When Dr. Joe Fahmy talks materials, his expressive face and spirited demeanor reveal his passion for even the mundane minutiae of materials science.

He also has a gift for making his enthusiasm contagious—whether he’s talking to a group of incoming NC State freshmen or prospective college students passing by his table at a departmental open house.

Eschewing the jargon of science and academia, Fahmy makes his spiel entertaining as he extols the career opportunities in materials science and engineering.  “Have you ever seen a pressure/temperature phase diagram?” he asks the two dozen high school students attending a summer materials camp sponsored by the MSE department.  He then reconsiders the question, saying “That’s kind of boring; let’s not go there.”

But later in his discussion, he lets them know why phase diagrams might be important...More

In one week, students from across the state (and a few from outside it) analyzed their hair using an SEM, analyzed gold particles using a TEM, visited either a nuclear plant or the State Bureau of Investigation, and watched a thirty pound ball of silly putty plummet off of a tall building (all in the name of science, of course).

Twenty seven students attended the fourth annual Materials Camp, a residential camp for rising juniors and seniors, held from June 22-27 on the NC State campus. The purpose of the camp was to provide a hands-on introduction to materials science and engineering to students who are considering pursuing it as a career.

SEM of a student's hair

The students were introduced to the basic concepts of materials science, and to several specialties, including nanomaterials, biomaterials, and computer modeling of materials. They engaged in hands-on activities designed to give them a taste of what it is like to be a materials scientist. One activity was the analysis of gold particles using the Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), which is used to look at the atomic structure of materials. Students worked in teams, and were given a chance to "drive" the microscope. Another activity involved looking at the campers' hair using the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), which examines a material’s surface characteristics.

The week included several field trips, as well.  The campers separated into two groups and visited the Shearon Harris Nuclear Plant and the State Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab, where they were able to see materials science being put to use in the real world.

They also traveled to D. H. Hill Library to watch balls of silly putty plummet off of the roof. MSE students and staff members hauled large amounts of silly putty up to the roof of the nine story library.

The moment of impact: Campers watch as a thirty pound ball of silly putty hits the ground

They then threw silly putty balls of various weights off of the roof of the nine story D. H. Hill Library tower and on to the pavement below, where they either bounced or shattered, depending on their weight. The purpose of the experiment was to demonstrate how the behavior of the putty changed when the amount of stress it was under changed. The heaviest ball was thirty pounds. It broke on impact, sending silly putty flying everywhere. "The stresses were high enough that it shattered," putty drop coordinator Roger Russell explained to the group of students gathering blue putty shrapnel off of the bricks. "So it acted like a piece of glass instead of silly putty," he continued.

Post-impact putty gathering

The camp concluded with a closing presentation in which MSE professors, staff members, and students presented a summary of what the students had been doing for the past week.

Researchers at North Carolina State University have created a substance far stronger and harder than conventional iron, and which retains these properties under extremely high temperatures – opening the door to a wide variety of potential applications, such as engine components that are exposed to high stress and high temperatures...The research will appear in the journal Scripta Materialia. Doctoral student Kris Darling is the lead author on the paper, to be titled "Grain-size Stabilization in Nanocrystalline FeZr Alloys." Co-authors include professor Carl Koch, professor Ronald O. Scattergood, doctoral student Jonathan E. Semones, and undergraduates Ryan N. Chan and Patrick Z. Wong, all with the MSE department. Read the full story in the NCSU News Release.

Students from an Athens Drive High School AP Chemistry class paid a visit to the MSE department a visit on the morning May 29th. The students were given introductions to nanomaterials and biomaterials by MSE Professors Joe Tracy and Yaroslava Yingling. They saw the Transmission Electron Microscope in action, as graduate student Aaron Johnson-Peck demonstrated its operation. They also viewed atmospheric plama and graduate students Matt King and Chris Oldham explained current research into how atmospheric plama might be used to create sustainable energy sources.