4 ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES | APRIL 2024 ASM International 9639 Kinsman Road, Materials Park, OH 44073 Tel: 440.338.5151 • Fax: 440.338.4634 Joanne Miller, Editor joanne.miller@asminternational.org Victoria Burt, Managing Editor vicki.burt@asminternational.org Frances Richards and Corinne Richards Contributing Editors Anne Vidmar, Layout and Design Allison Freeman, Production Manager allie.freeman@asminternational.org Press Release Editor magazines@asminternational.org EDITORIAL COMMITTEE John Shingledecker, Chair, EPRI Beth Armstrong, Vice Chair, Oak Ridge National Lab Adam Farrow, Past Chair, Los Alamos National Lab Rajan Bhambroo, Tenneco Inc. Daniel Grice, Materials Evaluation & Engineering Surojit Gupta, University of North Dakota Michael Hoerner, KnightHawk Engineering Hideyuki Kanematsu, Suzuka National College of Technology Ibrahim Karaman, Texas A&M University Ricardo Komai, Tesla Bhargavi Mummareddy, Dimensional Energy Scott Olig, U.S. Naval Research Lab Christian Paglia, SUPSI Institute of Materials and Construction Amit Pandey, Lockheed Martin Space Satyam Sahay, John Deere Technology Center India Kumar Sridharan, University of Wisconsin Vasisht Venkatesh, Pratt & Whitney ASM BOARD OF TRUSTEES Pradeep Goyal, President and Chair Navin Manjooran, Senior Vice President Elizabeth Ho man, Vice President Mark F. Smith, Immediate Past President Lawrence Somrack, Treasurer Amber Black Ann Bolcavage Pierpaolo Carlone Hanchen Huang André McDonald Christopher J. Misorski U. Kamachi Mudali James E. Saal Dehua Yang Carrie Wilson, Interim Executive Director STUDENT BOARD MEMBERS Kingsley Amatanweze, Karthikeyan Hariharan, Denise Torres Individual readers of Advanced Materials & Processes may, without charge, make single copies of pages therefrom for personal 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 from articles 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. WELCOMING THE FUTURE WORKFORCE Professor Viola Acoff exudes a welcoming presence. I experienced it firsthand while attending her ASM/ TMS Distinguished Lecture last year at IMAT in Detroit. Maybe that explains why part of her role as dean of the School of Engineering at the University of Mississippi is meeting with undecided freshmen to help them envision a future as an engineer. She gently guides them by presenting various engineering degree options for their consideration. In doing so, Acoff likes to describe the breadth of materials science by using an airplane example. The body of the plane is made of aluminum, the engine uses titanium, brakes and bearings contain ceramics, and the cockpit’s circuit board employs silicon. She paints the picture that a materials science degree will give students access to work in any or all of these areas. But Acoff’s goal is not only to encourage underrepresented minorities to join the field of materials engineering. That’s just step one. An equally challenging task is to help them be successful during their academic years to ensure they stay in any STEM field. Her article in this issue outlines some best practices she and her colleagues at Ole Miss have employed that seem to do the trick. They include summer bridge programs, scholarly activities that build a sense of belonging, and faculty mentoring on how to develop a welcoming atmosphere. A key tactic is encouraging the students to see themselves in the field by experiencing success and a sense of community during their undergraduate years. If that is achieved, they are more likely to pursue advanced STEM degrees. That’s mission accomplished according to Acoff. We can thank her and others for filling the pipeline with a diverse and competent workforce, just in time to meet the increased need for materials engineering expertise in many sectors including additive manufacturing (AM). According to Market.us, the global 3D printing market size is set up for significant growth. The industry is expected to reach $135.4 billion by 2033. As a subset, the metal 3D printing market was $3.08 billion in 2022 and is now predicted to reach $15.94 billion by 2030—a CAGR of 22.8% in just eight years. Important drivers of this growth include the increased implementation of technologies including Industry 4.0, machine learning, robotics, and smart factories. All of these technologies rely on and generate materials data. William Frazier, FASM, and his co-authors from the National Institute of Standards and Technology know well that list of drivers and the importance of data in today’s digitized production environment. As they describe in the lead article, AM offers many benefits in an Industry 4.0 world. Yet many small and mid-sized companies need some guidance to learn proper AM data management and how to navigate AM process qualification and part certification. Helping more of these companies become capable of executing AM processes will lead to a more efficient and innovative supply chain overall. Small businesses as well as early engineering students need mentoring and guidance to succeed. Helping them builds our workforce capabilities and strengthens the wider engineering community. Let’s welcome them in. joanne.miller@asminternational.org
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