A ROAD WELL TRAVELED 50YEARS A FUTURE OF INFINITE POSSIBILITIES

PURDUE METALLURGICAL

FALL 2006

WINTERWINTER 2007-08 2009 up front

On My Mind

It seems as though only two weeks have passed since I first began to move my books and computer into my new office, 2301 Armstrong Hall. Since then, we have had two staff retirements—Kathy Moore and David Roberts—and hired three new staff, David Meyer (the new Dave responsible for technical support), Christi Adams (receptionist and the new voice of MSE), and Ryan Elias (director of development). Our move to Neil Armstrong Hall has not caused other operations to stop—last year we graduated more doctoral students than ever before, brought in more research funds by almost a factor of two over any prior year, and substantially revised our curriculum to provide an even more competitive advantage to our undergraduate students. Last fall, we had the pleasure of holding a “Celebration of Discovery” in recognition of Dr. Richard E. Grace’s contributions to Purdue University. During his 46 years of paid service, and the eight or so years since his “retirement,” Dr. Grace has continued to help make Purdue a better place for everyone. The spirit of celebration continues in 2009 as we cheer the accomplishments of two MSE faculty who received prestigious awards from The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) at its annual meeting. Carol Handwerker, who was named the Reinhardt Schumann Jr. Professor of Materials Engineering by the Purdue Board of Trustees in November 2008, received the Leadership Award; and Alejandro Strachan received the Early Career Faculty Fellow Award. We welcomed the new year with gratitude for the contributions of our nearly 2,000 graduates, a number that includes those who matriculated with a 1990 metallurgical engineering degree from the School of Chemical Engineering and those who completed their studies after the founding of the School of Materials Thank you Engineering in 1959. As one who holds an undergraduate degree entitled and Materials Science, I think it is always important to recognize Thanks to one and all for your letters our history and realize how we all came to this place in time and location. pointing out an “error” in describing the School of Metallurgical Engineering as approaching its 50th anniversary. We Keith J. Bowman are well aware that some of our greatest Head, School of Materials Engineering alumni graduated before this date, but from a program within the School of Chemical Engineering that included a metallurgical division. We were made On the Cover an autonomous school in 1959, as Metallurgical engineering teaching assistant related in this edition of Impact. M.T. Hepworth (top) uses a microscope to study the microstructure of metals (1955). Eric Stach (bottom), associate professor of materials engineering, works with the FEI Titan high-resolution cell microscope (2008). The microscope forms pictures with a resolution of 2 angstroms, which is fine enough to allow imaging of atomic arrangements in a sample. Source: Purdue News Service.

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK Share your Purdue memories, react to a story, or let us know your thoughts about a particular issue. Write to us at [email protected]. In doing so, you grant us permission to publish your letter in part or in whole in an upcoming issue. We reserve the right to edit letters for length and/or clarity. Purdue Materials Engineering Impact aroundcontents mse

Up front

On My Mind from Keith J. Bowman

50 years of Materials engineering

A Road Well Traveled, a Future of Infinite Possibilities 2 up close: students Solar Racers Build and Drive Unique Ride 6 2 Up close: alumni

Materials Engineering Completes the Puzzle 7

Feature story

Solidifying New Alliances 8 in my view Addressing Sustainability Issues 11 8

11 TM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

School of Materials Engineering

John A. Edwardson Dean of Engineering....Leah H. Jamieson Materials Engineering Impact Head...... Keith J. Bowman Purdue University Director of Development...... Ryan R. Elias 1435 Win Hentschel Blvd., Suite B120 West Lafayette, IN 47906-4153 Alumni Relations...... Donna Bystrom E-mail: [email protected] Director of Engineering Marketing and Communications...... Rwitti Roy Articles herein may be reprinted by nonprofit organizations without permission. Appropriate credit would be appreciated. Editor...... Linda Thomas Terhune Graphic Designer...... Kari Burns To make a gift to the School of Materials Engineering, please contact: Contributing Writer...... Kathy Mayer Ryan Elias, director of development (765) 494-4094 Produced by the Engineering Communications Office. [email protected] Purdue is an equal access/equal opportunity university. School of Materials Engineering Purdue University MSE Impact is published by the Purdue University 701 West Stadium Avenue School of Materials Engineering for alumni, faculty, students, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2045 1 corporate partners, and friends. We welcome your comments. (765) 494-4100 Please send them to the following address: Winter 2009 50MATERIALSYEARS ENGINEERING The School of Materials Engineering celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2009, recognizing a road well traveled and a future of infinite possibilities. The first metallurgical course was offered at Purdue in 1923 by the School of Chemical Engineering. By 1935, metallurgy had been firmly embraced as a discipline in its own right and was formally recognized when the School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering was founded. Independence came in 1959, when the School of Metallurgical Engineering was born. We settled on our current name as the School of Materials Engineering in 1973.

2

Purdue Materials Engineering Impact I was in classes with The curriculum foundation military veterans. The was laid beautifully by competition was stiff. Reinhardt Schuhmann Jr. They had found metallurgical (founding head of the school) in engineering as part of the war, the 1950s and early 1960s. There and there was a huge interest was a tremendous focus on the in the subject right after the war. techniques needed to solve I had 50 veterans in my engineering materials problems. classes regularly.” The emphasis on problem solving – Richard Grace (BSMetE ‘51) in materials design and application School head (1965-72) continued to be the emphasis through the 1960s. – Mysore Dayananda (PhD ‘65) Professor of materials engineering (1966-present)

1923 1935 1940 1954 1959

First School of Chemical Purdue confers Reinhardt School of undergraduate Engineering becomes first PhD in MetE Schuhmann Jr., MetE founded courses in School of Chemical to Rolf Morral. considered the metallurgy and Metallurgical founding father Schuhmann, Ross Professor offered. Engineering. of Purdue’s of Engineering, named MetE, joins the first head of the School of New and separate faculty from MIT. Metallurgical Engineering. degree program He is appointed approved for professor and New honors curriculum in BS in Metallurgical chairman of Materials Science marks the Engineering (program the Metallurgical first time “materials science” called Metallurgical Engineering is introduced as a term. Engineering, MetE, or division. METE within Purdue).

3

Winter 2009 There were 25 students We had very strong in my class and I was relationships with the the only woman. The metallurgy metallurgical schools at program was new and developing Illinois and Northwestern, with trips in order to keep pace with the to those schools annually. These Space Race. The professors were included a day of school-related tours, developing the courses as lectures, and such, but we also had they were teaching us. flag football teams and competed hard. – Helen Duich (BSMetE ‘65) I remember getting lost in Chicago one Sales engineer, D.M. Duich Sales night after celebrating one of Graduate student in engineering those competitions. technology, Purdue–Calumet – Michael McCulley (BS and MSMetE ’70, DEA ’98) President and CEO United Space Alliance (retired) Pilot of the Space Shuttle Atlantis (1989)

1960 1969 1973 1989

Richard Grace, age 34, Neil Armstrong (BSAAE ’55) School name changed from Michael McCulley named interim head. walks on the moon. School of Materials Science (BS and MSMetE ‘70) and Metallurgical Engineering to pilots the Space School of Materials Engineering. Shuttle Atlantis, which launched the interplanetary probe, Galileo.

4

Purdue Materials Engineering Impact I arrived at Purdue in the fall I believe materials engineering of 1996, immediately after is headed down the ‘green’ graduating from the Indian path. Society will look to Institute of Technology at Madras. materials engineers as the demand Coming from a conservative middle for Earth-friendly products and class background in India, I was manufacturing increases. dazzled. MSE soon became a home – Christina Profazi, senior away from home, helping me to feel (projected BSMSE December 2009) a sense of belonging in the midst of Area of focus: sustainable engineering and “green” materials all this change. In the mid-1990s, MSE was a small school. I soon learned that my fellow new graduate students in the bigger, more famous schools were more lost than I was. – Vidyut Gopal (PhD 2000) Crystal Solar Inc. Senior member of technical staff

1990 1999 2006 2009

BSMetE changed to Alexander H. King named Five faculty appointed in School of Materials BSMSE (Bachelor of head of school. one year, bringing faculty Engineering celebrates Science in Materials size from 14 to 19. 50th anniversary. Science and Engineering). Approval obtained for MS degree named Materials Science Engineering.

5

Winter 2009 up close: students

Purdue Solar Racing On the Sunny Side of the Street Solar racers build and drive unique ride

Shopping for a car? Why not consider this sleek, low-slung founded in 1991 to build and race solar cars and promote new model? The sporty one-seater, guaranteed to draw environmentally friendly technologies. To produce such attention, is a delight to the wallet with its whopping 2,862 expensive cars, the club relies on industry funding, much equivalent miles per gallon. Best of all, the fuel is free. as racing teams do in the real world. This is Pulsar, a solar-powered vehicle built by Purdue Mimi LaBerta, a senior in materials engineering, helped Solar Racing and awarded first place in the solar division build the car and also drove it in the California race. of the Shell Eco-Marathon in April 2008. The team also Tucked into the cockpit and seated on compressed bubble received the highest overall miles-per-gallon run of any wrap, she describes the experience as at once fun, hot, team. The objective of the competition is for teams to and uncomfortable. design and build a vehicle that uses the least amount While only a few students are small enough to fit in the of fuel to travel the farthest distance. Purdue’s team, car, all of them work on it. Teams range from an aerodynamic a College-wide group that builds the carbon-fiber body using foam molds group in to a mechanical one that constructs the brake system and which materials suspension. engineering “Solar Racing functions as a project team would in is strongly industry,” LaBerta says. “We have a budget to keep in mind represented, when making purchases, and a design and build schedule. is led by We perform testing on our product, and we work with materials different disciplines to accomplish our goals. I don’t believe engineering any other organization could have prepared me this well for senior a career in engineering.” MacKenzie Cole Skelton, a mechanical engineering junior who is vice Sellers. president of the group and oversees its engineering teams, There are a says Solar Racing was the primary reason he chose Purdue Purdue Solar Racing team 2008 few drawbacks Engineering over other schools. to the vehicle. Drivers must recline and are enclosed under “I want to work my way into developing and refining a cockpit-like hood that is neither for the claustrophobic electric vehicle technology or working on wind and solar nor the heat sensitive. And they can’t be in a hurry. Pulsar, research projects. I hope that I can end up working or designed for track racing, tops out at 20 mph. Its sibling, designing something that changes a major facet of our the broader and more powerful S.P.O.T II (Solar Powered society,” he says. Overland Transportation vehicle) can hit 61 mph. Drivers While solar cars may not be on the road any time soon, must also be 5’2” or shorter and weigh under 120 pounds. Pulsar is an ambassador for alternative energy. The group Sale price, including a customized computer laptop fan to takes the car to elementary, middle, and high schools. cool the driver, is $200,000. “We tell the students this is what you can do with solar Pulsar and S.P.O.T. II were built from scratch by a devoted power. We open their eyes to it,” says Sellers. group of engineering and technology students that form the n Linda Thomas Terhune team. The organization, now with about 50 members, was 6

Purdue Materials Engineering Impact up close: alumni

Materials Engineering Completes the Puzzle

of the possibilities and pitfalls. It forces you to be very interdisciplinary in your thinking.”

Bob Tokarz Karl’s success as a semiconductor engineer drew on a breadth of knowledge. “I needed to know a little bit about chemistry to understand why materials react the way they do. I also needed to know about optics, material mechanics and structure, electromechanical properties, and more. The beauty, but also the challenge, of materials engineering is that it has few boundaries.” Recalling his Purdue days, Karl says, “We had prep labs, where you hand-molded and hand-polished samples. We had open urns heating stuff up. In some ways it seemed Medieval. I remember thinking, ‘If I do the wrong thing, I’ll burn my foot off.’ Metallurgy at that point was very hands-on.” His classes weren’t a snap, he admits. “I was an okay student. But I spent a fair amount of time doing the extra things to figure out what was going on in some of my classes. It worked out well.” Still in Vermont, today Karl manages government programs for IBM Microelectronics in the Systems and Technology Group. He works with the National Security Agency, Department of Defense, and other agencies to Jim Karl at home in Vermont with his dog Thatcher define and procure semiconductor-based products and services for the U.S. government. While he’s nested-in for the long haul in Vermont, Karl In the quarter of a century since Jim Karl (BSMSE ’81) frequently hits the skyways, most often to visit Purdue. He’s left Purdue, he’s been a one-town, one-company man. been on the Materials Science Engineering Advisory Board, Rather than limiting his experience and perspective, was named a 1997 Outstanding Materials Engineering though, his 1981 decision to head for Essex, Vermont, Alumnus, and comes to campus to recruit for IBM. and a spot at IBM gave him the chance to be part of He’s also been active in the Purdue Alumni Association, unparalleled technological advances—all made with key launching a Vermont chapter, holding national posts, and participation by materials engineers. currently serving as its board president. “Twenty-five years ago, very few could have dreamed This year, he has yet another reason to head for where we were going to be today,” he says. “I’ve been country: his only child, Christina, is a part of an evolution. Semiconductor and microprocessor first-year student in Purdue’s Engineering Honors Program. advancements mean that the computing power it once “If I’m not at work, I’m flying to Purdue,” he says. took to launch spacecraft is now being brought into our To relax, he crawls into his “engineer’s cocoon”—to hike living rooms in gaming systems.” alone or garden. n Kathy Mayer “Whether you’re working with semiconductor materials, component packaging, or design—a few of the Jim Karl is president of Purdue Alumni. As part of his duties, he delivers the things I’ve worked on in my career—each unique piece alumni address at Commencement ceremonies, never failing to mention that helped complete the puzzle for where we are today,” he is a graduate of the School of Materials Engineering. Karl says. “Materials engineering is the discipline that brings a lot of things together. It gives you a broader view

7

Winter 2009 8

Purdue Materials Engineering Impact Photos by Vince Walter

Advances in metal casting are leading Johnson is involved in the to new levels of electrical, magnetic, crystal growth area, chemical, and structural performance. undertaking zone melting They may also be more environment- with equipment that can form ally friendly. With lighter metals, complex aluminide for example, lighter cars can be intermetallics for aerospace manufactured. The weight savings, applications, as well as nickel in turn, will lead to reduced energy and cobalt-based superalloys. usage and a smaller environmental footprint. Researchers at Purdue’s Lighter materials, new Center for Metal Casting Greater energy savings Research (PCMC) are drawing on Qingyou Han, an the long-standing traditions of their associate professor of discipline to help shape the future. mechanical engineering The center was formed in response technology with a courtesy appointment in materials to what Keith Bowman, head of the Metallurgists Matthew Krane, left, and David Johnson, right, will School of Materials Engineering, engineering, will lend his collaborate with Qingyou Han from the College of Technology, sees as an emerging area of need. expertise in developing back, in the new Center for Metal Casting Research. “We recognize that there is an lighter metal parts for the opportunity to apply many advances automotive industry to the new the investment casting of TiAl alloys to in materials science to the challenges center by developing produce aligned lamellar, two-phase of metal casting, including new processes that can make car parts microstructures that exhibit very low computational tools and advanced from heat-treatable aluminum creep-strain rates at high tempera- experimental equipment,” he says. alloys. He is collaborating with tures, thereby extending the operating materials engineering researchers envelope of the engine or the lifetime Introducing the Center for Kevin Trumble, the new center’s Metal Casting Research of the parts. In particular, they are in- director, and Matthew Krane on the vestigating crystal growth of TiAl alloys David Johnson plays with fire on a development of ultrasound assisted through performs with daily basis. Going back to the basics in die-casting technologies to make the goal of understanding the initial his metals research, he stands in front lightweight metal with high transients in the dendritic growth pat- of a zone-melting furnace solidifying internal integrity and that are pressure- terns and solid-liquid composition ingots of metal in search of stronger, tight, leak-proof and heat-treatable. fields so that larger processing but less brittle, high-temperature Die casting involves injecting molten windows for potential single-crystal materials. This focus on metallurgy metal into a steel die. It is more growth can be developed. The is where the discipline of materials cost-effective and less energy project fits well with Johnson’s engineering got its start in the early intensive than . One of primary interest—the development 1900s, and it remains an evolving the goals of the research is to achieve of high-temperature structural area with a rich future. a 30 percent increase in metal yield materials, especially those based Johnson, an associate professor per mold by replacing sand castings on intermetallic alloys. Among its of materials engineering, is a key player with high-quality die castings. The applications is the aerospace industry in the newly established PCMC, which benefits would trickle down from and its need for jet engine materials will conduct interdisciplinary, industry- the metal casting driven research and education industry to the programs to advance metal casting automotive in- Some people think metallurgy is old hat, that practices and develop new commercial dustry to the nothing interesting is going on. There is a solidification processes. Researchers consumer to the will initially focus on four areas: light- environment. lot of very interesting science going on in weight shape castings; solidification Johnson and metallurgy and its practical applications. processing of wrought alloys; crystal Krane are – Matthew Krane growth and investment casting of collaborating superalloys and intermetallics; and on a project specialty alloys and processes. associated with continued on next page

9

Winter 2009 Solidifying New Alliances continued

Vince Walter

to understand how to produce the myriad applications of their microstructures that improve metal chosen material—from the automotive quality and to pass this learning on industry to biomedical processing to industry. and its manufacture of artificial hip joints One of Krane’s projects, for to the demanding needs of example, looks at how to prevent the international steel industry. defects in ingots. This research “Some people think metallurgy examines vacuum arc remelting, is old hat, that nothing interesting a semi-continuous process widely is going on. There is a lot of very used to improve the cleanliness interesting science going on in and refine the structure of ingots metallurgy and its practical of specialty steels, superalloys, and applications,” says Krane, who on Matthew Krane, left, pours molten into a mold in titanium-based alloys. The process a recent Friday morning could be found the heat treatment laboratory. David Johnson is at right. is performed in vacuum via melting on the phone talking new science with the consumable electrode and engineers at an Indiana steel company. that can withstand heat and collecting the solidifying metal in The new PCMC is ideally positioned oxidation and perform with a water-cooled copper crucible. to partner with metal processing dimensional stability. The heat required for remelting is industries. With global economies released by an electric arc between contracting, it is ever more important for One center, multiple approaches the consumable electrode and liquid companies to improve competitiveness All of the Purdue Engineering metal. The final internal structure of through increased yield and quality and researchers working in metallurgy are the ingot is greatly influenced by fluid decreased costs. The center can driven by the end goal of producing motion in the liquid metal, which is provide companies a partner for either better and stronger materials and driven by electromagnetic and pre-competitive or proprietary research optimizing processes; each will bring buoyancy forces. The interaction of in the science and engineering of metal different talents to the new center. the flow and the solidifying metal re- casting processes, which is usually Krane, an associate professor sults in ingot scale macrosegregation, much cheaper than doing research in materials engineering with a which is a serious defect that com- in-house. The combination of courtesy appointment in mechanical promises the quality of the produced experimental and numerical engineering, studies materials ingots. capabilities and expertise enables the To study these types center to tackle a wide range of such The center can provide companies of problems, Krane problems. When the current economic a partner for either pre-competitive employs both numerical difficulties recede, the center will be or proprietary research in the simulation and bench- well positioned as a source of new top experiments in his employees for industry and a source science and engineering of lab, as well as in-plant of expertise to improve processes metal casting processes tests on location with and products. Target industries industry partners. His include everything from jet engine processing and solidification at work, and that of his colleagues, manufacturers and their part and the micro- and macroscale and is designed to “diagnose problems in materials suppliers, producers of metal focuses on the prediction of macro- processing and suggest solutions.” products for the energy production scopic transport phenomena as sector, transportation industries, and well as microstructure development Allying with industry the makers of biomedical implants. during the processing of materials. In the last century, the discipline of “We’re trying to cast a broad net The morphology, the crystal structure, what is now commonly known as with the center,” Krane says. “We and the freezing/melting behavior of materials engineering has grown want to provide a place where we the dendritic structures and the mass from its natal roots in metallurgy to can look at the science that connects diffusion fields around them have embrace and polymers the processes and helps people with significant influence on the properties and emerging materials. Those who applications of the process.” n of the final cast part. The goal is choose to focus on metals point to 10

Purdue Materials Engineering Impact in my view

Addressing Sustainability Issues

Save our fragile planet! Go green! How should the engineering faculty address the complex issues of sustainability? How should the Materials Engineering faculty take a leadership role? John Underwood For most of the 20th century, the hallmark of an engineering education was the ability to design structures, systems, components, or processes. Today, engineering design continues to be the capstone of the engineering curriculum. In 1997, ABET, Inc. (formerly the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology), through its Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) strengthened the accreditation criteria (EC2000) for the design experience. This national treasure, this human resource— engineering design—is the technological key to sustainability on planet earth. The Purdue engineering faculty has a unique responsibility to the engineering profession. As one of the largest and best colleges of engineering in the United States, the college faculty should lead with a global perspective and a commitment to a sustainable future: 1. The new Division of Environmental and Ecological Engineering (DEEE) needs to develop programmatic identity in both undergraduate and graduate engineering education. DEEE should provide leadership to create and codify the body of Richard E. Grace speaks at the dedication of the conference knowledge emerging as “green” engineering. A special DEEE room that was named in his honor. November 2008. responsibility is to catalyze green engineering design throughout students and graduate students should create and the College of Engineering. document case studies that have a green engineering 2. Engineering faculty members in the College need to design component. As new case studies are created, address sustainable issues about greener industrial systems the best of the older case studies would work their way in their respective disciplines. Simple tools like materials into the junior and sophomore laboratories. In fact, with selection, substitution, and recycling are not strong enough. promotion at international meetings, new case studies Engineering design must meet new green constraints in eventually would be exported to other materials engineering economics, politics, ethics, health and safety, manufacturing, programs around the world. and, eventually, sustainability. My case for sustainability needs a final perspective. The engineering faculty has to design the right mix of subject 3. The Materials Engineering faculty already has the spirit, tem- matter for each of the engineering curricula. I have lived long perament, and course offerings in place to go greener. Courses in enough to see the demise of coursework in mineralogy, ore materials properties and materials processing illustrate structure- dressing, assaying, , , heat treating, graphics, properties-processing-performance relationships. The senior- descriptive geometry, vacuum tubes, instrumentation, and level sequence Materials Processing and Design I and II is the more. If green is coming in, what’s going out? capstone for undergraduate engineering design. Renewed n Richard E. Grace (BSMetE ‘51) held many positions attention to performance may be central to achieving greener during his 46 years at Purdue. He was head of the School of engineering design education. Metallurgical Engineering from 1965 to 1972; founding head of the The Materials Engineering faculty should pool their Division of Interdisciplinary Engineering Studies; head of Freshman talent and take on a new leadership role in metallurgical Engineering; vice president for Student Services; and founding and materials education. Together, teams of faculty, senior director of the Undergraduate Studies Program. He retired in 2000, but is still an active presence at the school. 11

Winter 2009 aperture

Seemingly the stuff of futuristic gaming, this illustration uses rocket experimentation data from Purdue researchers. The two figures shown in repetition are Delayed Detached Eddy Simulations of combustion instability in an experimental rocket combustor. Guoping Xia, a senior research scientist, and Randy Smith, a graduate student, created the simulations working with Charles Merkle, the Reilly Professor of Engineering with appointments in aeronautics and astronautics and mechanical engineering. The experiments are conducted by a research group led by William Anderson, an associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics.

12

Purdue Materials Engineering Impact