Some Educational Resources
This is far from complete, but does provide some thoughts on resources I have found to be enjoyable, as well as the structure to the classes I regularly teach.
Undergraduate Course(s) and Helpful Materials
MatE 341: Metals Processing
Principle Behind the Course – This class is designed to teach the basic elements of Metals Processing, and starts with the extraction of the metal from native minerals (or recycling/recovery) and ends with state-of-the-art metal-based additive manufacturing. It follows a logical arc:
- Extractive Metallurgy – basic principles, application of thermodynamics and kinetics, minerology and mining technologies, distribution of elements around the world, …
- Casting and Solidification – principles of solidification and the engineering aspects of casting, with concepts of heat transfer, undercooling, and thermodynamics included
- Welding – including both fusion-based welding and solid-state welding and joining, explosive welding, …
- A fundamentals module – including basics of dislocations, stereographic projections, recrystallization and recovery, tensors, …
- Deformation processes – including forging, rolling, and extrusion, with both engineering practice and the mathematical basis explained, and a lecture on the basics of friction
- Additive Manufacturing – including both the application details and the science and physics associated with the deposition/addition processes
Course Resources – This class does not have a single textbook, and supplimental material is provided.
Useful Papers / Online resources –
Graduate Course(s) and Helpful Materials
MSE 652: Transmission Electron Microscopy
Principle Behind the Course – This class is designed to provide the basics of transmission electron microscopy, and to equip students with both a theoretical and practical working knowledge of the TEM and its applications. As transmission electron microscopy is a rather broad subject and under some dynamic and exciting changes (in both the microscope and its applications), a complete course is impossible. Thus, the course is designed to:
- Fundamentals – the basics of vacuum systems, the components of a TEM and the best alignment strategies, electron-solid interactions, …
- The Structure Factor and Diffraction
- Real space and reciprocal space
- Diffraction Patterns – their indexing and calculations/simulations
- Kikuchi Diffraction
- Imaging strain fields and stacking faults
- Convergent Beam Election Diffraction and crystal structure determination
- High resolution Imaging
- Spectroscopic Techniques
- Advanced Techniques – e.g., precession electron diffraction, tomography, Lorentz microscopy, …
Course Resources – This class makes use of the 4-volume book series by Williams and Carter, but also refers back to 2 books by Loretto and various seminal papers.
Useful Papers / Online resources –
Books that I have enjoyed
Not all education is based upon courses, and I find that I get a great deal out of certain non-fiction books. Amongst those I have enjoyed and recommend for the materials scientist and engineer when they have time are:
The Disappearing Spoon
Symmetry – The Equation that Couldn’t be Solved
Skunk Works
Sled Driver (though, good luck finding a copy)
Stuff Matters
For younger scientists or a lay reader
I will endeavor to add content that might be informative for other audiences. I will still recommend Sam Kean’s “The Disappearing Spoon”, which comes in two variants – one with greater detail and the other written with curious and young scientists in mind. As I can, I will add more…
The Group’s History
This is far from complete, but is a first attempt at providing a bit of the educational / mentoring history of the research group.
Academic Lineage
Collins was mentored by Prof. H.L. Fraser at The Ohio State University. Fraser founded the Center for the Accelerated Maturation of Materials, led the Campus Extractive Optics Facility and founded CIMAS, a world class electron microscopy facility. Fraser was the first Ph.D. student of Dr. Mike Loretto (Univ. of Birmingham). Loretto (OBE), an electron microscopist and physical metallurgist, completed his doctorate work in the same year as Fraser in a manner that is unusual to most of us today – he was effectively his own advisor. Loretto completed his doctorate largely independently, and as a result was able to himself officially advise and graduate PhD students.