Tim and Steve talked with Lily Turaski from Georgia Tech at the NAMES conference in August, 2025. Today's episode focuses on engineering education research. We discussed the importance of education research and how it applies to actually teaching, what are the barriers to adoption of research-based teaching strategies, and important problems in education research. We also discussed some preliminary results from Lily's ongoing research in materials education.
You can find the YouTube version here:
https://youtu.be/MzkBTuO2sJ0
Check out the video version to see the visual presentation of research results!
This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).
Steve and Tim caught up with Professor Alison Polasik at the 2025 NAMES meeting in Atlanta. We talked about what it is like to teach at a small school, Campbell University, compared to her previous position at Ohio State. We also talked about her research and what she is currently interested in. She has recently been teaching classes that are integrated with small laboratory experiences right in the same room
You can find the YouTube version here:
https://youtu.be/iDSLFpaSLdE?si=_--jufs-qmIC5KA7
This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).
Steve and Tim talk about reinventing our Materials curriculum based on what we have learned in the past year. AI has had a profound effect on the job market in areas like computer science. Is the Materials job market going to have a similar downturn? What can we do about it?
You can find the YouTube version here:
https://youtu.be/NPqvRkQOK_k
This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).
Tim and Steve talk with 4 participants in the Summer 2025 ASM Teacher's Camp in Ann Arbor. You can learn more about the camps at
https://www.asmfoundation.org/teachers/materials-camps/year-one/
Over 12000 teachers have participated in ASM camps to date - it's a leading program in bringing materials science to the K-12 space.
You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/43_rBADH4f8
This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).
Steve and Tim talked with Prof. Ron Kander at the NAMES meeting in Atlanta last month. Ron talked about his experiences creating new engineering programs, first at James Madison University and later at Philadelphia University which has now become Thomas Jefferson University. He took the Olin model one step further by developing a design first approach that included Engineering, Design, and Business. You can learn more about the Kanbar College of Design, Engineering & Commerce (Named for Maurice Kanbar - not Ron Kander) here:
Ron has recently retired but his information is still up on the Thomas Jefferson University website:
You can also learn about Ron and his research at this page:
https://ronkander.academia.edu/
The YouTube video of the podcast can be found here:
This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).
Steve and Tim talk with Dr. Christian Casper about how he teaches technical communication to students at the University of Michigan, in particular how we've integrated more advanced teaching in visual and written communication in materials lab classes.. You can learn more about the Program in Technical Communication at https://techcom.engin.umich.edu/
You can find the YouTube version here:
https://youtu.be/4ja7CxNDvQY
This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).
Tim and Steve talk about what is coming up in Season 3 of Undercooled. We will publish our first episode of season 3 on August 31st!
You can find the YouTube version of this trailer here:
https://youtu.be/bKKluuGuCpo
This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).
Tim talks with Kaitlin Tyler this week at the ASEE meeting in Montreal. Kaitlin works for ANSYS as an Education Content Developer. We discuss career trajectories in MSE and the importance of networking and attending conferences. We also tell some stories about the North American Materials Education Symposium (NAMES) and why everyone should attend it. It's not too late to register for NAMES 2025!
You can learn more about Kaitlin here:
https://www.ansys.com/authors/kaitlin-tyler
Some of Kaitlin's educational content with Ansys is available on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtt6-ZgUFmMK4aApOU0A85CvaJ_udGDCe
General Ansys link for educators:
www.ansys.com/education-resources
You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/oSlnrw9ASYg
This episode is sponsored by the North American Materials Education Symposium, a gift from Prof. Ron Gibala, and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).
Please attend the North American Materials Education Symposium next summer, August 5th - 6th at Georgia Tech. Workshops on August 4th:
https://www.names25.mse.gatech.edu
Site for all of the international Materials Education Symposia:
www.materialseducation.com
Steve and Tim talk with Bill Callister, the author of the best selling introduction to materials science and engineering text book. Bill tells us how he got into materials and how he ended up writing a book that is now in its 10 edition!
You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/UiUWBENdRT8
This episode is sponsored by the North American Materials Education Symposium, a gift from Prof. Ron Gibala, and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).
Please attend the North American Materials Education Symposium next summer, August 5th - 6th at Georgia Tech. Workshops on August 4th:
https://www.names25.mse.gatech.edu
Steve and Tim talked with Professor Diran Apelian from UC Irvine. Diran talks about his journey to Materials Science and Engineering through his days at Drexel, MIT, Bethlehem Steel, back to Drexel, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, to Irvine. He explains his foray into project based learning and now his new course on Professional Skills that he is teaching at Irvine.
You can find more about Diran here:
https://engineering.uci.edu/users/diran-apelian
https://www.nae.edu/19579/165897/20676/166043/20685/55293/148200/148206/Dr-Diran-Apelian
You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/7vtXdbdASl0
This episode is sponsored by the North American Materials Education Symposium, a gift from Prof. Ron Gibala, and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).
Please attend the North American Materials Education Symposium next summer, August 5th - 6th at Georgia Tech. Workshops on August 4th:
https://www.names25.mse.gatech.edu
Steve and Tim talk with Prof. Robert Talbert from Grand Valley State University. Robert is a math professor and has been very influential in inverted or flipped teaching and alternative grading in the past 20 years. Recently, he and a colleague, William Clarke, also a math professor at Grand Valley State University, wrote a book called "Grading for Growth". Most of the podcast is focussed on the ideas, implementation, and impact of the book. Robert also let us know that he is in the process of publishing a second edition of this flipped teaching book that should be available soon.
Robert has a very comprehensive document which links to many resources that he has developed over the years. Here is that link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1is0DKmhYMAUrCWN73_1U_GLMj_BXjyAAFZiY17eUq4I/edit?usp=sharing
You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/xtkWqqjGqco
This episode is sponsored by the North American Materials Education Symposium, a gift from Prof. Ron Gibala, and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).
Please attend the North American Materials Education Symposium next summer, August 5th - 6th at Georgia Tech. Workshops on August 4th:
https://www.names25.mse.gatech.edu
Tim and Steve talk with 4 of the Materials Science and Engineering undergraduate students who got to fly to Las Vegas to attend the TMS annual meeting in April 2025. They talked about their experiences and the impact that it had on their education and outlook for the future.
You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/BxAqQOSZfuE
This episode is sponsored by the North American Materials Education Symposium, a gift from Prof. Ron Gibala, and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).
Please attend the North American Materials Education Symposium next summer, August 5th - 6th at Georgia Tech. Workshops on August 4th:
https://www.names25.mse.gatech.edu
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 perform longitudinal studies of learning gains. She also talked about of her more exciting projects that is focussed on a new first year in engineering experience that the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering is piloting next term.
You can learn more about Christina here:
https://engineering.lehigh.edu/faculty/christina-viau-haden
Christina’s department website is here:
https://engineering.lehigh.edu/meche
You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/fR1oysirCzs
This episode is sponsored by the North American Materials Education Symposium, a gift from Prof. Ron Gibala, and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).
Please attend the North American Materials Education Symposium next summer, August 5th - 6th at Georgia Tech. Workshops on August 4th:
https://www.names25.mse.gatech.edu
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 or you can just search for it on any podcast platform:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/materialism-a-materials-science-podcast/id1448663986
You can find out more about Taylor and his research here:
https://profiles.faculty.utah.edu/u0203991
or here:
https://my.eng.utah.edu/~sparks/group.html
You can also find out about many of his excellent educational resources and courses on his YouTube Channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/ @TaylorSparks
You can find the YouTube video of the podcast here:
https://youtu.be/yJJcskRX7cs
This episode is sponsored by the North American Materials Education Symposium, a gift from Prof. Ron Gibala, and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).
Please attend the North American Materials Education Symposium next summer, August 5th - 6th at Georgia Tech. Workshops on August 4th:
https://www.names25.mse.gatech.edu
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 about Jerry and the MS&E department at UVa at the links below:
About Jerry:
https://engineering.virginia.edu/faculty/jerrold-floro
About the MS&E department at UVa:
https://engineering.virginia.edu/department/materials-science-and-engineering
You can find the YouTube video of the podcast here:
https://youtu.be/Wy4FhPOK3SI
This episode is sponsored by the North American Materials Education Symposium, a gift from Prof. Ron Gibala, and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).
Please attend the North American Materials Education Symposium next summer, August 5th - 6th at Georgia Tech. Workshops on August 4th:
https://www.names25.mse.gatech.edu
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 more about Thermo-Calc here:
https://thermocalc.com
You can find the YouTube video of the podcast here:
https://youtu.be/yi6PymT_vK4
This episode is sponsored by the North American Materials Education Symposium, a gift from Prof. Ron Gibala, and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).
Please attend the North American Materials Education Symposium next summer, August 5th - 6th at Georgia Tech. Workshops on August 4th:
https://www.names25.mse.gatech.edu
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. Chris explains why community and safety are at the core of the center and how students and faculty help each other succeed. He also talks about why this kind of engaged learning is a powerful tool for our student to experience.
You can learn more about the Wilson Center here:
https://teamprojects.engin.umich.edu
You can make it here. The Wilson Center celebrates 25 years of student-driven building, learning and growing. Includes a YouTube video with some amazing comments by current students and alumni about their experiences in the Wilson Center.
The bumpy road to greatness. A rough 2024 season sparks frustration—but also leadership and learning—for the Michigan Baja team. Also includes a longer video story.
You can find the YouTube video of the podcast here:
https://youtu.be/aHw1YKvYbIc
This episode is sponsored by the North American Materials Education Symposium, a gift from Prof. Ron Gibala, and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).
Please attend the North American Materials Education Symposium next summer, August 5th - 6th at Georgia Tech. Workshops on August 4th:
https://www.names25.mse.gatech.edu
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 taxonomy and shows how he does this in a live demonstration.
Here is a link to a short video describing Professor Sun's research: https://youtu.be/cO7jEApzKoo?si=IhcLScABV4H29AeA
You can learn more about Professor Sun and his research at this link: https://mse.engin.umich.edu/people/whsun
His research website is here: https://whsunresearch.group/
You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/rnw0ZWZc0II
This episode is sponsored by the North American Materials Education Symposium (https://java.engin.umich.edu/NAMES24/) a gift from Prof. Ron Gibala, and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).
Please attend the North American Materials Education Symposium next summer, August 5th - 6th at Georgia Tech. Workshops on August 4th:
https://www.names25.mse.gatech.edu
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 curriculum to give students more individual hands-on time with equipment. Izzy also talks about the research half of her role helping students, staff, and faculty collect data using scanning electron microscopes.
Here is a link to a Google Slide deck about the changes (PDF is also attached):
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1yQDSaQuAsHL5VHnIKnoMJgS6BITqOjybiErm8GpoRFg/edit?usp=sharing
MTU Summer Youth Programs:
https://www.mtu.edu/syp/
MTU MSE Department:
https://www.mtu.edu/materials/
You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/J4TGFgU7hqk
This episode is sponsored by the North American Materials Education Symposium (https://java.engin.umich.edu/NAMES24/) a gift from Prof. Ron Gibala, and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).
Please attend the North American Materials Education Symposium next summer, August 5th - 6th at Georgia Tech. Workshops on August 4th:
https://www.names25.mse.gatech.edu
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 his sketching course for MS&E students. You can learn more about Enze and peruse some extra resources at his website:
https://enze-chen.github.io/
The materials informatics curriculum is further discussed here:
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00640
You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/WGJ-n8dy-xk
This episode is sponsored by the North American Materials Education Symposium (https://java.engin.umich.edu/NAMES24/) a gift from Prof. Ron Gibala, and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).