Undercooled: A Materials Education Podcast

Avi Bregman

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 17:02:39 -0400

Tim and Steve caught up with Dr. Avi Bregman at the TMS meeting. Avi is at the Applied Physics Lab at Johns Hopkins University. He is the section supervisor for Materials Discovery there. He talked about his journey to Materials Science and his career path after getting his PhD. He talked about the work he is currently doing. Avi also told us about his company that helps smaller universities get research funding, especially those that do not have the administrative staff to handle the details of actually getting the funds to the University.

You can learn more about Avi's company, E4 Power, here:
http://e4power.org/

You can contact Avi here:
Avi.bregman@e4power.org or avi.g.brgeman@gmail.com

Short Bio:

Dr. Avi Bregman currently serves as a senior staff scientist and section supervisor for Materials Discovery at the Applied Physics Lab at Johns Hopkins University (APL/JHU). In this role his recent work and interests span a variety of disciplines including composites (ceramic and polymer), nanoparticle synthesis and characterization, EMI shielding, green H2 generation, high temperature systems, FEM modeling in COMSOL, and additive manufacturing. Prior to APL/JHU, Dr. Bregman spent time at Sandia National Labs studying the resiliency of novel composite systems in extreme radiation environments. Dr. Bregman earned his undergraduate degree in Chemistry from Haverford College and his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from The University of Michigan. Additionally, Dr. Bregman serves as the Director of Pre-Award Services at E4 Power inc.

The YouTube video can be found here:
https://youtu.be/AFzNJAjCr8o

Our YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.Materials

This episode is sponsored by the TMS Foundation and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Steve and Tim talk sustainabilty stories

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 13:00:00 -0400

Steve and Tim talk about how to use stories of successful sustainability projects in the curriculum of second to fourth year engineering courses. They explain how they will use several of the future podcasts to collect these stories. They also talk about how these stories may end up framing an open source "textbook" for introductory materials science and engineering and complement higher level classes up to the graduate level.

Joel McDonald sent us some background links that explain more about how Dow Chemical Co developed the methods to recycle polyurethanes. These could be used in a polymers course, a chemical engineering course, or a sustainability course. Joel also suggested having students learn about the patent process by having them look up the related patents and talk about how this will protect Dow's IP. This is an often under valued part of the sustainability process.

Links:
https://corporate.dow.com/en-us/news/press-releases/dow-jlr-and-adient-develop-industry-first-breakthrough-circularity-automotive-seating.html

https://www.dow.com/en-us/product-technology/pt-polyurethanes/sustainability/polyurethanes/depolymerization.html

https://corporate.dow.com/en-us/news/press-releases/dow-and-gruppo-fiori-develop-breakthrough-recycling-process.html

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dow-polyurethanes_dow-x-gruppo-fiori-video-1-activity-7373731403550863360-u-Ob

The YouTube video can be found here:
https://youtu.be/hFbXyDyGzag

Our YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.Materials

This episode is sponsored by the TMS Foundation and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Joel McDonald: What Dow Chemical Co. looks for in MS&E hires and how they approach sustainability

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 13:00:00 -0500

Steve and Tim talk with Dr. Joel McDonald, the Technical Director for Mobility products at Dow Chemical company. Joel was Steve's PhD student and an Applied Physics graduate at U. Michigan. He talks about how he first worked at Sandia National Labs before transitioning to Dow Corning, and later Dow. He explains how he was able to perform well in a chemical company even though his background was in optics. He has leveraged his Applied Physics and Materials skills learned in grad school to rise to a very high level at Dow and bring the right products to customers and help Dow make money. He talks at length about some of the very successful recycling efforts at Dow, specifically about how Dow has found a way to recover critical chemical components from polyurethane products in automobiles. Using their separation and chemical techniques they are able to create products from recycled vehicles that make mattresses or even seats for brand new luxury cars.

The YouTube video can be found here:
https://youtu.be/sHoE_wJ54-k

Our YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.Materials

This episode is sponsored by the TMS Foundation and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Patrick Shamberger and MS&E at Texas A&M

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 13:00:00 -0500

Steve and Tim talk to Prof. Patrick Shamberger from the MS&E department at Texas A&M. He tells us the story of how he helped build a new materials department and create a new curriculum for their students. He also talks about his research in phase change materials and how they may be one of the keys to a sustainable energy future.

You can learn more about Patrick here:

https://engineering.tamu.edu/materials/profiles/pshamberger.html

You can learn more about Patrick’s research here:

https://phate.tamu.edu/

You can learn more about the Texas A&M Materials Science and Engineering department here:

https://engineering.tamu.edu/materials/index.html

Patrick also runs an REU program that is still recruiting!
https://engineering.tamu.edu/materials/undergraduate-research/index.html

Bio: Dr. Patrick Shamberger has a background in functional inorganic materials, including interests in phase transformations, crystal structure/property relationships, and thermodynamics. These have been applied to a range of problems on both natural (geological) and engineered systems. Currently, he is an associate professor with the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University, College Station. Prior to this, he served as a materials research engineer for the Air Force Research Lab in the Nanoelectronic Materials Branch (AFRL/RXAN) and Thermal Sciences and Materials Branch (AFRL/RXBT). His areas of focus at AFRL were in the areas of plasma-assisted deposition processes for high-mobility nanocrystalline oxide films, and in reducing the variability of oxide-based resistance switches. Previous efforts have included development of rapid, low-temperature thermal storage based on phase change, physisorption, and chemical dissociation processes. Patrick Shamberger received his Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering from the University of Washington in 2010, an M.S. in Geology & Geophysics from the University of Hawaii in 2004, and a B.S.E. in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Princeton University.

The YouTube video can be found here:
https://youtu.be/wcNyzSuRbiY

Our YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.Materials

This episode is sponsored by the TMS Foundation and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Dr. Paul Krajewski: Sustainability, Manufacturing, and more at General Motors

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 08 Feb 2026 13:00:00 -0500

Tim and Steve talked with Dr. Paul Krajewski, the Director of Materials and Manufacturing Research at the General Motors Global Research and Development Center, about sustainability at GM, his work, what he looks for in hiring, and much more. He even talks to us about his STEAM interests and the books he has written for kids.

BIO

Dr. Paul E. Krajewski is the Director of Materials and Manufacturing Research at the General Motors Global Research and Development Center. Paul also represents GM as the USCAR Council Member and as the Technical Director for HRL Laboratories. Dr. Krajewski is a global expert in vehicle lightweighting and lightweight materials and manufacturing. He received his Bachelors and Doctorate in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Michigan. He has led production implementations with aluminum, magnesium, and carbon fiber composites including body panels on the 2014 Corvette Stingray. Dr. Krajewski has 80 publications and has been awarded 81 US Patents. He has been recognized by Fortune Magazine (40 under 40) and MIT’s Technology Review (TR100) as a leading innovator, and is a Fellow of ASM International. He has appeared as a subject matter expert on the History Channel's Modern Marvels Aluminum Program and won numerous automotive industry innovation awards. He was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 2020. Paul has also published three children’s STEM / STEAM books entitled “What's In Your Car”, " What's In Your Body", and "What's In Your Plane".

Book Website - https://periodictablebooks.com/

Link to GMR&D’s website https://www.gm.com/research

Link to job openings at GM https://search-careers.gm.com/en/jobs/

The YouTube video can be found here:
https://youtu.be/y75UqJXN1ds

Our YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.Materials

This episode is sponsored by the TMS Foundation and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Rob Beck - Materials and Archaeology

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 11 Jan 2026 13:00:00 -0500

Steve and Tim talk with Professor Rob Beck at the University of Michigan. Rob and Steve teach a joint course combining MSE with Archaeology & Anthropology to teach materials engineering students about the humanities and to teach humanities students about engineering. The course is called "Making Things: Three Million Years of Materials and Culture". It is based on work that Kevin Jones (see podcast episode S1E8) did in his Impact of Materials on Society project. This version was reworked with Archaeology instead of the Sociology. We discuss all aspects of the course, including many tangents into the wild world of materials history and culture!

You can find our more about Rob here:
https://lsa.umich.edu/anthro/people/faculty/archaeological-faculty/rabeck.html

The article about Rob's work in Cahokia that he talks about at the end of the podcast can be found here (highly recommended reading):
https://lsa.umich.edu/lsa/news-events/lsa-magazine/lsa-magazine-archive/spring-2025/notes-from-underground.html

Rob is also Curator of the UM Museum of Anthropological Archaeology: https://lsa.umich.edu/ummaa

You can find a video where Rob and Steve talk about the course for a virtual talk they presented on the meaning of social learning here:
https://youtu.be/osBdpU5VA_s

A video introducing the course from a few years ago can be found here:
https://youtu.be/e82iosMorBo

The YouTube video can be found here:
https://youtu.be/nxeVc67cLkk

Our YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.Materials

This episode is sponsored by the TMS Foundation and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Tricia Nguyen-Embroidery and Materials Science

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 28 Dec 2025 18:00:00 -0500

Tim and Steve interview Dr. Tricia Nguyen about her career in textiles that evolved from her degrees in Materials Science & Engineering. She currently owns and operates a historical embroidery company, Thistle Threads: https://thistle-threads.myshopify.com/pages/about-us . If you're interested in learning more, you can even take classes in historical needlework projects at her online university! https://thistle-threads.thinkific.com/ . We also discuss the implications of her research for STEM education and how we can engage more women in STEM careers.

The YouTube video can be found here:
https://youtu.be/BkTVetZBhv0

Our YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.Materials

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Ivan Baiges Creating a Sustainability Engineering degree

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 07 Dec 2025 13:00:00 -0500

Steve and Tim talked with Professor Ivan Baiges from University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez about the new undergraduate program he and his team developed called Sustainability Engineering. He described the need for such a program, especially in Puerto Rico, as well as how he went about assembling a team of faculty to do the hard work of creating new courses, convincing administrators, and making it happen. He suggested several books that inspired him, and he recommends them to all interested in Sustainability Engineering.

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/DB3lG_fE9L0

Here is his reading list:
On the subject of “Emergy or Embodied Energy

Environment, Power, and Society for the Twenty-First Century: The Hierarchy of Energy Illustrated Edition; by Howard Odum (Author)ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780231128872

Emergy or EMbodied/EMbedded energy is based on the concept that the value of something (ecosystem, products/materials, services, built environment, etc.) is based on the amount of resources/energy that goes into creating that something, instead of how much one is willing to pay for it. This is an excellent method to understand the actual value of any given material solution.

On the subject of Economics in a different light:
Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered by E. F. Schumacher (Author)
Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist by Kate Raworth (Author)
Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution by Paul Hawken , Amory Lovins, L. Hunter Lovins (you can download the whole book in pdf format at https://www.natcap.org/ )

On circular design and the circular economy:
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, by William McDonough and Michael Braungart
The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability--Designing for Abundance, by William McDonough and Michael Braungart
Circular Economy, Ellen MacArthur Foundation https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/circular-economy-introduction/overview

You can find more about Ivan at this link: www.linkedin.com/in/ivan-baiges-valentin-023106223; email ivan.baiges@upr.edu

You can find more about the U. Puerto Rico Mayaguez Sustainability Engineering here: https://www.uprm.edu/isos/en/ (ISOS stands for Ingenieria de Sostenibilidad or Sustainability Engineering)

You can find more about the U. Puerto Rico Mayaguez here: https://www.uprm.edu

Our YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.Materials

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

David Srolovitz - Materials Science and Engineering - research and teaching from a theorist's perspective

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 23 Nov 2025 13:00:00 -0500

Professor David Srolovitz has made many important contributions to materials science and engineering during his career. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and will be receiving the Hume-Rothery award at TMS next year. He was visiting Michigan to present the Larry Van Vlack lecture and we were honored by his presence. Dave and Steve were grad students together at U. PA many years ago. Liz Holm, the UM Materials Science and Engineering chair was Dave's second PhD student when Dave was a professor at UM. Unfortunately, Dave's schedule was tight and the only time we were able to sit down with him was during Tim's class. So Liz graciously sat if for Tim and was this week's guest host. It was great to talk to Dave and Liz about his career, teaching, research, AI, and other topics. We even found out where Dave gets his best ideas! Dave is currently the Dean of Engineering at Hong Kong University.

You can find the YouTube version here:
https://youtu.be/fUpfMayle3I

Our YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.Materials

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

John Allison and ICME

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 16 Nov 2025 13:00:00 -0500

Steve and Tim talked with Professor John Allison about Integrated Computational Manufacturing Engineering (ICME) and his PRISMS center. John talked about how creating the Virtual Aluminum Casting program at Ford led to the ability to predict properties of the as cast aluminum engine blocks to the point where they were perfect the first time. This vastly improved the time to develop new products for Ford and helped significantly to the development of lighter weight vehicles. John also talked about his current role in helping improve the recycling of aluminum waste for large scale castings using ICME. John also talks about his new PRISMS center, Magnesium alloys, the importance of team dynamics in accomplishing his work, and how he got into materials science and engineering.

You can learn more about the PRISMS center here:
https://prisms-center.org/#/home

You can find the YouTube version here:
https://youtu.be/pF0YSMdrNBA

Our YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.Materials

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Lily Turaski

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 26 Oct 2025 13:00:00 -0400

Tim and Steve talked with Lily Turaski from Georgia Tech at the NAMES conference in August, 2025. Today's episode focuses on engineering education research. We discussed the importance of education research and how it applies to actually teaching, what are the barriers to adoption of research-based teaching strategies, and important problems in education research. We also discussed some preliminary results from Lily's ongoing research in materials education.

You can find the YouTube version here:
https://youtu.be/MzkBTuO2sJ0
Check out the video version to see the visual presentation of research results!

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Alison Polasik

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 12 Oct 2025 13:00:00 -0400

Steve and Tim caught up with Professor Alison Polasik at the 2025 NAMES meeting in Atlanta. We talked about what it is like to teach at a small school, Campbell University, compared to her previous position at Ohio State. We also talked about her research and what she is currently interested in. She has recently been teaching classes that are integrated with small laboratory experiences right in the same room

You can find the YouTube version here:
https://youtu.be/iDSLFpaSLdE?si=_--jufs-qmIC5KA7

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Reinventing the Materials Curriculum

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 05 Oct 2025 13:00:00 -0400

Steve and Tim talk about reinventing our Materials curriculum based on what we have learned in the past year. AI has had a profound effect on the job market in areas like computer science. Is the Materials job market going to have a similar downturn? What can we do about it?

You can find the YouTube version here:
https://youtu.be/dnPnxCC_vA0

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

ASM Teacher's Camp - perspectives from the campers

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 28 Sep 2025 13:00:00 -0400

Tim and Steve talk with 4 participants in the Summer 2025 ASM Teacher's Camp in Ann Arbor. You can learn more about the camps at
https://www.asmfoundation.org/teachers/materials-camps/year-one/
Over 12000 teachers have participated in ASM camps to date - it's a leading program in bringing materials science to the K-12 space.

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/-9dLj7b_OkM

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Ron Kander: Founding engineering dean at Thomas Jefferson University and how design and business fit into an engineering education

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 14 Sep 2025 13:00:00 -0400

Steve and Tim talked with Prof. Ron Kander at the NAMES meeting in Atlanta last month. Ron talked about his experiences creating new engineering programs, first at James Madison University and later at Philadelphia University which has now become Thomas Jefferson University. He took the Olin model one step further by developing a design first approach that included Engineering, Design, and Business. You can learn more about the Kanbar College of Design, Engineering & Commerce (Named for Maurice Kanbar - not Ron Kander) here:

https://www.jefferson.edu/academics/colleges-schools-institutes/kanbar-college-of-design-engineering-commerce.html

Ron has recently retired but his information is still up on the Thomas Jefferson University website:

https://www.jefferson.edu/academics/colleges-schools-institutes/kanbar-college-of-design-engineering-commerce/about/message-from-dean.html

You can also learn about Ron and his research at this page:

https://ronkander.academia.edu/

The YouTube video of the podcast can be found here:

https://youtu.be/mDSWLACjg2M

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Christian Casper and how Technical Communication shapes our students

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 31 Aug 2025 13:00:00 -0400

Steve and Tim talk with Dr. Christian Casper about how he teaches technical communication to students at the University of Michigan, in particular how we've integrated more advanced teaching in visual and written communication in materials lab classes.. You can learn more about the Program in Technical Communication at https://techcom.engin.umich.edu/

You can find the YouTube version here:
https://youtu.be/h-au8o3-3x8

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Season 3 of Undercooled

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 15:11:13 -0400

Tim and Steve talk about what is coming up in Season 3 of Undercooled. We will publish our first episode of season 3 on August 31st!

You can find the YouTube version of this trailer here:
https://youtu.be/QJU_wInoIYU

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Kaitlin Tyler and NAMES 2025

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sat, 19 Jul 2025 10:07:47 -0400

Tim talks with Kaitlin Tyler this week at the ASEE meeting in Montreal. Kaitlin works for ANSYS as an Education Content Developer. We discuss career trajectories in MSE and the importance of networking and attending conferences. We also tell some stories about the North American Materials Education Symposium (NAMES) and why everyone should attend it. It's not too late to register for NAMES 2025!

You can learn more about Kaitlin here:
https://www.ansys.com/authors/kaitlin-tyler

Some of Kaitlin's educational content with Ansys is available on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/JE1TFLl_aIs?si=_V_YvtbHytq7vUX9

General Ansys link for educators:
www.ansys.com/education-resources

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/oSlnrw9ASYg
https://youtu.be/JE1TFLl_aIs?si=_V_YvtbHytq7vUX9

This episode is sponsored by the North American Materials Education Symposium, a gift from Prof. Ron Gibala, and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Please attend the North American Materials Education Symposium next summer, August 5th - 6th at Georgia Tech. Workshops on August 4th:
https://www.names25.mse.gatech.edu

Site for all of the international Materials Education Symposia:
www.materialseducation.com

Bill Callister

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 01 Jun 2025 13:00:00 -0400

Steve and Tim talk with Bill Callister, the author of the best selling introduction to materials science and engineering text book. Bill tells us how he got into materials and how he ended up writing a book that is now in its 10 edition!

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/QxhWipW6vbc?si=UlzlbFllpEdQDtgO

Please attend the North American Materials Education Symposium next summer, August 5th - 6th at Georgia Tech. Workshops on August 4th:
https://www.names25.mse.gatech.edu

Diran Apelian

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 25 May 2025 13:00:00 -0400

Steve and Tim talked with Professor Diran Apelian from UC Irvine. Diran talks about his journey to Materials Science and Engineering through his days at Drexel, MIT, Bethlehem Steel, back to Drexel, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, to Irvine. He explains his foray into project based learning and now his new course on Professional Skills that he is teaching at Irvine.

You can find more about Diran here:
https://engineering.uci.edu/users/diran-apelian
https://www.nae.edu/19579/165897/20676/166043/20685/55293/148200/148206/Dr-Diran-Apelian

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/F5dG8SQC_rY?si=MirD-Z9Tv_UztTBv

Please attend the North American Materials Education Symposium next summer, August 5th - 6th at Georgia Tech. Workshops on August 4th:
https://www.names25.mse.gatech.edu

Robert Talbert and Grading for Growth

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 11 May 2025 16:21:10 -0400

Steve and Tim talk with Prof. Robert Talbert from Grand Valley State University. Robert is a math professor and has been very influential in inverted or flipped teaching and alternative grading in the past 20 years. Recently, he and a colleague, William Clarke, also a math professor at Grand Valley State University, wrote a book called "Grading for Growth". Most of the podcast is focussed on the ideas, implementation, and impact of the book. Robert also let us know that he is in the process of publishing a second edition of this flipped teaching book that should be available soon.

Robert has a very comprehensive document which links to many resources that he has developed over the years. Here is that link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1is0DKmhYMAUrCWN73_1U_GLMj_BXjyAAFZiY17eUq4I/edit?usp=sharing

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/xokqniPiMwA?si=_vOHftlBV46gHH0A

Please attend the North American Materials Education Symposium next summer, August 5th - 6th at Georgia Tech. Workshops on August 4th:
https://www.names25.mse.gatech.edu

U. Michigan undergrads go to the TMS annual meeting in Las Vegas

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 04 May 2025 13:00:00 -0400

Tim and Steve talk with 4 of the Materials Science and Engineering undergraduate students who got to fly to Las Vegas to attend the TMS annual meeting in April 2025. They talked about their experiences and the impact that it had on their education and outlook for the future.

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/yG4KzbWLh3w?si=HGqhaznlJFzLfmNp

Please attend the North American Materials Education Symposium next summer, August 5th - 6th at Georgia Tech. Workshops on August 4th:
https://www.names25.mse.gatech.edu

Christine Viau Haden and Two Step Performance Indicators to Assess Learning Gains

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 20 Apr 2025 13:00:00 -0400

Steve ran into Christina Haden at the 2025 ABET symposium in San Diego two weeks ago. Christina has developed a multi step method of assessing student outcomes using performance indicators that span a period of time across an entire curriculum to gain knowledge of learning growth. She is experimenting with longer times and using her methods to perform longitudinal studies of learning gains. She also talked about of her more exciting projects that is focussed on a new first year in engineering experience that the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering is piloting next term.

You can learn more about Christina here:

https://engineering.lehigh.edu/faculty/christina-viau-haden

Christina’s department website is here:

https://engineering.lehigh.edu/meche

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/Dd_k0z2TEoM?si=T0pLTOayDDFxKawB

Please attend the North American Materials Education Symposium next summer, August 5th - 6th at Georgia Tech. Workshops on August 4th:
https://www.names25.mse.gatech.edu

Taylor Sparks and Materialism: A Materials Science Podcast - on location at the TMS 2025 meeting

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 13:00:00 -0400

Steve and Tim ran into Taylor Sparks at the TMS meeting and decided to do a podcast. Taylor is a professor in the Materials Science and Engineering Department at U. Utah. He is also the host of the long running materials science podcast called "Materialism: A Materials Science Podcast".

You can find the podcast on Apple Podcasts at the link below or you can just search for it on any podcast platform:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/materialism-a-materials-science-podcast/id1448663986

You can find out more about Taylor and his research here:
https://profiles.faculty.utah.edu/u0203991
or here:
https://my.eng.utah.edu/~sparks/group.html

You can also find out about many of his excellent educational resources and courses on his YouTube Channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/ ⁨@TaylorSparks ⁩

You can find the YouTube video of the podcast here:
https://youtu.be/iUxrAqhyn3A?si=-1jk3SGtEpm7RH7A

Please attend the North American Materials Education Symposium next summer, August 5th - 6th at Georgia Tech. Workshops on August 4th:
https://www.names25.mse.gatech.edu

Jerry Floro and the MS&E program at U. Virginia

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 06 Apr 2025 13:00:00 -0400

Tim and Steve were at the TMS meeting in Las Vegas and ran into Professor Jerry Floro from the Materials Science and Engineering Department at the University of Virginia. We talk about his efforts to bring active learning into his classes, his work in helping start an undergraduate program at UVa, and lots of other fun things. You can learn more about Jerry and the MS&E department at UVa at the links below:

About Jerry:
https://engineering.virginia.edu/faculty/jerrold-floro

About the MS&E department at UVa:
https://engineering.virginia.edu/department/materials-science-and-engineering

You can find the YouTube video of the podcast here:
https://youtu.be/1vupBU4yBuI?si=yXqFL5cYqCTnr79A

Please attend the North American Materials Education Symposium next summer, August 5th - 6th at Georgia Tech. Workshops on August 4th:
https://www.names25.mse.gatech.edu

Adam Hope - Thermo-Calc - at the 2025 TMS Annual Meeting

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 30 Mar 2025 12:52:39 -0400

Steve and Tim were walking through the TMS Annual Meeting Exhibit hall in Las Vegas and stopped to talk to Dr. Adam Hope at the Thermo-Calc booth. Adam is a member of the TMS education committee. He told us how he became a Materials Scientist and what a materials student might want to do if they wanted to get a job at Thermo-Calc.
You can learn more about Thermo-Calc here:
https://thermocalc.com

You can find the YouTube video of the podcast here:
https://youtu.be/43zMoKA51PA?si=MDAhvVzAJ7pU5_Mz

Please attend the North American Materials Education Symposium next summer, August 5th - 6th at Georgia Tech. Workshops on August 4th:
https://www.names25.mse.gatech.edu

Chris Gordon and the Wilson Student Project Center

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 16 Mar 2025 13:00:00 -0400

Steve and Tim talk with Chris Gordon, the Director of the Wilson Student Team Projects Center at the U. of Michigan. Chris tells us how the Wilson Center got started and evolved into what it is today. There are 24 competition teams at the Wilson Center and it supports many capstone design projects, our Multidisciplinary Design program, and more. Chris explains why community and safety are at the core of the center and how students and faculty help each other succeed. He also talks about why this kind of engaged learning is a powerful tool for our student to experience.

You can learn more about the Wilson Center here:
https://teamprojects.engin.umich.edu

You can make it here. The Wilson Center celebrates 25 years of student-driven building, learning and growing. Includes a YouTube video with some amazing comments by current students and alumni about their experiences in the Wilson Center.

The bumpy road to greatness. A rough 2024 season sparks frustration—but also leadership and learning—for the Michigan Baja team. Also includes a longer video story.

You can find the YouTube video of the podcast here:
https://youtu.be/xLaBNL0Srbw?si=CdSydgHIL8YrSLgE

Please attend the North American Materials Education Symposium next summer, August 5th - 6th at Georgia Tech. Workshops on August 4th:
https://www.names25.mse.gatech.edu

Wenhao Sun: Using Chat GPT to teach students how to use it as a collaborator and solve very hard problems

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 09 Mar 2025 13:00:00 -0400

Tim and Steve talk with Professor Wenhao Sun about the way he is using Chat GPT in his thermodynamics and kinetics classes. Wenhao demonstrates how he teaches students to use Chat GPT as a collaborator to solve much harder problems that are usually given to students. He believes that this lets his students experience the higher levels of Blooms taxonomy and shows how he does this in a live demonstration.

Here is a link to a short video describing Professor Sun's research: https://youtu.be/cO7jEApzKoo?si=IhcLScABV4H29AeA
You can learn more about Professor Sun and his research at this link: https://mse.engin.umich.edu/people/whsun
His research website is here: https://whsunresearch.group/

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/apwS69uE8h8?si=Q9XzZ17qHYLmShpi

This episode is sponsored by the North American Materials Education Symposium (https://java.engin.umich.edu/NAMES24/) a gift from Prof. Ron Gibala, and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Please attend the North American Materials Education Symposium next summer, August 5th - 6th at Georgia Tech. Workshops on August 4th:
https://www.names25.mse.gatech.edu

Izzy Jaszczak: The Laboratory Experience at Michigan Tech.

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 23 Feb 2025 13:00:00 -0500

Tim and Steve talk with Izzy Jaszczak about Michigan Technological University's metal casting course and the major changes the teaching staff has made to increase the course capacity to 60 students. This was a course that she had taken as an undergraduate. Working with Dr. Paul Sanders, Dr. Dale Dewald, and Peter Jaszczak, she updated the lab curriculum to give students more individual hands-on time with equipment. Izzy also talks about the research half of her role helping students, staff, and faculty collect data using scanning electron microscopes.

Here is a link to a Google Slide deck about the changes (PDF is also attached):

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1yQDSaQuAsHL5VHnIKnoMJgS6BITqOjybiErm8GpoRFg/edit?usp=sharing

MTU Summer Youth Programs:
https://www.mtu.edu/syp/

MTU MSE Department:

https://www.mtu.edu/materials/

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/jxoVAsaJGps?si=QKZyGqWmjBb4qf4s

Please attend the North American Materials Education Symposium next summer, August 5th - 6th at Georgia Tech. Workshops on August 4th:
https://www.names25.mse.gatech.edu

Enze Chen: Teaching MS&E at Stanford University

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 09 Feb 2025 13:00:00 -0500

Tim and Steve talk with Dr. Enze Chen, a Lecturer in Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University. We talk about Enze's unique approach to teaching, his computational modules and materials informatics. We touch on topics such as teaching Gen Z students, generative AI, and visualization in materials education. Dr. Chen even talks about his sketching course for MS&E students. You can learn more about Enze and peruse some extra resources at his website:
https://enze-chen.github.io/

The materials informatics curriculum is further discussed here:
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00640

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/pYlAex1u2bk?si=3xkS_3a909pG3F74

Tim and Steve Recap Teaching Experiences from the Fall 2024 term

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 16:52:25 -0500

In this episode, Steve and Tim reflect on their recent teaching experiences, focusing on Tim's new math course and Steve's grading for growth experiment. They discuss the positive feedback from students, the structure of the math course, and the challenges of integrating AI tools in education. Additionally, they explore innovative grading methods that emphasize student engagement and learning retention, highlighting the importance of feedback and reassessment without penalty. In this conversation, Steve discusses his approaches to enhancing student accountability, revising grading practices, and implementing final exams to ensure true assessment of student learning. He also addresses the challenges posed by academic dishonesty in the age of digital tools like ChatGPT and reflects on the importance of teaching students to use such tools responsibly. The conversation concludes with thoughts on future improvements in teaching methods and grading systems.

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/SJA_A14u0zA?si=URvbsfkLVUy_Wddu

Ellen Solomon and Multidisciplinary Design

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 17 Nov 2024 13:00:00 -0500

Steve and Tim talk with Dr. Ellen Solomon, one of the program managers of the Multidisciplinary Design Program (MDP) at the University of Michigan. Ellen graduated with an MS&E degree from Michigan and worked in industry before coming back to Michigan to run the research program side of MDP. She talked to us about this very unique program that incorporates not only research projects, but projects from industry as well.

About Ellen: https://mdp.engin.umich.edu/staff/ellen-solomon/
UM MDP: https://mdp.engin.umich.edu
UM MDP research projects for 2025: https://mdp.engin.umich.edu/all-projects/?_project_type=research_teams
UM MDP industry projects for 2025: https://mdp.engin.umich.edu/all-projects/?_project_type=sponsor_teams

There are still openings to join MDP industry teams in 2025! Axalta, PPG, and Donaldson are recruiting MSE students to join these projects. Please reach out to jjcarl@umich.edu with your interest and submit an application to the waitlist

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/9KSnHQ0nXCM?si=3zejkDKUuUC77pAq

Tresa Pollock: The 2024 Van Vlack Lecturer in MS&E at U. Michigan

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 10 Nov 2024 13:00:00 -0500

Steve and Tim talk with Professor Tresa Pollock from UC Santa Barbara, the 2024 Van Vlack Lecturer in the MS&E department at U. Michigan. Tresa has had a very long and distinguished career in Materials Science and Engineering and has mentored many many graduate students. We had a discussion about graduate student mentoring amongst other things. You can find her website here:
https://materials.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/tresa-pollock

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/MWnFnHt8nPQ?si=0FQIiEcqFvDx-qgA

Tershia Pinder-Grover and CRLT Engineering: How teaching centers help faculty and students improve learning

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 22 Sep 2024 13:00:00 -0400

Steve and Tim talk with Dr. Tershia Pinder-Grover, the director of the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching in Engineering (CRLT-Engin) in the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan. This year marks the 20th anniversary of CRLT-Engin, a focused teaching center where the consultants all have degrees in engineering as well as engineering education. CRLT of University of Michigan is the first University teaching center in the nation.

CRLT Engin: https://crlte.engin.umich.edu/
CRLT UM: https://crlt.umich.edu/

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/C2hNb4MykY0?si=Vfw8Z36oN2dndq7c

Tim's new math course for Materials Science and Engineering students

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 08 Sep 2024 18:22:48 -0400

Steve talks to Tim about his new math course. He explains how it is going, what is challenging, and what is better than expected. He also discusses his grading, student input, and other aspects of this new course.

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/djBIrRZLFVc?si=chiFCb_WQTaf3RmW

This episode is sponsored by the North American Materials Education Symposium (https://java.engin.umich.edu/NAMES24/) and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Micah Gendich - MSE Student Association President

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Tue, 03 Sep 2024 17:37:24 -0400

Tim talks with Micah Gendich, the University of Michigan MSE student association president. UM has an organization called the Michigan Materials Society (MMS) that is run by undergraduate students with a little help from the graduate students. They organize weekly luncheons, social events, and also professional development events. They also engage with outreach and recruiting activities for our department.

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/B7JFoX8M3g4?si=irxZxVRPmO6TCFLc

Getting Ready for Classes - starting a new class and making major changes to an old one

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 14:12:30 -0400

Tim and Steve talk about how they are getting ready for classes - which start next week!
Tim is creating a completely new class that has never been taught before - Math for MS&E students at the second year undergraduate level.
Steve is making some major changes in his team based intro to materials course by adding in components of Grading for Growth methods.

some links:
Get the book Grading for Growth:
https://www.amazon.com/Grading-Growth-Alternative-Practices-Engagement/dp/1642673811

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/jtFvVGab-pU?si=nn-UzjfPg_edMYKC

Cindy Anderson and Engineering for One Planet

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 11 Aug 2024 13:00:00 -0400

Cindy talks with Tim and Steve about Engineering for One Planet and how she worked with the Lemelson Foundation to launch it.

You can find the information talked about in the podcast here:
https://engineeringforoneplanet.org/resources/

https://engineeringforoneplanet.org

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/b9KCccgB-ls?si=VK8htMYw7f-NrAcQ

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Marcus Collins: Marketing Materials Science and Engineering

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Wed, 07 Aug 2024 07:00:00 -0400

Summary

In this conversation, Steve, Tim and Marcus discuss the challenges of attracting students to material science and engineering (MSE) programs. They explore the concept of jobs to be done, which includes the functional, emotional, and social aspects of a product or service. Marcus suggests that MSE programs should focus on the emotional and social jobs that potential students want to fulfill, such as their interests in fashion, sneakers, and tangible experiences. They also discuss the importance of conducting netnography to understand the cultural context and language of potential students. By engaging with influencers and communities in relevant subcultures, MSE programs can better communicate their value and attract students. In this conversation, Marcus Collins discusses how to analyze Reddit subcultures and apply those insights to marketing strategies. He explains the process of observing and translating conversations in subreddits to identify common themes and insights. Collins also emphasizes the importance of understanding the language, behaviors, and cultural production of a subculture to effectively engage with them. The conversation then shifts to the topic of education and how instructors can approach teaching from a psychological and cognitive science perspective. Collins suggests creating a classroom environment that allows students to bring their full identities and interests into the learning process. The conversation concludes with a discussion on bridging the gap between art and engineering and the potential for interdisciplinary courses that combine marketing and material science.

Takeaways

MSE programs should focus on fulfilling the emotional and social jobs that potential students want to achieve.
Understanding the cultural context and language of potential students is crucial for effective communication.
Engaging with influencers and communities in relevant subcultures can help MSE programs attract students.
Netnography, or online ethnography, can provide valuable insights into the interests and preferences of potential students. Analyzing Reddit subcultures can provide valuable insights for marketing strategies.
Observing and translating conversations in subreddits can help identify common themes and insights.
Understanding the language, behaviors, and cultural production of a subculture is crucial for effective engagement.
Creating a classroom environment that allows students to bring their full identities and interests can enhance the learning experience.
Bridging the gap between art and engineering can lead to innovative and interdisciplinary approaches in education.

Links:
You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/axan8p8sHFE?si=ZDwzpjH2NVdQYNhq

You can buy Marcus's book: "For the Culture"
Here: https://www.amazon.com/Culture-Power-Behind-What-Want/dp/1541700961?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

You can learn more about Marcus here:
https://michiganross.umich.edu/faculty-research/faculty/marcus-collins
and here:
https://www.marctothec.com/

You can find out more about the North American Materials Education Symposium this coming summer in Ann Arbor here:
https://java.engin.umich.edu/NAMES24/

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Season 2: New guests, new segments

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 15:00:00 -0400

Steve and Tim talk about the new season for the 2024-2025 academic year. They plan to continue having great guests and add some curricular topics. Please help us with our show! Head over to this link and give us some feedback, suggest guests, suggest topics, suggest yourself!

You can find the YouTube video (audio only) here:
https://youtu.be/0_Qb8FnFTOU?si=EVf7mE0cMcbIdakS

Feedback form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScmi5go4JEjI2msncKTtXznqVv2RQm9a_vsdCr5Bu9wTCHsbQ/viewform?usp=pp_url

We thank the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu) for their continuing support!

Gerard Mourou - A Nobel Prize Laureate talks about undergraduate research

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 16 Jun 2024 13:00:00 -0400

Gerard Mourou was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018 along with his former student Donna Strickland. The Nobel Prize was for developing chirped pulse amplification of femtosecond laser intensity. This led to many important applications including the all laser Lasik eye surgery, a new method to reduce space junk by using coherently combined femtosecond pulses in space, astrophysics research, particle generation and acceleration, and many new advances in radiation therapy and other medical applications. Ever since his first professorial position at the University of Rochester, he has had undergrads working for him in his lab. He talks about these early experiences and how amazing these students were. He also talks about the value of the NSF Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) programs such as the one he inspired that sends students to Paris to work on ultrafast optical science - Optics in the City of Light.

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/6DOsVg1uHlI?si=Vt4TG4uzn8N3G5Hl

You can find out more about the North American Materials Education Symposium this coming summer in Ann Arbor here:
https://java.engin.umich.edu/NAMES24/

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Ray Decker

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 12 May 2024 15:31:35 -0400

Steve and Tim talk with Dr. Ray Decker today. Ray earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees at the U. of Michigan. He spent most of his career at International Nickel Corporation and has since started several companies as an entrepreneur. Thixomat and Nanomag are his two most recent companies. He has been very active in ASM and especially the ASM Foundation. Ray is especially interested in Materials Education and has worked tirelessly for the ASM Foundation in recent years on the teachers camp and he is on the external advisory board for the U. Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department.

ASM:
https://www.asminternational.org

ASM Foundation:
https://www.asmfoundation.org

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/Pg0Qr_ZX-AE?si=XwpLby8japS3yhfs

You can find out more about the North American Materials Education Symposium this coming summer in Ann Arbor here:
https://java.engin.umich.edu/NAMES24/

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Blacksmithing with Tim - Student voices

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 05 May 2024 13:00:00 -0400

You can find the YouTube version of the Podcast here:
https://youtu.be/cyw4_vGhy34?si=6CIQBrkptLvgv2m5

We also have a condensed video version that can be found here:
https://youtu.be/hCV4XCp5s20?si=QSoQWPcBpT-pZ1Wo

You can find out more about the North American Materials Education Symposium this coming summer in Ann Arbor here:
https://java.engin.umich.edu/NAMES24/

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Professor Aeriel Murphy-Leonard

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 28 Apr 2024 13:00:00 -0400

Tim and Steve talk with Aeriel about her experience being a student and transitioning to an assistant professor at the Ohio State University

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/BjT98yLSNjI?si=_rm_tfMsvBXF1-7U

You can read about the Aeriel Views project here:
https://aerielviews.blog/

You can read more about her work with SWE Liberia here:
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11837-020-04312-3.pdf

You can find out more about the North American Materials Education Symposium this coming summer in Ann Arbor here:
https://java.engin.umich.edu/NAMES24/

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Chip Keough - ASM and the ASM Foundation

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 21 Apr 2024 13:00:00 -0400

Tim and Steve talk with Chip Keough, the former CEO of Applied Process, Inc and the past chair of the ASM Foundation. Chip is a UM Alum and currently and adjunct faculty member of the UM MSE department. Chip explains the difference between ASM and ASM Foundation and why the materials community benefits from both. He has been very involved with the ASM Foundation teachers camps and talks about it in the podcast.

ASM:
https://www.asminternational.org

ASM Foundation:
https://www.asmfoundation.org

You can find out more about the teacher camps at this link:
https://www.asmfoundation.org/teachers/materials-camps

If you are interested in attending a camp in 2024 use this link:
https://www.asmfoundation.org/teachers/camp-schedule/

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/QRnP7xR-hXY?si=Nqs7_GmMOw9NQ60T

You can find out more about the North American Materials Education Symposium this coming summer in Ann Arbor here:
https://java.engin.umich.edu/NAMES24/

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Projects

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 14 Apr 2024 13:00:00 -0400

Steve and Tim talk about projects they have students do instead of exams.

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/Lrp4zelzJ1c?si=2fYK-W9y8ZJWq1zb

You can find out more about the North American Materials Education Symposium this coming summer in Ann Arbor here:
https://java.engin.umich.edu/NAMES24/

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Peg Jones and the ASM teacher camps

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 07 Apr 2024 13:00:00 -0400

Peg and Tim talk about the ASM Foundation teacher camps.
You can find out more about the teacher camps at this link:
https://www.asmfoundation.org/teachers/materials-camps

If you are interested in attending a camp in 2024 use this link:
https://www.asmfoundation.org/teachers/camp-schedule/

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/rPdIOcQkiEQ?si=eyl4JG-aHSHqyvRa

You can find out more about the North American Materials Education Symposium this coming summer in Ann Arbor here:
https://java.engin.umich.edu/NAMES24/

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Jeff Fergus - What is ABET accreditation and how materials programs can easily succeed at their next visit

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 31 Mar 2024 13:00:00 -0400

Jeff Fergus joins Steve and Tim to talk about ABET. Jeff has been the chair of the Engineering Accreditation Commission at ABET, is currently working on the ABET accreditation council and is very involved in evaluator training. He has previously been the chair of the TMS accreditation committee and has been a longtime organizer of the TMS Judson symposium. Jeff is also a professor of Materials Engineering at Auburn University and is currently the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and Program Assessment in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. You can find out more about Jeff here:
https://eng.auburn.edu/dei/jeff-fergus

This episode can help your program succeed in its next accreditation visit!

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/cyH36EloGZY?si=jiJib6X78vhc8Av3

You can find out more about the North American Materials Education Symposium this coming summer in Ann Arbor here:
https://java.engin.umich.edu/NAMES24/

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Recruiting Materials Science and Engineering Students

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 24 Mar 2024 13:00:00 -0400

Steve and Tim talk about how we can convince students to become Materials Science and Engineering Students

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/-TNEW7Ni-Bo?si=S7Iary-xsy22ZeAj

You can find out more about the North American Materials Education Symposium this coming summer in Ann Arbor here:
https://java.engin.umich.edu/NAMES24/

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Assessing ABET Outcomes for Materials Programs

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 17 Mar 2024 13:00:00 -0400

Steve and Tim talk about how we do our ABET outcomes assessment, analyze the results, and use it as input to our continuous improvement process.

Link to the YouTube version:
https://youtu.be/00PvDd-TK_E?si=9ungm6N7R_dyGLwn

You can find out more about the North American Materials Education Symposium this coming summer in Ann Arbor here:
https://java.engin.umich.edu/NAMES24/

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Susan Gentry

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 10 Mar 2024 13:00:00 -0400

This week we talk with Professor Susan Gentry from UC Davis. Susan is a teaching professor in the Materials Science and Engineering department. She is very active in education and has been a long time contributor to the materials community. She is currently on the TMS education committee and has recently presented her work at the North American Education Symposium. You can find more about Susan at her website:
https://faculty.engineering.ucdavis.edu/gentry/

You can find out more about the North American Materials Education Symposium this coming summer in Ann Arbor here:
https://java.engin.umich.edu/NAMES24/

The YouTube version of this episode can be found here: https://youtu.be/Jtlaxe61I8g?si=rwxNz5xS9eTx8Jsf

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

30 minutes with Chat GPT

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 03 Mar 2024 13:00:00 -0500

A discussion about Materials Science and Engineering education with the Open AI app, Chat GPT - the free voice model.

You can find out more about the North American Materials Education Symposium this coming summer in Ann Arbor here:
https://java.engin.umich.edu/NAMES24/

The YouTube version (audio and subtitles only) of this episode can be found here:
https://youtu.be/troom2aJ2_A?si=yWaUmoBYJtis1-f9

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Student managed Materials Societies - Michigan Materials Society

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 13:00:00 -0500

Today we talk with Alexa Goldstein, the President of the Michigan Materials Society - a student run organization. She explains what it is like to manage the events, speakers, professional development opportunities, and her own experiences in our department.

The YouTube version of this episode can be found here: https://youtu.be/M0nHslqkbxA?si=2KqdzxWm67LiDagy

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Materials and math: teaching MSE students the mathematical tools they need to succeed

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 18 Feb 2024 13:00:00 -0500

Tim and Steve talk about math education at the college level, what engineering students are and are not getting from their math courses, and the math skills MSE students need to have to be successful. We also tease the creation of a new sophomore course at Michigan - Math Methods for MSE! Also a little nerding out about math topics from different levels of infinity to functions as bases of vector spaces.

You can find the YouTube video (audio only) here:
https://youtu.be/w1zPN1WBB5E?si=6Q07_R-uolFwZIr9

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Willie Rockward talks about how materials programs can best support African American students

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 11 Feb 2024 13:00:00 -0500

Willie Rockward has been teaching at HBCUs for many years. He is now the chair of the physics department at Morgan State University in Baltimore. Previously he taught at Morehouse College in Atlanta. Today he gives us advise on how materials programs can best support African American students in primarily white institutions.
Links discussed in the podcast:
National Society of Black Physicists: https://nsbp.org/
Morgan State Physics: https://www.morgan.edu/physics
Optics in the City of Light Physics REU: https://java.engin.umich.edu/ParisREU/

A video version of this podcast can be found here:
https://youtu.be/G4x1FNBDbZ0?si=j_ms5wRP4Ua2K1IL

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Materials and Art Museums with Dave Choberka

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 04 Feb 2024 13:00:00 -0500

Tim talks with Dave Choberka, a curator at the University of MIchigan Museum of Art.

YouTube link:
https://youtu.be/InXwN-zoAtE?si=MmNxRpzeJfjEidjd

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Team Based Teaching

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 28 Jan 2024 13:00:00 -0500

Tim and Steve talk about their experiences using team based teaching in a laboratory setting and to replace lectures. They talk about how they make their teams, what their teams do, how they monitor the teams, and how the use peer review. Tim uses a tool called Tandem and Steve uses a tool called CATME. They also talk about how others might ease into team based teaching in lecture settings.

YouTube link (audio only):
https://youtu.be/yoeO976pW2E?si=cqhhtb4rAETCECYI

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Alloy design in undergraduate labs

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 21 Jan 2024 13:00:00 -0500

Steve talks to Tim about his alloy design module in the undergraduate lab he teaches. He has students use ThermoCal and COMSOL to design an alloy, make the alloy, and then test the mechanical properties to see if they get what they designed.

YouTube Link (audio only):
https://youtu.be/__sfWeJ4ZFM?si=PjmH4-DbLYthEbai

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Kevin Jones and the Impact of Materials on Society

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 14 Jan 2024 11:00:00 -0500

Kevin Jones is a professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Florida. He has been working on the Impact of Materials on Society (IMOS) project since 2010 when he was the chair of the department and was looking for a way to expose students to Materials Science and Engineering.

You can find the YouTube version of this podcast at this link:
https://youtu.be/AUsfURmqb3U?si=A9Mfrvu33fwXm_A5

If you or your department is interested in accessing the Canvas shell and resources (slides, videos, homework, etc.) for the course you should send him an email: kjones@eng.ufl.edu

Here are some links that are discussed in the show:

CATME - a team building and peer review tool for team based classes: Catme.org

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Bosco Yu: Gamification and Social Media in Materials Education

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 07 Jan 2024 10:00:00 -0500

Tim and Steve discuss gamification and social media in materials education with Bosco Yu from the University of Victoria.

The video version can be watched here:
https://youtu.be/ukEqJoB6E4s?si=L2eMVPc66Pf4Lce6

Bosco is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, specializing in the mechanics of materials. Currently, he teaches an introduction to materials science for a 2nd-year cohort and a 4th-year elective on materials selection for sustainable development.

Viewers can find more information about:

Taxonomy of game thinking: S. Deterding et al., Gamification: Toward a Definition. CHI 2011 (http://gamification-research.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/02-Deterding-Khaled-Nacke-Dixon.pdf)

Bosco’s gamification publication on: Earle, S et al., Making Learning Fun: Implementing a Gamified Approach to Materials Science and Engineering Education, ASEE, 2023. (https://peer.asee.org/43520)

You can find Bosco’s YouTube channel and other social media (Instagram and X) on:
@boscoyu_sci

Other great YouTube videos? Social media on the theme of materials science:

SmarterEveryDay on tempered glass: https://youtu.be/0i5rycLJ3D8?si=XxbOKbqfLlMywHL-

Veritasium on Transistors: https://youtu.be/IcrBqCFLHIY?si=kVcDI6KSuvQHtuSj

Physics Girl on polarized light: https://youtu.be/CSu0cV3fqi8?si=AmbgN2UvGZ1NTx1q

Steve Mould on crystal oscillators: https://youtu.be/_2By2ane2I4?si=EU2DcTKa3_nGKnuD

Breaking Tips on DIY scanning laser microscope: https://youtu.be/9TYlQ4urcg8?si=FhR2S9LX4rJWt6ls

Instagram: @metallurgywithmarina; @metallurgical_engineering

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Demonstrations

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 19:00:00 -0500

Tim and Steve talk about demonstrations. Why are they important? How to best use them? They also talk about demos for different audiences including K-6, 6-12, Intro to materials courses, recruiting fairs, and teacher camps. The also talk about some of their favorite demos.

The video version of this episode is on our YouTube channel:
https://youtu.be/ACxK1E7x-qM?si=9H6jRqIAP_GqOPHF

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Grading

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sun, 24 Dec 2023 13:00:00 -0500

Steve and Tim talk about grading.

YouTube version can be found here:
https://youtu.be/osIQOYJDfEg?si=i_OX4TDlk9OXvG9I

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Perry Samson and Learning Clues

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 16:00:00 -0500

Perry joins us and talks about his educational journey and his new company LearningClues (https://webdisk.learningclues.com/).

We also have a video version of the podcast on YouTube at this link: https://youtu.be/04-hcQpThOo?si=otI17XVCZUpRHzDA

Perry does a demo of the Gen AI features of LearningClues at 41 minutes into the podcast. Obviously you won't see it in the podcast, but you will on the YouTube video.

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

UM Gen AI: What we learned at the Provost's Seminar on Teaching

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Sat, 09 Dec 2023 15:00:00 -0500

Tim and Steve went to the University of Michigan's Provost's Seminar on Teaching on Friday. The entire day was focussed on the new UM Generative AI. They have developed their own UM GPT engine as well as a scriptable version called Maizey that can scrape Canvas course sites and provide the GPT model a very curated data set that can be queried by students. We discuss what we learned and talk about some of the capabilities we would like to see.

YouTube link (audio only):
https://youtu.be/61eahIzzpu8?si=zW4NnSSs1eZdO7MU

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Bladesmithing

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Fri, 01 Dec 2023 16:00:00 -0500

Tim talks about the UM Blacksmithing Club and the Bladesmithing team.

You can find the YouTube video (audio only) here:
https://youtu.be/dFfI7zxr-sk?si=V9lt5OG8oKjGw7lT

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

What should we call our podcast?

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Fri, 03 Nov 2023 14:00:00 -0400

Steve and Tim talk about what to call our podcast. We also talk about challenges we faced in our classroom this week and how we solved the problems.

You can find the YouTube video (audio only) here:
https://youtu.be/U0h4bsqaTy8?si=vCJUWfFsilk6yUsK

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Undercooled: A Materials Education Podcast - Trailer

Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 21:00:00 -0400

An introduction to our podcast.

You can find the YouTube video (audio only) here:
https://youtu.be/t1N5VuqbPJs?si=1XW7MDXQspejcOZT

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).