ASM International Philadelphia Liberty Bell Chapter Newsletter for Thursday, October 20, 2005 Young Members Night

Chairperson's Message
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Young Members Night

By the time you read this, October will be fast-approaching. Your favorite baseball team will either be competing for a playoff berth, or will be forgotten as you turn your attention to football, now a solid month into its own season. Leaves will be turning colors other than green and you will probably have stored away your house's air conditioners, recognizing that the summer heat is gone and not returning, at least not until next year.

Like football, ASM will also be heading full-steam into it's own season, only without so many commercial and/or femur bone breaks. We will have had our first month's technical meeting with ASNT and will be getting ready for the tour of Handy & Harman Tube on October 6th, the Chapter's first plant tour in nearly two years. This month's technical speaker will be Ryan Deacon, a graduate student at my alma mater (and many of yours), Lehigh University in Bethlehem. (We thank the Lehigh Valley Chapter for lending him to us, and look forward to seeing them in November at National Officer's Night.) In addition to his involvement in the space shuttle Columbia failure analysis course, Ryan has also helped to plan and organize Lehigh Valley's Materials Camp for each of the last two years, and was very helpful to those of us in the Philadelphia Chapter who took up this enterprise in 2004-05, one which we intend to be an annual event. So while you're grilling him on technical issue after his talk, make sure to thank him for his help in getting our Materials Camp off the ground.

On a (slightly) sadder note, it is my duty to report that the Philadelphia Liberty Bell Chapter was narrowly edged out for the 2004-05 Chapter of Excellence award by Metro NY/NJ, who repeated as winners of this title. Congratulations to the Metro Chapter, and we look forward to another spirited competition in 2005-06!

Yours truly,
Travis M. Nelson
2005-06 Chapter Chair

This Month's Meeting Features...

Dinner Menu: Buffet - choice of: Italian Meatballs, Smoked Baked Ham w/ Maple Mustard Sauce, Veal Scaloppini, Miniature Crab Cakes, Caesar Salad, Potatoes au Gratin, String Beans Lyonnaise, Brownie Delight, Fresh Fruit Watermelon Boat, Beverage & Rolls

Social Hour -- 6:00-7:00 p.m., Dinner -- 7:00 p.m.

Price -- $24.00, Retirees -- $15.00, Students -- $12.00

Technical Chairperson: Robert Taraborelli, Laboratory Testing Inc.

Meeting Sponsors: Robert Wooler Co., Forensic Sciences, Inc. and Rex Heat Treat

This Month's Meeting Topic...
Failure Analysis of Space Shuttle Columbia Components

Speaker: RYAN DEACON, Lehigh University

Ryan M. Deacon is a doctoral candidate in the Materials Science and Engineering Department at Lehigh University. He received his bachelors and masters degrees in materials science and engineering from Lehigh University in 2001 and 2004, respectively. A member of the Engineering Metallurgy Group, his studies focus on high temperature corrosion, physical metallurgy and electron microscopy. Ryan has served as the co-chairman of the Lehigh Valley ASM Materials Camp since its inception in 2003, is the Vice Chairperson of the Lehigh Valley Chapter of ASM International and is also actively involved with the Graduate Student Senate of Lehigh University. He was recently honored as the youngest recipient of the Lehigh Valley Chapter of ASM Outstanding Young Member Award in November 2004.

TOPIC: Failure Analysis of Space Shuttle Columbia Components

Following the conclusion of the analysis into the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia, a debris loan program was instituted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to allow for the study of the more than 84,000 pieces of debris that were recovered. The purpose of this program is to promote advances in a wide variety of fields, including spacecraft design, materials science, and accident investigation. The Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Lehigh University was the first academic institution granted access to the debris for study. Fifteen pieces of Columbia were analyzed by undergraduate students as part of a senior level failure analysis class. By involving the students in a real world failure analysis problem, they were able to apply their theoretical class work to a major engineering project and experience the pressures of time, security and planning that they will encounter in their future careers. The approach to the course will be reviewed and examples of the analyzed debris will be presented.

Meeting Registration -- Spouses and guests are invited and welcome. This meeting will be held at Williamson Restaurant, Easton Road, Horsham, PA. Reservations are necessary - you may register using our online form, or if you do not have access to the website, or if you have a large group attending, please contact Rob DeKalb at 215-542-7600 to register. Please don't call if you have already reserved via this web site LINK.

Welcome New Members

Catherine I. Joy, Springfield HS
Virginia M. Osterman, Solar Atmospheres Inc.

Upcoming Events. . .

Thursday 10-20-05, Young Members Night, Topic: Failure Analysis of Space Shuttle Columbia Components, Williamson Restaurant, Horsham, PA, 6:00 pm

Thursday 11-17-05, National Officers Night / Joint Mtg. with Lehigh ASM Chapter, Topic: Progress in Growth of Diamond Crystals, Williamson Restaurant, Horsham, PA, 6:00 pm

MEI course - Welding Inspection & Quality Control

The Liberty Bell Chapter of ASM and the Greater Philadelphia Section of ASNT are announcing this year's MEI Course. The first class will be on Tuesday, November 8th at SPS Technologies. [Click Here] for complete details.

Now Sending E-Newsletter

During the 2005-06 Chapter year the Liberty Bell Chapter will have an e-newsletter in addition to the familiar blue mailer. This will allow us to make late additions to the newsletter. Our current closing date is a full 6 or 7 weeks before the monthly meeting to allow time for printing and third class mail. We shoot for having it delivered during the first week of the month. The e-newsletter will close several weeks later. This will also give you a choice of how you wish to receive the chapter news.

We are planning to include business card size ads in the e-newsletter. You can run an ad for a one time fee of $100 for 8 placements This is a very economical way to reach the 400 Philadelphia ASM members with e-mail. If you wish to run a one time job placement ad, those ads can be run for a monthly fee of $25. Contact Jim Watters or Anna Whitehead for more information.

Support Your Local Chapter

by advertising in the 2004-2005 Liberty Bell Chapter Yearbook. Please contact Mike Drakeley at 215-721-1502 x 213 or mjd@solaratm.com to reserve your space..

Mission Statement

The Philadelphia "Liberty Bell" Chapter of ASM International supports the development and continuance of the materials industry in the Philadelphia area. Chapter activities strive to inform the local technical community of new developments in materials, raise the visibility of the materials industry, provide educational opportunities in materials technology, recruit new people and organizations into materials-related activities, and provide networking opportunities for members of the materials community. The Chapter works with ASM International to use our joint resources to accomplish this mission.

Changes To Your Membership Information

Any Chapter Member who needs to make a change to their membership listing or to their company affiliation listing must call Membership Service, ASM International at 1-800-336-5152 or use the ASM website at www.asminternational.org. This will permanently update your information.

We depend on ASM International to receive our updated mailing list for this newsletter. So please do not sent information to the return address on this newsletter.

Meeting Cancellation Notification

In the event of cancellation of a meeting due to inclement weather, we will broadcast the news as part of KYW News radio's (1060AM) Storm Center Service. ASM cancellations will be specifically announced when KYW airs community cancellations at :20 and :50 past each hour during the afternoon of the day of the meeting. ASM's name will be specifically mentioned, so listen for the name rather than an organization number as is used for schools.

Do you have news...

that should be shared with the other members of the "Liberty Bell" Chapter? If so, please email your info to Anna Whitehead at aj.whitehead@att.net. Be sure to add the phrase "Item to add to the ASM Chapter newsletter" in the subject line. We'll be sure to include it in the next monthly Chapter newsletter.

For more info about the ASM Liberty Bell Chapter. . .

Contact Chapter Chairperson Travis M. Nelson at 215-631-7111 x 103 or email: tnelson@materialsresources.com.

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