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A D V A N C E D
M A T E R I A L S
&
P R O C E S S E S | J A N U A R Y
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ALL ABOARD THE
LITERARY TRAIN
Yale University, NewHaven, Conn.,
assistant French professor Morgane
Cadieu and her students created a
3D-printed train based on descriptions
from Emile Zola’s 1890 novel “La Bête
Humaine” (“The Beast Within”). To ac-
complish her project, Cadieu turned
to Yale’s Center for Engineering Inno-
vation & Design (CEID). She found that
creating a literary train would require
both tools and translation. A blueprint
of the model could be efficiently drawn
up using the CEID’s computer-aided
design software, at which point it could
be rapidly produced on the CEID’s
3D printers.
The final product turned out
more realistic than Cadieu anticipated.
“What we didn’t expect is that if you
look closely at trains from the end of
the 19th century, they really look sim-
ilar—the chimneys are this high,” she
says. “And yet Zola’s intense focus on
small parts of the train—the fog, the
sound, the light—could easily be inter-
preted another way, producing a lot
of different trains. For that reason, we
decided to connect this 3D train body
only through the 2D ‘fog’ of literary
descriptions in between the cars and
also above it.” In that sense, the model
train took on one more symbolic mean-
ing—as the connecting force between
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OUTRAGEOUS MATERIALS GOODNESS
Because Zola only described the
train engine as having two wheels,
the CEID team left the back wheels
off of their model as well. Top view of the monument via the total
station surveying tool, captured by
placing a smartphone camera near the
eyepiece. Courtesy of NOAA.
literature and science. For more infor-
mation: Morgane Cadieu, 203.436.2596,
,
WASHINGTON MONUMENT
RECEIVES NEW HEIGHT VALUE
Using new international measure-
ment standards and technology not
available in the past, the National Oce-
anic and Atmospheric Administration’s
National Geodetic Survey (NGS) has cal-
culated the official architectural height
of the Washington Monument to be
554 ft, 7.344 in.—a highly precise mea-
surement that makes it eligible for in-
clusion in official registers of the world’s
tallest structures. The measurement
was made using certification stan-
dards of the Council on Tall Buildings
and Urban Habitats and was finalized
in December 2014. Although the newly
established architectural height dif-
fers from the historical height of 555 ft,
5.125 in., neither the starting point nor
the so-called “standard deviation” used
for the original 1884 measurement is
known, making comparison of the two
measurements difficult. The new value
provides a baseline to determine if the
height of the monument is changing in
any way.
RESTORING CORPSES
WITH 3D PRINTING
The Mortuary Science Program
at Wayne State University, Detroit, re-
ceived a $10,000 grant to support its 3D
technology project from Service Corp.
International (SCI). Titled “3D Printing
in Restorative Art,” the initiative seeks
to develop an interactive learning mod-
ule for mortuary science students. The
goal is to create anatomical models
for laboratory learning and prosthet-
ics for body and feature restoration on
deceased individuals. The project illus-
trates how 3D technology can be used
in mortuary science education to meet
community needs. Specific objectives
include developing a set of core com-
petencies students need to successful-
ly reconstruct body parts, providing a
model for other schools. For more in-
formation: 313.577.1202,
SCI’s Advancing Mortuary Science Educa-
tion grant program illustrates how 3D tech-
nology can be used inmortuary science
education tomeet community needs.