Feb/March_AMP_Digital

HIGHL IGHTS 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 | F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H 2 0 2 1 4 2 DEADLINE EXTENSION: Accepting Nominations through March 30 for the following ASM Awards: Distinguished Life Membership* • Typically awarded to the president or CEO of an organization • Devoted time to the advancement of materials • Knowledge of the materials industry Medal for the Advancement of Research* • Typically awarded to an executive responsible for corporate decisions in support of R&D Honorary Membership* • Awarded for distinguished service to the MSE profession, in areas of ASM’s strategic plan/initiatives, and progress for mankind *ASM membership not required William Hunt Eisenman • Achievements in industry in practical application of materials science and engineering through production or engineering use • Five years current, continuous ASM membership • Three statements from close associates Bronze Medal • Two years of current, continuous ASM membership • Candidate should have demonstrated outstanding technical contributions and volunteerism on a national level • Candidate shall be no more than 35 years of age on January 1 of the year in which the award is given • Recognizes ASM members who are in early-career positions typically 0-10 years Historical Landmark • Sites and events must in some way be of significant historical importance in the field of materials science and engineering • Emphasis on technological development rather than on individuals • Recommend site/structure should be at least 50 years old For more information, visit asminternational.org/ membership/awards/. EMERGING PROFESSIONALS How are Engineering Undergraduate Students Surviving if They Can’t Learn in Labs? Abbie Ganas and Ho Lun Chan The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the paradigm of teaching. As students and teachers are now well aware, online learning comes with daunting obstacles such as “Zoom fatigue.” Moreover, as engineering students head toward graduation, those looking to secure jobs in industry face an unprecedented obstacle: Hiring committees may not hire thembecause they are lacking necessary laboratory skills. In the past few weeks, we have been speaking with students and instructors at different universities and listen- ing to their stories about teaching virtual laboratory courses. We were surprised to discover that a handful of instruc- tors have experimented with some creative approaches to teaching laboratory classes asynchronously. We are happy to share two success stories here. Naz and Armando Shehi are senior chemical and mate- rials engineering students at California State Polytechnic University Pomona. In their virtual “Corrosion and Materi- als Degradation” laboratory course, instructors developed video instruction and assisted them in making their own homemade demo to perform brass immersion experiments. During the experiments, Naz and Armando simply needed to take daily macrographs using their cell phones and ver- bally describe their observations. “I was able to see the corrosion processes happening daily while still being safe and economical. I would have never thought that this sort of demonstration could be done at home,” said Armando. Maryann Veyon, a chemical engineering senior student at Case Western Reserve University, went through a very similar experience to that of Naz and Armando in her “Pro- cess Control” course. Instructed to use no more than $50 for her project, she and her group mates engineered an aban- doned fish tank to study how sound barriers are affected by airflow. “It won’t be great, but I got some value out of it once I got over the headaches it was giving me,” said Maryann. To some students, it was a shock when they realized what they could accomplish scientifically at home. Although a virtual laboratory course is hardly comparable to its in-person counterpart, it reminds us that with ingenuity and adaptability—qualities the best professional scientists and engineers possess—excellent technical skills can be devel- oped in even the most unusual of circumstances. Ho Lun Chan is an ASM student board member. Abbie Ganas and Ho Lun Chan are part of a non-profit group EMERGING PROFESSIONALS