Newswise — February 25, 2014 – Warrendale, PA – The University of Florida took home the trophy after winning the final round of the Materials Bowl science knowledge competition held at The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society’s (TMS) 143nd Annual Meeting & Exhibition in San Diego, California. The event was one of several student competitions held February 16-20 during TMS2014. Thirty students also won in the TMS Technical Division Student Poster Contest, with one graduate and one undergraduate selection earning Best of Show rankings.

TMS Materials Bowl

For the eighth year in a row, this game-show-styled knowledge contest pitted students from 12 universities against each other in four elimination rounds and two semifinals to determine the championship contenders. Students answered both individual and team questions based on the diverse areas of materials science and engineering.

The University of Florida team – Steven Chiu, Hunter Henderson, Glenn Bean, and Peter Feldtmann – took home the championship trophy, $250 for each team member, and $500 for their school’s Material Advantage chapter.

Runner-up was the team from University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, which received $500 for its Material Advantage chapter. Team members were Meher Bharucha, Kaitlin Tyler, Liv Dedon, and Maxwell Li.

Other teams in the competition came from The Ohio State University, University of California-Berkeley, Colorado School of Mines, Missouri University of Science & Technology, University of Alabama, University of Alberta, University of British Columbia, McMaster University, Carnegie Mellon University, and University of Puerto Rico.

TMS Student Poster Contest Winners

Sixty posters were entered by individuals or teams of students in this year's TMS Technical Division Student Poster Contest. Two winners (one undergraduate and one graduate) are selected from each of the Society's five technical divisions: Electronic, Magnetic & Photonic Materials Division (EMPMD); Extraction & Processing Division (EPD); Light Metals Division (LMD); Materials Processing & Manufacturing Division (MPMD); and Structural Materials Division (SMD). Each of the winners received $500. From all of these entries, two posters were selected to receive an additional $500 for Best of Show Award.

This year's winners are:

BEST OF SHOW

Undergraduate: “Honeycomb Materials for Improved Automobile Crashworthiness,” Connor Slone, Kit James, You Li, and Peter Anderson, The Ohio State University.

Graduate: “Structural Disjoining Potential of Grain Boundary Premelting via Monte Carlo Simulation,” Tara Power and Jeffrey Hoyt, McMaster University.

UNDEGRADUATE WINNERS:

Electronic, Magnetic & Photonic Materials Division

“Gas-Sensing Properties of Metal Oxides and Nanostructured Heterojunctions,” Marc Doran, The Ohio State University.

Extraction & Processing Division

“The Study of Dephosphorization in Steel as a Function of Sulfur Content,” Brian Jamieson and Kenneth Coley, McMaster University.

Light Metals Division

“Strengthening of Al and Al-Mg Alloy Wires by Melt Inoculation with Al/MgB2 Nanocomposite,” Alexandra Padilla, Raul Marrero, David Florian, and Oscar Marcelo Suarez, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus.

Materials Processing & Manufacturing Division

“A Molecular Dynamics Study of Anomalously Fast Diffusion of Cu in Pb,” Mary Gallerneault and Jeffrey J. Hoyt, McMaster University.

Structural Materials Division

“Honeycomb Materials for Improved Automobile Crashworthiness,” Connor Slone, Kit James, You Li, and Peter Anderson, The Ohio State University. GRADUATE WINNERS:

Electronic, Magnetic & Photonic Materials Division

“Exploring Nature’s Missing Li4Me5O12 Defect Spinel Oxides by Ab Initio Calculations,” Ping-chun Tsai, Shih-kang Lin, and Wen-Dung Hsu, National Cheng Kung University.

Extraction & Processing Division

“REE Selective Processing by Leaching and Chelating SPCs,” Sean Dudley and Grant Wallace, Montana Tech of the University of Montana.

Light Metals Division

“Dynamic Precipitation and Recrystallization in Magnesium Alloys: Effects on Grain Size and Texture,” Abu Syed Humaun Kabir, Mehdi Sanjari, Jing Su, In-Ho Jung, and Stephen Yue, McGill University.

Materials Processing & Manufacturing Division

“Structural Disjoining Potential of Grain Boundary Premelting via Monte Carlo Simulation,” Tara Power and Jeffrey Hoyt, McMaster University.

Structural Materials Division

“The Coarsening Behavior of NiAl Precipitates in NiAl-strengthened Ferritic Steels at 973, 1073, and 1223 K,” Zhiqian Sun, Jan Ilavsky, Gian Song, Gongyao Wang, and Peter Liaw, The University of Tennessee, Argonne National Laboratory. The TMS2014 Annual Meeting & Exhibition offered students invaluable opportunities to learn more about the materials profession, network with professionals, and compete in lucrative, resume-building competitions. Information about the TMS2014 Annual Meeting & Exhibition is available at the TMS14 website.

ABOUT TMS The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) is a member-driven international professional society dedicated to fostering the exchange of learning and ideas across the entire range of minerals, metals, and materials science and engineering, from minerals processing and primary metals production, to basic research and the advanced applications of materials. Included among its more than 12,000 professional and student members are metallurgical and materials engineers, scientists, researchers, educators, and administrators from more than 70 countries on six continents. For more information on TMS, visit www.tms.org.