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Public Outreach 2001 MRS Spring Meeting
Activities 2000 MRS Fall Meeting
Activities
A group of students and chaperones from three Bay area middle schools were brought to the MRS Spring meeting to participate in a workshop sponsored by the MRS Outreach Subcommittee of the Public Affairs Committee. Joanna Mirecki Millunchick, of the University of Michigan, introduced the concept of materials science and illustrated its importance by pointing out that our civilization is often described by the materials it uses. The stone and iron ages obviously get their name from specific materials that were used in the tools developed at that point in history. Our current age, the information age, relies on a variety of materials such as semiconductors that make up computer chips, and magnetic materials for data storage. It is this latter topic that the students examined in this workshop. Dr. Sining Mao, of Seagate, described how a computer hard drive works. It is made up of essentially two parts: a platter on which there is a layer of magnetic recording material, and a write/read head. He impressed the students when he told them that if we compare the write/read head to a 747, it's like the plane is traveling at four hundred times the speed of sound less than an inch off the ground. Then, the students got to see the inner workings of a hard drive for themselves by dissecting dead drives. As one student put it, "I really enjoyed taking apart the HD; seeing the components in real life and working with their connections really taught me about a HD more than a lecture." Members of the MRS Public Outreach Subcommittee escorted the students through several exhibit booths to participate in demonstrations of instruments used in materials research. A pizza dinner and a visit to the poster session followed. This workshop was the second in an ongoing series. The first workshop was held during the 2000 MRS Fall Meeting. To learn more about the Student Workshop Series or other outreach activities, contact the Public Outreach Subcommittee Chair, Alan Hurd at ajhurd@lanl.gov.
"Don't compete with the material because the material always wins." This is Bob Lange's message to those who are teaching concepts in materials science. The accuracy of this message was made evident by the group of high-school students brought to the 2000 MRS Fall Meeting to participate in a workshop sponsored by the MRS Outreach Subcommittee of the Public Affairs Committee. Students from three Boston high schools participated in these workshops, then toured the equipment exhibit area and the poster session at the MRS meeting. Lange, of Brandeis University, introduced the students to the concept of materials science by explaining that the microscopic makeup of a material directs how the material behaves. Two "hands-on" activities were then led by Lange and Gay Kendall of Benét Laboratories, U.S. Army ARDEC. In the first experiment, the students were instructed to design a lightweight material with the ability to push heavy objects. They received #10 rubber bands, 3-in.-long fettuccine noodles, and paper clips. The students were to produce a wand nearly 15 in. long that could be used to push a plastic container filled with water. Through this experiment, the students discussed how the structure of the material made it behave as it did-whether the wand bent or broke-and how reinforcement of the material made it behave differently. The study on structure and behavior continued in another experiment, this time on polymers. The polymers workshop began with a discussion of three basic types of materials (metals, ceramics, polymers) whose differences were demonstrated with Styrofoam models to represent atomic structure. Students were then presented with a variety of common items made from polymer materials and asked to make observations about their physical properties at room temperature. Students appreciated the etymology of the word polymer when these properties were explained in terms of molecular chains. The students were asked to predict the behavior of polymers at very low temperatures. Heat was explained in terms of particle vibration, and liquid nitrogen was used to demonstrate the concept of glass transition. Students then made their own polymer materials from ingredients including white craft glue, borax, and cornstarch. Members of the Outreach Subcommittee escorted the students through several exhibit booths to participate in demonstrations of instruments used in materials research. This tour was followed with another in the poster session. The students said that they enjoyed the workshop and interacting with researchers at the meeting. One student was considering going into the medical field and said that this workshop offered various possibilities in the research area. When the students were asked if the workshop has given them an idea of what a career in materials research would be like, one student eloquently responded, "I was convinced that being in materials research is being like a candle that will light up this world's future."
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