Fibers – the neglected child of the Materials family

On the global Materials stage, fibers are big players, with huge economic importance, but also significant environmental costs. Global fiber production now exceeds 100 million tonnes per year. Materials Science courses and texts include fibers (particularly carbon and glass) but tend to give them only limited space, leaving many of the details to the textile community, whose approach to their characterization has taken its own independent path. Should fibers be given a more visible role? This webinar assembles information about fibers in a format adapted to Materials Science teaching and illustrates its use in engaging case studies.

What you will learn

• Hear from leading engineering educator Prof. Mike Ashby
• Explore the economic importance and sustainability of both natural and man-made fibers
• See case studies that you could re-use in your teaching
• Discover the Materials Science and Engineering Edition of CES EduPack, which combines data about man-made and natural fibers with graphical tools to explore apply that data
• Find out about Granta’s comprehensive teaching resources, including a new white paper on Fibers.

Who should take part?

• Educators, particularly those on Materials Science courses, interested in teaching fibers.

Presenter

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Michael F. Ashby is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge. He is a world-renowned authority on engineering materials and the author/co-author of best-selling textbooks, including the recently published Materials and the Environment. Other current texts include Engineering Materials I & II, Materials Selection in Mechanical Design, Materials in Design, and Materials: Engineering, Science, Processing, and Design. He has authored over 200 papers on mechanisms of plasticity and fracture, powder compaction, mechanisms of wear, methodologies for materials selection, and the modeling of material shaping processes, among other topics. He is recipient of numerous awards and honors including Fellow of the Royal Society and Member of the American Academy of Engineering. He has been a professor at Harvard University and held academic positions in Germany and France. He is also co-founder of Granta Design and guides development of Granta’s CES EduPack.