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The show that uncovers why materials science will change the world.
Episodes
Monday May 03, 2021
Monday May 03, 2021
A solid with a liquid microstructure that can be molded any way we want. Glass is a material we often take for granted, but it has been essential to the development of modern technology. From buildings to the screen of our phones and medicine vials, glass is all around us. Although it’s been used for thousands of years, new glass compositions and manufacturing techniques are transforming the way we communicate, build, and interact with technology.
Today’s guest is Dr. John Mauro, a Materials Science Professor at Penn State University. In this episode, Dr. Mauro guides us through the composition, manufacturing methods, applications, and interesting facts about Glass!
In this conversation, we discuss the following topics:
- What is glass? (0:59)
- Is glass actually ceramic? (3:25)
- Common applications of glass (6:50)
- Glass for safety in transportation and autonomous vehicles (10:03)
- Glass used for soft-tissue repair (12:26)
- Antimicrobial glasses (16:40)
- The science behind Gorilla glass (18:55)
- Fiber optics and communication (22:51)
- Glass in the biomedical field (28:29)
- Aesthetics and Architecture (33:13)
Reach out to Dr. Mauro:
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-mauro-b6285b58
- jcm426@psu.edu
Join our Discord community! You can meet other passionate materials scientists and engineers from around the world, discuss the latest breakthroughs in MSE, share materials-related memes, and get career advice from experts in the field.
For shorter segments, subscribe to our channel on YouTube. For bloopers, audiograms, and interesting materials science articles, follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Feel free to message us on our social media platforms if you have any feedback or recommendations for future episodes, or email us directly at itsamaterialworldpodcast@gmail.com. Finally, reach out to David Yeh and Punith Upadhya on LinkedIn if you'd like to chat about the latest breakthroughs in MSE!
Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed by either guests or hosts in this show are their own, and do not represent the opinions of the companies or organizations with which they are affiliated.
Monday Apr 19, 2021
Monday Apr 19, 2021
At the nanoscale, the properties of materials change completely, allowing us to come up with innovative applications that sound like science fiction! Many of those might go unnoticed in our daily activities, but they are definitely changing the way technology is made. Quantum dots, for example, have unique electronic and optical properties that can be applied in a wide range of products such as displays and medical imaging devices.
Today’s guest is Dr. Ilan Jen-La Plante, a Senior Scientist at Nanosys. In this episode, Ilan guides us through properties, applications, and interesting facts about Quantum Dots!
In this conversation, we discuss the following topics:
- What are quantum dots? (1:19)
- Principles that govern the behavior of quantum dots (7:05)
- How quantum dots can be used to destroy cancer cells (10:40)
- Importance of surface area to volume ratio in nanoparticles (11:58)
- Tagging substances for medical imaging (14:24)
- Quantum dots in display products (16:23)
- What does the future of quantum dots look like? (20:27)
- How quantum dots enable beauty in our world (27:55)
Reach out to Nanosys: https://www.nanosysinc.com/contact-nanosys
Join our Discord community! You can meet other passionate materials scientists and engineers from around the world, discuss the latest breakthroughs in MSE, share materials-related memes, and get career advice from experts in the field.
For shorter segments, subscribe to our channel on YouTube. For bloopers, audiograms, and interesting materials science articles, follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Feel free to message us on our social media platforms if you have any feedback or recommendations for future episodes, or email us directly at itsamaterialworldpodcast@gmail.com. Finally, reach out to David Yeh and Punith Upadhya on LinkedIn if you'd like to chat about the latest breakthroughs in MSE!
Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed by either guests or hosts in this show are their own, and do not represent the opinions of the companies or organizations with which they are affiliated.
Monday Apr 12, 2021
Monday Apr 12, 2021
It's a Material World is officially back! We are excited to invite all of you to our Discord community! There you can have discussions with people from around the world that are also passionate about materials, recent articles and news, updates on the podcast, memes, and much more!
Join the Discord community by clicking the link: https://discord.gg/49dCV3W4eN
Monday Feb 01, 2021
Monday Feb 01, 2021
Throughout history, mankind has used clothing to protect itself from the elements. With modern materials science principles in mind, humans are now equipped to protect themselves from the elements better than ever. But how can innovation take place in such a well explored area of consumer products?
Before we introduce today’s guest, check out our free professional development guide for materials scientists and engineers and join our Discord community to meet other passionate MSEs from around the world!
Today we talk with Dr. Haskell Beckham, the Senior Director Innovation at Columbia Sportswear, to find out exactly how materials science paradigms are used to develop the next generation of apparel to keep us safe from the elements.
In this exciting conversation about the advances in the apparel industry we discuss:
- The scientific principles that apply in the apparel industry (3:44)
- Using metals in clothing for their heat transfer properties (11:33)
- The history of clothing and the tradeoffs between natural and synthetic fibers (15:52)
- Fashion trends influencing innovations in the apparel industry (28:38)
- How the International Space Station is a model for heat management in clothing (38:18)
- Overcoming the challenges of Smart Clothing (40:00)
- And much more!
Want to discuss these topics further with Dr. Haskell Beckham? He can be reached at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hbeckham/
For shorter segments, subscribe to our channel on YouTube. For bloopers, audiograms, and interesting materials science articles, follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Feel free to DM us @itsamaterialworldpodcast if you have any feedback or recommendations for future episodes or email us directly at itsamaterialworldpodcast@gmail.com. Finally, reach out to Tom Miller and Punith Upadhya on LinkedIn if you'd like to chat about the latest breakthroughs in MSE!
Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed by either guests or hosts in this show are their own, and do not represent the opinions of the companies or organizations for which they are affiliated.
Monday Jan 11, 2021
Monday Jan 11, 2021
Professional development is crucial to maximizing your ability to apply the engineering skills learned in school. Being able to refine these skills can have a positive impact on the array of opportunities available after college. In today’s episode, the two of us decided to chat and discuss what we have learned about professional development so far in our careers.
Check out our free professional development guide for materials scientists and engineers and join our Discord community to meet other passionate MSEs from around the world!
In this discussion about professional development we discuss:
- How gaining real-world context for scientific topics helps aid learning (3:58)
- Participating in leadership can dramatically improve soft skills (11:51)
- Some of the lessons we learned getting our first work experiences (16:40)
- Networking more effectively with professors as a student (24:02)
- How to use networking tools to their strongest effect (33:12)
- And much more!
Since this is the first full episode we have done without a guest, please leave us your feedback about the episode by either messaging us on Instagram, LinkedIn or emailing us at: itsamaterialworldpodcast@gmail.com.
For shorter segments, subscribe to our channel on YouTube. For bloopers, audiograms, and interesting materials science articles, follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Feel free to DM us @itsamaterialworldpodcast if you have any recommendations for future episodes or email us directly at itsamaterialworldpodcast@gmail.com. Finally, reach out to Tom Miller and Punith Upadhya on LinkedIn if you'd like to chat about the latest breakthroughs in MSE!
Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed by either guests or hosts in this show are their own, and do not represent the opinions of the companies or organizations for which they are affiliated.
Monday Dec 28, 2020
Monday Dec 28, 2020
How can materials science facilitate the process of creating skis from the oils of microalgae? Going from a new type of material to product is a challenge for any innovation - especially when trying to design biopolymers for rugged applications. Further, discovering innovative and sustainable ways to meet mankind’s massive demand for plastic products is a crucial challenge to tackle in this coming decades.
Before we introduce today’s guest, check out our free professional development guide for materials scientists and engineers and join our Discord community to meet other passionate MSEs from around the world!
In today's episode we discuss these issues with Dr. Scott Franklin, the Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Checkerspot, a startup looking to tackle these exact challenges. Checkerspot is focused on creating plastics from the oils produced by microalgae.
Dr. Scott Franklin can be contacted by writing him at: https://checkerspot.com/contact/
In this exciting conversation about innovations in biology and materials we discuss:
- How Checkerspot utilizes materials science for rapid innovation (1:31)
- Why backcountry skis were chosen as the first use-case (6:38)
- How Checkerspot tailors the output of microbes for outdoor products (15:44)
- Overcoming the challenge of scaling up biotechnology to meet competitive cost (24:40)
- Discussing the paradigm of biomanufacturing (30:48)
- The impact of this technology on climate change (38:58)
- And much more!
For shorter segments, subscribe to our channel on YouTube. For bloopers, audiograms, and interesting materials science articles, follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Feel free to DM us @itsamaterialworldpodcast if you have any feedback or recommendations for future episodes or email us directly at itsamaterialworldpodcast@gmail.com. Finally, reach out to Tom Miller and Punith Upadhya on LinkedIn if you'd like to chat about the latest breakthroughs in MSE!
Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed by either guests or hosts in this show are their own, and do not represent the opinions of the companies or organizations for which they are affiliated.
Monday Dec 14, 2020
Monday Dec 14, 2020
Among its many applications, Materials Science and Engineering has a strong influence in how we design and package pharmaceuticals. In today’s episode we talk with Dr. Pratik Upadhyay, a Senior Scientist at AstraZeneca about the role of optimizing materials to enhance the performance of pharmaceuticals. Furthermore, we explore the connections between the paradigms of drug design and delivery with other subfields of materials science and engineering.
Before we introduce today’s guest, check out our free professional development guide for materials scientists and engineers and join our Discord community to meet other passionate MSEs from around the world!
Dr. Pratik Upadhyay can be reached via: https://www.linkedin.com/in/niperpratikpe/
Our topics in today’s episode include:
- The importance of focusing on user needs in this space (4:08)
- Similarities between pharmaceutical field and other materials fields (7:20)
- Considerations of polymorphism in drug design (13:08)
- Optimizing materials properties to enhance manufacturing (21:41)
- Nanotechnology in the future of pharmaceuticals (25:54)
- The role of computations in predicting polymorphism (37:54)
- And much more!
For shorter segments, subscribe to our channel on YouTube. For bloopers, audiograms, and interesting materials science articles, follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Feel free to DM us @itsamaterialworldpodcast if you have any feedback or recommendations for future episodes or email us directly at itsamaterialworldpodcast@gmail.com. Finally, reach out to Tom Miller and Punith Upadhya on LinkedIn if you'd like to chat about the latest breakthroughs in MSE!
Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed by either guests or hosts in this show are their own, and do not represent the opinions of the companies or organizations for which they are affiliated.
Monday Nov 23, 2020
Monday Nov 23, 2020
Developing new metal alloys is crucial for advancing mankind's needs in the 21st century. And many researchers are attempting to make sure their alloy systems of focus are king in the next wave of metals applications.
Before we introduce today’s guest, check out our free professional development guide for materials scientists and engineers and join our Discord community to meet other passionate MSEs from around the world!
In today’s episode we talk with Dr. Naresh Thadhani, a Professor & Chair in The School of Materials Science and Engineering at Georgia Tech, about the fierce competition to make the next best alloy system.
Dr. Naresh Thadhani can be reached at: http://www.mse.gatech.edu/people/naresh-thadhani.
Our topics in today’s episode include:
- How metal artwork inspired Dr. Thadhani’s career in metallurgy (3:31)
- Comparing and contrasting steel and aluminum (5:05)
- The impact of lightweight alloys on consumers (11:32)
- How steel was made into some of the deadliest swords in history (19:16)
- Using dynamic pressure application systems in materials research (22:31)
- The impact of computational MSE on the field (36:06)
- Current limitations of understanding materials during testing (42:34)
- And much more!
For shorter segments, subscribe to our channel on YouTube. For bloopers, audiograms, and interesting materials science articles, follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Feel free to DM us @itsamaterialworldpodcast if you have any feedback or recommendations for future episodes or email us directly at itsamaterialworldpodcast@gmail.com. Finally, reach out to Tom Miller and Punith Upadhya on LinkedIn if you'd like to chat about the latest breakthroughs in MSE!
Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed by either guests or hosts in this show are their own, and do not represent the opinions of the companies or organizations for which they are affiliated.
Monday Nov 09, 2020
Monday Nov 09, 2020
Polymers provide a diverse range of solutions to some of our most challenging problems - especially in healthcare.
Before we introduce today’s guest, check out our free professional development guide for materials scientists and engineers and join our Discord community to meet other passionate MSEs from around the world!
In today’s episode we talk with Dr. Jeff Hrivnak, a Strategic Growth Manager at Solvay, to explore the possibilities unlocked by polymers. He can be reached at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhrivnak/. In this conversation we unpack of the challenges polymers are uniquely equipped to solve in the biomedical field.
Our topics in today’s episode include:
- What polymers are, and how they vary from other classes of materials (2:10)
- How structure and types of polymers drive their applications (9:02)
- Using polymers to filter blood in hemodialysis (14:44)
- How Solvay has used their technologies to help during COVID-19 crisis (20:20)
- Analyzing sustainability of plastic medical devices (30:29)
- And much more!
For shorter segments, subscribe to our channel on YouTube. For bloopers, audiograms, and interesting materials science articles, follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Feel free to DM us @itsamaterialworldpodcast if you have any feedback or recommendations for future episodes or email us directly at itsamaterialworldpodcast@gmail.com. Finally, reach out to Tom Miller and Punith Upadhya on LinkedIn if you'd like to chat about the latest breakthroughs in MSE!
Monday Oct 26, 2020
Monday Oct 26, 2020
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?
Before we introduce today’s guest, check out our free professional development guide for materials scientists and engineers and join our Discord community to meet other passionate MSEs from around the world!
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!
For shorter segments, subscribe to our channel on YouTube. For bloopers, audiograms, and interesting materials science articles, follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Feel free to DM us @itsamaterialworldpodcast if you have any feedback or recommendations for future episodes or email us directly at itsamaterialworldpodcast@gmail.com. Finally, reach out to Tom Miller and Punith Upadhya on LinkedIn if you'd like to chat about the latest breakthroughs in MSE!