what can materials engineers do?

david.taggart@belectric-usa.com

What can materials engineers do? What can’t they do!

1materials are our world…

1962Nick Holonyak produces first light emitting diode

1964Stephanie Kwolek creates polymer that enables Kevlar

1970Corning engineers produce glass fibers enabling telecommunications and internet explosion

2standing on shoulders…

28,000 BCpaleolithic humans fire figurines from clay

5,000 BCNear Turkey, copper is extracted and cast

2,500 BCEgyptians make glass beads

2,000 BCPersians produce iron from ore

2004Geckos and mussels inspire new family of adhesives that work equally well in dry or wet conditions

1750British produce first practical adhesive from fish opening floodgate

1755English invent modern concrete

1856Henry Bessemer invents mass production steel

First synthetic plastic is invented going into billiard balls

1934Wallace Carothers invents nylon, used in toothbrushes

1935Louis Minsk creates photoresist polymer, enabling semiconductors

1938Roy Plunkett discovers non-stick polymer Teflon

1958Jack Kilby builds for integrated circuit on slice of germanium

1958Roger Bacon creates carbon filaments, ushering in age of advanced composites

1977Conductive organic polymers enable OLEDs

198560 atom carbon “buckyball”s break open whole new realm of materials

1986High temperature superconductors

the next age: efficiency, energy, reuse

3trends and breakthroughs…

performancedesignenergyhealthenvironment

3trends and breakthroughs…

performance

fusion of materials and performance

Peter Jost: Tribology, 1964

hip sockets, earthquakes

incorporating today’s advances could improve automotive efficiency 60%

$700B savings annually

102B gallons of gas annually

960M tons of CO2 annually

where else?

fusion of materials and performance

787 Dreamliner

carbon composite structure with health monitoring

20% less fuel

Mach 0.85

higher pressure and humidity interior

fusion of materials and performance

twisting light beams enables 100TB/sec internet speeds (2,600 DVDs per second!)

light is bounced off liquid crystals

3trends and breakthroughs…

design

wood

fusion of materials and

designbike design!

magnesium

plastic

nylon

bamboo

cardboard

hemp

fusion of materials and

design54 ½ mpg by 2025

lightweighting is THE primary strategy

mass-efficiency

high strength steel, aluminum, and carbon composites

fusion of materials and

designnew generation of ultra-high lift airships

transport up to 1000 tons of cargo 12,000 miles

efficiency, range, duration

surveillance and communications

X-47B

fusion of materials and

designmulti-functionality

whole systems thinking

interdependent design, materials, and production

USS Zumwalt

3trends and breakthroughs…

energy

fusion of materials and

energyMOFs

surface area: football fields per gram

transforming gas storage, water filtration, and ?

new technique for production of MOFs: mechanochemistry

fusion of materials and

energytransparent solar cell

absorbs only IR light

silver nanowires + TiO2 coating embedded in polymer

fusion of materials and

energysunlight to hydrogen: bottling the Sun

polymeric carbon nitride

fusion of materials and

energygenetically engineered virus self-assembles into thin film

helical piezo proteins twist upon pressure creating electrical charge

3trends and breakthroughs…

health

fusion of materials and

healthnanobots to the rescue!

DNA origami

fusion of materials and

healthdragline spider-silk proteins from transgenic goats

braided into filaments 100x as strong and as elastic as ligaments and tendons

fusion of materials and

healthreplacement skin with sensation for prosthetics and grafts

thin flexible circuits convert pressure into signals

gels for moldable batteries, rubber sensors

fusion of materials and

healthSLIPS: Inspired by Nepenthes pitcher plant

self-healing/cleaning and can repel almost anything

bacterial infections in hospitals kill 100,000 annually

what else?

3trends and breakthroughs…

environment

fusion of materials and the

environmentheat conducting polymers provide breakthrough for the scarce supply of drinking water

fusion of materials and the

environmentwood-plastic composites (WPCs)

fastest growing construction material

design freedom

low maintenance

high durability

resistance to pests

fusion of materialsand the environment

turning sewage into sustainable and useful raw materials for the plastics industry

saves energy

reduces impact

Levis from plastic bottles

3.5M bottles annually

Eco-fi, Patagonia and REKIXX and many others

fusion of materials and the

environment

fusion of materials and the

environmentmining monitors for precious metals

3M tons of waste annually, 86% incinerated or to landfills

4what can’t you do?

remove your filter

explore

listen to yourself

invent

do something you love… that makes a difference

5plant seeds…

be a leader

be a shoulder

touch points

share you!

6thank you!

7more examples…

3trends and breakthroughs…

performance

fusion of materials and performance

inspired by conch shells

ceramic crystals stacked within tough substrate

10x increase in toughness

incredible armor

fusion of materials and performance

Ceramic matrix composites are the key to a breakthrough in propulsion

fusion of materials and performance

spintronics

binary architecture based on electron spin

multiplies storage speed and density, greatly reduces device size using less materials and improving efficiency

fusion of materials and performance

changing material’s dynamics remotely

network of graphene nano-platelets

fusion of materials and performance

"The materials are still the long pole in the tent”

3trends and breakthroughs…

design

fusion of materials and

designself-healing devices

more information and circuitry is being ICs

reliability becomes a priority due to single point failures from thermal and mechanical fatigue

sustaining growth requires resilience

3trends and breakthroughs…

energy

fusion of materials and

energySolid waste to energy technologies

3trends and breakthroughs…

health

fusion of materials and

healthstructural color

super hydrophobicity

3trends and breakthroughs…

environment

fusion of materials and the

environmentwood is the new green

3trends and breakthroughs…

other

fusion of materials and transportation

energy storage breakthroughs

fusion of materials and transportation

Graphene-cobalt materials

fusion of materials and transportation

"The”

fusion of materials and

architectureSustainable and energy efficient architecture