Materials Washington (MatWA) Adds New Modules for Materials Education

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Signed into law by President Joe Biden on August 9, 2022, the CHIPS and Science Act provides funding of $280 billion to help the semiconductor industry and the research that supports it. 

The funds will usher in the new National Science Foundation Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (Meet TIP) with a mission to develop technologies, such as, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, advanced manufacturing, 6G communications, energy, and materials science. 

After all, new semiconductor chips need lots of research and development work, particularly in an area that people might forget — materials science. 

In a small, but important way, MatEdU (The Online Instructional Resources for Material Science Technology Education), continues to work and serve to share its mission: to advance materials technology education nationally. Without it, we won’t have the technicians and researchers needed to help bring our nation’s chip manufacturing to the next level.

MatEdU will continue to provide educators with ready-to-use educational materials, in the form of modules, that can be downloaded as PDFs or PowerPoint slides. Four new modules were recently added and they focus on topics that are in high demand.

  1. Material Integrity Plan Supporting Aviation/Land/Marine Industry Transportation
  2. Rare Earth Elements – An Introduction
  3. Sustainable Composite Materials from Renewable Resources
  4. The Circular Economy of Lithium-Ion Batteries

Thanks to MatWA for all of its support in driving important education and outreach in the area of sustainable materials for our nation’s manufacturers. 

Visit the MatWA – Materials Education (MatEdU) page where you will see the “JCDREAM Modules button” as shown in the image below. Click that button and a list of modules will pop up listing each module and the PDF or PPT files ready for download. The four new modules mentioned above are also on that list. 

Screenshot of the Materials Washington page that shows the JCDREAM Modules button that leads you to the current list of educational modules.

These nine modules were published in March 2022. They are available on the page above.

  1. Introduction to Magnetic Composites
  2. Additive Manufacturing of Magnetic Materials
  3. Fused Filament Manufacturing of Magnetic Composites
  4. Lithium, The 3rd Element
  5. 3D Printing Filament Recycling and Reuse
  6. Very Berry Solar Cells
  7. The Global Impact of Design and Innovation
  8. Videoing Individual Relationships with Earth’s Elements and Materials
  9. Evaluating the Next Generation of Solar Cells

With billions of dollars about to supercharge materials science research and other critically needed areas, MatEdU plans to keep the educational resources available for up and coming technician programs at U.S. community and technical colleges, as well as 4-year institutions.

Additional resource for those wanting to know more about the CHIPS Act activity. The Commerce Department has launched a website, CHIPS.gov, that will serve as the central hub for implementation resources, including funding opportunities and timelines.