Ulrike G.K. Wegst, Ayan Azmat, Andrew L. Beaubien, Amaris A. De La Rosa-Moreno, Mackenzie L. Carlson, Kevin R. Baron
Dartmouth College
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Currently under construction at the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth is a “please touch” Materials Library that aims to excite students and visitors for materials science and engineering and enables training in Materials Thinking. It is designed to link software-based materials selection with physical samples, both in the form of bulk materials and products made from these. The goal is to assess and explore materials with all senses and to integrate rigor with intuition. The steadily growing collection of physical materials examples started with 100 frequently used representatives of all classes, i.e. metals, ceramics, polymers and composites, which also include natural materials. The bulk material collection is complemented by typical products made from these to illustrate how specific materials are used and why. A software tool developed by undergraduate research assistants links technical information with images of both the bulk material samples and products (barcoded for automatic identification). Additionally, the software tool provides information for commercial sources and manufacturers from which the different materials can be obtained for use in the Thayer’s Machine Shop. First use of the Materials Library in courses and outreach activities shows that it is a resource that not only greatly benefits students, who are taking materials-related engineering courses at Thayer, but generally members of the Liberal Arts community of Dartmouth ranging from Chemistry to Studio Art and Theater, and from Architecture to Computer Science and Music, thus all who share an interest in materials and wish to better understand, design and apply them. The presence of a highly diverse user group validates this resource as one that is ideally suited for a liberal arts education. The Materials Library is emerging as a significant contribution to the spirit of experiential learning and interdisciplinary cross-fertilization.