material criteria and thus properties for design concepts.

As design is a highly practice-based discipline, which should emphasis on the individuals’ way of perceiving and experiencing materials, the hypothesis is that introducing individual material collections as a part of the design education, can enhance the individual design student’s material understanding and use.

The IMC tool is constructed of multiple progressive steps of detailing that will be introduced, as the students develop their material knowledge and awareness during their training. This includes introductory lectures and mandatory workshops in the under grad program, follow-up sessions, integration in other practical courses and elective workshops during the grad studies.

Benefits of the IMC:

• Each student creates a material collection customized for individual needs and interests
• Stronger links between practical courses and own experiences are established
• Students get a template for communicating materials with each other and others
• Students can include materials made by themselves during courses
• The IMC template provides a frame for structuring materials
• The tool can well be integrated in the material teaching already conducted at Kolding School of Design

Challenges of the IMC:

• Ensure that students use the IMC in their practice
• Provide the right material information categories
• Offer adequate flexibility in the template to make it applicable for all the school’s students
• Make teachers in all practical courses use the IMC and encourage students to develop IMC during courses.

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Poster B4

LCA Comparison via CES EduPack’s Eco Audit Tool and GaBi for Construction Process Optimization Concerning Environmental Impact Information, Based on Realized Project

Barbara Hausmann, M. Sc. Dipl-Ing.
Holzforschung München

Life Cycle Analysis is used as concept allowing to support building design decisions. Engineers need applicable data and tools implementing lifecycle and impact performance information. CES as specialist tool to support materials selection and Gabi as professional LCA software are compared in this study. The study aims to compare LCA proposed ideal material within a realized construction project.

Steel, Glulam, PTFE and concrete elements are analyzed. Embodied impacts for each life cycle phase are derived. CES Eco audit tool lacks of the material data source information, data used for manufacturing phases are limited. GaBi offers more detailed information. The construction is analyzed due to the influences and changes of alternative materials selection choices, to find the best possible applicability in the construction process. Further, we study the possibility of replacement with wood based components as example.

Results allow drawing conclusion on applicability of CES for construction development and decision support. The ideal material composition allows deriving requirements for further resource saving material development and innovation potential identification. CES is made applicable in our civil engineers education to add environmental information to physical and mechanical properties, which can also be applied in architectural education.

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Poster B5

Energy and Carbon Footprint of Camping Stoves

Anja Pfennig
HTW University of Applied Sciences Berlin, FB 2 mechanical engineering, Wilhelminenhofstraße 75A, Gebäude C, 12459 Berlin, e-mail: anja.pfennig@htw-berlin.de

Since spring semester 2010 a project based course “Mechanical Engineering, Materials and Environment” is taught to undergraduate students in their 2nd year at the Applied University of Technology and Economics Berlin HTW. This year`s project topic was “Camping Stoves”. The students worked on the eco audit of 10 differently fired camping stoves (e.g. Primus Ti, Camping Gaz, or other) and were asked to redesign those in a environmentally friendly way. Therefore they disassembled the parts and analysed the materials or acquired information elsewhere. Finally they had to research on processing, materials and transportation as well as on assembly of the end product. The data was processed with the Eco-Audit-Tool of CES by Granta Design. Changes could be easily made by substituting different materials for the processing and manufacturing phase, but since the use phase is dominating in camping stoves material innovations were not as easy to apply. Still solutions were worked out for the more complex stoves such as fuel fired stoves, which were then compared to each other. It was interesting to find out that heating times claimed by the producer were hardly ever met and that the simplest stove (trangia made nearly 100% from alumina) was the most eco-friendly, even compared with the so-called light weight designs. Comparing their own data to environmental data from industries with similar eco-audit outputs showed that even in the so-called eco friendly outdoor world there is little information available in public on precise data and on environmental impact.

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Poster B6

The Hidden Secrets of a Successful Problem- and Project-Based Product Development Course

Prof. Dr. – Ing. Steffen Ritter
Hochschule Reutlingen, Germany

This problem- and project-based course takes part as a high light at the end (6th semester) of a bachelor program for mechanical engineering. The task is a real constructive product development project with industrial background up to finalized drawings and a complete technical documentation.

Out of classes of 30 to 40 students four Students form so called “engineering offices”, where they work on one given real industrial problem and compete against each other. In a strict timing schedule they work from basic ideas, concepts, material choice, design and respective calculations and simulations to finished drawings with all necessary information including a technical documentation. Four presentations in front of the industrial customer give the students the chance to advertise for themselves and to convince the customer of their solution. Full feedback about any presentation and content aspect is given to the students.

For 20 projects this teaching format was held at Reutlingen University. As a teacher, it is always hard to get the real needs and requirements of product development tasks across. With the implementation of real engineering problems and real customers from industry, it becomes a way better authenticity and credibility. Despite of the core aims, the use and integration of all the learned subjects of a mechanical engineering program, soft skills like communication, collaboration, time planning, task sharing… are trained in a real life setting. Specially adjusted lectures and weekly face to face meetings support the projects from the side of professors and staff.

Despite the basic idea of the real development project, the secret for the success of the “Projektarbeit” is the optimization of the formal settings over the past 10 years. The acquisition of the right industrial partners, the choice of the right problem, the timing of the project, the evaluation of grades and other formal aspects are the important factors for a persistent, motivating and inspiring course. The poster will share these findings.

In final student evaluations they confirm the value of such an all-embracing student project, especially for their industrial career. For them, one of the most important points is the absolute realistic working environment with all respective characteristics.

Due to the success of this teaching format more than 4 other problem- and project-based lecture formats were rolled out over the past 18 month in the faculty.

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Poster B7

Sustainable Design – The Role of Materials in Sustainability

Jordi Segalàs1, Didac Ferrer2
1.Research Institute of Sustainability Science and Technology
2.Sustainable Management Office
UPC – Barcelona Tech

The Research Institute of Sustainability Science and Technology coordinates the Master of Sustainability at UPC – Barcelona Tech University. The first author is coordinating the subject Sustainable Design, a 5 ECTS subject of the master of Sustainability. The course uses constructive and community oriented learning for sustainable design. It is organized around three axes: Strategies, Tools and Projects. First, students are introduced to sustainable design strategies principles, like Eco-design, Cradle to Cradle, Biomimicry, Human Centred Design, Design for sustainable Behaviour, Social Design and Product Service Systems. Second, and as a pilot educational project, students use CES EduPack 2013 using the new Sustainability databases tool: Additional risk indicators on Material and Process datasheets (abundance, critical material status, price volatility…), Nations of the world table (210 records) and Legislations table (44 records). The tool follows the 5 steps approach suggested in the white paper Materials and Sustainability: 1st  Step - Prime objective and scale; 2nd Step - Stakeholders analysis; 3rd Step - Fact-finding; 4th Step - Integration and 5th Step - Reflection on alternatives. Finally, students apply the tool to a contextualized project taking into consideration the sustainable strategies available. The projects are: Electric mobility (cars and motorbikes), Bamboo for construction, Nespresso café machine, and small wind and solar energy facilities. This is a Pilot experience using this new Sustainable databases tool. There are no outcomes yet, but students are starting to use the tool and are eager to apply the design steps in their projects. We expect to present some preliminary results at the symposium.

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Poster B8

Implementing an Evidence-Based Reform of a Material Engineering Curriculum

Véronique Vitry, Angeline Aubert, Fabienne Delaunois
University of Mons (UMONS)

The employment rate of our graduates and a survey (‘Is there a future for teaching Metallurgy in Belgium?’, V. Vitry – A. Aubert – F. Delaunois, GrantaDesign 2012) showed that our graduates met no difficulties to find jobs. However, the link between what (and how) they’ve learned at university, and the knowledge and skills they use everyday was not obvious. A first issue aroused from this study: how to guarantee a good balance between polyvalent engineering education and specialized knowledge and skills in order to enable our graduates to enjoy flexible careers ? Then, a key-step of the accreditation process of our engineering master degrees, was to review and validate the programme learning outcomes taking into account the point of view of the main stakeholders: employers, graduates, students and academics.

Additional surveys, focus-groups and analysis were carried out:

• with employers to evaluate the relevance of the learning outcomes and assess the graduates’ proficiency
• with graduates and students to evaluate the relevance of the learning outcomes, get a self-evaluation of their proficiency and identify any need that our curriculum should cover
• with the academics to match the courses outcomes with the programme outcomes, so as to identify any gap or lack in the curriculum  and to check the coherence and relevance of the teaching and assessments methods with the learning outcomes.

The presentation will describe the methodology and highlight the main results with examples. The results stressed the quality of our graduates’ technical disciplinary knowledge but put into light the need to strengthen the competence of our engineers regarding interpersonal and professional skills such as innovation, teamwork or leadership. Reaching this goal is not a question of adding new courses but requires to rethink our programme – and innovate – to better integrate “soft skills” development on one hand, and technical disciplinary expertise acquisition on the other hand.

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Poster B9

Innovative Industrial Design at the Service of Materials Selection in the Development of Multi-Function Products

Mircea Voda(1,2), Ion Cosmin Gruescu(1)*
1. University of Lille 1, Sciences and Technology, Mechanical Engineering Department, France
2.Politehnica University of Timisoara - Mechatronics Department, France

*corresponding author

The innovative industrial design represents a creative answer to the economical issues and it helps the companies to win new markets or to develop the existing ones.

The designer is simultaneously an artiste, a technician, an ergonomist and an inventor. The first task he must ensure is the impregnation of the product, of its technical characteristics, of the using conditions and of the consumer needs, before even imagining the final product, performing the materials choice and designing the product by ensuring its optimal quality. One of the designer tools is differentiation (give to the product a unique character) this can be attended for example by designing multi-functional products. He can use powerful tools such the materials choice and eco-design methods, which are simultaneously constraints to be accounted to obtain environmentally friendly and with longer lifetime duration products.

It is then obvious necessary that while trying to redesign multi-functional equipments to consider the manufacturing process before performing the materials choice. This supposes to respect the client specifications and the consideration of innovative technologies, with lower environmental footprint.

Taking in account the need of such a rigorous approach, we decided to propose to the mechanical engineering students an innovative design procedure which facilitates the materials choice and allows a simultaneous development of the student’s curiosity and technical creativity. Several aspects of this approach are presented here.

The studied product is a pedal bike which must be redesigned in order to obtain a multi-functional product used on both VTT and road bicycles. Before considering the materials choice procedure the design of the product is realized by integrating its functional parameters and by performing researches concerning the existing norms, the adapted machining processes or technologies and by evaluating the environmental footprint of the entire manufacturing process. The energy reduction costs are the main constraint in this context. This point analyze is coupled with the materials choice, fact which allows to make the best choices and to confirm the design of the product by integrating the environmental footprint criterions.

The previously described procedure was recently applied and developed at the University Lille 1 by insisting on the connections between materials, processes, environment and design in order to highlight the importance of the materials choice during the entire lifecycle of a product.

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Poster B10

Design Texture and Design Finish Surface Treatment to Achieve the User's Preferences

Patrizia D'Olivo a 1, Barbara Del Curto a 2 4, David Delafosse b 2 3, Jenny Faucheu b 2 5, Dominique Lafon c 2 6, Jean-François Bassereau b 1

a Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Chimica, Materiali e Ingegneria Chimica "Giulio Natta", Piazza L.da Vinci, 32-20133, Milano, Italy b Ecole Nationale Superieure des Mines de Saint Etienne, Centre Science des Matériaux et des Structures, Laboratoire Claude Goux UMR CNRS-ENSMSE 5146, France c Ecole des Mines d'Ales, Centre des Matériaux de Grande Diffusion, France. 1 Research Fellow, 2 Professor, 3 Department Head, 4 Associate Professor, 5 Assistant Professor, 6 Senior Researcher.

In recent years, large improvements have been made in the field of materials selection for industrial application.

In particular, the good selection reflects the good performances for which the industrial professionals are looking for.

As happened in the past in the organization of the main criteria of selection, for tools as CES or other research-tool related to some materioteque, the aestethical/sensorial appeal of the materials became the center point of design and engineering topics.

The skin of the products determines the preferences in terms of appreciation, affection and sell.

The recent state of the art shows a huge discussion on the emotional impact of the products, but from an industrial point of view this topic brings new scenarios, concerning with the possible control on it. The use of textures and their design could modify the product's skin and generate a method to achieve the user in a pre-defined way.

The work presented show how is possible to control the sight and touch perception by creating certain features on some material samples and the observation of users. The recording of the perceptive stimuli by the user, generate a kind of reading map that let us understand with which features is possible to play in order to obtain certain sensorial perceptions.

The results give credits to the possibility of development of a useful tool for the reading of preferences, that could help in a significant way the industrial process in the material and finish treatments selection step. It's a sort of classification of the "perceptive intent" that designers could obtain on the final product in order to simplify their work and enrich the industrial value of the new production.

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Poster B11

Polymeric Materials for Solar Thermal Collectors – Comprehensive Evaluation of Polymer Based Design Concepts Using CES SelectorTM

Harald Kicker
Ohannes Kepler University Linz

Regarding renewable energy technologies solar thermal systems are of high importance with an overall installed capacity of 245 GWth worldwide (IEA, 2012). The main component of solar thermal systems is the collector which is currently made in a rather time consuming process from a variety of materials including e.g. glass for the glazing and metals for the absorber. The nominal operating temperature range of solar thermal systems for hot water preparation and heating supply is around 90 °C. However in conventional solar thermal systems overheating with maximum temperatures up to 240 °C is occurring requiring a complex system with expansion vessels and pressure valves. To overcome this problem overheating control measures have to be developed and implemented allowing for the use of all plastics solar thermal systems. Currently science-driven collaborative research projects under the label SolPol® are dealing with novel all polymeric collectors and systems using different design approaches (www.solpol.at) (Lang and Wallner, 2012).

Based on the design concept of Ashby and the CES Selector software material indices (Ashby, 2010) are defined for plastics based absorbers and collectors. In contrast to metal absorbers in pipe-fin design plastic absorbers require a multi-pipe or hollow sheet design. To realize such structures various processing technologies can be used e.g. extrusion, thermo forming and bonding of membranes.Several processing technologies for the production of the plastics absorber are considered. Special attention is given on the scale effects of the various absorber designs and processing technologies on the overall costs and the environmental impacts of plastics based solar thermal collectors. The results for the plastics based collectors are compared to state of the art metal and glass based collectors.

References:

IEA (2012). Weiss, W., Mauthner, F., Solar Heat Worldwide, Report of IEA SHC, AEE-INTEC, Gleisdorf (A).

Lang, R.W. (2012). Polymeric Materials for Solarthermal Collectors - Status, Challenges and Perspectives, Presentation SHC Conference San Francisco 2012

Ashby, M. F. (2010). Materials Selection in Mechanical Design, Fourth Edition, Butterworth-Heinemann; 4 edition (October 5, 2010)

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Poster B12

Using Service Learning to Educate Students and Homeowners in Materials and Equipment Selection for Energy Retrofits

Sue Ballard de Ruiz Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, Design Program, Tennessee State University, 3500 John A. Merritt Blvd., Box 9598 615/963-5623

The majority of the homes built prior to the 1970s were built with limited insulation and energy considerations.   Residential energy consumption accounts for 20 percent of CO2 emissions and energy use in the US, and 27 percent in the UK (4,2). However, policies addressing climate change focus primarily on setting minimum standards for new homes, while ignoring the potential energy savings of retrofitting existing homes (1).

In two projects funded by the US Department of Agriculture, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and a non-profit community agency, students of three universities took part in researching materials, practices, and products used in homes and how they impact the environment.  Students enrolled in interior design, architectural engineering, and earth and environmental science courses took part in energy evaluations and sustainable living workshops along with homeowners.  Workshops provided a basic understanding of how energy is actually consumed in homes and how materials affect indoor air quality.   As part of one project, one hundred low- income homeowners are receiving energy retrofits for their older homes.  Preliminary energy audits identified the most effective use of resources to reduce energy consumption.  Students were involved in pretests and post-tests to determine indoor air quality in terms of mold and radon, and lead contamination of soil, water, and interior and exterior finishes. 

Some traditional solutions that are considered primary components of energy efficiency in new construction have been shown to increase energy consumption in some older housing stock, as well as negatively impact indoor air quality.   Therefore, older housing stock presents unique opportunities in education, evaluation, and rehabilitation. This presentation will focus on the problems associated with energy retrofits that are unique to older housing stock and how to involve students and communities in energy conservation and environmental education.  

1. Gerarden, Todd (2008) Residential Energy Retrofits: An untapped resource right at home.  Federation of American Scientists. Washington, DC.
2. Killip, Gavin, (July 2008)Transforming the UK’s existing Housing stock: a report for the Federation of Master Builders,  Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford
3.  Department for Communities and Local Government (Oct. 2010) English Housing Survey, Housing Stock Report.
4. United States Department of Energy (2012) Buildings Energy Data Book.

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Poster B13

Apprentissage Par Probleme: "Learning by Doing" Redesigned for Top Level French Graduating Students

A. Mège-Revil, D. Balloy, J.Y. Dauphin, J.C. Tissier
Cité Scientifique, École Centrale de Lille, France.

Most students at the École Centrale de Lille are selected by a national competitive exam after two or three years of an intensive scientific course. These preparatory years are focused on giving the students a strong mathematical background as well as going through physics’ most classical problems. As a consequence, they lack practical thinking and need to be put in real life situations.

As part of their formation in the École Centrale de Lille, about 18 students follow an optional module called “Choix des Matériaux” (Selecting Materials). During this 32-hour module, the students are given technical objects (a solenoid valve, a lighter, a circuit breaker, a computer hard disk, a relay, a spark plug) by groups of three. Their first task consists in establishing the scope statement; they then have to determine the materials that are used to meet the scope statement’s requirements, using as much information as they can gather.

Objects from different eras or using different technologies are presented to help them deduce the way each one works. These differences reflect the evolution of both technologies and health and safety regulations. Each team is allowed some time at the Scanning Electron Microscope to check or improve their knowledge of their parts. Finally, the students justify the choices that have been made on critical parts of the objects. To do so, they compute material indices (with critical judgment), and check with what they have gathered from regulations.

In the end, the students are more familiar with materials, their properties and the reasons that lead to choosing specific materials for specific applications. Moreover, their final presentations show they have understood the concepts with both phenomenological and practical approaches, thus bridging the gap between the mathematical concepts and their real life applications.

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Poster B14

Performance Charts for Materials in Architecture

Dr. Javier Orozco-Messana
Universidad Politecnica de Valencia

The use of materials in architecture is lacking a systematic approach allowing the adequate comparison of performance from well-established criteria and international standards.

Around this topic a thorough analysis on the concepts of the ecology of contemporary construction will be attained. This effort involves identifying the distinct consumption profile and resource requirement attributes of our existing anthropogenic stock of buildings while formulating design strategies that contribute to reuse and recycling of building materials and components.

From the different building  systems perspective different construction materials are compared and ranked with several constrain groups defined for price and sustainability. Later the impact of hybrid materials is explored as an alternative strategy for the architectural use of materials today.

Relevant conclusions are identified for the design and use of new materials in architectural design.

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Poster B15

Resources to Support Bio-engineering and Biological Materials Education

Luke Brown, Anna Pereira
Granta Design, Cambridge, UK

Granta Design is developing resources to support the teaching of bio-engineering and biological materials. This poster will look at current progress related to introductory and advanced topics, including the introductory and intermediate CES EduPack Bio-engineering Databases, and the advanced Human Biological Materials Database.

The Human Biological Materials Database is a unique resource of mechanical property data for specific human tissues that is compiled from published literature concerning the properties of the tissues of the human body. The database contains properties of the skeletal tissues, which have been collected and analysed for the main different types of material found in each individual bone, such as cortical and trabecular bone of the femur. Where possible, dependencies such as age are presented in graphical form, enabling the user to visually see how the properties are affected.

The data compilation is suitable for FEA applications, to compare the properties of these materials with synthetic materials, for educational purposes and as a general reference source. In particular the information presented will provide a thorough introduction to the mechanical properties of human tissues for educational courses. However, it is ideally suited for in-depth research of the biomechanical properties of tissues, due to the ease that the data can be extracted from the database for simulation analysis and for comparison to synthetic materials for potential prostheses.

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Poster B16

Deciding on Low-Carbon Power Systems: Materials and Energy Criteria

Arlindo Silva(1,2) and Mike Ashby(2,3)
1. TULisbon, Instituto Superior Técnico, Dept. Mechanical Engineering, Portugal
2. Granta Design, Education Division, Cambridge, UK 3. University of Cambridge, Engineering Dept., Cambridge, UK

If you want to make and use materials the first prerequisite is energy. The global consumption of primary energy today is approaching 500 exajoules (EJ)1, derived principally from the burning of gas, oil and coal. This reliance on fossil fuels will have to diminish in coming years to meet three emerging pressures:

• to adjust to diminishing reserves of oil and gas
• to reduce the flow of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere
• to reduce dependence on foreign imports of energy and the tensions these create

The world-wide energy demand is expected to treble by 2050. The bulk of this energy will be electrical. Renewable power systems draw their energy from natural sources: the sun (through solar, wind, and wave), the moon (through tidal power), and the Earth’s interior (through geothermal heat). But it is a mistake to think that they are in any sense “free”. They incur a capital cost, which can be large. They require land. Materials and energy are consumed to construct and maintain them, and both construction and maintenance have an associated carbon footprint. How can these alternative power systems be compared? We do so by examining their resource intensities. The latest CES EduPack system includes a database of low-carbon power systems and the materials of which they are made. It is a specially adapted version of the CES EduPack Level 3 database, expanded to have a new data-table, that for “Low-carbon energy systems”. The additional data-table, with which the software opens, contains records for the power systems incorporated in the tool:

• Conventional fossil-fuel power: gas and coal
• Nuclear power
• Solar energy: thermal, thermo-electric and photo-voltaics
• Wind power
• Hydro power
• Wave power
• Tidal power
• Geothermal power
• Biomass

The database can be inquired for a number of parameters pertaining to each of the above power systems, like Capital intensity ($/kW), Area intensity (m2/kW), Material intensity (kg/kW), Construction energy intensity (MJ/kW), Construction Carbon intensity (kg/kW) and Capacity factor(%).

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Poster B17

From Design to Science: An Educational Resource on ‘NEU’ Materials to Inspire and Motivate Students

Marc Fry, Thomas Götte
Granta Design

Background: The New, Emerging and Unusual (NEU) Materials Database is a joint project of Granta Design, University of Cambridge and Technische Universität Berlin. It is developed to provide academics with quick access to information on NEU materials for teaching.

Concept: The database is developed for CES EduPack, an educational resource used at over 800 universities and colleges worldwide in the fields of engineering, science and design to support materials and process related teaching. Most CES EduPack Editions, like many other teaching resources, focus on established materials. The integration of materials such as Aerogels, Shape Memory Alloys and Nano-materials aims to provide educators with a supporting resource to attract their students’ interest in materials.

Embodiment: Each material record contains a description, the composition and an image of the material; —if possible, a typical application is also given. General and physical properties in the datasheet give the material a profile that can be compared to other established engineering materials using the CES EduPack selection capabilities. The incorporation of two additional attributes, Material design and Microstructure, provides information on how process technology, chemical composition and the resultant microstructure affect the material’s properties (i.e., microstructure-property relations).

Value: A computer based system enables the user to quickly access information on NEU materials and compare it to information on established engineering materials. Students can browse, search and select, and can explore unique properties, with the help of material property charts, in an interactive way.

Results and Discussion: The database was first released in January 2011. So far more than 200 academics have downloaded the database for evaluation. The level of depth as well as the breadth of the database will be reviewed based on feedback during the next development cycle. Some universities have already agreed to contribute to the database in the field of Nano-materials. The benefit to such contributing institutions and their partners will be raised awareness of their developments amongst a wider academic audience through full acknowledgement in the database.

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Poster B18

Polymeric Materials – The Key Materials for Sustainable Development Technologies

Reinhold W. Lang and Gernot M. Wallner
Johannes Kepler University (JKU) Linz, Austria

Being one of the founding Institutes of the new academic program Polymer Engineering and Technologies at the Johannes Kepler University of Linz (JKU) established in 2009, the teaching and research responsibility of the Institute of Polymeric Materials and Testing (IPMT) covers the fields of physics, material science, testing and applications of the entire range of polymeric materials (plastics, elastomers, polymer based composites and hybrid materials, specialty polymers). As the teaching and research profile of the Institute is strongly directed towards technologies associated with Sustainable Development considerations and require­ments, strong emphasis is placed on the expected role and contributions of polymeric materials to sustainable technology innovations. In terms of time scale, a perspective until 2050 is usually taken, which roughly coincides with the professional life of the current student generation.

To identify some of the key technological challenges from on a global perspective, reference is made among others to the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG; United Nations, 2008). Thus, it is generally accepted that meeting the needs of the growing global population for energy and water by adequate technologies is at the core of any Sustainable Development scenario. As to the case of energy, for example, it is also increasingly acknowledged that the transformation of the current fossil fuel and nuclear based energy system to an energy system substantially-to-fully based on renewable resources is at the core of any future Sustainable Development path. However, so far little attention has been paid on the required future energy technology mix along with the underlying material technologies driving needed innovations. And yet, it is quite obvious that the selection of adequate materials is of prime importance for the entire energy transformation chain in general, and for the primary conversion of solar energy into electricity or heat in particular. Similar arguments may be brought up for the case of meeting the future global water needs (fresh/potable water, sanitation, agriculture & food production, etc.) in a sustainable manner by appropriate technologies and materials for water management systems (incl. supply, disposal, waste water treatment).

Following the trends in other fields of technology and application (i.e., packaging, buildings and construction, automotive, electrical and electronics industry), there are strong indications that polymeric materials (plastics, elastomers, composites, hybrid materials) will also be the key motor for technological advances and innovations in future solar energy and water management technologies. The teaching mode and research approach at the IPMT usually involves the following aspects:

• Analysis of market demand or deployment scenarios on various geographical-regional scales (national, continental, global)
• Derivation of region specific overall goals and performance requirements for technology and material innovations (systems level)
• Derivation of a more detailed set of technical requirements for key components and subcomponents and for the materials needed (component level, materials level)
• Selection of appropriate materials (along with processing/conversion technologies) from commercially available products and/or definition of development goals for novel polymeric material grades and compounds as key-prerequisite for academic-driven research projects
• Establishment of science-driven, collaborative research projects for specific research topics with strong involvement of students in performing academic theses (BSc, MSc, PhD)

A case study will be provided for the example of polymeric materials for solar-thermal collectors in Europe. In close context, the use of the CES SelectorTM for several special solar-thermal absorber designs is illustrated in an associated separate Poster (Poster B11).

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Poster B19

Materials Scientists, Engineers and Product Designers: Not so different after all

Arlindo Silva1, Philippe Radlovic2, Hannah Melia3
1 Mech. Eng. Dpt., Instituto Superior Tecnico, T. U. Lisbon, Portugal
2 Eco Design Specialist, Edu. Division, Granta Design Ltd, Cambridge, UK
3 Teaching Resources Team Leader, Edu. Division, Granta Design Ltd, Cambridge, UK

This poster intends to convey the message that materials know-how is a broad topic under which several professionals work to make society a better place. Teaching materials to diverse student audiences can be difficult; especially when the course (or module, or discipline, depending on the country) is to be taught by materials scientists to engineers or product designers for example. In this case, the professor will have a fundamentally different notion of what materials are from the students’ perception of what materials should be and how they would be used in their future profession. This leads to problems of lack of motivation in both faculty and with students, excessive fail rates and poor grades, and a generalized feeling of lack of communication and connection with real life: remember that real life means different things to different people!

A broader vision of what the materials discipline means to each stakeholder group must be built and the points of contact identified, so that a common materials thread can become apparent. Engineers, materials scientists, and product designers (to name a few) all need some fundamental knowledge of materials and their behaviour under different settings to be able to extract the most out of them for a specific application. Also, however different the knowledge they need, it is still about materials, and the continuum of knowledge that is combined by all of these materials user groups is something developed in this poster that can be referred to as ‘materials systems and design’.

The poster presents the different visions of these three common materials user groups (engineers, materials scientists and product designers) and notes the differences and similarities amongst them when it comes to materials knowledge and education. It shows how CES EduPack can support all three user groups. It will provide a global vision of materials and how it can serve as a common thread between these user groups in higher education.

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Poster B20

Beyond YouTube

J. Gámez-Pérez,  S. Sánchez, L. Cabedo, R. Izquierdo, R. Oliver.
Polymers and Advanced Materials Research Group (PIMA), ESTCE - Universitat Jaume I (Castelló de la Plana - Spain)

This work presents an interactive presentation, based on the Prezi ® platform, of the Materials Science I laboratories, from the degree of Industrial Design and Product  Development Engineering at the Universitat Jaume I. This presentation simulates a virtual laboratory, where text and videos are distributed in the areas according to the tasks and elements of the lab practices. This setup allows the students to either see the full presentation or accessing directly to a specific area where they can consult the videos or explanations.

The expected achievements of these presentations are to strength the educational aspects of the laboratory practice in the previous stages of the lab (the students can view the presentations in advance to recognize the equipment and assimilate the concepts involved in the lab) as well as to give a reminder support when preparing the technical reports. In any case, these presentations are not intended to replace the lab syllabus nor the practical work at the laboratory, but support with information quite close to the equipment and environment that will be used in the lab. This fairly novel presentation format is intended to motivate the student by providing a more attractive and dynamic educational material.

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Poster B21

“tocchiamo la gestaltung zum anfassen”

Kuno Prey of the Faculty of Design and Art - Free University of Bozen/Bolzano, in collaboration with Manuela van Rossem of the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg.

“tocchiamo la gestaltung zum anfassen” aims to make young people and children (10-20 years of age) aware of the theme of gestaltung via the world of everyday objects. School pupils and students can get to know and analyse certain types of objects in everyday use, observe them in detail, perceive their form (with their hands as well as with their eyes), identify the materials from which they are made and analyse their aesthetic meaning; by using them, moreover, they can test their functions. They will also examine the packaging, graphics and materials used.

The aim of this initiative is to stimulate an attitude in participants that is ethical and sustainable, a form of social respect that contributes to shaping future consumers who are both aware and critical of the incessant offer provided by the market. Which of us has not been spoilt for choice when, wanting to buy for example a hair dryer, we have found ourselves faced with interminable shelves stacked with an exasperating number and variety of models? What, other than price, are the criteria by which we can nowadays choose a product?

Alarm clocks, toothbrushes, hair dryers, lemon squeezers, cappuccino cups, penknives, hi-fi headphones, torches, wallets, scissors, pencils and fountain pens, USB flash drives, snap links, water bottles, potato peelers, ladles, colanders, door handles: all these are objects in daily use that are easily transportable in appropriate containers on wheels, allowing “tocchiamo la gestaltung zum anfassen” to be introduced into the technical, art or design lessons of primary, middle or high schools as well as universities.

Each lesson will last some 90 minutes and be taken by Kuno Prey with the assistance of the students of the Faculty of Design and Art.

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