Undercooled: A Materials Education Podcast

Steve and Tim talk to Professor Mark Asta from Berkeley.  Mark is the Dean of Engineering at UC Berkeley.  He is also a Materials Science and Engineering Professor.  Mark was named as the Van Vlack Professor in 2026 and we caught up with him after one of his talks when he visited us in October 2026.  We talked about materials education, engineering education, and how AI and agenic agents will be more and more important to our students.

You can learn more about Mark Asta, the dean here:
https://engineering.berkeley.edu/about/leadership-team/meet-the-dean/

and Mark Asta the researcher and faculty member here:
https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/faculty/mark-asta

You can learn about the Larry Van Vlack Lectureship here:
https://mse.engin.umich.edu/updates/van-vlack-lecture/

You can find the YouTube version of the podcast here:
https://youtu.be/7Shi45VIWgA

Our YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.Materials

If you want to add a voice comment on this or any other of our podcasts, suggest a guest, or volunteer to be a guest, please visit our website:
https://java.engin.umich.edu/undercooled/

This episode is sponsored by the TMS Foundation (https://www.tms.org/TMSFoundation/TMSFoundation/Default.aspx), The Electric Vehicle Center (EVC) at the University of Michigan (https://evc.engin.umich.edu/), and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Steve and Tim talk with some of our undergraduate students to hear their opinions and stories about their undergraduate experience. They talk with Eli Richey, Bella Calfas, and Olivia Schroder, who are officers of the Michigan Materials Society at the University of Michigan.

You can find the YouTube version of the podcast here:
https://youtu.be/_SnDu-mrZ4c

Our YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.Materials

If you want to add a voice comment on this or any other of our podcasts, suggest a guest, or volunteer to be a guest, please visit our website:
https://java.engin.umich.edu/undercooled/

This episode is sponsored by the TMS Foundation (https://www.tms.org/TMSFoundation/TMSFoundation/Default.aspx), The Electric Vehicle Center (EVC) at the University of Michigan (https://evc.engin.umich.edu/), and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Tim and Steve talk with Professor Franklin Hobbs from University of Wisconsin's Materials Science and Engineering Department.  Franklin is a teaching professor with an uncanny resemblance to Tim Chambers at UM.  We talk about his career, the lab courses he developed at Wisconsin, and his really interesting course for non-materials and non-STEM majors.

Here are some interesting tidbits and links related to the episode:

Stuff Matters by Mark Miodownik. Fun fact, For the past two years I think my Spring class has made this the top selling Materials Science book on Amazon in January.
 
Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape our Man-Made World
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/18222843-stuff-matters

The Alchemy of Us by Ainissa Ramirez
https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262542265/the-alchemy-of-us/

Wisc MS&E department:
https://engineering.wisc.edu/departments/materials-science-engineering/

Franklin's directory page:
https://directory.engr.wisc.edu/mse/Faculty/Hobbs_Franklin/

You can find the YouTube version of the podcast here:
https://youtu.be/IuDLeNtf4e4

Our YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.Materials

If you want to add a voice comment on this or any other of our podcasts, suggest a guest, or volunteer to be a guest, please visit our website:
https://java.engin.umich.edu/undercooled/

This episode is sponsored by the TMS Foundation (https://www.tms.org/TMSFoundation/TMSFoundation/Default.aspx), The Electric Vehicle Center (EVC) at the University of Michigan (https://evc.engin.umich.edu/), and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Tim and Steve talk to Dr. Jason Carroll about his career at Eaton and his views for success as a Materials Scientist and Engineer.

You can find the YouTube version of the podcast here:
https://youtu.be/kM_T-Pc3EpU

Our YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.Materials

If you want to add a voice comment on this or any other of our podcasts, suggest a guest, or volunteer to be a guest, please visit our website:
https://java.engin.umich.edu/undercooled

This episode is sponsored by the TMS Foundation (https://www.tms.org/TMSFoundation/TMS..., The Electric Vehicle Center (EVC) at the University of Michigan (https://evc.engin.umich.edu/), and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Steve talks with Dave Eaglesham, the CTO of Electric Hydrogen, at a lobster co-op in Bath Maine as well as in a brew pub in Brunswick Maine.  They talk about Dave's career as a faculty member at U. Liverpool in Materials Science and Engineering, his time at Bell Labs, his stint at Lawrence Livermore labs as the Chief Technologist for the Materials Division, his time at Applied Materials and how he ended up becoming the CTO for First Solar corporation.  Then Dave became the CEO of a battery company, worked at Breakthrough Energy (an alternative energy investment firm) and finally a founder of Electric Hydrogen.

Learn more about Electric Hydrogen here:
https://eh2.com

You can find the YouTube version of the podcast here:
https://youtu.be/Z0zfeXTi0iU

Our YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.Materials

If you want to add a voice comment on this or any other of our podcasts, suggest a guest, or volunteer to be a guest, please visit our website:
https://java.engin.umich.edu/undercooled/

This episode is sponsored by the TMS Foundation (https://www.tms.org/TMSFoundation/TMSFoundation/Default.aspx), The Electric Vehicle Center (EVC) at the University of Michigan (https://evc.engin.umich.edu/), and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Steve and Tim talked with Ron Gibala.  Ron was the chair of MS&E at UM and was also the interim dean.  We talked about his career and how he used fundamental materials science to earn quite a bit of money consulting.  He gave us two great examples.  One where knowledge of TTT diagrams and a bit of common sense helped him solve a problem for a metals fabricator of spring clips.  The second was how his knowledge of thermodynamics helped prove that ballasts for fluorescent light fixtures were not to blame for fires in a legal case in Texas.

You can find the YouTube version of the podcast here:
https://youtu.be/Z0zfeXTi0iU

Our YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.Materials

If you want to add a voice comment on this or any other of our podcasts, suggest a guest, or volunteer to be a guest, please visit our website:
https://java.engin.umich.edu/undercooled/

This episode is sponsored by the TMS Foundation (https://www.tms.org/TMSFoundation/TMSFoundation/Default.aspx), The Electric Vehicle Center (EVC) at the University of Michigan (https://evc.engin.umich.edu/), and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Tim and Steve give a recap of the North American Materials Education Symposium that was held July 29-31, 2026 at the University of Victoria in Canada.  We discuss some of our favo(u)rite talks and what made them so interesting and informative.  We also have a travel saga of the journey trying to get home through many cancelled flights!  Finally, we have some testimonials from NAMES attendees about why they love the conference.  The next NAMES will be at the University of Delaware in 2027 - hope to see you there!

When the information about next year's NAMES meeting is available, you will be able to access it here:
https://www.materialseducation.com/

You can find the YouTube version of the podcast here:
https://youtu.be/8Kd91N_sBvM

Our YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.Materials

If you want to add a voice comment on this or any other of our podcasts, suggest a guest, or volunteer to be a guest, please visit our website:
https://java.engin.umich.edu/undercooled/

This episode is sponsored by the TMS Foundation (https://www.tms.org/TMSFoundation/TMSFoundation/Default.aspx), The Electric Vehicle Center (EVC) at the University of Michigan (https://evc.engin.umich.edu/), and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Tim and Steve talk about what we learned from Season 3 and what to expect from Season 4.

You can find the YouTube version of the podcast here:
https://youtu.be/VV4r3j9sNuo

Our YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.Materials

If you want to add a voice comment on this or any other of our podcasts, suggest a guest, or volunteer to be a guest, please visit our website:
https://java.engin.umich.edu/undercooled/

This episode is sponsored by the TMS Foundation (https://www.tms.org/TMSFoundation/TMSFoundation/Default.aspx), The Electric Vehicle Center (EVC) at the University of Michigan (https://evc.engin.umich.edu/), and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Steve and Tim talk with Anil Sachdev, a UM Adjunct Professor in Materials Science and Engineering.  They talk about Anil's education at MIT, his career at General Motors, and some of the remarkable impacts he made with alloy and process design for GM products. He describes his lifelong journey of controlling microstructure to improve products.   He also talks at length about his work with in-situ tensile stages in an SEM using Electron Beam Backscattering Diffraction to detect grain rotation during straining. 

Bio:
Anil Sachdev joined GMR&D in 1977 after obtaining his ScD in Materials Science and Engineering from MIT and retired in 2023 as Principal Technical Fellow and Lab Group Manager.  His research interests include microstructure design, metal-matrix composites, and high-strength steels for structural applications.  His contributions are specifically related to implementing lightweight products by coupling multi-scale in-situ experiments with computational methods to understand phenomena leading to materials and processes tailored for specific component designs.  Key contributions include the role of retained austenite stability in dual-phase steels; improving formability of aluminum alloys; developing novel product designs with magnesium castings, tailoring alloys for additive manufacturing and processing lithium metal for high-energy batteries.  Sachdev has also established Global research centers including the China Science Lab in Shanghai and the GM India Science Lab in Bangalore and continues to sustain long-term collaborations with universities and research institutions worldwide.  He has been a Key Reader for Metallurgical and Materials Transactions for the past 40 years and has 125 patents and 100+ external publications related to light metal developments.  He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of The Metallurgical Society.

You can find the YouTube version of the podcast here:
https://youtu.be/lbRoGOAXcFw

Our YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.Materials

This episode is sponsored by the TMS Foundation (https://www.tms.org/TMSFoundation/TMSFoundation/Default.aspx), The Electric Vehicle Center (EVC) at the University of Michigan (https://evc.engin.umich.edu/), and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Steve and Tim talked with Jacob Kelter, the Executive Director of the NetLogo Center at Northwestern University, about how he is using atomistic simulations of fundamental materials processes and concepts to build an interactive digital textbook for an introductory materials science and engineering course. His book is ready for adoption and he would love to help any faculty member out there use it. We talked about NetLogo (a software for creating computational models/simulations), specific chapters on diffusion, microstructural development, and mechanical properties.  He also talked to us about pedagogical approaches to using the simulations in the classroom as well as how he includes problems in his book. Jacob also talked about future enhancements to his book. 

You can find out more about Jacob, his new textbook, and NetLogo at the following links:

The textbook (Morfli): https://www.morfli.com/(featured course at the bottom of the home page)

NetLogo: https://netlogo.org

Jacob: https://www.jacobkelter.com

Short Bio:

Dr. Jacob Kelter is the Director of the NetLogo Center at Northwestern University. NetLogo is a programming language and environment for agent-based modeling, a computational technique for modeling complex systems made of many interacting parts. It is widely used in both research and education. Kelter co-designed a new introductory materials science and engineering course at Northwestern University based around interactive computational models built with NetLogo. He has also designed and developed a digital platform called "Morfli" aimed at continuously improving educational materials and bridging the gap between educational research and practice. Before his doctoral studies, Kelter co-founded and served as chief scientist for Rise Science, a startup dedicated to helping people improve their sleep and daily energy rhythms. 

You can find the YouTube version of the podcast here:
https://youtu.be/7y7VBfzg_SI

Our YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.Materials

This episode is sponsored by the TMS Foundation (https://www.tms.org/TMSFoundation/TMSFoundation/Default.aspx), The Electric Vehicle Center (EVC) at the University of Michigan (https://evc.engin.umich.edu/), and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).