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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 | M A Y / J U N E 2 0 1 7
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FROM THE FOUNDATION
FROM THE FOUNDATION
Materials Matter:
A New Middle School Program
Numerous
studies
have
revealed an achievement gap in
STEM knowledge and a reduced
interest in STEM careers among
middle school students. Regret-
tably, there is little time in the
middle school classroom for sci-
ence as reading and mathematics
predominate; however, children
spend only ~20% of their time
in school, while learning is a continuous process. Conse-
quently, more and more STEM activities for this age group
are being targeted for these out-of-school hours.
The ASMMaterials Education Foundation has launched
an out-of-school program entitled Materials Matter, which
encourages middle school students to see the world around
them as one in which science is transformed into technol-
ogy through engineering. Students work in small groups
and use hands-on experiments to explore concepts of phys-
ical science with common structural materials including
metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites while learning
to draw conclusions and apply basic engineering principles.
The new program was tested at three rather different
sites: Roper Mountain Science Center in Greenville, S.C., a
mid-size science center; University of Washington in Seat-
tle, and the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa, Fla.,
one of the larger science museums. ASM master teachers
trained local staff who reported enthusiastic participation
by students and immediately scheduled the program for
following years. The Seattle program for summer 2017 was
filled to capacity within two hours of being announced and
they have scheduled a second session.
In 2017, seven locations will offer Materials Matter. Our
target in future years is hundreds of science centers and
museums across the country, in addition to other organiza-
tions that offer out-of-school STEM programs.
As the ASM Materials Education Foundation
continues to expand our program suite, it is imper-
ative to garner support.
Through your generous con-
tributions, we can continue to inspire
and e
xcite
students to explore new worlds through hands-on dis-
covery and to become the STEM pioneers of the future.
Lyle H. Schwartz, FASM
ASM Materials Education Foundation Trustee
WOMEN IN ENGINEERING
This profile series intro-
duces leading materials scien-
tists fromaround the world who
happen to be females. Here we
speak with
Margaret Flury,
principal materials engineer at
Medtronic.
What does your typical
workday look like?
I do failure analysis for
Medtronic’s restorative ther-
apies group. We examine everything from technology
and development prototypes to manufacturing items to
returned product (not a majority of our work!). We can look
at individual parts, whole devices, or even systems. I love
to be in the lab, examining the failed items and setting up
testing to try to recreate the failures. Of course I do have
to spend some time writing reports and attending project
meetings as well.
What part of your job do you like most?
Definitely working in the lab—I love dissecting failed
parts, experimenting, using a lot of fun technical equip-
ment, and trying to figure out what happened to make the
item fail. I’ve even been able to participate in a few animal
studies. I love interacting with the project teammembers to
learn the history of the item and what it was exposed to. It is
amazing what you can learn when there are so many differ-
ent perspectives on an issue.
What do you least like to do?
Check emails. When I returned from maternity leave, I
had over 900 to go through.
What is your engineering background?
I went to college at Michigan Technological University
and received my B.S. in materials science and engineering.
From there, I worked for Engel Metallurgical, an indepen-
dent consulting and testing engineering firm where I did
failure analysis and materials testing. We had clients from
pretty much every type of industry, attorneys, and insur-
ance companies. While at Engel, I obtained my Professional
Engineer license in the state of Minnesota.
Upon moving to Medtronic, I started in the neuromod-
ulation materials engineering group. I did a lot of product
development work, where my focus was ensuring that the
materials selected were both biocompatible (the materials
don’t harm the body) and biostable (the body doesn’t harm
the materials), all while having the desired properties for
the function. After a few years, a position opened up in the
neuromodulation failure analysis group, and I jumped on it,
Schwartz
Flury