ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2024 30 such as cleavage facets shown in fracture patterns on chocolate[4,5]. For the metallographic examination, each student makes their own mount that they can take home. They section the parts, mount, and polish them with donated metallographic equipment, and etch them. They are responsible for taking micrographs on the optical equipment. Monitoring students also requires mentors to become familiar with the equipment, which changes frequently, allowing them to learn various industry products. Students have access to box and vacuum furnaces. The mentors assist in austenitizing steel specimens and then quenching in different media (i.e., water and air), letting the students notice differences in appearance, sound, and hardness. Students don safety gear and remove the specimens themselves. They also use the Rockwell and Vickers/Knoop hardness equipment throughout the week, and are responsible for verifying calibration to a standard, performing measurements, and determining if the data are sound. These techniques help the students characterize their parts. Usually, the most challenging thing is getting them to slow down and take initial photos and measurements before starting with destructive testing. While needing help initially, by the end of the week, students are individually using equipment on their own and are coordinating between groups to see how best to share the limited equipment, demonstrating teamwork and self-efficacy[6]. The week culminates with the final group presentations after a celebratory dinner. Each group presents their findings, with each student explaining one slide. The presentations elucidate techniques used throughout the week, highlight relevant information found, and finish with conclusions and recommendations (Fig. 3). While they do not have to determine out the exact mechanism of failure, most usually do, and the presentations crafted toward the audience of peers are on par with those delivered at failure analysis conferences[7]. These results have even been published in the Journal of Failure Analysis and Prevention, demonstrating the quality of the work performed[8]. FUN AND SCIENCE It is not all just work and science; sometimes, it is fun and science. At mid-week, the students make ice cream using liquid nitrogen, showing how materials behave under cryogenic conditions. Students make sand molds to cast parts from tin—led by Trent True from Kent State, students pack the proprietary sand around a form making a cope and drag. The form is removed, and the molten tin is poured into the mold, creating one of several items, which once solidified and cooled, the students keep after separating the parts from the channels and sprues. Usually, the biggest hit is the blacksmithing demo and hands-on activity. Several invaluable volunteers from the local Western Reserve Artist Blacksmith Association have anvils and fire forges set up. Within about 45 minutes, the student can turn a simple steel rod into a more complex shape (Fig. 4). The blacksmiths have brought a range of equipment from old manual pumped coal forges to more modern gas-fired furnaces. Before lunch each day, there is a group activity, like a sack race, egg race, or recycling war. The group that wins each event gets the honor of having lunch first. Being located adjacent to The West Woods, a county park, the students have the chance to go on a hike through the forest, past the famous Ansel’s Cave, ending with a relaxing picnic area. For the last overnight, the students have their own pool and pizza party, while the mentors go out for a separate activity. The camp does not just run itself, however. Students are in a block of hotel rooms for the week to avoid having to commute each day. This process requires hiring chaperones to oversee the students in the evenings. Having a separate hotel requires transport to and from the ASM Dome each day, along with arranging chartered rides to and from Cleveland Hopkins Airport at the start and end of the week. The chaperones and the mentors need to keep accurate counts of the students when ferrying them back and forth. The students need to be well-fed to have the energy to sustain them during the long days. This requires catering for lunches and dinners, which are served at the ASM headquarters. Snacks are provided by staff at regular intervals during the day, and breakfast has been included with the hotels so far. Making sure that everyone’s dietary needs are cared for is an important challenge, being mindful of food allergies typical with large groups of students and mentors. IMPACT OF CAMPS As shown in Fig. 5, the student camps have made an increasing impact over the years. While starting with the one camp in 2000, over the years, over 18,000 students have attended the Fig. 3 – Camp student Austin Fritzgerald presenting results of metallography. Fig. 4 – Student Lisa Criscione heating wrought iron before hammering during blacksmithing demonstration.
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