Prof. Kevin S. JonesMaterials Science and Engineering UF

&Dr. Sophia Krzys Acord

Sociology and Humanities UF

What is the Impact of Materials on Society (IMOS) Class?

• IMOS is a freshman level class that explores the interactions between Materials discoveries (metals, polymers, etc.) and Society

• The class demonstrates that society is dependent upon materials innovations and those innovations are influenced by society.

• The class improves social literacy of engineers and technical literacy of non-engineers

• The class is a good recruiting tool for converting undecided engineering majors to MSE.

IMOS Goals

1. Help engineering students to “understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global economic, environmental and societal context”

2. Expose students in any major to the role and significance of engineering

3. Give students in any major basic materials science literacy

The Impact Paradigm

Material • What is the material of importance?• What are the general properties of this material?• What is the general abundance of the material? Historical • What is the first known use of the material?• At what time did the material become enabling?• What factors led to its adoption Technological • What technology did the material enable?• What property of the material enables the technology?• How sustainable is the material? Societal• In which realms of society did the materials development have an impact?• What were the financial implications of the development?• What were the health implications of the development?• What were the political implications of the development (war)?• What were the social implication of the development?

History• The class was developed at UF in 2011 and has been

taught 4 times to freshmen and sophomores• The class size has grown from 15 to over 130 (this

fall it will be capped at 175)• The class has been formally evaluated for NSF and

the evaluations have been incredibly positive• The class is currently offered as an elective although

it could become a gen ed required course.

Fall 2013 Survey Results• 90.1% felt the course would make them a more

effective engineer.• 92.6% felt that the course made them a more aware

decision-maker as a consumer or voter.• 70.4% reported that the course had changed their

impression of what an engineer did.• 92.6% would recommend the course to engineers.• 72.8% would recommend the course to non-engineers.• 65.4% were more likely to major in engineering as a

result of taking the course.

Class Description• There is one instructor of record in engineering (me) and a team of

faculty in liberal arts• Each week is a different Material and a different Social Principle• Class structure

– Monday: Engineering lecture on the specific material• E.g. Iron and steel

– Wednesday: History lecture on material case study• E.g. Andrew Carnegie and Creative Destruction

– Thursday: Watch MRS video on new material • E.g. Magnesium (Mg) alloys that are replacing steel

– Friday: Flip the classroom and work in groups• E.g. Create a future product with magnesium and discuss its

anticipated creative destruction

Each week is a new material and a new social principle!Week 2 Clay- Team with Prof. Susan Gillespie (Anthropology) (rare earths and entanglement)Week 3 Glass - Team with Prof. Ken Sassaman (Anthropology) (biodegradable materials and operational chains)Week 4 Concrete - Team with Prof. Mary Ann Eaverly (Classics) (smart building materials and social functions)Week 5 Make concrete bars - Review Impact Paradigm Week 6 Copper and Bronze – Team with Prof. Florin Curta (History) (solar cells and Trade)Week 7 Iron - Team with Prof. Sean Adams (History) (steel, magnesium alloy, and creative destruction)

IMOS Fall 2014

Week 9 Aluminum - Team with Prof. Sean Adams (History) (lightweight materials and materials economics)Week 10 Writing Materials - Team with Prof. Bonnie Effros (History)(magnetic storage and knowledge dissemination)Week 11 Gold and Silver - Team with Prof. Florin Curta (History) (gold nanoparticles and the creation of value)Week 12 Plastics - Team with Prof. Marsha Bryant (English) (New sources and applications for polymers, marketing materials)Week 13 Semiconductors - Team with Dr. Sophia Acord (Sociology) (silicon and human-material relationships)Week 14 Research Project Week 15 Final Poster Presentations

IMOS Fall 2014

Clay and Entanglement(Susan Gillespie, anthropology)

Concrete and Symbolic Value(Mary Ann Eaverly, classics)

Steel and Creative Destruction(Sean Adams, history)

Impact Testing Concrete

Final Posters

Quotes from IMOS Students

Engineers play an integral part in every aspect of our daily lives, from infrastructure to dinner plates.

I was amazed by the extent materials shaped our modern technological revolution. Their importance in society has made think about the types of materials we need to address the engineering challenges of the future.

Learning about materials in their social context was very interesting for me and has helped me decide to major in materials engineering.

Quotes 1-2 years later• Und=> MSE: YES I LOVED THE CLASS! It was a major factor in determining my

major, which is now MSE • Biomed => MSE: The class helped me land my first internship offer, it was my

favorite class at UF • MSE Major: I feel that I reaped the most benefit from the historical

implications and technological insights to research and development of new materials

• Mechanical Major: Best class at UF • Computer Major: This was my favorite class• History Major: I feel like it gave me an advantage in my future history

classes• Environmental Major: Great class, I recommend it to all my friends • MSE Major: I feel that EMA1004 covers very important and some seldom

considered information that should indeed be shared with other institutions

Overview of StatusMRS Public Outreach Committee helped make the current videosText book has the Sass Substance of CivilizationClass has been taught several times at UF with great successNext Steps:• UF Faculty producing a new Open Textbook (Orange Grove

Press) Completion date set for spring 2016• Large DoD grant to produce new professional videos for

the course. UF & MRS writing Scripts, Bruno White Productions filming and post production. Completion date spring 2016

• Starting to look for sites for dissemination

Dissemination Process• We have already held one NSF funded

workshop (fall 2014 MRS meeting) to start dissemination of the class. – 7 Universities and community college participated

including:• PSU, VCU, UNM, UVI, CCSF etc.

• The materials for the class are currently on-line in a drop box folder which we are happy to share with you. – This includes all the lecture notes and videos of the lectures, MRS

videos for Thursday, class-room exercise for Friday and exams

Teaching this at your Institution• Two Options:

1) Teach the class using a MSE Prof. and the materials provided1. We are happy to provide the materials and advice when

needed

2) Team teach the class with MSE and Liberal Arts faculty1. Critical to nucleate the right team at your university2. Must find a sociology/ humanities faculty member to pair

with MSE. We can help with that process. 3. Hold an IMOS workshop at your school. We can help

depending on how our grant writing goes to support travel.

Versatile Structure“Plug and Play” Course Design

MaterialsOverview

HSS Case Study

IMOS Video

Flipped Classroom

Activity

• Course is modular and thus adaptable to each universities strengths

• Text is open source so new chapters can be added by others

If your department is interested in offering this class please contact me

Kevin Jones at kjones@eng.ufl.edu (352)-846-3301

We will be happy to share the collected information with you as well as consider hosting a workshop at your school if we can get funding from DOD for travel next year.

Undergraduate enrollment at UF 2014

We were seeing a trend toward decreased enrollment in MSE

Effect of IMOS ClassAfter introduction of IMOS Class the enrollment made a major jumpStudents consistently said the IMOS class had a huge impact on their decision to switch into MSE