Steve ran into Christina Haden at the 2025 ABET symposium in San Diego two weeks ago. Christina has developed a multi step method of assessing student outcomes using performance indicators that span a period of time across an entire curriculum to gain knowledge of learning growth. She is experimenting with longer times and using her methods to perf…

Steve and Tim ran into Taylor Sparks at the TMS meeting and decided to do a podcast. Taylor is a professor in the Materials Science and Engineering Department at U. Utah. He is also the host of the long running materials science podcast called "Materialism: A Materials Science Podcast". You can find the podcast on Apple Podcasts at the link below o…

Tim and Steve were at the TMS meeting in Las Vegas and ran into Professor Jerry Floro from the Materials Science and Engineering Department at the University of Virginia. We talk about his efforts to bring active learning into his classes, his work in helping start an undergraduate program at UVa, and lots of other fun things. You can learn more ab…

Steve and Tim were walking through the TMS Annual Meeting Exhibit hall in Las Vegas and stopped to talk to Dr. Adam Hope at the Thermo-Calc booth. Adam is a member of the TMS education committee. He told us how he became a Materials Scientist and what a materials student might want to do if they wanted to get a job at Thermo-Calc. You can learn mor…

Steve and Tim talk with Chris Gordon, the Director of the Wilson Student Team Projects Center at the U. of Michigan. Chris tells us how the Wilson Center got started and evolved into what it is today. There are 24 competition teams at the Wilson Center and it supports many capstone design projects, our Multidisciplinary Design program, and more. Ch…

Tim and Steve talk with Professor Wenhao Sun about the way he is using Chat GPT in his thermodynamics and kinetics classes. Wenhao demonstrates how he teaches students to use Chat GPT as a collaborator to solve much harder problems that are usually given to students. He believes that this lets his students experience the higher levels of Blooms tax…

Tim and Steve talk with Izzy Jaszczak about Michigan Technological University's metal casting course and the major changes the teaching staff has made to increase the course capacity to 60 students. This was a course that she had taken as an undergraduate. Working with Dr. Paul Sanders, Dr. Dale Dewald, and Peter Jaszczak, she updated the lab curri…

Tim and Steve talk with Dr. Enze Chen, a Lecturer in Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University. We talk about Enze's unique approach to teaching, his computational modules and materials informatics. We touch on topics such as teaching Gen Z students, generative AI, and visualization in materials education. Dr. Chen even talks about h…

In this episode, Steve and Tim reflect on their recent teaching experiences, focusing on Tim's new math course and Steve's grading for growth experiment. They discuss the positive feedback from students, the structure of the math course, and the challenges of integrating AI tools in education. Additionally, they explore innovative grading methods t…

Steve and Tim talk with Dr. Ellen Solomon, one of the program managers of the Multidisciplinary Design Program (MDP) at the University of Michigan. Ellen graduated with an MS&E degree from Michigan and worked in industry before coming back to Michigan to run the research program side of MDP. She talked to us about this very unique program that inco…

Steve and Tim talk with Professor Tresa Pollock from UC Santa Barbara, the 2024 Van Vlack Lecturer in the MS&E department at U. Michigan. Tresa has had a very long and distinguished career in Materials Science and Engineering and has mentored many many graduate students. We had a discussion about graduate student mentoring amongst other things. You…

Steve and Tim talk with Dr. Tershia Pinder-Grover, the director of the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching in Engineering (CRLT-Engin) in the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan. This year marks the 20th anniversary of CRLT-Engin, a focused teaching center where the consultants all have degrees in engineering as well as en…

Steve talks to Tim about his new math course. He explains how it is going, what is challenging, and what is better than expected. He also discusses his grading, student input, and other aspects of this new course. You can find the YouTube video here: https://youtu.be/3AUgS8cGLhE This episode is sponsored by the North American Materials Education Sy…

Tim talks with Micah Gendich, the University of Michigan MSE student association president. UM has an organization called the Michigan Materials Society (MMS) that is run by undergraduate students with a little help from the graduate students. They organize weekly luncheons, social events, and also professional development events. They also engage …

Tim and Steve talk about how they are getting ready for classes - which start next week! Tim is creating a completely new class that has never been taught before - Math for MS&E students at the second year undergraduate level. Steve is making some major changes in his team based intro to materials course by adding in components of Grading for Growt…

Cindy talks with Tim and Steve about Engineering for One Planet and how she worked with the Lemelson Foundation to launch it. You can find the information talked about in the podcast here: https://engineeringforoneplanet.org/resources/ https://engineeringforoneplanet.org You can find the YouTube video here: https://youtu.be/CzjC52iytcQ This episode…

Summary In this conversation, Steve, Tim and Marcus discuss the challenges of attracting students to material science and engineering (MSE) programs. They explore the concept of jobs to be done, which includes the functional, emotional, and social aspects of a product or service. Marcus suggests that MSE programs should focus on the emotional and s…

Steve and Tim talk about the new season for the 2024-2025 academic year. They plan to continue having great guests and add some curricular topics. Please help us with our show! Head over to this link and give us some feedback, suggest guests, suggest topics, suggest yourself! Feedback form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScmi5go4JEjI2msnc…

Gerard Mourou was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018 along with his former student Donna Strickland. The Nobel Prize was for developing chirped pulse amplification of femtosecond laser intensity. This led to many important applications including the all laser Lasik eye surgery, a new method to reduce space junk by using coherently combined …

Steve and Tim talk with Dr. Ray Decker today. Ray earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees at the U. of Michigan. He spent most of his career at International Nickel Corporation and has since started several companies as an entrepreneur. Thixomat and Nanomag are his two most recent companies. He has been very active in ASM and especially the A…

You can find the YouTube version of the Podcast here: https://youtu.be/7uRI_rE7Nn4 We also have a condensed video version that can be found here: https://youtu.be/b--Ddpq6w8Y You can find out more about the North American Materials Education Symposium this coming summer in Ann Arbor here: https://java.engin.umich.edu/NAMES24/ This episode is sponso…

Tim and Steve talk with Aeriel about her experience being a student and transitioning to an assistant professor at the Ohio State University You can find the YouTube video here: https://youtu.be/sYEPBGyi610 You can read about the Aeriel Views project here: https://aerielviews.blog/ You can read more about her work with SWE Liberia here: https://lin…

Tim and Steve talk with Chip Keough, the former CEO of Applied Process, Inc and the past chair of the ASM Foundation. Chip is a UM Alum and currently and adjunct faculty member of the UM MSE department. Chip explains the difference between ASM and ASM Foundation and why the materials community benefits from both. He has been very involved with the …

Steve and Tim talk about projects they have students do instead of exams. You can find the YouTube video here: https://youtu.be/XTRHz2kirbs You can find out more about the North American Materials Education Symposium this coming summer in Ann Arbor here: https://java.engin.umich.edu/NAMES24/ This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan M…

Peg and Tim talk about the ASM Foundation teacher camps. You can find out more about the teacher camps at this link: https://www.asmfoundation.org/teachers/materials-camps If you are interested in attending a camp in 2024 use this link: https://www.asmfoundation.org/teachers/camp-schedule/ You can find the YouTube video here: https://youtu.be/zkG58…

Jeff Fergus joins Steve and Tim to talk about ABET. Jeff has been the chair of the Engineering Accreditation Commission at ABET, is currently working on the ABET accreditation council and is very involved in evaluator training. He has previously been the chair of the TMS accreditation committee and has been a longtime organizer of the TMS Judson sy…

Steve and Tim talk about how we can convince students to become Materials Science and Engineering Students You can find the YouTube video here: https://youtu.be/wXJZjWOT838 You can find out more about the North American Materials Education Symposium this coming summer in Ann Arbor here: https://java.engin.umich.edu/NAMES24/ This episode is sponsore…

Steve and Tim talk about how we do our ABET outcomes assessment, analyze the results, and use it as input to our continuous improvement process. Link to the YouTube version: https://youtu.be/VZN5_A3UKys You can find out more about the North American Materials Education Symposium this coming summer in Ann Arbor here: https://java.engin.umich.edu/NAM…

This week we talk with Professor Susan Gentry from UC Davis. Susan is a teaching professor in the Materials Science and Engineering department. She is very active in education and has been a long time contributor to the materials community. She is currently on the TMS education committee and has recently presented her work at the North American Edu…

A discussion about Materials Science and Engineering education with the Open AI app, Chat GPT - the free voice model. You can find out more about the North American Materials Education Symposium this coming summer in Ann Arbor here: https://java.engin.umich.edu/NAMES24/ The YouTube version (audio and subtitles only) of this episode can be found her…

Today we talk with Alexa Goldstein, the President of the Michigan Materials Society - a student run organization. She explains what it is like to manage the events, speakers, professional development opportunities, and her own experiences in our department. The YouTube version of this episode can be found here: https://youtu.be/m84q3PuIDPs This epi…

Tim and Steve talk about math education at the college level, what engineering students are and are not getting from their math courses, and the math skills MSE students need to have to be successful. We also tease the creation of a new sophomore course at Michigan - Math Methods for MSE! Also a little nerding out about math topics from different l…

Willie Rockward has been teaching at HBCUs for many years. He is now the chair of the physics department at Morgan State University in Baltimore. Previously he taught at Morehouse College in Atlanta. Today he gives us advise on how materials programs can best support African American students in primarily white institutions. Links discussed in the …

Tim talks with Dave Choberka, a curator at the University of MIchigan Museum of Art. YouTube link: https://youtu.be/Oyt_zzz5SMY This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).By Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers

Tim and Steve talk about their experiences using team based teaching in a laboratory setting and to replace lectures. They talk about how they make their teams, what their teams do, how they monitor the teams, and how the use peer review. Tim uses a tool called Tandem and Steve uses a tool called CATME. They also talk about how others might ease in…

Steve talks to Tim about his alloy design module in the undergraduate lab he teaches. He has students use ThermoCal and COMSOL to design an alloy, make the alloy, and then test the mechanical properties to see if they get what they designed. YouTube Link (audio only): https://youtu.be/0TVXCrnXoNA This episode is sponsored by the University of Michi…

Kevin Jones is a professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Florida. He has been working on the Impact of Materials on Society (IMOS) project since 2010 when he was the chair of the department and was looking for a way to expose students to Materials Science and Engineering. You can find the YouTube version of this podcast …

Tim and Steve discuss gamification and social media in materials education with Bosco Yu from the University of Victoria. The video version can be watched here: https://youtu.be/rLu_o0kt2rc?si=yqrTlJqfcql3KQ9H Bosco is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, specializing in the mechanics of materials. Currently, he teaches an introduction…

Tim and Steve talk about demonstrations. Why are they important? How to best use them? They also talk about demos for different audiences including K-6, 6-12, Intro to materials courses, recruiting fairs, and teacher camps. The also talk about some of their favorite demos. The video version of this episode is on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.b…

Steve and Tim talk about grading. YouTube version can be found here: https://youtu.be/_yIxWQSd_tA?si=ttA0hHUo3ip4gUIZ This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).By Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers

Perry joins us and talks about his educational journey and his new company LearningClues (https://webdisk.learningclues.com/). We also have a video version of the podcast on YouTube at this link: https://youtu.be/zg-6JfrNzow Perry does a demo of the Gen AI features of LearningClues at 41 minutes into the podcast. Obviously you won't see it in the p…

Tim and Steve went to the University of Michigan's Provost's Seminar on Teaching on Friday. The entire day was focussed on the new UM Generative AI. They have developed their own UM GPT engine as well as a scriptable version called Maizey that can scrape Canvas course sites and provide the GPT model a very curated data set that can be queried by st…

Tim talks about the UM Blacksmithing Club and the Bladesmithing team. This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).By Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers

Steve and Tim talk about what to call our podcast. We also talk about challenges we faced in our classroom this week and how we solved the problems. This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).By Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers

An introduction to our podcast. This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).By Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers