MPIF University Outreach Continues

Students at UNC-Charlotte receive lectures on metal powder technologies.
 

The MPIF Industry Development Board (IDB) continues its new University Outreach Program to promote metal powder technologies to future engineers. Recently, Scott Davis, Hoeganaes Corporation, and Stefan Joens, Elnik Systems, LLC, took over three separate classes, Manufacturing, Manufacturing Systems, and Design of Machine Elements class at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. The feedback from the students and professors was very positive, remarking that they appreciated the industry providing a firsthand look at what the metal powder industry has to offer. Next up are the University of Texas at El Paso and Purdue University-Indianapolis. 

Over the past 8 years, hundreds of students have attended annual PowderMet & AMPM conferences thanks to grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Center for Powder Metallurgy Technology (CPMT), and MPIF reserves. However, through post-conference interviews it became apparent that the student grant recipients had a good understanding of metal additive manufacturing, but limited knowledge of other metal powder technologies like press & sinter, MIM, and isostatic pressing. The Outreach Program provides an opportunity to reach out to the students in their local educational environment and teach them that there are many ways to consolidate metal powders.