Processing – Structure – Properties – Performance

These four words are at the heart of materials science.  The teachers drill it into your head from Day 1.  It’s almost like a mantra.  The question is, of course, what does it all mean?

As I mentioned last time, Materials Science is the study of the “stuff” that objects are made out of.   What I didn’t mention was what exactly about that “stuff” one would want to study.  As a materials scientist, you would be interested in:

• How the “stuff” is made (Processing)
• What the “stuff” is made of (Structure)
• How what the “stuff” is made of is put together (Structure)
• How the “stuff” behaves (Properties)
• Is the behavior “good enough” (Performance)
• What is the relationship between all of these things?

The last question is the most important, and perhaps the most powerful idea in Materials Science.  The Mantra(tm) actually consists of 5 words, one of which is repeated 3 times:

Processing determines Structure determines Properties determines Performance.

Let’s say it all together again.

Processing determines Structure determines Properties determines Performance.

Om.

“But wait a minute, Harold,” you might say, “Isn’t stuff just well…stuff?”  To the unaided eye, perhaps, but no, everything is made of something (except for perhaps strings and photons).

Next time, I’ll give you two examples, one quite familiar, one more “materials science-y”

Until then, Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s a peculiar variant of the fear we all share. No one wants to have their weaknesses discovered; their hidden failures put on full display. We try to will away our shame, as if it could be dissipated by sheer mental exertion. Yet despite being a figment of our imagination, still it persists, lingering and taunting our psyche.

Yet, for all that we hide, we long to be known: for someone to accept and to love us, ugliness and all. Someone to set us free from the bondage of expectation, free from the shackles of past missteps and free from the paralyzing fear of our own failings. We long to be known. We need to be known, and in being known, freed to live. That freedom is a gift given out of love and bought with great sacrifice.

Simon Peter’s Denial of Christ and Restoration

      Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
~Matthew 16:17-18. [Note: Peter means "rock" in Greek.]

      “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon that, your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”
Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.”
~Luke 22:31-34

      Then seizing him [Jesus], they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance … A servant girl saw him [Peter] seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him [Jesus].”
      But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said
      A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”
      “Man, I am not!” Peter replied.
      About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”
      Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowd. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.
~Luke 22:54-62

[After Jesus' death and resurrection]

      When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”
      “Yes Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
      Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
      Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?”
      He answered, “Yes Lord, you know that I love you.”
      Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”
      The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
      Peter was hurt because Jesus asked Him the third time, “Do you love me?”
      He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
      Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”
~John 21: 15-17

Not Perfect – Church of Rhythm
I fooled everybody,
I learned to say the right words and dress the right dress
and do the right things.
But maybe one day they’ll see through my facade, and I’ll be me.

I tried to be somebody
Someone who I could look up to, I would respect and I would care about
And I thought if I was all these things,
than maybe I could learn to love myself.

But I’m not perfect, not put together
And sometimes I’m lonely, But it’s only real life
Here I stand cast your stones, If you mock me
I know that it’s only,
That you’re scared of real life.

I tried to succeed in a value system that puts everyone in their place
You gotta dress right, you gotta be cool, you gotta be popular
If you wanna be as happy as the people on the TV

Till, I found there’s a God who has a place for everyone and
every person, every broken heart, No matter how imperfect
He loves you right where you are
And he loves me

though I’m not perfect, not put together
And sometimes I’m lonely, But it’s only real life
Here I stand cast your stones, If you mock me
I know that it’s only,
That you’re scared of real life.

But here I am right where I am and through it all
I’m just trying to be myself
And I let go, of these feelings
And I finally know it’s all right to be

not perfect, not put together
And sometimes I’m lonely, But it’s only real life
Here I stand cast your stones, If you mock me
I know that it’s only,
That you’re scared of real life.

and I’m not perfect…

The thesis-writing crunch has begun, just in time for Holy Week (or the week leading up to Easter).  Just in time to be reminded that often, what we consider wise is not.  That what I do, while cool and worthwhile and valuable, is far exceeded in all respects by the incomparable wisdom of God.  By the beautiful mystery that is Christ’s death to save those that killed Him.

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. … we preach Christ crucified: … Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” ~1 Corinthians 1:18, 23-25

Seems I’ve imagined Him all of my life
As the wisest of all of mankind
But if God’s Holy wisdom is foolish to man
He must have seemed out of His mind

For even His family said He was mad
And the priest said a demon’s to blame
But, God in the form of this angry young man
Could not have seemed perfectly sane

Chorus:
When we in our foolishness thought we were wise
He played the fool and He opened our eyes
When we in our weakness believed we were strong
He became helpless to show we were wrong

So we follow God’s own Fool
For only the foolish can tell
Believe the unbelievable, come be a fool as well

So come lose your life for a carpenter’s son
For a madman who died for a dream
And You’ll have the faith His first followers had
And you’ll feel the weight of the beam

So surrender the hunger to say you must know
Find the courage to say I believe
For the power of paradox opens your eyes
And blinds those who say they can see

Chorus

So we follow God’s own Fool
For only the foolish can tell
Believe the unbelievable, come be a fool as well

Allow me to illustrate with a brief excerpt from a representative (though fictional) conversation that I’ve had with basically every non-materials scientist I’ve ever had to make small talk with. (And if you’ve missed out, just let me know, and I’ll be sure to let you experience the awkwardness first hand)

“Hi Harold, I’m Colleen, pleasure to meet you.”

 

“Hi Colleen, uh…nice to meet you too. Um…so what is it that brings you to Chicago?”

 

“Well, I moved here about a couple of years ago, and I’m here on a public health fellowship to try to improve nutrition and reduce the incidence of obesity in the poorer neighborhoods of Chicago.”

 

“Oh wow. That’s really awesome. How do you like it?”

 

“It’s good. Pretty rough having to deal with red tape and Chicago bureaucrats, but there’s a huge need in these communities for better dietary education and access to good food, so I love it. How about you, what’re you doing in Chicago?”

 

“I’m a grad student in materials science at Northwestern.”

 

“Oh cool… What is materials science, exactly…?”

 

“Uh…materials science is the…study of materials…”

 

“Oh, um…that…sounds…neat?”

See!? Obvious answer = Totally non-descript.

Part of the problem is that Materials Science is a _huge_ field. It’s pretty hard to describe in just one sentence. The other is that outside of materials scientists, no one uses the term “materials science” to describe what are basically materials science research fields. Instead, you hear about specific areas of materials science such as “nanotechnology” or “solar cells”. And finally, well, the statement _is_ pretty vague.

Some people like to use “Materials Science is the study of ‘stuff’ “, but replacing one vague word (“materials”) with an even vaguer one (“stuff”) doesn’t exactly serve to clarify matters.

However, I think I’ve come up with a slightly better (if still incredibly vague) one-line definition.

“Materials Science is the study of the ‘stuff’ that the objects around you are made of”

So what do you think? Does that make slightly more sense? It doesn’t roll off the tongue particularly well, ** but I think the extra time required to say it gives the listener the chance to parse through all the vagaries. (It’s FEATURE, not a bug!)

If it does, here’s a little quiz.

What is it about the following objects, that a materials scientist would be interested in?

1) Tennis racquets
2) Automobiles
3) Laptops
4) Medicines
5) Fuel cells

** “Materials Science is the study of the ‘stuff’ that other ‘stuff’ is made of” is a bit more pithy and has alliterative appeal, but keep the two ‘stuff’s straight can be a bit tricky, particularly if the listener has been imbibing a bit.

** Why not just “Materials Science is the study of what the world is made of?” Because, while “what things are made of” is indeed an interesting question, there’s much more to a materials science than just identification. Just wait and see…