Materials Science and Engineering News

Proposals in Progress for November 18, 2013

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Assistant Professor Yongmei Jin (MSE/IMP), “Collaborative Research: Virtual Processing, Operating and Damage of Low Volume Solder Interconnects for 3D Applications,” NSF.

Assistant Professor Yongme Jin (MSE/IMP), “Experiment and Computational Study of Magnetostrictive Fe-Ga Alloys,” NSF.

Associate Professor Yu Wang and Professor Jaroslaw Drelich (MSE/IMP), “Colloid Science of Surface Charge Heterogeneity as Related to Oil Sand Processing,” American Chemical Society-Petroleum Research Fund.

Read more at Tech Today.

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Alum Sanchai Kuboon Assists with Recruitment Abroad

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Graduate School Recruits in Thailand

It’s become a popular and successful strategy. Graduate School staff venture to Thailand to recruit, and they get a lot of help from alumni over there.

Helping tell the Tech story were a few generations worth of alumni. Recently graduated Sanchai Kuboon ’13 was there. He’s a Royal Thai Scholar and materials science graduate who is now a researcher developing new biofuels.

Read more at Tech Today, by Dennis Walikainen.

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MSE Major Suki Miftah Makes a Difference

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Delta Phi Epsilon
Delta Phi Epsilon

M-Making a D-Difference

It was a tradition for the DZs, according to Suki Miftah, a third-year materials science and engineering major from Baltimore.

“Last year, we raked on Agate Street, we did the Chassell cemetery and the playground at Daniell Heights the year before that,” she said.

They all planned on attending the Northern hockey name that night, and some had been in Marquette the night before. “We played well,” Miftah said. “It was fun.”

Read more at TechAlum Newsletter, by Dennis Walikainen.

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3D Printers in November News

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Ethical Filament FoundationThrough research at the University’s Open Sustainability Technology Lab, Michigan Tech was a launch supporter of the Ethical Filament Foundation, whose goal is to create an environmentally friendly and ethically produced filament for the rapidly growing 3-D printing market. The foundation hopes to open up a new market for value added products that can be produced by waste picker groups in low-income countries. The launch of the Ethical Filament Foundation was covered in the media such as TechCrunch
http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/07/ethical-additive-manufacturing

From Tech Today.

Charity Targets 3D Printing’s Plastic Waste Problem With Standards For An Ethical Alternative

The Foundation has been founded by techfortrade in partnership with Dreambox Emergence which provides 3D printing units for community based manufacturing in Guatemala, and Michigan Technological University.

Read more at TechCrunch, by Natasha Lomas.

Commentary: Open-source hardware for research and education

The software industry has had a similar revolution of shoulder-standing, in the form of the free and open-source computer software movement. Free and open-source software (FOSS) is available in source-code form and can be used, copied, modified, and redistributed without restriction, or with restrictions only to ensure that it remains open to future recipients and users.

Two recent open-source design and production developments are driving those reductions: Arduino microcontrollers and the RepRap three-dimensional printer.

Read more at Physics Today, by Joshua Pearce.

3D Printing a Greener Alternative to Traditional Manufacturing

“The bottom line is, we can get substantial reductions in energy and CO2 emissions from making things at home,” Dr. Joshua Pearce, who conducted the study, said. “And the home manufacturer would be motivated to do the right thing and use less energy, because it costs so much less to make things on a 3D printer than to buy them off the shelf or on the Internet.”

Read more at 3D Printer World, by John Graber.

Pearce Pens a 3D Printing Guide for Scientists on a Budget

Joshua Pearce is not one for understatement. “This is the beginning of a true revolution in the sciences,” says the author of “Open-Source Lab.” For cash-strapped researchers, he could be right.

Read more at Michigan Tech News.

Slideshow: 3D Printing Is Cheap & Green for Plastics

A team led by Michigan Technological University’s Joshua M. Pearce conducted preliminary lifecycle analyses of three small plastic objects: a child’s building block, a spout for a watering can, and a citrus juicer. The three objects chosen were considered typical of those people might want to print at home, and because open-source .STL files are easily available. They were also chosen to test different variables, such as the effect of fill percentage on environmental impact or geometrical complexity. The team included Pearce, associate professor of materials science & engineering, electrical engineering and computer engineering, and Megan Kreiger, graduate student in materials science & engineering.

Read more at Design News, by Ann R. Thryft.

In the News

“America Makes,” the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, driven by the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM), proudly welcomed eight new members including Michigan Tech for their work in 3D printing.

Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) published an article in Elsevier Connect 3D-Printing Your Lab Equipment–It’s Cheaper Than You Think.

From Tech Today.

3D-printing your lab equipment—it’s cheaper than you think
3D printing and open-source designs are emerging as powerful tools for accelerating science

3D printers do what engineers like to call additive manufacturing – that is, they make real physical objects by laying down sub-millimeter-thick layers of material (currently mostly plastic) one after another in a specific pattern governed by a digital design. This allows 3D printer users to make products to their own specifications, so they do not have to “make do” with what is available off the shelf at their local store or even on the Internet.

Read more at Elsevier Connect, by Joshua M. Pearce.

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Research Scientist Position

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Job openings at the Materials Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois

We have several job openings that might interest some students/ post docs that have experience in Electron Microscopy instrumentation.

Research Scientist(s) position

Please see the link below for the job information and to apply electronically online:

https://jobs.illinois.edu/academic-job-board/job-details?jobID=36125&job=research-scientist-materials-research-laboratory-a1300472

*Note for those unfamiliar with University jobs here, a common question:  Is the job for only one year with the “12 month appointment”?

All academic positions at the University are appointed on a 9- or 12-month service basis, eligible for annual renewal based upon mutual agreement and the annual performance review process.  This Academic Professional position is a regularly recurring staff scientist role not subject to grant funding. See http://ap.illinois.edu for more information.

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Waupaca Foundry 3 Positions

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We are looking for three aspiring engineers at this point. One position is a full-time metallurgist and the other two are intern/co-op positions, one for our metallurgical department and the other for our pattern engineering department. We would be looking for a material science major for the two metallurgical positions, however, we would be open to any mechanical or technology engineering students (possibly ones taking the casting course) for the tooling engineer position.

Alumni Tyler Nooyen and Chris Heczko will be in Houghton on November 6th for interviews. Students can apply only at the HuskyJobs application on the MTU Career Center Site.

Metallurgical Intern Co-op Position

Metallurgist Position

Tooling Engineer Intern Co-op Position

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Steel Industry Representatives at Michigan Tech

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Paul Sanders-Steel Day
Paul Sanders-Steel Day

Michigan Tech undergrads meet with representatives in the steel industry

With the help of a $35,000 grant from the Association of Iron and Steel Technology, the university was able to invite companies to the first-ever Steel Day.

“The steel industry is a major manufacturing industry in the United States,” said assistant professor in materials science engineering at Michigan Tech, Paul Sanders. “It provides a lot of jobs, it provides material for infrastructure. It’s a really important industry, and we really want to get students who like that type of work, like manufacturing, and get them to help support the industry.”

Read more and watch the video at Upper Michigan’s Source, by Sarah Blakely.

Up close and personal with steel

Industry reps speak with Michigan Tech students

Brad Jonas, metallurgist with Charlotte, N.C.-based Nucor, said he was telling students although they may not have thought about the steel industry for a career, many types of engineers are needed in the field.

“We’re trying to present opportunities engineers have with the steel industry,” he said. “There’s all sorts of avenues in our environment.”

Jim Turnquist, Tech director of career services, said the first-ever gathering of steel industry representatives separate from Tech’s Career Fair was created to highlight the growth of the steel industry and because many students may not realize the career potentials in the industry.

Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Kurt Hauglie.

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