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STRESS RELIEF
MATERIAL GIRLS OF THE MIDDLE AGES
Women in the Middle Ages often wore better quality clothes than men,
according to Chrystel Brandenburgh at Leiden University, the Netherlands.
Brandenburgh studied textile remnants from the period 400 to 1000 A.D., and
also found many regional variations in textile use. Women in Rhenen and
Wijchen, for example, were mostly buried in linen cloth, whereas twill cloth
was found in the graves of men in the region. In other countries, research on
textiles has really taken off in recent decades, but no comparable development
has been seen in the Netherlands, Brandenburgh explains.
Beyond skin coverage and protection, clothing provides valuable informa-
tion about people. “It’s functional, but it also expresses the identity or position
of the wearer,” she says. Brandenburgh regards her research as the starting
point for further studies on textiles. “I only concentrated on textile remnants
because so little research has been done in this field. But there is more informa-
tion to be gained from other contents of the grave,” she adds. New excavation techniques like computed tomography and 3D scans
and isotope research make it possible to draw further conclusions about clothing. For more information: Chrystel Brandenburgh,
+31 71 527 1626,
NOW THAT’S STRONG COFFEE
Engineers at Swinburne University of Technology, Australia, turned used
coffee grounds into building materials for roads. Professor Arul Arulrajah, who
leads the geotechnical group in the Centre for Sustainable Infrastructure, has
been investigating the use of recycled materials, such as crushed brick or glass
and concrete, for use in road construction. He is also an avid coffee drinker. “I
would see baristas throwing away the used coffee grounds and wondered if
it could be used as a building material,” he says. Arulrajah and his team col-
lected used coffee grounds from cafés near campus, dried them in an oven at
50°C for five days, and then sieved the grounds to filter out lumps. They then
mixed seven parts coffee grounds with three parts slag from steel manufac-
turing. A liquid alkaline solution helped bind everything together. The mixture
was compressed into cylindrical blocks that proved strong enough to use as
the subgrade material that sits under a road surface. For more information:
Arul Arulrajah, ,
PRINT YOUR FAVORITE SNACK
Researchers at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd. aim
to develop advanced food manufacturing technologies by combining
expertise in food, materials science, and 3D printing. Researchers have
the long-term vision of developing high-tech vending machines that pro-
vide customized purchases. In initial trials, starch and cellulose-based
materials for 3D food prototypes were tested. Researchers are also work-
ing on printability of protein concentrates of both plant (oat and faba
bean) and dairy (whey protein) origin.
“A great deal of work is needed in order to proceed to industrial-
scale production. Equipment needs to be developed in addition to
materials. Such equipment could be developed for domestic 3D food
printing as well as vending machines,” says Nesli Sözer, principal
scientist at VTT. For more information: Nesli Sözer, +358401523875,
, .
Researchers are developing advanced foodmanufacturing
technologies by combining expertise in food, materials
science, and 3D printing.
According to an archaeologist in the Netherlands,
women in the Middle Ages wore better quality
clothes than men.
Professor Arul Arulrajah and Ph.D. candidate Teck-
Ang Kua compressed a mixture of coffee grounds
and slag with a liquid alkaline solution to create a
product as strong as common cement.
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 U N E 2 0 1 6