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/dnPnxCC_vA0

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/-9dLj7b_OkM

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:

https://www.jefferson.edu/academics/colleges-schools-institutes/kanbar-college-of-design-engineering-commerce.html

Ron has recently retired but his information is still up on the Thomas Jefferson University website:

https://www.jefferson.edu/academics/colleges-schools-institutes/kanbar-college-of-design-engineering-commerce/about/message-from-dean.html

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:

https://youtu.be/mDSWLACjg2M

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/h-au8o3-3x8

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/QJU_wInoIYU

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