2017 Posters
8th North American
Materials Education Symposium
Poster Abstracts
Rewriting the book for 21st century global issues
Alexandre Mege-Revil
Ecole Centrale de Lille, France
Do you start your teaching with a shiny first slide showing pictures of modern cars, planes and rockets? Then do you go deep into some engineering science using examples of the same energy and materials consuming industries? In the last two minutes, when the students are already packing their stuff, do you try to talk briefly of your last two slides that deal about environmental and social questions? Well, I did. The current teaching resources, although scientifically flawless, are very unhelpful when it comes to dealing with resources challenges or circular economy, mainly because they have the same defaults as us. If we, the higher education teachers, do not prepare our students to the issues the twenty-first century engineers will face, then who will? If we do not show them that providing sustainable solutions to improve the existence of billions of human beings yet to be born is their job, then who will? Engineering can and has to be done in other ways, and engineering needs new resources. This poster aims at gathering scientists willing to help us rewrite the Book for our century: a book that will explain the fundamentals of materials sciences and materials engineering through the questions we know to be important for our common future: energy efficiency, energy production, primary materials exploitation… Here are a few examples of the many interrogations we have, please help us answer them: What should it cover? What media should we use? Should the book deal with social issues of materials engineering? Should we provide the readers with our objective interpretations?
Design of internal rods in central wingbox for an aircraft
Sevde Sena Kaplan, Asutay Çetin, Dr. Hande Yavuz
University of Turkish Aeronautical Association, Turkey
This study shows the selection of materials for light and safe internal rod for an aerospace application which is assembled to a selected strut fitting in the center wing-box of an aircraft. Particularly the minimization of mass is considered as an objective while the safety performance of the material is preserved. In order to do that, the strength and the stiffness limited design is examined separately at first. After that, the selection of material is developed by considering multiple constraints as strength and stiffness. To identify the material index for each case, the relevant equations are introduced to observe the effect of selected constraints. CES EduPack 2016 is used while selecting the material since it has already included the steps for the selection process. For the material selection process in CES EduPack, aerospace materials are chosen from Level 3 Database. Either in strength or stiffness-limited design at minimum weight with specified rod length, the best candidate materials are found as PEEK/carbon fiber, Cyanate ester/carbon fiber, and Epoxy/carbon fiber composites. When the selection of material is developed by considering multiple constraints as strength and stiffness at minimum mass, both stiffness and strength leads two independent equations for the mass. It is obvious that, the mass of the rod must be same for both limitation cases (m1=m2) and it gives the coupling constant Cc as L/δ. By applying the rules of multiple constraints design, the best choice is found as Cyanate ester/carbon fiber composite. As the selection of engineering materials become very crucial due to severe application conditions, the best material for the preferred design should be identified carefully. CES EduPack provides highly effective and flexible route in selecting materials for a particular application as examined in the case of internal rod design for an aerospace application.
Outreach to elementary schools to promote materials careers
William Brower
Marquette University, USA
Many of our youth are unaware of engineering itself as a career, much less Materials Science and Engineering (MSE). If middle school students choose an easier academic path by avoiding rigorous math, science and English courses, they will probably do the same in high school. Consequently, they will have excluded themselves from many college career choices including MSE. I believe the time to approach students about careers in MSE is before middle school, for example in fifth grade. Although fifth graders are not ready for nucleation and growth theory, they can't miss feeling the exothermic crystallization of a bag of undercooled hydrated sodium acetate that they themselves have nucleated with a mechanical clicker. They can watch in real time as the clear liquid transforms to an opaque solid that is almost too hot to handle. This demonstration is a part of the "Phases of Matter" lesson that I do as a volunteer science teacher in fifth grades and middle schools in Florida.
Sustainable development and material selection for product development in material education
Marc Fry
Education Division, Granta Design, Cambridge, UK
The number of engineering materials and manufacturing processes has increased dramatically over the last century. Supply chains are now increasingly complex, there is growing legislation and engineers now need to consider the ecological and social impact of the products they create. One key challenge facing materials educators today is how to engage students with all these aspects without overwhelming them and at the same time maintaining a high level of academic rigor.
The sustainability-related teaching resources developed by Granta Design in collaboration with academics at University of Cambridge, Universitat Politècnica Barcelona (UPC) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, include case studies, handouts, lecture units and exercises, with the core of these being based on the work of Prof. Mike Ashby, University of Cambridge. These teaching resources and the 5-step method (Ashby 2015 et al.) are used in interdisciplinary courses around the world.
A new Sustainability Database is used for fact-finding (one of the steps in this method) and includes a comprehensive list of materials with environmental properties e.g. carbon footprint, embodied energy, water use and durability. The Database has a comprehensive set of data to analyse and discuss key concepts, such as materials criticality, geo-political risk, legislative and social aspects relevant to materials. The Sustainability Database comes with an enhanced Eco Audit Tool to help students assess the environmental performance of products at the design stage from an energy used, carbon dioxide produced and cost perspective.
Here we present an interactive way to engage students with the material selection process with sustainability thinking in mind. The Sustainability Teaching Resources help to: teach students about problem-based sustainable development; gain practical knowledge and skills regarding Eco data and Eco-informed materials selection; get insights on Life-cycle thinking and learn about materials-related risks and regulations.
Degree apprenticeships in materials science and engineering - radical change or status quo
Angela Dean
University of Derby, UK
The Apprenticeship Levy introduced by the UK government in May 2017, taxes large organisations directly on their wage bill (in England only) and gives them a “learning account” of their contributions to spend on education and training. The government is using this route to promote education and training up to postgraduate level through vocational courses. These allow people to combine academic degree study with practical experience giving them the wider employment skills vital for personal career success and for the country to build the high level technical skills needed for the future. Trailblazer groups, led by employers, have created a myriad of government approved apprenticeship standards at degree and postgraduate level. The Levy may particularly affect the materials engineering profession as many work in advanced technological companies, which have a high levy payment they need to spend. However, each degree apprenticeship is a bespoke product dependent on both employers and the university so that many different models are being produced. This research compares the rationale used by a number of universities to transform their pedagogy and the final forms of the degree apprenticeship programmes produced. The challenge for a materials degree apprenticeship is that it must combine university study with cutting edge skills development in the workplace for a particular job role. The degree apprentice also has be ready for a professional qualification as well as completing an accredited degree within 5 years, in comparison to the normal 7 or 8 years. The demands of the developing pedagogy for programmes offering this very different student experience will be contrasted to academic staffs’ attitudes and expectations for a research active university. Examples of different types of degree apprenticeships will be used and recommendations for future developments against the background of a very fast moving national and international situation included.
Writing to learn in materials science and engineering
Rachel Goldman
University of Michigan, USA
We discuss the infusion of “writing to learn” pedagogies into materials science and engineering courses at the University of Michigan. Our approach is part of a campus-wide project entitled, “M-Write”, which aims to transform the teaching and learning in large enrollment gateway courses so that there is more opportunity for student engagement and transformative learning. In all cases, we develop prompts based upon key concepts to which students respond with a draft; students then participate in automated peer review, and write a revision to solidify their learning. To date, we have used this approach for materials science courses across a wide range of academic levels, from introductory undergraduate to graduate levels. In Introductory Materials Science, students write about several key concepts including the interpretation of phase diagrams, polymer recycling and its impact on mechanical properties, and corrosion as it relates to the recent Flint water crisis. For the Electronic Materials sequence, we use a “spiral” approach to the instruction of quantum mechanical concepts central to the learning of electronic materials science. For example, students have written about the energy of electrons during tunneling and how it relates to the conservation of energy; they also have written about how blackbody radiation relates to thermal imaging. We will discuss the prompt development and implementation as well as on-going research on student learning associated with these interventions.
Experience with "introduction to materials science and engineering" in a blended learning model
Ahmad Saatchi
University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
In the Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) Department at UW-Madison, Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering Course, is offered to non MSE majors students, of about 500 per year. The Course is taught in person in a large lecture format. There is weekly quiz (open book) and HW(written on paper) and 3 exams (closed book). The Moodle course management system is used as the delivery mechanism for interactive quiz. The students can use their laptop, tablet, or even their phone to take the quiz. Moodle provides a framework for question design-including the use of randomized and shuffled questions-and the ability to automatically grade student responses and provide them with immediate feedback. The lectures are recorded and are available to students right after Class. This helped to improve the students learning and satisfaction. These recorded lecture videos were used in the online delivery in Summer 2016 in an 8 weeks format with success. Everything was the same as mention
Product Materials and Processes Database, a product-centred platform for design and engineering students
Luca Masi
Education Division, Granta Design, Cambridge, UK
Well-designed products provide both function and satisfaction. Materials and processes play a key role in achieving both. This project describes a computer-based platform for design students to explore products and the materials and processes used to make them. It is product-centered, but unlike most other such databases, it also contains high quality data for materials and processes, and profiles of designers and manufacturers. To build it we contacted over 200 designers for help in populating the database with products that use materials in innovative ways.
Added value alternatives for mining. Engaging students in materials science and sustainability
Vladimir Martinez
Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Colombia
Added value alternatives for mining and material resources: Materials for Fuel Cells, a case of study for engaging students in sustainability and materials science research. Bearing sustainability in mind, it is worth asking about the balance that would imply the continuity of an exploitation without added value of local minerals that are more scarce every time. These materials include metallic and non metallic minerals and also strategic materials in Colombian’s territory such as nickel, iron, copper, emeralds, gems, gold, silver, salt, limestone, plasters, clays, gravels and platinum, among others. I this regard, recent curricular strategies for engaging mechanical engineering students in the field of Materials Science, but also in the current contex and issues involved in sustainable development are reported here. The different Learning Active Activities (LAA) used try to contribute to a product design compatible with the sustainability of natural resources, having a guided making decision process for selecting materials by using data and key information from the textbook “Materials and Sustainable Development” (M. Ashby. 2015). As a case of study, students should face an engineered process, in which it is necessary to list and compare materials demand and different impacts in energy as well as carbon and water footprint related to demand. The problem entails to study a futuristic powered fuel cell car, having a sedan family car as reference. The LAAs pay special attention to the materials used for each vehicle propulsion system; especially because the electrode/bipolar cell uses a catalyst made of platinum. The local context is also reviewed through the LAAs with questions about how to penetrate in the world markets of sophisticated products as well as how to be serious about the so called “innovation”, but with accent on sustainability.
Orthopedic biomaterials for implants: a survey
Fatima Maqsood
University of California, Irvine, USA
Statement of Purpose: A survey of orthopedic materials used in implants, grafting and other traumtalogical applications is presented along with their mechanical properties and uses to show the progress made in this field over the past decades as well as underscore the need for development of new and innovative materials with superior characteristics and high bio-compatibility. Results: Three types of materials are generally used in orthopedic applications; metallic materials, polymers and, ceramics. Metals and their alloys (stainless steel, titanium alloys and cobalt-chromium alloys) are most commonly used materials in orthopedic applications because of their unique mechanical properties and wide ranging parametric values. Usage of titanium and Co-Cr alloys is increasing due to their superior biocompatibility and better mechanical characteristics whereas use of stainless steel is declining. Porous tantalum is an alternative metal for total joint arthroplasty components that offers several unique properties. Polymers, originally in granular or powdered forms which are converted to paste and liquid forms using additives, are primarily used as cements which set over time after application. Ceramics such as alumina, zirconia and several porous ceramics, are hard and brittle and are used in load bearing applications. Conclusion: Over the past 50 years, materials used in orthopedic applications have evolved from industrial use materials to materials specifically made for in vivo use. However, many issues that existed then - corrosion, bio-incompatibility, and mechanical characteristics that are not fully integrated with human bones and surroundings - remain. Better materials with characteristics tailored for specific applications need to be developed that allow better implant integration, promote tissue regeneration and are fully biocompatible. Such efforts have to be multi-disciplinary drawing from diverse disciplines of medicine, chemistry, engineering, biology, material science and physics.
nanoHUB as a platform for implementing materials science simulations in the classroom
Tanya Faltens
Purdue University, USA
nanoHUB.org is an open-access cyberinfrastructure that is supported by the National Science Foundation, and is a versatile platform for delivering computational resources to enable materials science simulations. nanoHUB enables free cloud scientific computing, where users can access simulation tools for research and education using a web-browser or iPad, without the need to install software or have access to local computing resources. The tools have fully-interactive graphical user interfaces, and simulation output includes data download options and 3D visualization. On the back end, nanoHUB resources include high performance computing clusters that enable research-quality simulation. Many simulation tools, along with courses and seminars, are collected together in the Materials Science Group on nanoHUB, which is a space where the materials community members can find resources, share ideas, and collaborate with others. The materials simulation tools cover a variety of areas including physical structures of materials, electronic structures, diffusion kinetics, and mechanics of materials. This poster will feature some of the most popular materials science simulation tools on nanoHUB and showcase how a few universities use nanoHUB simulations in their classes.
Development of a virtual learning environment in the intangible characteristics of materials
Filipe Machado
Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Brazil
The study presents a Design-Based Research experience, in the context of intangible characteristics of the materials. It has as objective to propose a virtual learning environment for the perception of intangible characteristics in the selection of materials by the engineering students. The technical aspects of the materials are diffused by several tools, however, aspects related to subjectivity, teaching and education do not find similar tooling. To describe and analyze the research experience, we adopted the four-phase cycle: Phase 1 - analysis of intangible characteristics of materials; includes context analysis, design motivations and needs; Phase 2 - solution development, based on theoretical model; Phase 3 - analysis of intervention in real practical situations; Phase 4 - documentation and reflection to produce design principles. These phases form a dynamic cycle in which problems, solutions, methods and principles are continually refined. As results, the virtual environment is a tool whose purpose is to support the construction and implementation of teaching-learning processes based on the intangible characteristics of the materials and to support the development of information and communication artifacts to constitute contributions for material selection and research in similar contexts. Finally, a virtual educational method of material selection is proposed to support students in the search for intangible characteristics in the selection of materials.
Starting the design process by designing the materials
Christiaan Job Nieman
Universidad de los Andes, Colombia
At the basis of the course “Diseño Materiales y Procesos” (Design, Materials, and Processes) at the Design Department in the Universidad de Los Andes, is the development of basic knowledge on the different fabrication methods and the materials with which products are made. Complementing this knowledge, we focus on motivating the students to use it, not just to design products with the knowledge of what is already possible, but also to apply their creative abilities to the design of materials and processes themselves. Using the different sources of material knowledge, and starting by replicating interesting materials they encounter, understanding them from the local handicrafts and material possibilities in Colombia, prepares the students for the final project. The project brief is to design a “new” material. This material may be inspired by existing materials, or be a more experimental approach to achieve a certain functionality with a totally new process. Results include magnetic rubbers, leather waste bricks, scented cement, wood and aluminum laminate, and fluorescent water paint. The evaluation is not measured by the success of the resulting material sample, but the innovative purpose, and breadth of the experimentation. This way the students are motivated to take risks and go further with their experiments, resulting in very interesting examples of material design. The end objective is to broaden the possibilities in creative design processes, as the students understand that they can create materials and processes that enable and fit their creative ideas.
Advanced Teaching and Research with CES Selector
Joel Galos
Education Division, Granta Design, Cambridge, UK
This poster illustrates the functionality of CES Selector and how it can be used for advanced teaching and research. CES Selector is used for post graduate courses and research within Universities, Research Institutes and Industry. Providing comprehensive industry standard data and the ability to add your own data along with tools for visualizing, comparing, predicting and estimating materials data; it is a unique resource for research. Granta’s Research Map is highlighted, where you can see publications using CES Selector, from faculty around the world.
If you already use CES Selector, please speak with us. We are very interested in hearing about any ways in which it can be improved.
On or after research to teaching: a blended approach to teaching on about materials science
Azam Ali
University of Otago, New Zealand
Learning is a self-motivated progression, but it is a complex issue. Hence, when student need to learn a new topic they are often experienced some sort of dilemma by the subject content. This is essentially exhibits in teaching materials science topics. I believe this is largely of the exclusion of materials science courses are not taught in schools. For teaching materials science, it is important to provide inter/multi-disciplinary examples, as theory and truthful information in the text books or literatures does not often useful for learning. Thus, exemplifying research outcomes and exhibiting images with open questions and discussion could be advantageous to enrich learning process in understanding fundamental concepts to applied applications of materials science. In this presentation, I will share and highlight my 20 years plus research experiences which is currently contributing in my teaching practices in a 200-level course: materials processing and properties for biomedical applications.
In my research I have developed a number of novel medical devices, which are commercialised and currently available in worldwide. It was found that material structure-function understanding allow to process further to alter its properties, suitable for high value applications (e.g. medical devices). Presenting this case study, largely materials processing schemes via alteration of proteins structure-functions through denaturing, hydrolysing and bioconjugation that changes material properties including biological functionalities revealed a number of interesting questions and open an active discussion. Through this case study, it has been established that a large number of the students are enthused and upskilled their learning on:
- Fundamental understanding of polymers or biopolymers and their structures or organisational segment (‘amorphous’ and ‘crystallinity’) and ionic arrangement;
- Polymers or biopolymers chemistry are not different than basic chemistry subject;
- Molecules (large or small) and its structural geometry govern function and properties, which typically succeed through materials processing.
How can computer modelling help students to improve their understanding of materials?
Ledjane Barreto
Federal University of Sergipe, Brazil
Computational modeling put together mathematical models of natural phenomena and computer simulations. In the contemporary world is not conceivable design a product without the use of computational modeling. It is commonly used into the product development. Is there any difference between product design and material design? Students of science and engineering materials are being prepared to design materials? Could computer simulations help students to get a better understanding to design materials? Material structure hierarchy and relationship with their properties in multiscale, as well the complex nature of the changes that occur in materials processing, highlight the difficulty for students to develop models for the materials and process. Computational experiments integrate theories, models and performing calculations to solve problems, including at multiscale. Students demonstrate difficulties in deal with theories and experimental results, particularly when is needed the use of mathematical tools. The reflection proposed here is how the computational modeling are used in the classroom, from undergraduate to graduate ? Not only as a tool to solve scientific and technological problems, but to foster student learning. The challenges of understanding and appropriation of knowledge in multiscale considering dimension of size and time of events present in the materials and their transformations.
Reinventing medical device innovation through alignment
Jordan Lange
Tufts University, USA
Reinventing Medical Device Innovation Through Alignment Jordan Lange, Joshua Wiesman Tufts University Abstract: Venture and corporate venture hesitancy to support early stage medical device development creates the opportunity for new models in academic research to serve as the foundation for early stage device development. The entrepreneur’s agility and outside the box thinking in collaboration with academia’s hard science and structured research could be an answer to creating high value early to mid- stage investment opportunities resulting in an innovation surge. Although there is an increased awareness and emphasis on transitional research to generate commercially viable products, in most cases a significant gap remains between academic objectives and industry expectations. To further complicate the environment, traditional investment groups (VC, Angel Funding, and corporate VC), available to entrepreneurs and inventors, remain timid to invest in early stage device companies due to commercialization risk, lack of early stage exits, and a continued lack of support from industry partners (corporate investments). A series of interviews were conducted to help investors, entrepreneurs, academics and industry professionals understand how each group makes decisions and what motivates those decisions. Academic research should put more emphasis on developing a commercially viable product (reducing technology risk). Furthermore, by leveraging the entrepreneur’s ability to prove market size and interest in the product(s), academic technologies can reduce market adoption risks. This reduction in commercialization risk should increase investment activity for earlier stage products. By understanding the decision-making process and success metrics of each group, new models (innovation) for early stage medical device development may be created with a higher rate of success.
Concrete microstructure teaching from Ancient Rome
Javier Orozco Messana, Ana M. Gonzalvez-Pons
Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Spain
The use of Project Based Learning (PBL) is nowadays key for engaging students in real, meaningful problems that are important to them and therefore enthusing future engineers to deepen their knowledge. The related learning processes develop a deeper understanding and knowledge acquisition which helps in overcoming the limited classroom environment.
In order to overcome these limitations when teaching building materials, selected problems on key issues are developed from a practical meaningful building case for its analysis from a theoretical understanding. The methodology has been put to work with ancient archaeological samples taken from a "natatio" (swimming pool) found on the ruins of the Horta Vella Domus near Valencia (Spain).
The case presented included an interdisciplinary team of college students retranslating the ancient writings of Vitruvius and so "discovering" the mortar used for making it water tight. A second team of last year Building Engineering students developed the formulation and characterized it compared to real archeological samples from the "Horta Vella" Domus. A last teal of last year architecture students made a sustainability evaluation based on a computer model for the Domus.
The rsults are striking from the science point of view and very relevant as to the knowledge acquisition process.
Engaging students by engaging teachers
Alexandre Mege-Revil, Amina Tandjaoui, Domitille Gobbo, Salima Halitim
Ecole Centrale de Lille, France
Students in Centrale Lille study from their third to their fifth year of higher education. The originality of their cursus consists in the wide spectrum of topics they study: computer science, automatics, electronics, mechanics, chemical engineering, management, and of course materials sciences. In this presentation, we will share several of the tricks we use to keep students interest at a high level, most of these tricks actually consisting in getting ourselves interested. The main case will deal with a successfully renewed Materials Selection module. The students studied a device amongst eight different ones to determine the functionalities and justify the materials selection that was made. This year, we offered them to work on any device of their choice, allowing us to learn a lot throughout the module. Moreover, we had to provide them with a thought-over way to get information with the help from our librarian. Finally, the students had to prove the functionality of the chosen material(s) by performing an experiment. They had to contact a researcher or a teacher who could help them to do so, in any department. Their interest in their case study was enhanced simply because they had more freedom than usual. Freedom to choose their topic: even within a device, they were allowed to work on a single part of their choice; freedom to move: during the hours dedicated to bibliography and experiments, they were free to go anywhere within the campus to work. At several times we barely knew where some of them were, though we trusted them to be working. Finally, as we did not know how most of the devices were made, the case studies were even more interesting for us. It triggered a positive feeling in the students who were eager to find something we did not know.
New resources for teaching introductory materials science and engineering
Marc Fry, Hannah Melia
Education Division, Granta Design, UK
The universe of materials is growing in tandem with the demands of new technological applications, while materials decisions must evolve to accommodate sustainable development, regulations and global supply chains. Educators therefore need to introduce new relevant topics while maintaining student engagement, and balancing quality with workload. We are currently enhancing CES EduPack with a suite of new resources targeted at introductory Materials Science and Engineering courses. The aim is that these will support educators in their challenge to fit everything in and support students in self-learning.
Three things have been added: new data on Functional Materials and Biomaterials, a prototype Phase Diagram Tool targeting conceptual sticking points across technologically important systems, finally, a unique “Process-Property Profiles” database enables students to explore interactions between material processing, structure, properties and performance. This poster will provide an overview of progress made so far and invite participants to try them and give feedback.