I have two main
reasons for taking the Introduction to Composites course as one of my
technical electives.
My first reason comes from my latest summer
internship. This past summer, I was afforded the opportunity to move to
West Palm Beach and work for a company called Mosler Automotive.
Mosler
builds custom, high end, carbon fiber composite street cars. I was
employed for 4 months as a mechanical engineering intern with Mosler,
and was given the opportunity to participate in many projects associated
with the composite car’s construction. Mosler’s street legal supercar is
called the MT 900s. These cars weigh 2500 lb with a full tank of gas and
can hit 60mph in 3.2 seconds from a dead stop. The entire body and
interior of these cars are made from large, molded carbon fiber pieces
bonded together with additional carbon fiber strips and high strength
composite glue. The combination of high horse power and an exceptionally
lower weight is what allows these vehicles to stand out amidst a world
of Ferrari’s and Lamborghini’s. The final sale price on one of these
cars; $350,000. I am interested in this course because I want to
understand more about the material that I used often this summer. I had
the chance to learn the application of composite materials, but I would
now like to learn the fundamental aspects behind the formation and
implementation of composite materials.
My second reason for
this course is purely fun. I am an avid surfer. The progression of
surfboard technology has changed so much over the last 20 years, and has
now begun to dabble in the carbon composite arena. Surfboards have
always been made of composite materials. Originally surfboards were made
of wood, a natural composite, but since have been shaped from foam and
fiberglass. It is only recently that carbon fiber boards have been
introduced into the market. I would like to learn more about the weight
advantages and structural stability of carbon fiber in an effort to
better understand its application and ease of construction for surfboard
production.
Matt Kunze,
Fall 2008
I enrolled in Composite Laminated
Materials to gain a sound understanding of composite materials, and end
this phase of my engineering education with a course that peaks my
interest. Composite materials make up a large portion of components we
come in contact with everyday such as roads, buildings, cars and
airplanes, and some hobbies. It is easy to identify composite
materials, but I desire to know why they were chosen for certain
applications, the mechanical properties they possess, failure
mechanisms, manufacturing processes, and advantages/disadvantages of
their use.
I would also like to gain an
understanding of advanced applications of composite materials.
Composite materials are widely used in the aerospace and defense
industries, which are among the most interesting to me. To learn about
their physical properties and their reactions due to exposure to certain
forces/moments and strains would be very beneficial.
I expect to learn a great deal from this
course, due mostly in part to the instructor. It is very reassuring
knowing the instructor wrote the textbook for the class because it
proves they will be able to provide a well-rounded and complete
understanding of the material covered throughout the course. I have
also had Autar Kaw for Computational Methods and was very pleased with
his teaching style and knowledge of the material. I look forward to
leaving Composite Laminated Materials with a more in-depth understanding
of composites and the ability to apply what I have learned at some point
in my career. Kevin Holmes, Fall
2008
Since the 6th grade I have been
involved with model rocketry. It was then that my science teacher
taught us how to build these small Estes kits that flew on A motors. I
liked the assignment so much that I just kept building more rockets and
immediately joined the model rocketry club there at the school. Getting
carried away with it is the least you could say happened. My room is
now littered with model rockets and there are more on the way.
I now
build large kits that fly thousands of feet in the air using ammonium perchlorate propellant, the same fuel used in the solid rocket boosters
of the space shuttle. For my launches, I now have to get cleared by the
FAA so that the government doesn’t come after me for firing things into
their airspace.
This hobby of mine got me interested in aerospace
engineering as a career. I think it would be very cool to work for a
large corporation like Boeing, Lockheed Martin or even NASA and send the
real thing into space. This class seemed like an excellent choice for
me when considering my field of interest relies greatly on the
implementation of advanced composite materials. In this class, I hope
to learn things that will assist me at my future place of employment and
also help me continue to grow in the hobby I love.
Chris Jones, Fall 2008
My reasoning for selecting a course in
composite materials has its foundations in two elements: a desire to
learn more about composite materials and to be engaged by challenging,
comprehensive course work.
As an engineer I know that it is critical
that I continue to learn and expand my knowledge of existing scientific
materials and technologies, as well as their numerous applications and
potential uses.
I also seek to take my general mechanics of materials
knowledge to a higher level and further build on and reaffirm that which
I learned in mechanics of solids. Also, of course, a large part of my
final selection was based on my assessment of the relative value of each
of the electives available to mechanical engineers.
These things in
combination led to my selection of this course and in this course I hope
to expand my solids mechanics knowledge as much as possible and possibly
improve my work ethic and study skills. Sean Rodby, Fall 2008
From the age of 10 I have been messing
around with wood, foam, fiberglass and resin, not even knowing what the
definition of a composite material was. I have recently repaired boat
hulls and experimented with the infusion process, making body panels for
a Baja style car. I have also been able to test the effects that the
catalyst ratio has on the flexural strength of an isophthalic composite
material. Fortunately I have had many hands on experiences with
composite materials. Although, I have not had much in depth education
towards the reasons composites behave the way they do, or how to design
one specifically, which is one reason I have signed up for this class.
Ideally I would like to work in the marine
industry, designing boats and/or motors. Aside from the drive train and
electronics, the rest of a boat consists of all composite materials. I
have been very interested in studying a multiple step hull combined with
a tunnel hull and its’ effects on the overall performance of the boat.
Having some background and education in composite materials would be a
good incentive for an employer to hire me over other applicants that
have no experience or background in the subject.
David Lopez, Fall 2008
My decision to take the graduate course in
laminated composite materials stems in no short part from my experience
with Dr. Kaw and his undergraduate course in computational methods. At
the risk of sounding fulsome, this course was utterly fantastic. Well
organized, thoroughly researched and expertly instructed, the course
left me with a sound understanding of numerical methods and their place
in engineering mathematics. I was therefore intrigued when I noticed
this course listed in the graduate catalog.
After some due diligence researching the
course, I was pleased to discover that it would deal the engineering
mechanics of composite materials (particularly glass and graphite
epoxies) and present mathematical methods useful for the design of
composite structures. Having limited experience with these materials in
the past, I was aware of their potential for great strength with minimal
weight but was without any idea as to how to quantify their strength or
applicability in the design phase of a project. Composites were
therefore largely avoided. With this course I hope to eliminate that
barrier and gain a functional understanding of the mechanics of
composites.
As a current graduate researcher in
rehabilitation robotics, the application of composite materials holds
great promise for my projects. The weight of many current rehabilitation
devices is still far too great to make them practical for a large
audience. Composite materials may be the solution to reducing weight
while maintaining the required stiffness.
For the sake of brevity, I will not delve
into my not-so-rational (albeit fanciful) reasons for taking this course
other than to say I think graphite fiber is much more interesting than
other traditional engineering materials and that that facet might just
make this course fun. I have high expectations.
Steven Colbert, Fall 2008
I decided to take the Composite Laminated
Materials course because I am interested in working in the aerospace
industry. After interning at United Launch Alliance this past summer I
began to understand the importance, among other principles, of
composites. Material selection was extremely important during my
internship, as the engineering team gave considerable thought to what
materials to use, when initiating a design change or production
improvement change.
After looking at United Space Alliance and my
hopeful dream job at NASA, all major companies are looking into
composites to achieve mission success. As a graduate, for Dr. Frank
Pyrtle, my research is in the area of heat transfer, however knowledge
of composite will help me in a future aerospace career, so I wanted to
take a course in composites. Since I have no undergrad courses in
composite materials, just material science and mechanics of materials, I
needed a course that I could walk away from feeling I learned
“something”.
I took Programming Concepts with Dr. Kaw and earned a B+
and earned an A- in his Computational Methods course and those courses
were challenging as Dr. Kaw pushes you, but I walked away with a lot of
“knowledge.” Also, John Daly is a good friend of mine and after talking
with him, I came to the conclusion that Dr. Kaw is a genius! So taking
his course will be challenging especially since I took mechanics of
materials fall of 2004, but I know when it’s over I will have a greater
understand of composite materials and I will have a broad foundation
that will make up for my lack of undergraduate composite courses. That
is why I took Dr. Kaw’s course in composites as opposed to the other courses offered by the department of mechanical engineering
this semester. Elliot
Rice, Fall 2008
Advanced composites are revolutionizing
virtually every aspect of Mechanical Engineering, including thermal
management. Industrial applications are now the largest user of
composites, outstripping aerospace and sports equipment. There are now
an extremely large and increasing number of applications. As composites
are widely used in modern engineering applications so I choose to study
Composite Materials, which combines elements of engineering, physics,
chemistry, materials science, design, fabrication and testing.
My
master’s thesis is “Design of Experiment Analysis of single fiber pushout test of fiber reinforced transversely isotropic composite”. As
my thesis is on composites this course would help me to a great extent
for my thesis work. Also it helps me to gain knowledge on laminated
layer composites and particle reinforced composites too. This course
would be an additional asset in my resume for future job prospects.
I
could also develop the knowledge on laminate stacking sequence,
relationship between stress to strains when mechanical and hygrothermal
loads are applied which are very important for design. I would also get
familiar with PROMAL, a user friendly software, used to design laminated
composites. The elasticity course which I already took would make this
course easier to study. These are the reasons that made me to choose this course.
Sri Harsha Garapati, Fall 2008
I enrolled in this class because I am
interested in working with prosthetics that are controlled by the
brain. It is important that prosthetic devices have similar mechanical
properties to the body part it is meant to replace. Since limbs are
made of composite materials it is important that I have background
knowledge in composite materials in order to create a device to mimic
them.
I figure that as a graduate student I should challenge myself as
much as possible rather than only take classes that I think or have
heard are easy. This will ensure that I learn as much as possible to
set myself up for success in a very competitive field.
I need to take
classes outside of the biomedical engineering department so that I will
be better able to communicate with other members of a team that I will
eventually be a part of.
When determining which classes to take with my
advisor over the summer we decided that since I had a background in
mechanical engineering and an interest in prosthetics that this class
would be good choice even though it would be challenging.
RF, Fall 2008
Mechanical engineering is a broad
discipline and as such it requires a curriculum with a wide range of
classes that cover many different topics. While working on my
undergraduate degree I took a class on heat transfer and I ended up
being really interested in the subject. Ever since I took the heat
transfer class I have tried to take any class that has something to
do with heat transfer or thermal properties. All of the classes I
have taken so far during my undergraduate degree have only dealt
with metals and their properties. I have studied how to work with
heat transfer and mechanics of metals but have never done so for
composite materials.
When I read the course
description for this class I noticed that it mentioned that the
class will cover the thermal response of multi-layered composite
materials and structures, so I knew this class would help me to
broaden my understanding of my favorite subject. I want to be a well
rounded mechanical engineer when I graduate, so a class like
composite materials that covers both mechanical and thermal
properties of composite materials will help me achieve that.
CM, Fall 2008
Having a sound knowledge in the area of
specialized is a key to be an expert in profession. So I believe that
gaining a thorough knowledge in the area of mechanical engineering is a
must to be a compete mechanical engineer. Material is one of the
essential study areas in mechanical engineering which mostly deals with
design and manufacturing when it comes to industry. Furthermore there
are new innovations and concepts in materials. To go for advances in
materials I have to have enough confidence with basic theories, concepts
and how to apply those in practice. I want to build a strong foundation
on composite materials for my future studies on that area. This is a
one reason why I signed up for the class.
Secondly I like the material as a study
subject including material science and mechanics of materials. I have
never taken a class which is purely on laminated composite materials.
Before registering to the class I had a look on subject materials which
are going to be covered in the class and I found that there are new
topics I have not yet touched. I realized that it is one of the good
courses that I have to follow. So I was impressed by the subject
laminated composite materials and registered to the class to gain
unknown subject materials and further strengthening known subject
materials.
Last I heard from former students that the
class is more beneficial and instructor taught the subject very well so
that most students can understand.
Punya Basnayaka , Fall 2008
It is a good question to ask in the
beginning. Being a civil engineering doctoral student, why do I have to
take this course? Another similar question which I answered two years
back has to be brought in to clarify my answer to the above question.
‘Being a mechanical engineering graduate, why did I register for civil
engineering doctoral studies?’ This question itself gives one important
reason; my origins are from mechanical engineering, and on top of that I
am highly interested in machines and materials.
Now, I will build my second but the
closest reason for taking this class. The answer for the latter question
above was the research I have to do was very much related to mechanical
engineering. It is about measuring friction on aircraft runways. There
are different measuring vehicles used for this purpose and most of them
have a straight forward similarity, which is using a tire to get the
data required to calculate the friction. Analytical friction models
which involve the mechanical properties of the tire have to be used to
analyze these data in detail. Knowing the tire is made of a composite
material motivated me to take this course.
Finally, the reputation of the professor
and my personal appreciation of his service strengthened my decision to
take the course. Madhukar Rajapakshe, Fall 2008
I signed up for this class because I
want to understand how the composite materials react when we apply a
combination of load to them. Besides, I would like to understand in
depth, the different concepts involves in the mechanical study of
composite laminated materials.
Furthermore, I am interested in
getting a full and comprehensive understanding of the mathematical
and physical aspect of the mechanical behavior of composite
laminated materials. The latter is the main objective that I have in
mind. Mario Juha, Fall 2008