2016 Posters
8th International
Materials Education Symposium (Archived Information)
Confirmed poster presenters
Poster Abstracts
Practical understanding of Materials at school: An opportunity for sustainability
Dr. Maximilian Bock, University of Cambridge, UK
Creative learning practices are entering our school classrooms from every direction; they are highly engaging for both students and teachers; resemble real-life problems; and are proven to enhance learning. The structure is an open challenge and a teacher to mentor the students through the process; there is no limit to the results; not seldom do they make the front page of the news. But what is behind this education break-through? A revolution on how we access information. For the predominant part of last 20 centuries, information was recorded on paper, bundled in books, and travelled by physical labour. In the last three decades, this changed significantly, allowing information to be sent electronically and made accessible to the public through the internet. A pocket-sized computer can now access the same and more information than found in any particular library. This is where the Raspberry Pi computer enters the equation. It was developed to challenge students applying to the University of Cambridge to develop interesting projects. It quickly became the flagship device for creative learning, and the tool of choice for teachers and parents wishing for children to experiment with and learn about computers. Raspberry Pi is being deployed in the remotest parts of the world as a learning tool. Examples go from MakerSpaces in the UK, all the way to Refugee camps in Syria, solar-powered village schools in Kenya, and after-school centres in India. It is in these latter highly resource constrained settings that we find the biggest potential for applying a practical understanding of Material Science in education to enable context-appropriate innovation and tackle global issues such as resource depletion, climate change, and sustainable economic growth. This talk will illustrate international case studies and discuss the interplay between pedagogy and access to information to empower the next generation of learners.
Towards an Involved, Aware and Able Classroom: Gamification of Material Sciences Teaching
Prof. Richard Schilling, Reutlingen University, Germany
The methodology of teaching material science, is becoming an ever more demanding task. Literature and know-how are expanding at a massive rate. Providing students with a sound knowledge base is a fast growing challenge in the professional development process
If not properly met, this may lead to several issues such as lack of awareness of the scientific landscape, loss of interest due to information overload, confusion due to the lack of clarity, to name but a few.
The presentation describes recent efforts to apply gamification to materials science teaching at college level, embedded into an active learning approach, which is based on CES Edu Pack.
The approach presented aims at a teaching/learning mechanism that is robust, sustainable and goal-oriented. Gamification in the teaching addresses three aspects: development of scientific temper, sustained learning motivation, and leveraging on the sustained individual learning modalitiesindividual learning modalities. Further, grading largely comes as a by-product of the teaching process rather than a separate element of the course. Summarizing, the approach makes use of the core philosophy of giving students a hands-on experience with finding their own ways of intellectual development, rather than bombarding them with a huge amount of technical facts.
International Materials Science Seminars: A bridge between two continents
Dr. Teresa Palacios García, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain
There is little study on issues such as how to encourage e-learning in Spain, the interplay between traditional and multimedia dynamics in Materials Science and the crucial question of how researchers and scientists can and should facilitate the integration of Materials Science into society. In addition, more and more frequently students work in multicultural environments nowadays. This is why there is a growing need to have a deeper awareness of the worldwide research in Materials Science and a critical capacity to engage in understanding different cultures. With this in mind, we have developed a project that responds to both the need to improve online teaching based on multimedia resources and to bring Materials Science close to anyone anywhere: International Materials Science Seminars.
International Materials Science Seminars aim at combining the expertise of several advanced research groups and creating a unique opportunity for foreign and Spanish students in terms of cutting-edge research. While learning online about a specific discipline, students from different continents understand how it is easy to acquire intercultural competences by sharing similar experiences. The impact of our project is highlighted, among other things, by the free experience and inspiration from the speakers, current protagonists of the research that they present.
This project is in essence a bridge between two continents. Our methodology has been applied for six years delivering more than 220 seminars, teaching Nanoscience, Biomaterials, Polymers, Ceramics or Composite Materials.
Since 2009, the talks have been offered for free viewing online, (>250.000 views in YouTube) reflecting a still growing audience. It is a global community welcoming people from every background and culture who seek a deeper understanding of Materials. On the long term, we hope it will serve to foster intercultural understanding within students and to advocate for innovation, scientific understanding and social consciousness of Materials Science.
Introducing Bioengineering concepts to Engineering and Material Science students
Dr. Pippa Newby, Education Division, Granta Design, UK
Bioengineering is one of the fastest growing sectors in engineering with pushes to support an ever growing and aging global population. This cross-disciplinary topic attracts a wide range of scientists and engineers with highly diverse backgrounds. Bioengineering combines biology with engineering and students with bioengineering degrees are desirable for their high level of cross-disciplinary knowledge. The issue faced by engineering and material science degrees is how do they introduce this rapidly relevant topic to their students in courses that are already filled with important content to increase the employability of their students. The opposite problem is faced by bioengineering and biomedical degrees, in that how do they teach their students about material and their properties and tie that information into course.
By using the Bioengineering Edition of CES EduPack along with the ASM Medical Materials Devices Database, students can be introduced to the material properties of materials used in FDA and EU approved devices along with comparing common engineering materials used in other industries such as Aerospace and Mechanical to an overview of the different uses in a variety of industries. Through the use of industry case studies bioengineering students can be introduced to material selection methodology used in the design process by considering not only the biological considerations of a biomedical device but the mechanical properties such as compressional strength and young’s modulus.
These case studies can also inspire engineering students to consider the requirements of a device in terms of the biological considerations such as matching the mechanical strength of bone from CES EduPack and exploring the surface roughness of a materials so cells with adhere to the surface from ASM Medical Materials Devices Database. Exploring the world of bioengineering in terms of the mechanical properties will enhance the cross-disciplinary learning for both bioengineering and engineering students.
Structured knowledge transfer through online education – mutual benefits for academia and industry
Christina Keller, Jönköping International Business School, Jönköping University, Sweden
Scientists are encouraged to disseminate the results of the research to the society and companies participating in research projects. The dissemination procedure normally consists of seminars, scientific and popular journal contributions and conferences that generally is not flexible and timely enough to capture industrial needs. In order to accelerate knowledge transfer and implement research to sustain and improve competitiveness, Jönköping University has developed a one year online master program in cast metals and processes in collaboration with the industry. The collaboration includes development of the curriculum, cases, lecturing and study visits. To explore the mutual knowledge transfer we performed informal interviews and a survey with students/professionals, teachers and industrial partners.
Our findings indicate that, through proper validation procedures, professionals with and without formal qualifications performed equally, and the course content and teaching were highly relevant to the industry. Furthermore, industry and academia have engaged in development of new joint research collaborations. Consequently, we hypothesize that the procedure for structured knowledge transfer can be implemented in materials education on advanced level to foster engagement between university, industry and society.
Exploring sensorial properties in material selection and product design
Jorge Luis, School of Design, Management and Production Technologies Northern Aveiro, University of Aveiro, Portugal
In product development many areas come together, interacting with each other to build or improve a product. The interaction of different areas of knowledge is sometimes awkward and cumbersome, particularly when multi-disciplinary teams are involved; communication becomes a barrier due to the difference of expertise, perspective, language and basic concepts from the people involved, often leading to different designations and misconceptions.
A major topic in product development is arising - sensorial perception.
Sensorial perception relates the properties of materials, objects or products as perceived by the user. The senses will arouse and stimulate the individual to give those objects a meaning and a value.
It is difficult, however, to quantify a sensorial property, mostly due to the subjective notion of what that property is, but some of the material sensorial properties can be translated in well-established quantitative properties.
In this work we are working to bridge the communication between designer and engineer by developing new tools based on sensorial properties to screen materials.
The elected sensorial properties were added to the CES database and the attributes were filled on each material sheet.
This enabled search/screening to be made exclusively on sensorial properties, with or without engineering inputs or attributes.
In this way it is possible for a designer to screen a material solely based on sensorial properties and at the same time allow a closer inspection on the physicochemical properties of that material and assess its adequacy for a given application.
It is also possible to relate some sensorial properties with other more established materials characteristics, and in so doing help bridge the gap between designer and engineer.
Materials selection for food processing professional appliances
Agnese Piselli, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Professional appliances are characterized by an intense use in harsh environments; therefore, they need to communicate, through materials sensorial attributes, robustness and reliability. During their lifetime, professional appliances face specific chemical compatibility problems related to daily contact with food chemicals and detergent compounds compliance, and to misuse practices. These products are developed as tailor-made solutions, designed to satisfy both client needs and usability, even in very specific operative conditions. For this reason, they are developed on one hand through a performance driven technical design process, and on the other through a sensorial oriented materials selection, to improve the user experience with the product.
From the Ashby method, the implementation of a flexible materials selection process, able to match sensorial attributes with the real products performances, needs for improvements, due to the highly competitive professional appliances market.
The most common design approach in the industrial production of business to business market appliances sees the designer and the engineer as separate figures, which compel respectively to the aesthetical and emotional issues and to the technical and performances requirements. Both these figures operate materials selection with two different perspectives: the lack of communication among the two roles is often due to the different levels of analysis of the process. Electrolux Professional is trying to overcome this limit using an innovative approach, being an appropriate environment to test new solutions.
A unique selection method applied to real products, able to couple qualitative and quantitative properties, and to consider both the modification of the technical and chemical properties and the material sensorial perceptions along the products life, can be the driving force of an innovative materials selection approach. The related design process will be then integrated to reach in a unique step a concept that satisfies both the technical performances and the user perception requirements.
Enhancing technical knowledge in materials science by qualitative worksheets and group work
Alette Winter, Hamburg University of Technology, Germany
Collaborative group work on qualitative questions has been demonstrated to help strengthen conceptual understanding in the introductory science curriculum, especially if students’ prior conceptions are taken into account. We have chosen to use a similar approach for a materials science graduate program that brings together individuals from a variety of science and engineering backgrounds. As in the case of introductory courses, the participants in this program hold widely differing prior knowledge that hinder their technical communication and efforts to collaborate within their joint research center on multi-scale materials.
Specifically, during monthly project presentations, many of them have been found to have difficulties understanding basic ideas from outside of their own area of specialization. This has prompted us to implement qualitative worksheets (Tutorials) to complement technical talks during the monthly meetings. In interdisciplinary groups, the participants are guided by carefully structured qualitative questions, thereby developing an understanding of basic concepts. Each Tutorial is designed by the respective Ph.D. student in close collaboration with a staff member in the engineering education research group.
Early results from an ongoing mixed-methods evaluation that was conducted to assess the effect of the Tutorials indicate that the participants gain a deeper understanding of the basics in materials science, thus fostering their technical communication and cooperation. Encouraged by these results, we believe that this approach can be useful in undergraduate and graduate programs in materials science at other institutions.
The TMS Comic-taniumTM Initiative: A Case Study in Developing a Resonate Approach toward Attracting
Mr. James Robinson , The Mineral, Metals and Materials Society (TMS)
During 2013-2015 and using funding from the TMS Foundation, The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (a professional society) partnered with the ToonSeum (an art museum) to develop and present Comic-tanium. The mission of Comic-tanium is to inspire young people to pursue careers in the science and engineering professions, especially those aspects that relate directly to materials. To execute this mission, the developers of Comic-tanium crafted a museum-quality traveling educational exhibit that makes a connection between the real world of materials science and engineering and the fictional but materials-rich worlds of internationally known comic book heroes like Wolverine, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Batman and others.
The exhibition makes its materials connections by juxtaposing comic art reproductions, vintage comic books, movie props, and heroes with related scientific images, stories, and professionals from our real world. An important element of the exhibit is a focus on nurturing the growth of diversity and inclusion in the future materials community. It does this by showcasing a diversity of materials professionals within the exhibit and by exhibiting the message to diverse communities. As one mother said to her grade-school daughter when touring the exhibit, “See, you can do that, too.” Phase One of the Comic-tanium initiative concluded in mid-2015. This presentation will articulate why the project was undertaken, how the message was framed, what feedback was received, and what is being considered for Phase Two.
Adding your own data and models in CES EduPack and CES Selector
Dr. Claes Fredriksson and Dr. Maximilian Bock, Education Division, Granta Design, UK
In CES EduPack, it is possible to add up to 10 data records to any property chart. These can be based on test data or imaginary materials. Educators and students can then plot property charts and visually compare experimental data from labs, or unknown materials from assignments, with values in the database.
In CES Selector, up to 25 records can be added and, moreover, the toolkit CES Constructor can be used to permanently modify, extend or add your own data records to the databases. This can be used, for example, in projects involving research data.
Finally, there is the possibility to add your own mathematical models to estimate and plot properties in the Synthesizer tool, based on the database and user input. This option requires a small effort using C Sharp or Visual Basics to add equations that defines the model. It will then appear together with the structural hybrids, composites and, most recently, the part cost estimator models in the Synthesizer.
Descriptions how to perform all the above additions together with examples of applications are shown in the poster, which hopes to inspire users to share ideas and synthesizer models with the materials education community. A new model of a U-value calculator for buildings using the Architecture Database is showcased for the first time.
Case studies from Swansea Materials and Manufacturing Academy: Industry engagement win wins
Dr. Ian Mabbett , Swansea University
The Materials and Manufacturing Academy (M2A - www.m2a.wales) is a Swansea University initiative that provides industry led postgraduate research training in the areas of advanced materials and manufacturing. Fully funded by the Welsh European Funding Office (WEFO), Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and a range of industry stakeholders, M2A is able to offer 24 EngD places and 8 MSc research places per year along with part-time PhD and masters.
We are there to help our students shape themselves from a raw material into a value added product, so we must listen to the voice of the customer, industry, whilst designing our process. Students want to be employable and in order to attract the best students we need to show them that we are working with employers to develop relevant courses. We can demonstrate 97% employment rates and use this to select the best undergraduates to progress to post graduate study. Industry is represented on our steering group and their input directly shapes our taught component. Industry needs also define the research question and typically it aligns with a technology grand challenge and an emerging or growing field. This means that despite there being demand for the top students, we can attract them based on exciting, industry relevant research projects and an attractive bursary (£20,000 tax free per annum with all fees paid). Policy and company contacts help to define areas that matter for economic growth. The aim is to ensure research projects help a sector to grow whilst simultaneously training future staff to prepare them for the dynamic needs of that sector.
This poster will give case studies that show the impact of M2A industrial engagement and focus on the successes of the students and how that’s kick started their careers as professional engineers.
A Pilot Approach to Incorporate Green Project Management Processes (GPMPs) In a Civil Engineering Curriculum
Mustafa Al-Tekreeti and Salwa Beheiry, American University of Sharjah
In recent years, the demand for best practices in sustainability escalated for both academic purposes and practical applications. Yet, a gap still exists between research, industry, and the teaching methodologies in higher education. This study was intended to bridge the knowledge gap between graduate research and undergraduate education in the Civil Engineering Department at the American University in Sharjah.
A research study (thesis) performed by one graduate student in the Engineering Systems Management Masters Program- Construction Management track, was synthesized into a mini-seminar series for upper level undergraduate students in the Civil Engineering Department. The graduate student, who was also a teaching fellow at the college, delivered the mini-seminar as part of a CVE400 level Building Construction Methods elective.
The student’s thesis involved the creation of a decision matrix to facilitate green concepts incorporation in a traditional project management process. Among other things, the amalgamation of the thesis concepts and deliverables in the mini-seminar introduced the students to the traditional PMP processes and helped them identify the green considerations for each project phase. The mini-seminar also acquainted the students with Green Design Strategies during the preliminary and detailed design phases of constructions projects; i.e. how to chose eco-friendly materials and systems.
Moreover, other GPMP best practices such as Green Design Monitoring for resource consumption and materials recycling plans during the decommissioning phase at the end of the asset’s useful life were discussed. The students were also acquainted with decision enhancing tools and methodologies in project evaluation, such as Expert Choice programs to evaluate different polls from projects’ stakeholders.
Resources to Support Teaching of Materials Science and Engineering
Dr. Lee Phillips , Education Division, Granta Design, UK
For the last two years, Granta Design has worked with external academic collaborators, including Stephane Gorsse of the ICMCB institute in France, to develop a suite of new resources to support introductory Materials Science and
Engineering courses. In response to feedback from educators in the field, we have concentrated on three main areas. Firstly, we have integrated new data to support the teaching of Functional Materials and Biomaterials, which allow selection on new attributes including piezo/pyroelectric, magnetic, semiconducting and thermoelectric properties. Secondly, we have developed a prototype Phase Diagram Tool for teaching about the phase stability, microstructures and process-structure relations in several technologically important binary and ternary systems. Thirdly, we have created a unique “Process Property Profiles” database and teaching resources to enable students to explore the interactions between processing of materials and their properties. All of these items are now ready as prototypes for those that use CES EduPack to try out with their students.
The Phase Diagram Tool Prototype is available to all. This poster is designed to show you what we have been doing, and to encourage you to try them out and give us valuable feedback.
An Interdisciplinary Engineering Tool Supporting Accreditation
John Metcalf , Sheffield Hallam University
Many engineering courses and educational programmes relate somehow to knowledge and understanding about materials and their properties. In this sense, materials-related teaching and educational resources can be considered a useful interdisciplinary platform for engineering education. Some examples of areas where materials are particularly relevant are:
- Mechanical Engineering
- Product Development
- Aerospace Engineering
- Industrial- and Eco Design
- Bioengineering
Two important areas that are particularly well supported by the software are Sustainability/Environment and Project work. In the poster, we review some previous work along these lines and elaborate on concepts and features that pertain to accreditation in the European EUR-ACE and the UK-SPEC system in particular in the Higher Education arena. A recent successful accreditation process of BEng courses at Sheffield Hallam University is used to reinforce our conclusion that the software, in combination with the educator and suitable learning activities, can facilitate relevant educational outcomes. The content resonates with several conference themes of the symposia, mainly Employability and Learning Technologies.
Educating Junior Versus Senior Materials Science Students – Can One Approach Fit All?
Dr. Adrian Lowe , Australian National University
This study looks at how different, delivery modes and problem-based learning assessment tools need to be when dealing with junior and senior students in the same discipline at junior and senior levels. I am in a unique position where I lecture both a year 1 (compulsory) materials course and a senior year advanced materials elective concurrently. The topics covered are often the same (e.g. phase diagrams) but the level of complexity and hence student expectation, is very different.
Over recent years, we have been looking at ways whereby common assessment frameworks across these courses are possible with well-defined ‘achievement levels’ that cover basic understanding through to advanced conceptual and application that allow students to self-assess both at the junior and senior level. Having a common framework such as this allows for extremely valuable information on how students have developed academically whilst at university.
Through regular focus groups taken from students within our materials major, a number of similarities and differences have been identified between junior and senior groups in terms of delivery mode and assessment schemes and their relative importance and this had led to the development of a problem-based assessment framework currently called a 34 approach to materials assessment whereby students are given a major materials issue which can be tackled on a simplistic level (year 1) and then on a more advanced level a few years later. Students are first taught that there are three stages to a problem solving process (issue definition, possible solutions and implementation strategies) and that each stage can be tackled to 4 quality levels (basic, intermediate, advanced and beyond) that correspond to the four standard assessment grades used. This framework will be implemented in year 1 in 2016 with some senior students acting as guides and initial results will be presented in April.
Materials Education in Europe – are scientific facts sufficient?
Ms. Alessandra Hool , MatSearch
In the last 20 years, materials research has enabled various breakthroughs which led to marketable innovations and improvements for climate, health and energy. Many of these innovations need more and more materials functions, a broad variety of materials – amongst them materials which are critical in view of resource reserves and availability, extraction and disposal practices, and ecological, social and political impact.
Materials scientists today are confronted with interdisciplinary challenges which demand knowledge across different areas and disciplines, including social sciences and the humanities, covering the whole value chain from research to market and from raw materials to recycling and demanding a global view of the various impacts of materials mining, use and trade. Materials scientists and engineers should be aware of all these aspects in each of a product’s process steps as well as of the financial and economic risks in case that a needed element or material might not be available at a certain time. The necessary research for replacing materials directly or functionally might have to start 10 to 15 years in advance.
Ongoing materials scientists in European universities are at the moment educated mainly to work in the industry in research laboratories. However, many of them will be involved in managerial decisions, work in governmental research organisations etc. where knowledge to take long-term strategic decisions is needed. A materials scientist and engineer needs fundamental and detailed information in adjacent subjects relevant for a global view on materials in his/her education to help Europe’s industry to maintain and enlarge their competitiveness. It will be more and more important in the future to strengthen and expand education in the mentioned fields to make research a reliable investment for the economy and to reduce the risks for negative environmental and social impacts and economic losses.
Engaging Pre-university students with Industry case studies
Elisabeth Kahlmeyer , Education Division, Granta Design, UK
We all experience materials and their properties from an early age, as they are intertwined with our daily lives. Materials are also integral in learning objectives across most STEM subjects, and relate to the world of work in many ways. Whether it is the smoothness of a pebble or the Nobel Prize-winning characteristics of graphene, materials are therefore an ideal way to integrate scientific and critical thinking into a curriculum in a visual and practical way.
The challenge faced by teachers today is to make this diverse subject interesting, engaging and relevant to today’s pre-university students to encourage them to continue onto jobs in a materials-related industry via job-based learning or further study at University. The use of industrial case studies can help to give the students a real insight into how materials are selected and compared to design products. Exploring the world of products, processes and materials through interactive tools, CES EduPack allows students to visualize, compare, and even consider further implications such as the environmental impact.
As a tool currently used at degree level, CES EduPack gives students a head start, and support them in independent learning outside the classroom. Using visual materials records and supportive introductory teaching resources, teachers can introduce material properties to their students in a realistic fashion at an appropriate level, as well as improve their students’ problem solving skills, a key transferable skill valued in industry. Having based their learning experience on applied case studies, students will be well equipped for the next stage in their learning. With its sister product CES Selector being used in industry, it gives the students early exposure to a tool that is used widely and across the globe by professional engineers, designers and scientists.
Finding innovative solutions to engineering failures using CES and TRIZ
Dr. John Robertson-Begg , University of Derby
This work explores possible solutions to the failure in operation of a pressure sensing device. The device operates inside the tyre of heavy earth moving equipment and is subject to temperature variations and exposure to fluids such as antifreeze. During extended operation it was observed that the device started to read higher values of pressure in time.
The sensor and transmitter device are described. Initial investigation of failed sensors appeared to show some corrosion on the pressure sensor and it was assumed this was the reason for the increase in its reading.
Cambridge Engineering Selector Edupack was used to select materials with increased resistance to antifreeze and moisture.
TRIZ methodology was used to investigate contradictions between operating life and measurement accuracy. Different approaches to measuring pressure were explored using a TRIZ effects database.
Possible solutions are offered involving including changing the pressure measurement system.
Concluding comments discuss how TRIZ methodology in conjunction with other techniques can help students come up with innovative solutions to engineering and materials problems.
SHOPA Design Thinking Workspace - a new way of product development at the Univeristy of Technology and Life Sciences in Bydgoszcz
Dr. Piotr P. Szewczykowski , University of Technology and Life Sciences in Bydgoszcz
In 2013 Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education established a program called TOP 500 Innovators, Science and Management. The aim of the program was to send the best 500 scientists and technology transfer centers employees to the most prestige universities to study most efficient science - business practices. Two graduates of the University of Science and Technology in Bydgoszcz (UTP) participated in the 1st and 3rd edition of the program and spent two months at Stanford Centre for Professional Development each.
Being inspired by the organization of d.school - Hasso Platner Institute of Design and the cultural potential of Design Thinking methodology they decided to establish a similar centre in Bydgoszcz. The existance of Industrial Design Department at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at UTP was the base to create an interdisciplinary centre of product design, called SHOPA Design Thinking Workspace. It was financed by the UE Human Capital Operational Program.
Design Thinking methodology is a cognitive way to design a final customer oriented products and services by following the 5 steps: Empathy, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test. SHOPA Design Thinking Workspace finalized 19 projects for SMEs companies (small and medium-sized enterprises).
Many workshops and courses for scientists, entrepreneurs, PhD students, students and kids were organized in 2013 - 2015. Each project team was an interdisciplinary team built by a Design Thinking methodologist, a scientist and 5-6 students of different departments.
One of the aspects after preparing the prototype of the solution was the proper material selection. The creators of SHOPA Design Thinking Workspace see a great potential in using a CES Edu Pack Software as a supporting tool in product development as well as an educational aspect of Material Science.
Out of the box – Lecture supporting material science experiments hands on
Prof. Steffen Ritter , Hochschule Reutlingen
First-year student engagement in engineering classes is in general a challenge. Most of the time materials science classes take place as pure frontal lectures. In the industrial engineering curriculum at Reutlingen University there is no time for special laboratory lectures, practical understanding has to be developed in the class itself. The barrier to carry out experiments during the lectures is high, because of time consuming preparation. Inspired once by the DoITPoMS activities the goal was to collect and develop a set of small lecture supporting demonstration experiments which were compiled and in a mobile cart, the ExperiMator. After some preparation during lecture free time, mainly all experiments are ready to being used in the respective lecture unit. The lecture demonstrations can be carried out following an instruction like a recipe. ExperiMat, the description of so far 22 demonstrations are characterized as follows:
- Easy preparation
- Cost-effective implementation without expensive additional equipment
- Simple experimental equipment
- Conducting the experiments must be possible in normal classrooms
- Experimenting without any or little safety risk
- Experiments are completely predictable
- The experiments are described in a uniform comprehensible way concerning all aspects of the experimental implementation (preparation, implementation, teaching aspect, aha-moment, duration ...)
Design from Recycling
Lore Veelaert , University of Antwerpen
The ongoing TETRA (Technology Transfer by institutions of higher educations) project “Design from Recycling” aims for answering the research question: “How do we design specifically with recycled polymers”? The challenge is to apply recycled polymers in high quality products instead of in low-grade applications. To achieve this, information on these recyclates should be integrated in the global materials selection process for product designers. An important part of the research focuses on how to incorporate this knowledge in the education of industrial designers at first, so that it becomes common knowledge once these students enter the industry.
Despite the abundance and availability of knowledge nowadays, it is very challenging for industrial designers to find and select the most relevant materials, taking in account all product attributes in the life cycle. To succeed, the ‘designers’ approach is based on the re-use of design experience. During an introductive literature research, a variety of contrasts for this matter were explored, discussing the differences between engineers and industrial designers, between numbers and fuzzy labels, between data and knowledge, and between conceptual design and detailed design.
We could conclude that design students need a designerly approach for materials selection at early stages of the design process. To detail this approach, a test case was conducted with master students of product development at the University of Antwerp as well as with its alumni in the industry. During this examination, their experiences and most critical material properties for each design phase were explored. This poster describes the result from this examination and presents a first steps towards a preliminary theory for a designerly manner of materials selection that offers the opportunity to translate new material knowledge into the ‘language’ of design experiences. And obviously, in which recycled polymers will be implemented.
A low-end tensile tester for educational purposes
Pieter Welling , TU Delft
Problem definition
At the TU Delft there are not enough (easy to operate)
tensile testers for students to be able to perform tensile
tests. These tensile testers are commercially available,
however these are very expensive. The result is that
most students, after only a couple of years, no longer
remember anything about material testing, let alone
remember how to calculate material characteristics like
the Young's modulus or the yield strength.
The goal
To design a desktop tensile tester that can test plastic
material specimens of up to 4 mm thick, with a working
area of 200 mm and a force of up to 3 KN for less than
?1000,- (material & shipping costs) to enable students
to perform tensile tests during their education.
The design
The focus of this design is on cheap and simple and
not on accuracy. The LETT features a linear actuator
hung upside down in a frame, eliminating complicated
and expensive transmissions. Two load cells (rated up
to 500 Kg and 100 Kg) result in a measuring range
of 10 to 400 Kg. The load cells are easily replaced
and the extra load cell is stored in an easy to access
compartment in the base of the LETT. The LETT is
controlled via a user interface on the computer which
controls, among other things, the speeds of testing
and which plots the results of a test in a graph. In the
user interface the user can indicate where the LETT
should store a text file with the results of each test.
The LETT can be manufactured for less than ?500,-
(material & shipping costs).
Processing principles - Which are the most important
Hannah Melia , Education Division, Granta Design, UK
Making components, out of materials and using processes, and achieving a result that is cost-effective, functional and high quality, requires an understanding of how materials, processes and design features interact. Granta Design has started a project to create new teaching resources to support students as they try to learn about this area.
One objective is to help engineering students ask the right questions when they go into industry. Another is to guide the use of product disassembly as a learning tool. And students also need to see how the processing of materials can create advantages in a product, rather than merely being a constraint.
We would like to provide the following:
1. A concise description of the most important "Process Principles" (about 10 or so). Processing principles are combinations of materials and processes, such as injection molding thermoplastics and die casting metals.
2. For each Process Principle we would like to identify 5 or so design issues explaining the key characteristics that you need to know about the process and its coupling to material and design parameters, and the underlying science behind these interactions.
3. Product examples / case studies, with pictures of components and descriptions to show how components were made, and how the design of these components relates to the design issues identified above.
4. Teaching resources about taking products apart and identifying the materials and processes used. The next step in this project is to talk with educators teaching this topic, to identify which processing principles and design issues should be covered and how best we can do this. The poster will describe our current thinking. We look forward to speaking with you.
Part cost estimating tool: combining material and process properties to teach cost-effective material selection in engineering courses
Dr. Nicolas Martin , Education Division, Granta Design, UK
Over the past years, Granta Design has participated in several initiatives to develop material and process selection tools. These can be used to enhance teaching as well as material decisions in industry across a wide range of applications. Continuous participation in collaborative projects and in industrial consortia has enabled us to identify improvements to consider, moving forwards. One of the issues is that prices in the MaterialUniverse database consider only material cost and do not include the process costs associated with the manufacture of a product into its final form.
To address this issue, a part cost estimating tool has been developed as an add-on module to the synthesizer tool available for CES EduPack and CES Selector. The aim is, at an early stage of design, to take into account the combination of materials and processes when applying material selection with objectives in conflict. Typically, mass vs cost per unit of mechanical property. Benefits are anticipated in industry but also in engineering education, where some courses relating to both materials and processes can be enhanced. Students can be encouraged to address more complex material selection case studies that, from an industrial perspective, provide more cost-effective solutions.
The scope of this poster is to give an overview of how the part cost estimating tool can be used within CES EduPack, to demonstrate associated skills that students can acquire and to discuss interesting possibilities regarding project-related work.
A 5-step methodology for Evaluating Sustainable Development proposals
Dr. Tatiana Vakhitova, Education Division, Granta Design, UK
Much Materials research today has, as its primary or one of its secondary aims, to contribute to the technologies that are more “sustainable” than those we now use. The immediate perception this creates is one of resource-efficiency: technology that is less energy intensive, less water intensive and less material intensive than at present. But if the claim of a sustainable development is to be justified, there are further considerations.
Globally, the annual resource-consumption in question (energy, water, materials) are not measured in joules, ccs or grams but in petajoules, cubic kilometers, billions of tonnes. If the research material is to be “disruptive”, making a significant contribution to a more sustainable way of life, will have to be produced on a scale, and in a time-frame, that have a measureable effect on this consumption. If on this scale there are other consequences: markets are disturbed, people are affected – there are social and economic dimensions, when adverse short-term impacts may have to be justified by long-term gains. It is not the job of materials researchers to solve these problems but to be aware and if they are to make claims that their research has “sustainability” as a tag line, it would be responsible to survey how it might map-out on the larger scale.
The poster will present the methodology for thinking about this, starting from the proposed “sustainable development”, exploring the context:
- the nature of the innovation and the stakeholders that it involves;
- the material demands and the ability of the global supply chain to meet them;
- the risks associated with a given material choice and ways of mitigating the risk by substitution;
- the ultimate impact of the innovation on natural, manufactured, human and social capital.
Selection of Functional Materials for Product Design
Esther Lefebvre, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
With their capacity for creating elaborate user-product interactions, functional materials open the prospect of designing new user experiences. To achieve this, as with conventional materials, materials information has to be managed and structured in a way which is relevant to the work methods of industrial designers. This research is dedicated to developing a selection framework for functional materials in the perspective of product design. The main characteristic of the CES selection process is to orient materials selection by “functionality” rather than just “properties”. The main functionality of the materials of interest here is their ability to transform a given stimulus into a response. We called this process of transformation “stimuli-responsive phenomenon” (SRP) and built a table organizing these phenomena according to their response and stimulus. This table describes the main characteristics of the SRP and their possible variations, such as the time needed for the transformation to happen, or the way a user will perceive these changes. The rest of the database revolves around the “Stimuli-responsive phenomena” table, and describes the different functional materials, the materials that can be functionalized and applications of functional materials. The “Functional materials” table describes the materials themselves, including their mechano-physical properties, sensory properties, and precise stimuli-responsive properties. The «Base materials or systems» table is an attempt to describe the materials that can be functionalized: it is based on the current CES’ “Material Universe” table, with added links to compatible functional materials. The «Product» table describes implementations of functional materials in Product Design, and aim at illustrating some of the possible uses of functional materials. The data structure and selection framework are being prototyped by focusing on color-changing materials. The final aim is to introduce a solid ground for experience-driven selection of functional materials into the database.
Teaching Sustainability Concepts for Cities through a BIM model
Javier Orozco-Messana, UPV, Spain
Background and motivation: Within the scope of the Erasmus+ project "Essence" a new approach for teaching the relevance of materials into sustainable cities was developed. It is difficult for students to assess the impact of materials selection into sustainability and during the project BIM models for a city area were developed and parameterized for assessing the impact of materials onto relevant sustainability indexes under given selected conditions. Methods used Autodesk REVIT was selected for developing a model of relevant city blocks and providing an automated calculation system for obtaining the main parameters from LEED, ISO 14040, and ISO 37120, once the key building materials have been defined. Results 3 models were used designed with real info supplied by 3 city councils (Utrecht in the Netherlands, Turku in Finland and Alcoy in Spain). Different strategies were used for selecting the building materials used for the parameterized buildings, and the influence of materials selection was graphed to
the selected sustainability indexes defined in the corresponding standards. The results were analyzed and relevant conclusions reached. Conclusions and significance The use of models for identifying the relevance of materials in real contexts provide not only a useful tool for decision makers, but in a controlled and simplified environment, a powerful instrument for enthusing students through evidence of the relevance of materials in their core disciplines.
Simulation of the material behaviour of sheets during the deep drawing of vehicles bodies
Dr Ouzine Boussaid, University of Annaba, Algeria
This present study is proposed following cases of sheet rupture which occurred on deep drawn components produced in a workshop of one company, during deep drawing operations. First, experimental tests were conducted in order to determine the characteristics of the material. Secondly, numerical simulations, using finite element code Abaqus, were carried out to study multi problems, which appear during the forming, as the necking and the rupture of the sheet. Varying some multi-physical parameters in the deep drawing operations, would allow us to prevent this type of problem. Thus, the simulation, allowing easily the variation of some physical parameters in the model found, enables us to infer different scenarios that could rate the impact of these parameters in the occurrence of the problem. The model will then optimized, and it leads to improve the working conditions. In this study, we vary the coefficient of friction and pressure of the blank holder in order to deduce the influence of these two parameters. Results allowed the visualization of the deformation evolution of the material during the deep drawing process, the distribution of stresses and strains on different areas of the sheet, and the influence of each physical parameter on the material behaviour. Also, high local thinning areas that may lead to the rupture were located.