7: Ceramics: An Ancient Material Class with a Fiery Future (feat. Dr. Kristen Brosnan)

Ceramic materials have been the backbone of human civilization for thousands of years. But how will these materials continue to evolve with humans in the 21st century and beyond?

 

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In today’s episode we talk with Dr. Kristen Brosnan, the Technology Director at Superior Technical Ceramics (STC). In this conversation we dig deep into the benefits of using ceramics in a number of modern applications and the future of this diverse class of materials. 

 

Our topics in today’s episode include:

• What ceramics are and how do they compare to the other classes of materials (4:02)
• Classifying the different types of ceramic materials (11:15)
• Tradeoffs of using different types of ceramics in high temperature applications (14:02)
• The history of ceramics (20:30)
• The hidden use of ceramics to make turbine blades in aircraft applications (26:19)
• Ceramics in biomedical applications (35:00)
• How metals are being replaced by ceramic materials (42:12)
• And much more!

 

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