July/August_AMP_Digital

4 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 L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 1 8 ASM International 9639 Kinsman Road, Materials Park, OH 44073 Tel: 440.338.5151 • Fax: 440.338.4634 Frances Richards, Editor-in-Chief frances.richards@asminternational.org Joanne Miller, Editor joanne.miller@asminternational.org Ed Kubel and Corinne Richards, Contributing Editors Jim Pallotta, Creative Director jim.pallotta@asminternational.org Jan Nejedlik, Layout and Design Kelly Sukol, Production Manager kelly.suko l@asminternational.org Press Release Editor magazines@asminternational.org EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Adam Farrow, Chair, Los Alamos National Lab John Shingledecker, Vice Chair, EPRI Somuri Prasad, Past Chair, Sandia National Lab Ellen Cerreta, Board Liaison, Los Alamos National Lab Tomasz Chojnacki, Caterpillar Inc. Mario Epler, Carpenter Technology Corp. Surojit Gupta, University of North Dakota Nia Harrison, Ford Motor Company Yaakov Idell, NIST Hideyuki Kanematsu, Suzuka National College of Technology Scott Olig, U.S. Naval Research Lab Anand Somasekharan, Los Alamos National Lab Kumar Sridharan, University of Wisconsin Jaimie Tiley, U.S. Air Force Research Lab ASMBOARDOF TRUSTEES Frederick E. Schmidt , Jr., President and Chair of the Board David U. Furrer, Vice President William E. Frazier, Immediate Past President Craig D. Clauser, Treasurer Prem K. Aurora Ellen K. Cerreta Ryan M. Deacon Larry D. Hanke Roger A. Jones Thomas M. Moore Sudipta Seal Judith A. Todd John D. Wolodko William T. Mahoney, Secretary and Chief Executive Officer STUDENT BOARDMEMBERS Aadithya Jeyaranjan, Kenna Ritter, Eli Vandersluis Individual readers of Advanced Materials & Processes may, without charge, make single copies of pages therefrom for per- sonal or archival use, or may freely make such copies in such numbers as are deemed useful for educational or research purposes and are not for sale or resale. Permission is granted to cite or quote fromarticles herein, provided customary acknowledgment of the authors and source is made. The acceptance and publication of manuscripts in Advanced Materials & Processes does not imply that the reviewers, editors, or publisher accept, approve, or endorse the data, opinions, and conclusions of the authors. S eeing a collection of high tech images all in one place— such as those on our summer cover—makes me realize we are now living in the future. True, we may be at the very beginning of what these innovations will eventually be- come, but the promise is there. From big data and 2Dmateri- als to additivemanufacturing and self-driving cars, it feels like the world is in the midst of a technology renaissance. For me, the most exciting aspect is that advancements in engineered materials are at the heart of all of these technologies. What’s more, the materials that make up modern life are not confined to serious uses like semiconductors, flight-critical aerospace components, and energy storage. Materi- als innovations are also part of the joyful and inspiring fabric of daily existence. Consider that Element Six, a leader in synthetic diamonds and part of the De Beers Group, has started construction on a $94 million advancedmanufactur- ing plant in Portland, Oregon. The focus will be synthesis of CVD (chemical vapor deposition) diamonds to meet the demand of Lightbox Jewelry, a new player in synthetic gemstones. When fully operational, the facility will produce more than 500,000 rough carats of lab-grown diamonds per year. Innovations like this could put a real dent in the conflict diamonds market. In other nonindustrial materials news, we have the 2018 FIFA World Cup finishing up in Russia. As I write this column, the tour- nament is halfway over and will be decided by July 15. The 2018 football tournament is the most expensive World Cup in history at a price tag of more than $14 billion. Let’s take a look at the advanced sports materials and processes at the heart of the game: The Ball. The Adidas Telstar 18—the official ball of the 2018 tournament—is based on the first Adidas World Cup ball used in 1970. Fun fact: Telstar 18 and its predecessor are named after the original Telstar satellite. However, while the original Telstar had 32 panels stitched together, the 2018 version only has six jigsaw-like panels, and they are seamlessly glued together rather than stitched. Balls are made of recycledmaterials and feature a 3D textured surface for control and grip. They also include an embedded chip that spectators can engage with by using a smartphone. The new ball has not escaped controversy. Adidas officials say Telstar 18 is scientifically designed to be predictable in flight (reducing the amount of dip and swerve players can impart) and is “the most perfect piece of equipment ever used in the game.” In fact, the company spent millions over three years refining the ball and subjecting it to rigorous wind tunnel testing in the U.K. and a robot- ic kicking machine in Germany. Despite the claims by Adidas, goalkeepers from Germany and Spain who tested the ball prior to the tournament said it changed direction unpredictably and that it could be slippery due to the absence of seams on the smooth coating. Adding to these issues were two burst balls in a first- round game and cases of lost pressure and failure during other matches. As with somany things in life—including advanced sports materials—perfection remains an elusive goal. But that shouldn’t keep us from trying. We hope you enjoy our summer issue. frances.richards@asminternational.org HAVING A BALL WITH SPORTS MATERIALS Telstar 18 kick testing.