Haley Meier and McKinnon Reece participated in the EUREKA! Program in the Multiscale Manufacturing Laboratory (www.multiscalemanufacturing.net) during the Summer of 2015. Under the mentoring of Professor Rodrigo Martinez-Duarte and doctoral student Monsur Islam, these incoming freshmen developed a process to fabricate origami shapes out of carbon and carbon composites. The process exploits the fact that paper carbonizes when heated at high temperature under selected atmospheres. During their month-long research experience they explored different process parameters such as the kind of paper to use, shape complexity, size, and ways to pattern the paper with different nanoparticle inks to create carbon composites. The goal of this research is a manufacturing process to make complex carbide shapes with a thin cross-section.
ABOUT THE MULTISCALE MANUFACTURING LABORATORY
The Multiscale Manufacturing Laboratory in Mechanical Engineering is a team of multi-disciplinary researchers who generate fundamental knowledge on microfluidics, electrokinetics, carbonaceous materials and micro/nanofabrication to translate it into applications in Healthcare Diagnostics and Advanced Manufacturing.
ABOUT THE EUREKA! Program
The EUREKA! Program brings incoming freshman students, who have been accepted into the Calhoun Honors College, to Clemson for a five-week period during which they actively participate in research projects or other scholarly activities. The students are housed in an apartment style residence hall, but are not provided a stipend or wages. In addition to their research activities the participants attend speaker luncheons on various topics designed to orient them to academic life on campus and provide them with the basic skills needed to perform research in a broad range of areas. Social activities include an Opening dinner, a “Get Acquainted” picnic, whitewater rafting, hikes, and cultural and sporting events.
