the world of materials - mse vt · among his awards and honors, ... head has reached a conclusion...

The World ofMaterials

News from the Department of Materials Science and EngineeringVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Fall 2000, Vol. 5, No. 2

F New Department Head, 1F CIT and Advanced Materials in Virginia, 2F Cycling into the Millenium, 10

F New MSE Student Publication, 12F Department News, 4F Student and Alumni News, 6

David E. Clark will become the department headfor Materials Science and Engineering startingJanuary 2001. Dr. Clark joins Virginia Tech aftera productive career at the University of Florida(UF) in Gainesville.

Dr. Clark earned three degrees at the Universityof Florida, beginning with his bachelor’s degreein metallurgical engineering in 1969, a master’sin MSE in 1970, and his doctorate in 1976, alsoin MSE. From 1976 to 1978 he served as apostdoctoral fellow in ceramics in the MSEdepartment at UF.

In 1978, he was named a visiting assistantprofessor at UF, and in 1982 he was promoted to associateprofessor in ceramics. Four years later, he earned the rank offull professor.

Dr. Clark’s research interests are in nuclear waste materials,environmental degradation of glass and ceramics, microwaveprocessing, materials engineering, ceramics, sol-gelprocessing, coatings, glass, ceramic super-conductors, sol-gel fibers, and self-propagating high temperature synthesis.

New Department Head forMaterials Science and Engineering

Among his awards and honors, he is a Fellowof the American Ceramic Society and the2000 Friedberg Memorial Lecturer. Hereceived UF’s Research Achievement Awardin 1990 and was named the EngineeringTeacher-of-the-Year in 1989. He is a formerpresident of the National Institute of CeramicEngineers and the former chair of theEngineering Ceramics Division of theAmerican Ceramic Society. Most recently,he chaired the Second World Congress onMicrowave and RF Processing in April 2000.He was also elected to a second three-yearterm as a trustee of the American CeramicSociety.

Dr. Clark has authored or co-authored more than 230technical publications, and he is a co-author or editor of 11books or proceedings. He holds nine patents with two morepending.

The MSE Department at Virginia Tech looks forward towelcoming Dr. Clark in January.

David E. Clark

Fall 2000 - The World of Materials

CIT and Advanced Materials in Virginia

CIT History and MissionVirginia’s Center for Innovative Technology came about in1984, when the General Assembly sought to create a non-profit organization that would facilitate relationships betweenVirginia’s colleges and universities and Virginia industry.The original CIT mission focused on enhancing research anddevelopment at universities within the state, and this wasaccomplished by fostering business/university relationshipsthat would encourage and promote innovation in technol-ogy. During its first ten years of operation, CIT co-fundedmore than 800 research and innovative technology projects,which brought Virginia universities together with nearly 800companies, resulting in more than $155 million in fundingto those universities. CIT also established 13 technologydevelopment centers within Virginia universities, coveringsuch areas as fiber-optics, composite materials, advancedcomputer technology, biotechnology, advanced ceramics, andwireless communications. And CIT played an important rolein bringing Virginia up through the ranks of patent activityfrom eighteenth in the nation to sixth by 1993.

Because Virginia is now dealing with greater competitionboth from other states and from other countries, CIT sawthe need for a new mission that would address the challengesof accelerated technological advances. Thus, CIT’s missionis now “to enhance Virginia competitiveness through tech-nology innovation.” Success in fulfilling this mission is mea-sured in part by fiscal impact on client companies. By 1997,CIT added to their mission: “To advance the developmentof Virginia as a technology state.”

Materials in VirginiaTurning the focus to materials, George Mason Universityconducted a study for CIT in 1998 to assess the size andscope of the materials industry in Virginia. This study docu-mented more than 700 companies that indicated involve-ment with materials at some level. In recognition of theimportant role of materials in industry, CIT appointed a Se-nior Industry Director to target advanced materials and elec-tronics in Virginia. Nancy Vorona joined CIT in 1998 inthis capacity.

Part of her role is to work with industry to identify concernsand solutions. To that end, the Advanced Materials SteeringCommittee was initiated a year and a half ago. Their firstorder of business was to identify materials activity in thestate and discover major industry concerns, the overridingconcern being how to reduce the time between concept oftechnology and commercialization. “CIT’s role,” said Ms.Vorona, “is as a catalyst to help industry come together andto provide momentum.” The committee found that network-ing is a major need. Companies need to know who is avail-able statewide for partnership, for supplies, and where tofind customers. Local interaction is fairly diverse, accord-ing to Ms. Vorona, but statewide relationships need to befostered. “We need an integrated industrial community.”

In order to tackle this need, CIT is initiating a virtual net-work, Innovation Avenue, which will be launched in the nextfew months. Its purpose will be to assist Virginia compa-nies in locating partners, to aid in information exchange,and to improve statewide access to intellectual resources.Innovation Avenue will focus on Virginia industries dealingwith advanced manufacturing, advanced materials, aero-space, biotechnology, electronics, information technologyand telecommunications, and transportation technologies. Asecond way to address the need for connections is throughbringing Virginia companies together face to face, and a state-wide conference is in the planning stage for next fall.

Connecting Industry and Research“Another major industry concern is connection with researchuniversities in the state,” said Ms. Vorona. Companies arelooking for access to students for employment, and they areinterested in locating faculty expertise as well as facilitiesfor joint research and problem solving. To help connect stu-dents with companies, CIT has established internships and ajob bank. “CIT underwrites this program in terms of pro-moting positions in the materials industry to science andengineering undergraduates,” Ms. Vorona explained.Through CIT’s ten-week internship program a company mustoffer a student relevant work and a mentor. This allows stu-dents to work in a real-world environment where they aredoing work that is pertinent to their major. Ms. Vorona com-mended Virginia Tech’s long-time advocacy of co-operative

More than 700 Virginiacompanies are involved atsome level with materials

Virginia needs an integratedindustrial community


Our search for a new departmenthead has reached a conclusion inthat an offer has been made andaccepted by David Clark from theMSE Department of theUniversity of Florida. He willarrive and take over the reins inJanuary. MSE owes a debt ofgratitude to Steve Kampe and hissearch committee for their hardwork and for this successful

conclusion. We also have an offer out to fill one of our openfaculty positions, but we will delay filling a second openposition until after David Clark’s arrival.

MSE will be renting 6000 square feet in a new buildingadjacent to campus, and we will move some faculty offices

Preparing to Hand Over the Reins

and labs to this space. The lease is not actually signed as ofthis writing, but the space appears to have been secured.This will allow us to partially relieve the crowding in HoldenHall and to have much improved graduate student officespace. We expect to occupy this rental space in the spring.

After December, I will revert to my previous status as aprofessor jointly appointed between MSE and ESM(Engineering Science and Mechanics). As InterimDepartment Head for the last year and a half, it has been apleasure to work in this capacity with the MSE students,faculty, staff, alumni, and Industry Advisory Board.Everyone has pulled together in a most remarkable fashion,and I think it is clear that the department has progressedduring this time. I thank all of you for your help and support.

education and internships, and more specifically, she said,“Ron Kander has been a real advocate and support for thisprogram through talking with his students and helping toplace them.”

Overall, Virginia Tech “has a superior reputation as beingaccessible to industry,” said Ms. Vorona. In the MSE De-partment, Ron Kander advocates collaboration with indus-try. Currently, he is working on a project with Directed Tech-nologies Incorporated dealing with fuel cells that is beingpartially supported by CIT. Also, Ron “has offered to be aconduit for polymers or materials-related concerns in indus-try through the Polymeric Materials Resource Center(PMRC).” PMRC provides easier access to Virginia Tech’soutstanding faculty members and multidisciplinary researchcenters involved in polymeric materials. By providing ac-cess to the resources at Virginia Tech, PMRC will help Vir-ginia companies maintain and improve their competitiveadvantage in polymer-related areas. PMRC will assist com-panies by solving their technical problems or by directingthem to the appropriate academic resources throughout theuniversity. More information on PMRC can be found on theweb at www.mse.vt.edu/pmrc.

Another area of interest has been teacher training, and BobHendricks, a joint faculty member in MSE and ECpE, isinvolved with a proposal for a summer institute for physicsand chemistry advanced placement high school teachers. Thefocus of the institute would be training in semiconductormanufacturing.

Prof. Norman Dowling

The point of all of this activity is that “there is interest andenthusiasm and willingness to work with a different chainand channel of educators,” Ms. Vorona explained. “I wouldenvision that industry would be brought in to give consulta-tion in the training.”

For more information about CIT and about Virginia’s ad-vanced materials sector, visit CIT’s website: www.cit.org.

vvv

The CIT Tower inHerndon, Virginia,

was designed to“embrace innovativedevelopments in 20thcentury technology.”


Department NewsThe MSE Department is pleased towelcome Diane Folz, who will jointhe department in January as asenior research associate.

Diane received a B.S. in MSE fromthe University of Florida in 1987.Since that time, she has worked forUF in the MSE Department as anengineer. In 1994 she was appointedthe executive director of theNational Institute of CeramicEngineering (NICE). Diane is aFellow in both NICE and the American Ceramic Society,and she is a member of several organizations, including theSociety of Women Engineers, the Order of the Engineer,Epsilon Lambda Chi (Engineering Leadership Circle), andthe Ceramic Education Council.

Diane has co-authored two books and several papers, andshe holds two patents with three more pending. v

An Exemplary EmployeeCongratulations to David M. Berry,who is one of two recipients of the2000 Exemplary Employee Award.Sponsored by the College Associ-ation for Staff in Engineering, thisaward is given in recognition ofoutstanding contributions andservice within the College ofEngineering.

David joined the MSE Departmentin 1997 as a laboratory instrumentmaker, and he currently serves as thetechnical contact for maintainingMSE laboratory facilities in Holdenand Hancock Halls. “David holdsthe difficult position of being theonly technician in a highly inter-disciplinary department,” accordingto the MSE facilities manager, Carlos Suchicital. Davidhandles everything from plumbing and carpentry to electricalwork. “David does them all promptly, correctly, and with agood nature. He consistently goes beyond his duties andinvests his own time” to find and implement solutions.

MSE Department Head, Norm Dowling, said of David, “Heis quite versatile, capable, and innovative in his mechanicaland electrical abilities, and he has very good common senseand judgment in his work.”

In addition to meeting so many departmental needs, Davidis working toward a B.S. in engineering with plans to majorin MSE. v

On June 1, Jesse J. Brown, Jr. became the Director ofResearch and Product Development for Kyanite MiningCorporation in Dillwyn, Virginia. Dr. Brown, who retiredfrom the MSE Department last December after serving forover 30 years on the Virginia Tech faculty, has been aconsultant for the company for many years. In his currentposition, he is involved in testing, quality control, sales andadvertising, customer relations, and new productdevelopment. He is also responsible for preparing papersfor presentation at national and international meetings.

The company recently installed a new testing laboratory toreplace one set up by Dr. Brown 25 years ago. Now, insteadof using atomic absorption to conduct the testing, they useX-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence to do the chemicaland mineral analyses. Kyanite is a mineral that is widelyused in refractories. The refractories, in turn, are widely usedin the steel, ceramics, cement, petrochemical, and other basicindustries. Kyanite is also used as a critical ingredient in themanufacturing of brake linings, welding rods, investmentcasting shells, dinnerware, sanitary ware, glass, dental caps,

and art ceramics. Kyanite MiningCorporation is the major supplier ofcommercial grade kyanite in theworld. v

Bill Reynolds and Hervé Marandwere promoted to full professor. v

Diana Farkas was named ASMFellow this fall. ASM Internationalis a materials-oriented professionalsociety encompassing all classes ofmaterials. v

Al Loos, who held appointments inMSE and ESM, returned full time toESM in July. v

Yuri Mishin left Blacksburg inAugust to accept a tenure-trackappointment at George Mason

University. Dr. Mishin is now an associate professor at theSchool of Computational Sciences (SCS) at GMU. “SCS,”said Dr. Mishin, “is a new and rapidly growinginterdisciplinary program which includes several groupsworking on computer applications for space sciences, fluiddynamics, bio-informatics,” as well as computer design ofmaterials, the group in which Dr. Mishin is working. Heplans to continue his research on atomistic modeling andcomputer simulation of materials. MSE wishes him well inthis new endeavor. v

Patent recipients for 1999 were honored last spring at areception held at the German Club. MSE patents awardedwere: Guo-Quan Lu and Jaecheol Bang: “Process forproviding a glass dielectric layer on an electrically conductive

Diane Folz

David M. Berry


substrate and electrostatic chunks made by the process”Patent No. 8,864,459, issued January 26;Guo-Quan Lu and Jesus N. Calata : “Tube liningApparatus” Patent No. 5,855,676, issued January 5; CarlosSuchicital was co-inventor on “Flash evaporator” Patent No.5,887,117, issued March 23, a device and method forevaporating reagents of different compositions. Thistechnique has been licensed by Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha ofOsaka, Japan. v

Jessamyn Franks Brown, the associate director of the MSE/ESM Advanced Engineering Writing and CommunicationsProgram, will leave her position this December to move toNorthern Virginia to be with her family. Jessamyn served asa graduate teaching assistant in the program for two and one-half years and as an instructor for the past 18 months. Findinga replacement has been a difficult task, since Jessamyn hasbeen extremely popular with students and faculty and hasoffered invaluable assistance in the development of theprogram.

On December 25, Ms. Judy Robinson, a 1988 graduate ofVirginia Tech, will assume duties as associate director. Judyhas been living in Philadelphia for the past decade and ispleased to be returning to the Blacksburg area. Judy has anundergraduate degree in architecture and a master’s degreein education. v

New Industry Advisory Board Member: The MSEDepartment is pleased to welcome Dr. Hélène Aguilar tothe Industry Advisory Board. Dr. Aguilar received herbachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1993 fromthe Université de Technologie de Compiègne (UTC) inCompiègne, France, with emphasis on materials engineering

Foundry continued page 14

American Foundry SocietyGives MSE Laboratories a Boost

Bill Reynolds

What do Virginia Tech’s football team and the MSE Depart-ment have in common? Well, not much, aside from the factthey are both trying to upgrade their facilities. The Hokies’stadium is growing, and MSE is in the process of building anew foundry lab in 130 Holden Hall. The lab will providenew opportunities for teaching and research.

The plan to remodel the space in Holden resulted from theconvergence of several influences. One prime mover of theplan was the Piedmont Chapter of the American FoundrySociety. This regional chapter of the metalcasting industry’snational organization has supported Virginia Tech over theyears with scholarship funds, supplies, and co-op opportu-nities for students. Several years ago, Paul Huffman, Edu-cational Chair of the Chapter and alumnus of the MSE De-partment, saw an opportunity for a more active alliance be-tween Virginia Tech and the industry. At that time, GeorgiaTech’s activities in metalcasting had ended, leaving Virginia

AFS and FEF scholarships were presented during thePiedmont Chap. meeting held at Tech this fall. L to R: DonGaertner, Pres. AFS; Mark Zaun, FEF Scholarship; NormDowling , MSE Dept . Head; Jacquel ine Gerken , AFSPiedmont Chap. Scholarship; Bill Reynolds, MSE faculty;Paul Huffman, AFS Piedmont Chap. Educ. Chair (notpictured: Stacey Sharp, AFS Piedmont Chap. Scholarship,and Chris Kessler, FEF Scholarship)

and quality control. She also has a two-year degree inmathematics and physics from the Université de Lille I inDunkirk, France, which she received in 1989. Dr. Aguilarparticipated in the student exchange program between theUTC and Virginia Tech, joining the MSE department at Techin August 1991. She completed her Ph.D. in materialsengineering science (MESc) in May 1995. During her post-doc year at Tech, Dr. Aguilar conducted processing andconductivity experiments on polyelectrolyte composites,directed materials selection and testing experiments for alaptop computer casing, and performed various elastomericmaterials analyses for Acadia Polymers. In July 1996, Dr.Aguilar joined Acadia Polymers as Staff Materials Engineerin Clifton Forge, Virginia, where her work has encompassedprojects involving adhesives development, surface analysiswork, elastomers compatibility studies with automatictransmission fluids, and rubber compounding. Dr. Aguilarjoined the new Acadia R&D team in the Corporate ResearchCenter in Blacksburg in February 1999, where she wasresponsible for setting up the new R&D mixing and testinglaboratory. She is now the Manager of Materials Researchand Development. She joined the MSE Industry AdvisoryBoard last fall. v

Donations to the DepartmentThe MSE Department greatly appreciates the recent generousdonation made by Mr. and Mrs. John H. Kroehling. Theirdonation went toward the purchase of items needed for MSEundergraduate laboratories, such as materials samplepreparation equipment, including a sample polishing unit, apressure mounting system, and a belt grinder system. Mr.Kroehling, a 1948 ceramic engineering alumnus, serves onthe MSE Industry Advisory Board and the College ofEngineering Committee of 100. v


Student and Alumni News

In June 2000, the Procter & Gamble Company (Cincinnati,Ohio) appointed Dr. Andrew J. Wnuk to the position ofResearch Fellow, Victor Mills Society. Dr. Wnuk is currentlya member of P&G’s Corporate Prototyping and PackagingDevelopment Division.

Dr. Wnuk joined P&G in 1979, soon after receiving a Ph.D.in materials engineering science (MESc) from Virginia Tech.Prior to the Ph.D., he earned a master’s in ceramicengineering from Tech in 1977, and a B.S. in chemistry fromRider University, in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, in 1973.

Procter and Gamble formed The Victor Mills Society in 1990to honor technologists in the company who, through theirtechnology innovations, have made sustaining and importantbusiness-building contributions throughout their careers. Itis named for Mr. Victor Mills, generally regarded as P&G’smost prolific inventor and technologist, who worked for thecompany between 1927 and 1962.

Over the past 21 years, Dr. Wnuk has worked in process andmaterials development for a wide range of companyinitiatives. He has been named an inventor or co-inventoron 17 patents and has 8 additional patents pending.

Dr. Wnuk has also been recognized for his efforts in buildingorganizational capabilities at P&G. Since 1984, he has beenheavily involved with the recruiting and training of newengineers and scientists. This has included roles as a campusinterviewer at Virginia Tech and other universities, and atrainer of P&G new hires. v

Angelo J. Ingrassia (METE ’40) retired as chiefadministrative judge for the ninth judicial district in NewYork. He plans to return to practicing law. v

Robert M. McMarlin (CERE ’60) retired as director oftechnical services and systems development from PittsburghCorning Corp. after 30 years of service. v

Robert W. Ellis, Jr. (METE ’62) recently retired fromLawrence Technological University, where he served as deanof engineering and provost. v

Ronald M. Haeberle, Jr. (METE ’67) was promoted to vicepresident for specialty businesses and director of strategicplanning with Special Metals in West Virginia. v

Roderique R. Rohas (METE ’72) completed upgradetraining as a captain flying the new fly-by-wire Airbus319/320 series of advanced commercial jets with U.S.Airways. v

John R. Christman (CERE ’75), survey manager atAnderson and Associates in Blacksburg, was installed as thefirst vice president of the Virginia Association of Surveyorsfor 2000. v

John C. Fanning II (MATE ’86) is the manager ofmetallurgy at the Titanium Metals Corp. (TIMET) HendersonTechnical Laboratory in Nevada. v

Deborah K. Fourney (MATE ’87) was promoted to projectmanager of the materials group for Law Engineering andEnvironmental Services, Inc. She also earned her P.E. licensein metallurgical engineering in the state of Florida. v

Mark C. Munson (MATE ’87) was named director ofmarket analysis for ProcureNet, Inc. v

More Global Hokies...Mark Northrop (MSE ’89) isworking in Brussels, Belgiumfor the next three years with C-E Minerals as their EuropeanSales Manager.

Marty Swan (MSE ’96) is theInternational TechnologyTransfer Engineer for Corning.He has traveled to England,Germany, and Australia so far.v

New MRS Student ChapterA new student chapter of the Materials Research Society(MRS) was started at Virginia Tech this fall. MRS is a well-respected international society dedicated to the advancementof interdisciplinary materials research. This past year thesociety’s journal was the second most cited by materialsscientists and the most cited journal by applied physicists.There were also two nobel prizewinners from the society.At the fall meeting held in Boston in late November, SeanCorcoran and Martha McCann accepted a University Charterpresented to Virginia Tech’s MSE Department. Being aUniversity Chapter entitles us to many benefits includingtravel support for student members to attend MRS fall andspring meetings, chapter rebates, distinguished speakersupport, special project grants, as well as promotionalsupport. Martha also attended the annual meeting ofUniversity Chapters, where she learned from other chaptersways to contribute to the local materials community, raisemoney, and increase membership. The new MRS chapterwill become part of the umbrella organization MaterialsEngineering Professional Societies (MEPS). Thisorganization enables the individual chapters to add resources

Marty Swan along GreatOcean Road in Victoria,Australia


to accomplish more activities. In the coming year there areplans for invited speakers, outreach programs, a field tripand, of course, a social activity or two. The MRS should bea valuable addition to MEPS. With the help of the othersocieties we will be able to enhance appreciation of materialslocally and add visibility to Virginia Tech nationally. v

Best WishesShawn Kelly (MSE ’99) and NancyChandale Hart (BMGT ’99) were marriedon July 8. Shawn is a graduate student inMSE and Chandale is studying speech/language pathology at Radford University.

Daniel P. Kailey (MATE ’87) marriedKathleen R. LaRock on January 15.

John Stuecker (MSE ’97) married ReganAbel (MSCI ’97) May 30, 1999 in theVirginia Tech botanical gardens. Aftercompleting his master’s degree inmaterials engineering in May 1999 at NewMexico Tech, John went to work in theceramic materials department at SandiaNational Labs in Albuquerque. He isworking on a freeform fabrication/rapidprototyping process for ceramics, termedrobocasting.

Dylan V. Pugh and Christina E. Mister were married June10. Dylan completed three years of his undergraduate degreein physics at the Uni-versity of Granada inSpain. He transferredto Virginia Tech andgraduated with abachelor’s degree inphysics in May 1999.Currently, he is pur-suing a doctorate inMSE. Christina is a’99 graduate ofVirginia Tech with abachelor’s degreein communications.She is a master’sstudent in woodscience. v

Keith Knipling (MSE ’98) and Ben Lepene (MSE ’01)participated in the Virginia State Championship Series Bikeraces this summer. This is a series of 6 races held betweenApril 30 and October 8 in which riders accumulate pointsfor each race.

Ben finished first in the Men’s Sport race held Sept. 10 inthe Jefferson National Forest near Pandapas pond. There

continued next page

were 140 participants in the race, which covered a distanceof 17 miles spanning Gap and Brush Mountains. Keithfinished first in the XXCross Country race, a ride of 36 milesin the same area. Championships were awarded in October,and Keith finished third in the series.

Kathy Rohr and Jeff Schultz, also cyclists, worked as coursemarshals for the race, marking the course, making sure racersstayed on course, and handing out water. v

Updates continued page 11

Materials Engineering ProfessionalSocieties Fall ActivitiesThe Materials Engineering ProfessionalSocieties (MEPS) is in full swing thisfall sponsoring department activities,starting with a pig roast held September16 following the VT/Rutgers footballgame. The pig was roasted Hawaiian pitstyle, courtesy of Ben Hailer (MSE ’98)and Keith Knipling (MSE ’98). About100 students, alumni, faculty, andfriends attended the pig roast, which washeld at the Knipling family DoeMountain Lodge near Mountain Lake.They feasted on roasted pig, potatoes,

and corn on the cob and later roasted marshmallows arounda bonfire. Other activities included a make-shift golf drivingrange (i.e., “Can you hit that Hertz truck parked up in themeadow?”) and piling as many people as possible into DavidBerry’s pickup truck for a ride over to a cave excavated byJeff Schultz and Keith Knipling. About 20 hearty soulsrounded out the evening by spending a cold night campingout.

The MSE Industry/Academic Symposium and second annualGolf Tournament took place Friday, October 6, prior toVirginia Tech’s homecoming game. The symposium was heldFriday morning and had a good turnout of students, alumni,and faculty. The morning began with a tour of MSE facilitiesgiven by Carlos Suchicital, followed by the symposium,which was held in Squires Student Center. Speakers includedalumni Mitch Jackson (MESc ’00) from Tycom Ltd. and EricWuchina (MATE ’88, MESc ’96) from the Naval SurfaceWarfare Center. Brian Love talked about photopolymerizablebone cement, Sean Corcoran gave a talk on scanning electronmicroscopy, Ron Kander discussed materials-relatedchallenges in fuel cell research and development, and SteveKampe finished off the morning with a discussion of alloydesign of golf clubs.

The golf tournament took place at Fountain Springs GolfCourse in Glen Lyn, West Virginia. Twenty-four alumni,students, and faculty participated, playing in a scramble

Shawn & Chandale Kelly

Dylan & Christina Pugh


MEPS FALformat. The weather, though overcast,proved no deterrent for the golfers, whilethe open but hilly course presented someinteresting challenges. Trophies wereawarded at a dinner held at the FoxridgeClubhouse in Blacksburg. The winningteam for the day included Wes Shaw(MSE ’01), Alison Suggs (grad. student),Craig Todd (MSE ’01), and Mark Fields(MATE ’81). Other trophies went toMarybeth Miceli (grad. student), ToddHeil (MSE ’01), and Bill Reynolds forclosest to the pin; Doug Crowson (grad.student) for the longest drive; and WesShaw for the longest putt.

MEPS is planning a spring tripto visit Howmet and JeffersonLabs near Hampton, Virginia,and a spring cookout is alsobeing planned. And, of course,another symposium and golftournament will be schedulednext fall. v

Ben Hailer, Shawn Kelly, and a VT pig

Ben Hailer, Mighty Hunter

Mitch Jackson, Jeff Schultz, Shawn Kelly,Matt McMurtry

F to B, L to R: Craig Todd, Jeff Schultz, RonKander, Alison Suggs, Mitch Jackson, BillReynolds, Matt McMurtry, Wes Shaw, BrianLove, and Shawn Kelly

Ben Davi

Mitch Jackson


The Winning Team: Wes Shaw, Alison Suggs, CraigTodd, and (not pictured) Mark Fields

RAPBOOK

Matt McMurtry & Shawn Kelly

Anders DiBiccari & Marybeth Miceli

Tommy Partridge, Leslie Howard, HerveMarand, & Brian Love

Marand & Brian Love

Shawn Kelly SteveKampe


Cycling into the Millennium

When Kathy Rohrisn’t teaching in theMSE Department atVirginia Tech, shemight be out cyclingacross the country-side. Kathy admits, abit sheepishly, thatshe never owned abicycle as a child,that she bought herfirst bike at age 35 asa reward for giving

up cigarettes. For a while, she rode only occasionally, butduring 1990 she worked up to riding seven days a week andthought she was doing admirably riding twelve miles a day.When she began joining in some long distance rides like theWilderness Road Ride, her miles increased considerably. By1998 she was ready for Bike Virginia’s five-day, 300-miletour of Northern Virginia. From that point, Kathy says, “Iwas launched!”

This past June, Kathy joined a group of about 200 cyclistsfor Bike South 2000, a bicycle tour through five southernstates. She saw the ride as a unique way to celebrate themillennium.

Five organizations took part in planning and implementingthis 2000-mile ride from Florida to Virginia: Bike Florida,BAMA (Bicycle Across Magnificent Alabama), BRAG(Bike Ride Across Georgia), Cycle South Carolina, and BikeVirginia. Each organization sponsors an annual state ride,and for this event, the state rides were linked. In most states,the core of 200 riders was joined by cyclists opting to ridethrough just one state. The tour started in Tallahasseeon June 2 and finished 35 days later in Charlottesville onJuly 7.

Highlights on the tour includedfollowing Martin Luther King, Jr.’shistoric civil rights marching route fromSelma to Montgomery and being joinedby 2100 riders for the Georgia leg ofthe journey. In Virginia, Kathy wasimpressed with Bike Virginia’s hardwork in getting local people involved.“Virginia always had something goingon.” There were street parties, museumtours, a wine tasting, and a talent show.Local volunteers and vendors wereready with food, information, andservices when the riders pulled intotown.

Kathy met several heroesalong the way, speaking mostappreciatively of the lawenforcement officers whowere particularly evident inVirginia. Throughout thestate, bike riders passed statepolice, county sheriffs, localpolice, and, along the BlueRidge Parkway, U.S. ParkPolice, who handled trafficand made sure the cyclistshad a safe ride. Another herowas James Chapman, a 57-year-old paraplegic, who rodethe entire 2000 miles on a bike equipped with hand pedalsand a full set of gears. She also met Jim Boykan, the oldestrider at 72, and 65-year-old Louise Taylor, a formertriathlete, who got started in the sport at age 47 and won 5of 11 ironman triathlon events in her age group.

Kathy met up with a few creatures she dubbed “celebrities.”This category included several (unfortunately) deadarmadillos that appeared along the roadside, propped up andsporting beer cans or other odds and ends. Another celebrity(a live one this time) was Matthew Blankets, a baby goat,hauled in a baby cart by his owner, Nancy Flowers, for theentire ride. Matthew garnered lots of attention, and therewas even some competition among the younger riders as towho would be allowed to pull the goat cart each day.

Before actually starting the trek from Florida to Virginia,Kathy thought of the ride as “the biker’s version of hikingthe Appalachian Trail. I very quickly realized this is nothinglike hiking the Appalachian Trail, which is all about solitudeand getting in touch with your soul. This is just a big bikeride!”

“I did learn who I am,” Kathy said. “Iam the Energizer Bunny! I can just keepgoing and going and going.” She hasdeveloped her own code of conduct forthese extended bike rides. She nevertakes short cuts, and she rides up everyhill. No walking allowed, and absolutelyno riding over the hill in the “SAGwagon,” a support vehicle provided forriders with medical or mechanicalproblems. “That’s satisfaction for me.I’m not fast, I’ll never be fast. But I cankeep going.”

Kathy, Matthew Blankets, & NancyFlowers

Kathy Rohr


Kathy received a B.S. in chemistry from the University ofPittsburgh and a master’s in chemistry from the Universityof Chicago prior to moving to Virginia with her husband,John Rohr, and two sons. John is a professor in the Centerfor Public Administration and Policy at Virginia Tech. Hersons, Paul, 27, and Mark, 24, team drive an eighteen-wheeler. Kathy earned a master’s degree in materialsengineering from Virginia Tech in 1986. She worked as a

Updates continued from page 7Benjamin Liptak (MSE ’99) is a process engineer withTechneglas, Inc., in Columbus, Ohio. Techneglas is a whollyowned subsidiary of Nippon Glass. Ben is making glass fortelevision sets and gaining excellent manufacturingexperience. v

Pete Widas (MSE ’00) is a manufacturing engineer withHowmet in Hampton, Virginia. v

Congratulations to Bob Fielder (MSE ’00), who successfullydefended his master’s thesis in MSE at Virginia Tech onDecember 4. Bob will be working as an R&D materialsengineer for Luna Innovations in Blacksburg. This companyspecializes in fiber optics and related components andsensors. v

vvv

James Chapman

Louise Taylor

Jim Boykan

Bike South 2000Heroes

Research Associate and Instructor for MSE in the late 80’sand early 90’s. She returned to Tech last winter after severalyears working in industry. For six years she served as plantmetallurgist and chemist for the John C. Nordt Company inRoanoke, a precious metals fabricator for the jewelryindustry. Currently, she is an Instructor in the MSEDepartment, teaching Elements of Materials Engineeringand Physical Metallurgy Laboratory.

The World of Materials is published by theDepartment of Materials Science & Engineering,

Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061Phone: 540-231-6777 FAX: 540-231-8919

E-mail: [email protected]: http://www.mse.vt.edu

LeeAnn Ellis, Editor

Virginia Tech is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer

Please send news and updates to LeeAnn Ellis,MSE Dept. (0237), 213 Holden Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24061.E-mail: [email protected]


It Really is A Materials WorldJulie Martin, Graduate Student

Editor

From the time we get up in the morning untilthe time we go to bed at night, our lives areaffected by materials science and engineering. Weconstantly use polymers, metals, semiconductorsand ceramics that were carefully developed andtested for their specific application by materialsengineers, whether we realize it or not. That’swhat It’s a Materials World is all about. Its purposeis to illustrate how the field of materials scienceand engineering enhances our everyday lives bybringing your attention to the materials aspectsof current events and issues. Our purpose is alsoto let you know about some of the exciting thingsthat are happening in the field, and specifically inthe Materials Science and Engineering (MSE)Department.

MSE students benefit from the warmth of asmall, friendly, and tight-knit department. Weexperience personal interaction with professors,small class sizes, exciting research opportunities,

and ultimately, fruitful job prospects. We inviteyou to learn more about the MSE Department. Feelfree to contact any of the authors or editorial staffwith your questions and comments, and look forthe next edition of It’s a Materials World early nextsemester.

Mountain Biking:No More Heavy Metal

Adam Maisano Sophomore

Mountain biking has come a long way in thepast twenty years. Originally, it was consideredan extreme weekend adventure for those whocould stomach it. Now, the sport is in the Olympicgames. Mountain bike sales account for about halfof the $1.5 billion in total U.S. bike sales everyyear. So much has changed on these bikes, andnew technology continues to evolve ascomponents are refined and the materials used inthem are made stronger and lighter.

Students in the MSE Department have gotten together thisfall to create a newsletter designed specifically for students.It’s a Materials World is sponsored by Dow Chemical, andits main purpose is to encourage awareness of “how the fieldof materials science and engineering enhances our everydaylives,” as Julie Martin writes in the editorial. Three studentscomprise the editorial staff: Julie Martin, a graduate student,Todd Heil, a senior, and April Williams, a junior. Contributorsare all MSE students, who offer insights into various aspectsof materials science and engineering, such as the need for

New Student Publication Showcasesthe Materials World

advanced materials in the 21st century, smart materials andski technology, women in engineering, and investigating tirerubber.

If you would like more information about this new MSEpublication, you can contact Julie, Todd, or April at thefollowing email addresses: [email protected], [email protected],or [email protected]. Following are some excerpts from It’sa Materials World.


Titanium alloy bicycle frames are consideredto be top-of-the-line by many riders due to thematerial’s high strength and light weight. Theadvantages of having a titanium frame arenumerous. First of all, it is incredibly durable. Thestandard type of titanium used in industry is calleda 3Al/2.5 V alloy that, besides titanium, contains3% aluminum and 2.5% vanadium. This alloy,developed for airplanes, is twice as strong ascommercially pure titanium. Titanium is naturallyflexible which means that special tube shapes orlarge-diameter tubing is needed to reach astiffness equal to steel. At about 57% the densityof steel, oversized tubes bump up the stiffnesswithout adding much weight. Titanium has a“springier” feel to the rider than a steel tube of

the same diameter because of its flexibility, whichprovides more ride compliance. Lateral andtorsional rigidity can be improved by manipulatingthe tube shape. The resonance of titanium ismoderate, which means it transfers less vibrationto the rider than aluminum but more than that ofsteel.

The materials used in bicycle frames areconstantly being improved to fit the needs of bothroad racers and mountain bikers. As we learn moreabout the stress and torque on a frame duringthe pedaling cycle, small changes can be made tothe shape, thickness, and composition of thematerial. Better performance with less mass isthe ultimate design goal.

Todd Heil

Computer MicrochipsCD Player Lasers

TransistorsLED Displays

Fiber Optic CablesCatalytic ConvertersSpace Suit Insulation

Dental Crowns

Bicycle FramesBulletproof Vests

Airplane ComponentsGolf Club Shafts

Shape Memory GlassesBaseball Bats

Bridge Decks & CablesArtificial Joints

Non-stick SurfacesCDs

Food PackagingBulletproof Glass

How Materials Fit IntoHow Materials Fit IntoOur Daily LivesOur Daily Lives


Tech and the University of Alabama as the only schools inthe region with an interest in metalcasting education. Thissituation was cause for some concern to an industry that needsskilled engineers to remain competitive. While themetalcasting industry was red hot like the rest of the economy(no pun intended), it was not likely to remain so if it couldnot continue to attract engineers to the field.

At the same time the industry was doing well, the gradualdeterioration of the MSE Department’s lab space and equip-ment over a period of many years had reduced its ability toexpose students to metalcasting. Discussions among indus-try representatives and MSE faculty were started and evolvedinto a plan to build a state-of-the-art casting facility in theMSE Department. The intent was to create a facility for teach-ing modern casting processes on modern equipment whileaddressing the needs of the industry. These discussions cul-minated during the Piedmont Chapter’s September meetingat Virginia Tech with the formation of a fundraising com-mittee and a planning committee to help design the lab.Members of the planning committee have visited IntermetCorporation’s research lab and foundry in Lynchburg, andthe American Foundry Society’s teaching facility in DesPlaines, Illinois. To date, Mike Selz of Metalcasting Equip-ment, Inc., has arranged the donation of a shell moldingmachine to the new MSE foundry lab, Combraco Industrieshas donated an emission spectrometer for chemical analy-sis, and Electro-Nite Company has offered to donate ther-mal analysis equipment. The Piedmont Chapter of AFS hasalso committed to help raise funds for the lab and has estab-lished an annual scholarship for MSE students.

The potential a well-equipped lab brings for attracting re-search support was a second factor in the decision to build anew foundry facility. Good equipment is essential to com-pete for federal grants in metalcasting research. Other orga-nizations have acknowledged this fact and are using theirfacilities to attract funding. The University of Alabama atTuscaloosa, Penn State, and Case Western Reserve are ex-amples of schools that have recently built modern foundrylabs with research opportunities in mind. Virginia Tech is

well-suited to take advantage of the trend, too. Severalcomplementary research thrusts are already in place at Techthat can interact synergistically with the metalcasting labwhen it is completed. For example, there are faculty work-ing on rapid prototyping, computer simulation and model-ing, expertise in polymer binders, refractories, and in alloydevelopment. In addition, the Foundry Education Founda-tion (FEF), a national organization established by themetalcasting industry to support education, recently desig-nated Virginia Tech as one of its key research universities.Virginia Tech is one of 31 North American member schoolsthe Foundry Education Foundation supports, and its recog-nition of Tech’s research emphasis is expected to provideuseful leverage in seeking federal funds for casting-relatedprograms.

Finally, the need for a new lab became painfully obviouslast summer when the department’s metalcasting course hadto be taught using facilities entirely outside MSE. SteveBickley, a professor in the Art and Art History Department,taught this course in which students designed and made pat-terns in his studio, then traveled to various companies in thearea to make the molds and pour the castings. The class vis-ited Hub Pattern, Roanoke, Virginia; Graham White Foundry,Salem, Virginia; QGC Castings, Surgoinsville, Tennessee;Thistle Foundry, Bluefield, Virginia; and Nomar Castings,Salem, Virginia. These companies provided the students witha lot of help and encouragement, and the students had a goodopportunity to see how green sand, shell molding, and in-vestment casting are done in industry. However, making agood casting on the first attempt is a challenge, and the lim-ited time the students had during each road trip did not al-low them to correct the inevitable problems that arose. Al-though the students did manage to make some nice castings,they were also discouraged by the low success rate. Whencompleted, the new foundry lab in Holden should go a longway toward correcting this problem.

Would you like to help? Contact Paul Huffman, at Domin-ion Metallurgical, Inc. ([email protected]) or BillReynolds ([email protected]) for details.

Foundry continued

Finished castings in aluminum and brass

Mark Zaun’s lost foam creation at 2 stages of completion(cast iron)


Alexander Patrick Longhenry was born May17, 2000, to Joy and Randy Longhenry. Heweighed 7 lbs. 1 oz. and was 20.5 inches long.Joy received her master’s degree in MSE in1995. She and her husband now live nearRochester, New York, where Joy is an engineerwith Xerox Corp., and Randy is a computersystems engineer with Cisco Systems.

Rick and Julie Clark are the proud parents ofMicah Richard Clark, born August 30, 2000,8 lbs. 4 oz., 21 inches long. Rick holds 3degrees from Virginia Tech’s MSE departmentand is currently teaching at the College of theCanyons in southern California. Julie (Bhatt)graduated from Tech in 1994 with a degree incommunication studies.

Stanley Jacob Stawovy was born April 3,2000 to Mike and Becky Stawovy (both MSE’91). He weighed 8 lbs. and was 21 incheslong. Mike, who received his M.S. in 1994and his Ph.D. in 1999, both from VirginiaTech, is currently a senior project engineerat Aerojet Specialty Metals in Jonesborough,Tennessee. Becky received a master’s fromTech in 1997, and until the birth of her son,she also worked at Aerojet as a projectengineer, a process engineer, and a managerfor the metallurgical laboratory.

The MSE Baby Boom Continues!

Alex Longhenry

Stanley StawovyMicah Clark

Julie, Micah, and Rick Clark

Oscar Thomas Aguilar was born August 6,2000, to Hélène and Oscar Aguilar. Heweighed 6 lbs. 3 oz. and was 19.5 inches long.Hélène completed her Ph.D. in MESc underRon Kander in 1995. Currently, she is theManager of Materials Research andDevelopment for Acadia Polymers inBlacksburg.

Oscar Aguilar


Dear Norm,The Materials Science and Engineering Departmentwishes to thank you for serving as our InterimDepartment Head for the last 18 months. We greatlyappreciate your hard work and dedication. We’llmiss you!

Materials Science & Engineering Dept.213 Holden Hall (0237)Virginia TechBlacksburg, VA 24061

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