Below are two of Julie’s main areas of study, taken from: https://www.uml.edu/Research/Energy/faculty/chen-julie.aspx
Composite Materials
From the Royal Society of Chemistry:
A composite material is made by combining two or more materials – often ones that have very
different properties. The two materials work together to give the composite unique properties.
However, within the composite you can easily tell the different materials apart as they do not
dissolve or blend into each other
(Source: This description was take from the RSC’s PDF on Composite Materials)
Examples:
More recently, researchers have also begun to actively include sensing, actuation, computation and communication into composites, which are known as Robotic Materials.[2]
Typical engineered composite materials include:
- Reinforced concrete and masonry
- Composite wood such as plywood
- Reinforced plastics, such as fibre-reinforced polymer or fiberglass
- Ceramic matrix composites (composite ceramic and metal matrices)
- Metal matrix composites
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composite_material)
Nanomanufacturing
From the National Nanotechnology Initiative:
Nanotechnology is science, engineering, and technology conducted at the nanoscale, which is about 1 to 100 nanometers. Nanoscience and nanotechnology are the study and application of extremely small things and can be used across all the other science fields, such as chemistry, biology, physics, materials science, and engineering.
(Source: https://www.nano.gov/nanotech-101/what/definition)
An example you use every day has to do with something we talked about waaaaay back in episode 1; Moore’s Law. As a refresher, Moore’s Law is:
The number of transistors on a 1-inch (2.5 centimeter) diameter of silicon doubles every [18] number of months. (source: https://computer.howstuffworks.com/moores-law.htm)
Or, in layman’s terms, CPUs get twice as fast every every year and a half. They do this by putting smaller and thus more transistors on the chip. Those transistors are now so small they’re
Here’s a link to read more about how nanomanufacturing may be rendering Moore’s law Moot: https://computer.howstuffworks.com/moores-law-outdated.htm
In case you’re wondering how many transistors are on the top CPUs:
| Processor | Transistor count | Date of introduction | Designer | Process | Area |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32-core AMD Epyc | 19,200,000,000 | 2017 | AMD | 14 nm | 768 mm2 (4 x 192 mm2) |
| Centriq 2400 | 18,000,000,000[43] | 2017 | Qualcomm | 10 nm | 398 mm2 |
| 32-core SPARC M7 | 10,000,000,000[42] | 2015 | Oracle | 20 nm |
To see the entire table go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor_count
Book
This is a great book for peeking behind the curtain of the misdeeds of Silicon Valley. It can be a tough read but if knowledge is power, then this is on very, very powerful book.
Food for Thought
According to an article in The Guardian, from 2016, the world’s smallest book was created by Vladimir Aniskin and measures 70 by 90 micrometres, or 0.07mm by 0.09mm. The book contains the Russian Alphabet.
However, Guinness still lists, Malcom Douglas Chaplin’s Teeny Ted from Turnip Town as the smallest, measuring 70 x 100 micrometres. This book was created in 2012.
http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/smallest-reproduction-of-a-printed-book/
