Week of 10/24: Free Post

Making Rubber from Dandelion Juice?!?!

I was reading through some material science news articles today when I seen one title that popped out. It said "Making Rubber from Dandelion Juice." I had to check this out, since it seemed pretty funky to me.This means dandelions could be used for something more than turning everything yellow, which would be pretty awesome in my eyes.

According to the article, it would be a rather difficult process, but still possible! Engineers are currently building the first pilot extraction system to actually pull rubber out of this juice to make tires. It officially started in Europe at the beginning of October. Here are the goals of this pilot:

1. To have a production process in 5 years

2. To be more cost effective than conventional rubber extraction

3. To be more durable than rubber trees

These are just a few goals. Another benefit will be that dandelions can be grown quickly and in very large quantities. Since it's a weed, they are lest vulnerable to pests.

I think this could be a very cool development, and from the sound of it it will happen. It currently is going on in Germany, but it could still benefit us Americans. Maybe we could adapt this process one day and make us less dependent on raw material imports.

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. "Making rubber from dandelion juice." ScienceDaily, 28 Oct. 2013.            Web. 28 Oct. 2013.

Week of 10/24: Hands on work

Week of 10/24: Hands on Work in My Field

This is one of the furnaces I got to work with

Hello again, for this week I was asked to go and do something "hands on" in my field and then report my experience. Luckily for me, I have already had hands on experience in my field. In the summer I worked for my dad, usually just as a manual laborer, but I also got the opportunity to work with some of the more in depth material around the shop. 

I was allowed to work with furnaces, like the one shown on the right, to see the more in depth processes of heat treating. In case you haven't seen some of my other posts, heat treating is the process of heating and cooling steel to strengthen it, relieve the stress in steel, or to make steel rust resistant. In modern times, the furnaces are almost completely ran by computer. However, I still got to see the recipes put into the computer, and was able to learn about the entire process about how they work. These furnaces work in a unique fashion, that is used only by this heat treating company. I learned all about the mechanics, and the chemistry that goes into it. This type of work has always interested me. 

Whenever I consider studying something else, I cannot think of another field that sparks my interest as much as metallurgy. I find all of the fascinating and love that I was given the opportunity to start work in this field at a young age.  

Week of 10/17: Controversy in Material Science Engineering

Controversy in Material Science

Hybrid Cars, Are They Really Helping?

For this week's blog post I was asked to find a controversy in my field. I decided to choose the topic of hybrid cars and how "efficient" they really are. I found an article on How Stuff Works, a branch of Discovery, that argues both side of the fight, and compares the cost of a hybrid car per mile compared to a Hummer H3 SUV per mile. The result that were concluded were a little surprising to me.

They found research done by CNW that compared these two vehicles for their cost per mile, which took into account everything from tires to the energy required to actually manufacture the car. The shocking part was the Hummer came out to $1.949 per mile while the Toyota Prius came out to $3.25. Part of this was that the Hummer was lasting over 200,000 miles and the Prius was only averaging a little of 100,000 miles. Parts on the Prius are also more expensive to replace, so fixing the car would cost more than a Hummer. According to this information a Hummer could actually be more efficient over it's lifespan than a Prius. 

The batteries have remained being a big issue on these hybrid cars. They do not have a long life, and they use a decent amount of energy to produce. However, there are now recycling programs for these batteries and people can receive up to $200 for an old battery. These cars also get triple, if not more, fuel economy than many SUVs, which causes less greenhouse gas emission.

It's up to you to decide what side you will take, but I believe if hybrid cars can be produced and maintained efficiently then this would be a major break through. We are definitely pushing the limits with the environment and efficiency would be extremely helpful in these tough times.

Clark, Josh. "Are Green Cars Manufactured in a Green Way?." How Stuff            Works. Discovery, 2008. Web. October 18, 2013.

Week of 10/17 Free Post

Week of 10/17 Free Post

News Article "Cracked Metal Heal Thyself"

Hello again, for this weeks blog post I decided to look up a news article off a very credible website, MIT. I was a bit stuck for ideas this week so I figured analyzing an interesting news article couldn't be a bad choice. If you search for "news in material science" on Google, you can find many results. I went with MIT since I know it's a rather credible website. 

I chose an article with the title "Cracked Metal Heal Thyself." This seemed interesting to me. Apparently under certain conditions pulling metal apart actually caused the cracks to fuse together. This shocked MIT students, at first they actually thought it was a mistake! The metal that they seen this happen with was nickel, but supposedly could work with other metals too. They haven't quite cracked why it happens yet but they are working on it. However, they believe that this technology could be used to create self healing material that would stop damage before it has time to spread. This could be extremely useful in something like an oil well deep in the ocean. 

Being someone who is going into the metallurgic side of material science, I thought this was fascinating. The idea of a metal that could heal itself is amazing. This could be possibly be used to stop some disasters before they even happen. Metal fatigue, which is caused my nanocracks forming over time, could possibly be eliminated since the self healing material would repair these nanocracks when they happen!

Chandler, David. "Cracked Metal Heal Thyself." MIT. MIT, October 9, 2013.             Web. October 18, 2013.

Week of 10/10: An Argument

Week of 10/10: Argument in Material Science

For my blog today, I am going to find some source that talks about an argument in material science. I'm going to search through Michigan State's scholarly articles to see if I can find anything, but based on the fact that I haven't been able to find much information through the library so far I will probably end up going online to search for some type of document. 

Since I cannot find many arguments that are currently active in the material science world, I decided to go towards a more broad approach. I decided to look into if the world will ever run out of metals. Now clearly it will run out eventually, but will it run out any time soon? Even within 1000 years or so? 

I found what seems to be a credible website with the answer. It says that metal wise, the earth it plentiful. In 100,000 to a million years it could be a different story, but humans will most likely have the world destroyed by then anyways. The article stated that metals will become less available when the prices rise above what anyone wants to pay, and that will happen long before we run out of the metals.

I think that all of this sounds about right. The earth is incredibly dense, and has many elements. There are also resources buried deep in the earth we haven't even found yet since we haven't been able to explore every part of the world. There are remote places that must be flowing with resources, and we will one day find them if we ever start running very low on our resources.

Worstal, Tim. "When Are We Going To Run Out of Metals?."Forbes. 2011.               Web. October 10, 2013.

Mine. 2012. Photograph. TIME, New York City. Web. October 10, 2013.

Free Post Week of 10/10

Week of 10/10 Free Post

History of Material Science in Michigan

(specifically in the UP)

Howdy! For this weeks free post I decided to do some research on the history of material science, specifically in the UP since most of the readers are Michiganders. I was going to do some type of history on the Big 3, but I thought this could be more interesting since the history of the UP isn't that well known. Hell, a lot of people in Michigan have never even crossed the bridge. I suppose I should say that I am referencing the Mackinaw Bridge. Since I love the outdoors and go to the UP snowmobiling quite often, this sparks a lot of my interest. 

I did some searching, and found that Michigan Tech's website actually had some very good information on this topic. During the late 1800s, the upper peninsula was one of the largest mining areas of the country. This led to the education of material science, in the school that is now Michigan Tech, located in Houghton, MI. There was a large amount of copper extracted from the UP, to use in wire and other miscellaneous items. Also, because of this Calumet, MI was one of the first cities in the world to install trolley cars and streets lights, which is rather impressive to me. The state of Michigan actually opened up Michigan Tech for education on mining and metallurgy to keep up with the demand. However, when the great depression hit the mining industry greatly decreased in demand.

So to wrap it up, Michigan's material science industry started out with mining. I found this interesting since a lot of people might instantly think that it started with the formation of the Big 3, first we needed the minerals necessary to start building products such as automobiles. It also reminds me of all spectacular nature and resources found in the UP.

"Department of Material Science History." Michigan Tech. Web. October 10, 2013.

Webster Iron Mine. Photograph. Great Lakes Echo. Michigan State             Archives. 2012. Web. October 10, 2013.

Free Post Week of 10/3

Week of 10/3 Free Post

Gender Roles in Material Science

For my free post this week, I will be talking about gender roles in material science. I'm curious what the ratio of male to female acquiring this degree. I am going to try and find the information specifically for Michigan State, but if I can't I will use information from multiple other colleges. I also want to research who is more successful in general in this field. I already know men hold the majority, but I am curious about the actual statistics. 

I found this video on women talking about engineering, stating it is more male dominant but also gives a woman's viewpoint.

I couldn't find any specific information about the ratio of men to women in material science, so I had to broaden my search to engineering in general. I also couldn't find information specifically involving MSU, but I did find a website called statistics on women engineering, which seems to be pretty official. According to this information only 20% of undergraduate engineering majors are female, which is a lower number than I thought it would be. Furthermore, 20% of the degrees awarded go to females, and of that 20%, 25% are in material science. 

After researching I found out mostly what I was expecting, the numbers were just lower than I thought they would be. I personally believe that women should be offered the same opportunities if they are putting in the same amount of work. Everyone deserves an equal chance, and I know I've met women that are smarter than men.

Karen, Horting. "Statistics on Women in Engineering." SWE. The Society of Women Engineers, 2008.                  Web. 8 Oct 2013.

Man Vs Woman. 2013. Photograph. LERA. Web. 8 Oct 2013.

Week of 10/3: Ethics in my work field

Week of 10/3: Ethics in Material Science

Hello again everyone and thank you for reading my blog this week. I will be talking about ethics in material science this week. Since material science is a branch of engineering, I am just going to research ethics in engineering in general. Most engineering professions follow the same guidelines so the ethics will also follow. Before doing any research, I'm assuming the ethics will follow the basic guidelines, like be honest and do your job right. However, these are just my assumptions.

When I started to look up ethics in engineering, I found an outdated website, but I believe it made valid points. The ethical guidelines were:

1. Use your knowledge and skill for the enhancement of human welfare

2. Be honest and impartial

3. Strive to increase the prestige of the profession

4. Supporting the professional and technical societies of their disciplines 

I was correct about one of the ethical values, but the other ones also make sense. They basically all follow my own personal beliefs(which can be found in my first post) and #2 does especially. I think of these beliefs as do the best you can, and be honest. 

How my college work will prepare me to work in my field with these ethical guidelines

Having to always do my own work will help me prepare for these ethical guidelines. Since I can't copy off other people, it prepares me to be honest about my work, which I already am anyways. Also trying to do the best I can in my classes will prepare me to do the best work I can in the field. The fourth guideline means that engineers need to open new opportunities for other engineers and help them along, which I can also apply to my college life. I can help first year student in classes that I've already taken and give them a chance to do better in class. 

I believe that these are pretty good ethical guidelines. They can also be applied to everyday living too, which makes them easier to carry out in the workplace. Thanks again for reading!

"Ethics in Engineering." Stony Brooks Material Science and Engineering. National Society of Professional Engineers, April 24, 1998. Web.  October 3,          2013.

Calvin and Hobbes. 2008. Photograph. PACTISS Web. October 3 2013.

Week of 9/26: Free Post

Free Post 9/26: MSU's Material Science Program

This picture I had on my computer fits this blog nicely.

Hello again, for this weeks free post I will be researching Michigan State's material science program in comparison to other schools. I am curious about how it ranks in the state, and how it ranks on a national level. I have a good feeling it is one of the better programs but I am not able to say for sure. 

I found a website, universityportal.net that ranked MSU at 40th in the country. It was only one spot above Michigan Tech University, and was blown out of the water by Michigan's program which ranked number seven. MIT has the best program in the country which isn't a big surprise. In reality I wouldn't be able to get into the best college in the country, plus any degree with Michigan State's name on it will look pretty good. I probably could've gone to Michigan for the better program, but I never had any interest in going to Michigan. I also do not think it would have been worth it to pay more to attain the same degree. Michigan State came out to about $21000 including the dorm, and Michigan was about $26000. 

I believe attending Michigan State for their material science program will fulfill all of my needs. I can attain the degree that's perfect for me, and having a good time while doing it. I can make some lifelong friends which could possibly open up business opportunities. 

"World Science & Engineering University Portal." : Top Engineering School : Materials.              US News Rank, 2008. Web. 28 September 2013

Week of 9/26: Campus Group

Week of 9/26: Material Science Engineering Society

For this week's blog, I was sent on a task to find and investigate an on campus organization that deals with material science. To start off my search I went to the MSU Engineering website. I started looking around for groups and found a material science group. The name of this group is the Material Science and Engineering Society. 

I was asked to partake in a meeting of this organization, but since I knew I wouldn't have time I found an email on the website and asked if I could get the run down of the group from a member. I asked about the beliefs, the motives, and what the group does in general. I received an email back saying I would not be able to personally talk to someone on such short notice, however they still answered my questions I had.

I was informed that a major goal of this group is to help find people jobs after college. Being in this group can also help open up internship opportunities which can be very helpful.This would allow me to get experience in my field before I even graduate.

This also allows us students to work together on school work, so I could do better in my studies. This would be a help since I haven't actually met kids that are pursuing a material science degree yet. It could also open up new chances to make some friends with similar interests as me. I am greatly considering joining this group since it is the only group that is relevant to my degree. I think it could open up some good opportunities and maybe even some new friendships.

Thanks for reading! Have a good day.

"MSE Banner." Photo. n.d. Material Science and Engineering Society. Egr          MSU. Web.  9/28/13.