Aug 13 2008
Rule number one: have fun! That's the most important rule at the ASM Eisenman Materials Camp each year. Through this Friday, 30 high school students from throughout North America will take part in an exclusive camp experience under the dome at Materials Park in Russell Township.
The Eisenman Materials Camp is held annually at ASM International's World Headquarters, Materials Park, located in Russell Township east of Cleveland.
The Eisenman Camp is the largest and most elaborate camp sponsored by the ASM Materials Education Foundation each year. The camp features highly interactive, hands-on laboratory activities, including an actual forensic engineering investigation. Through research and experiments, students learn about materials science and how to operate distinctive and expensive laboratory equipment used in real-life materials science and engineering careers. “It’s real CSI stuff,” said Stan Theobald, ASM managing director.
The students work on several group projects and experiments throughout the week and are instructed by “Materials Mentors” – professional members of ASM, the Cleveland-based Materials Information Society. Activities beyond the laboratory include the “Materials Camp Olympics,” where students compete in races and recycling wars. “It’s all about creating a fun experience that’s also a memorable learning opportunity for students and mentors alike,” Theobald said.
The camp is named for William Hunt Eisenman, the first managing director of ASM who served from 1918-1958 and who owned the Geauga County farmland on which Materials Park was built. The camp was founded in 2000 to help foster an interest among distinguished high school students in materials science and engineering careers. “That first year, 30 high school students participated,” said ASM Materials Education Foundation Executive Director Chuck Hayes. “Since then, we have held nearly 100 ASM Materials Camps and have graduated more than 3,000 high school students.”
On the last evening of camp on Friday, the students will participate in a graduation ceremony at the Wyndham Hotel at 5:30 p.m. “Our students will actually make a presentation about their research to a panel of engineers and scientists – the Board of the ASM Materials Education Foundation,” Hayes said. “The level of the presentations is remarkably professional and a testament to the quality of the teaching and learning that takes place during the camp.”
This year’s Eisenman Camp participants hail from 14 states and one Canadian province. Five students are from Ohio; three are from Cuyahoga County.
“It’s impressive to see the quality of these students,” Theobald said. “They want to take an active role in developing technology to solve environmental problems, create new energy sources, and improve our quality of life. If this is the future of materials technology, then the future is going to be an amazing place.”
For more information on material science, click here.