Metallurgy education in 2020 any thoughts 1

[arunmrao]

An academic one, but I was wondering the direction Metallurgical education would take in universities in 2020. Any wish list or comments from the influencers here.

My wish list would be to get the basics right and lean towards experimental metallurgy ( I am biased perhaps).

I'm just one step away from being rich, all I need now is money.
( read somewhere on the internet)

 

[tbuelna]

This is actually quite an interesting question.

One area where I have seen quite a bit of useful progress made in the past few years is with using computational design techniques to create metal alloys with highly specialized properties. A good example are the steel alloys developed by QuesTek.

 

[CoryPad]

For sure there is a de-emphasis on metallurgy. Materials Science and Engineering, covering all materials, is the standard, with the option to specialize in specific materials. Computational/analytical work is growing also.

 

[Guest102023]

Nanotechnology. All materials have surfaces, all energy and material interactions happen at surfaces. Nanotechnology has enorous potential for modification of surfaces.

"If you don't have time to do the job right the first time, when are you going to find time to repair it?"

 

[dbooker630]

Internships/co-op work experience still needs to be a part of metallurgy education.

 

[EdStainless]

I foresee virtually no metals in collage. They will leave it all to the practitioners.
So companies that rely on metal (either make it or use it) will fund PhD work into areas of specific interest.
The third gen Advanced ultra high strength steels will continue to be a very active field.

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Plymouth Tube

 

[arunmrao]

I agree with ED, metals may be ignored, dual phase high strength steels and metal matrix composites may be the focus.

How are traditional manufacturing industries going to source trained personnel. Will it be left to Africa to provide them?

I'm just one step away from being rich, all I need now is money.
( read somewhere on the internet)

 

[metengr]

The traditional ferrous/nonferrous metallurgy education program as we know it today will be replaced or has already been phased out in most universities. Instead, the emphasis will be placed on materials engineering and advanced material development to save resources and energy.

How are traditional manufacturing industries going to source trained personnel. Will it be left to Africa to provide them?

In-house development or materials engineers from other countries.

 

[tbuelna]

Metals are still widely used in the aerospace industry, and the technology of these metal materials is rapidly advancing. The heat treatment, manufacturing, and QA processes involved with them is also becoming more complicated. Even a medium size aerospace company involved in manufacturing metal components still has a need for an in-house metallurgist. Especially if the company is engaged in MRB activity. However, the metallurgists best suited for these positions are usually those with substantial experience, and not recent university grads.

 

[EdStainless]

tbuelna,
Considering the amount of hand holding that I have had to provide on some recent aerospace projects I would feel comfortable in saying that most tier 1 companies have virtually no metallurgical capabilities. Composites are their focus. We were dealing with fairly traditional alloys and I had to walk them through it.

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Plymouth Tube

 

[arunmrao]

Can industry displace universities in imparting metallurgical skills related to metals. Who is going to fill the gap? After more than 30 years of practising Metallurgy, there are several areas, I am not familiar with , extractive metallurgy being one such area.

I'm just one step away from being rich, all I need now is money.
( read somewhere on the internet)

 

[tbuelna]

EdStainless,

My recent personal experience was a bit different than yours. I recently spent a couple months working for a mid-sized aerospace manufacturer designing some fracture critical forgings for the cryo fuel system on a NASA manned launcher project. The reason I took the job was because it offered me a rare opportunity to work with some of the industry's most experienced engineers, analysts (including fracture mechanics), and manufacturing specialists (in areas like heat treatment, welding, metal forming, NDI, etc.) on a project that demanded the absolute highest level of product performance, quality and reliability.

Although the job paid a bit less than what I would normally earn, it was a fantastic learning experience. Whenever I had free time I would go out to the manufacturing area and politely ask the guys working there to explain to me in detail the particular process they performed, which they were always happy to do. I learned first-hand about almost every process involved in manufacturing these world-class cryo fuel system products, including critical ones like welding that required constant oversight by the metallurgist.

This experience by no means makes me a metallurgical expert. But in just a couple months working at this job I probably accumulated more practical knowledge of the manufacturing and engineering technology involved in producing critical metal cryo fuel system components than one would ever get from a university program.