MATERIALS CAMP

ASM Materials Camp Info Sheet and Application Form (PDF)

ASM Materials CampSM — Lehigh Valley

Students "explode" with excitement about Materials Science

What do you get when you combine liquid nitrogen, racquet balls, empty soda bottles and teenagers? How about laminated windshields, pianos, stereo speakers, Prince Rupert Drops, and graduate students? Well, when it's ASM Materials CampSM — Lehigh Valley, you get sixteen high school kids excited about Materials Science and Engineering.

The Lehigh Valley Chapter holds its ASM Materials CampSM at Lehigh University during a week of July each year. The week-long commuter camp hosts sixteen participants representing area high schools. The camp activities are developed and instructed by volunteer graduate students in Lehigh University's Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) Program. The program is an offering by the local chapter and Lehigh University that is driven by the ASM Foundation (www.asmfoundation.org). The goals of the camp include the introduction of a relatively unknown engineering discipline at the high school level and to give a general overview of engineering. The camp uses examples of a variety of materials applications: from music to sports to transportation to entertainment to illustrate the impact materials have on everyday life. The diverse topics ensure that each and every student will find an application that is related to at least one of their interests. Learning is always more fun when it can be personalized.

Coordinated by graduate student representatives and faculty, the group of graduate students gives brief lectures and run labs demonstrating various concepts and technologies common to MSE. Some demos are flashy, like the one that involves smashing super-cooled racquet balls against the wall, and the one witnessing the effects of pressure buildup in a soda bottle as liquid nitrogen vaporizes inside the confined space. Other labs are more data-driven and just as much fun, like the composite materials labs and competition, and the macro-grain size examination of cast Al ingots. Trips to the Martin Guitar factory in Nazareth or a classical harpsichord performance illustrate more unique aspects of materials science. Professionals from industry are asked to speak to the students and families during the closing ceremony in order to provide some insight on their backgrounds, experiences in the world of materials, and professional opportunities related to MSE. In previous years, these professionals represent esteemed organizations in our chapter such as Air Products, Carpenter Technologies, and EMV Technologies.

Feedback from the participants is enthusiastic, very positive, and appreciative of the instructor's efforts. One participant wrote, "This camp expanded my knowledge into materials science. It has encouraged me to pursue a degree in the field." At the Closing Ceremony, one parent remarked that her son had learned more about science during the Camp than he has in a classroom. These, and similar remarks from the other students and parents let us know that our goal "To excite young people about materials, science and engineering careers" is met by the experience of ASM Materials CampSM — Lehigh Valley.

Each year, the Lehigh Valley Chapter of ASM solicits applications for the materials camp in the month of September. Please check our website often ( HYPERLINK http://www.lvasm.org www.lvasm.org) for application info. If you would like to contribute to the camp, we are always looking for professional speakers as well as material and financial donations to support the hands on laboratories that the students complete. Please contact the current executive chair or materials camp chair via the contact information on the website.

 


George Prutzman uses the equalizer to test the strength of a rubber
band and ice composite.


Deniz Pamukcu shows off his pitching prowess to
demonstrate the difference in fracture properties of
tempered versus laminate glass.


Arlan Benscoter shows Adam Schwenk and Justin Bendigo how to
metallographically prepare an aluminum ingot.


Becky Pottenger pours molten aluminum into a graphite mold to produce
a simple casting.


Ken Adams explains the basics of weld microstructures and
macro etching to Asma Ashraf, Becky Pottenger, and Andrew Hillenius.


Christian Neumann loads a Charpy bar into the impact
tester to determine the toughness of the alloy.


Tevin Gibson steadily increases the load on an iron wire while duplicating
the DaVinci Experiment.


Matt Galler explains the basics of failure analysis and fracture mechanics
to Ben Kusiak, Becky Pottenger, and Asma Ashraf.


Tim Anderson explains the inner workings of the SEM as several
students observe.


Justin Bendigo, Adam Schwenk, and Ben Kusiak
carefully prepare their epoxy composites for the
strength competition.


Andrew Koch locally heats the end of a glass rod to make a
prince Rupert drop.


Shen Dillon adds “additional weight” to his testing apparatus after the
hockey stick fails to break.


Deniz Pamukcu explains his plan to help “Eskimo Steve” survive a
long hard Alaskan winter.


Joe Murphy poses for a quick picture after realizing that eggs do not
perform well in a compression tester


Mandy Lin and Ellen Speace inject polymer into a mold
to create golf ball cores.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Thank you very much.
This was well worth a week of my summer!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


"This camp expanded my knowledge in Materials Science. It has encouraged me to pursue a degree in the field.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


“This camp was fun and interesting. The instructors are what made the camp enjoyable.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


“ I had a fun time and would definitely recommend the camp to my friends”