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.
I love the UP! My grandma lives in Sault Ste. Marie so I've had the opportunity to cross the bridge many times. When I was applying for colleges I thought about Michigan Tech so it surprises me that it was made to educate students on mining because I wanted to look into engineering and they were really big on that. I'm glad someone else has seen Upper Michigan's beauty and can enjoy the snow too!
ReplyDeleteI really love the UP too! All of Northern Michigan really :) my dad actually attended Michigan Tech so its cool to hear about people who are interested in it too. The UP is such a beautiful place and it was interesting to learn a little about Material Science and how it relates to the UP. Is that what material science is? the science of like the natural materials from the earth?
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