A pair of Materials Science and Engineering students recently won first place in the Failure Analysis Competition at the 42nd Annual International Conference and Expo on Advanced Ceramics and Composites (ICACC) in Daytona Beach, Florida.

The Blazer team, made up of Sharon Uwanyuze and Mark King, was tasked with analyzing a ceramic material that had failed in an industrial setting in order to identify the failure mechanism. “Each team was provided with physical specimens of the failed material, as well as additional characterization data, such as x-ray diffraction plots or micrographs, as appropriate,” explained Uwanyuze.

The Competition was open to any student from undergraduate through graduate levels of study, and any interested industry professionals or researchers could participate as advisors to the teams of students. The Competition was organized by ACerS President’s Council of Student Advisors.

In addition to the top finish in the Failure Analysis Competition, the pair also reached the third round in the SCHOTT Glass Competition. In that contest, teams were given one shot glass, and they had 30 minutes to build protective devices from drinking straws. The glasses were then dropped from varying levels until the breaking threshold was reached. The team Blazer glass reached 10 feet.

For more information, visit The American Ceramic Society.