Many rural communities have a great need for expanded access to STEM education. Katrina Donovan, faculty member in the Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, discusses her expansive background across different materials, describes her current research on using local materials to create clays and ceramic glazes, and shares her numerous STEM outreach programs to help inspire and teach students and educators across the state.

View the transcript for this episode here.

About the guest
Katrina Donovan is faculty member in the Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Her current research focuses on using local materials to make clays and ceramic glazes. She is passionate about STEM outreach and runs several different programs to support science education in her local community. Learn about some of these programs: STEM experiences for high school students in partnership with the U.S. Army; National Science Foundation grant to incorporate creative ceramic and glass science elements into the undergraduate materials engineering curriculum; and National Science Foundation grant to establish an educational research experience for students that is tied to local South Dakota geology and culture.

About ACerS
Founded in 1898, The American Ceramic Society is the leading professional membership organization for scientists, engineers, researchers, manufacturers, plant personnel, educators, and students working with ceramics and related materials.

Machine learning has the potential to play a big role in the future of materials discovery and development. Sergei Kalinin, Weston Fulton Professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, shares how his development of advanced scanning probe microscopy techniques led to an interest in machine learning and describes some of the benefits, limitations, and challenges of adopting machine learning for materials research.

View the transcript for this episode here.

About the guest
Sergei Kalinin is Weston Fulton Professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and chief scientist in artificial intelligence and machine learning for physical sciences at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. He previously helped develop several advanced scanning probe microscopy techniques when working at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and he now investigates the use of machine learning methods to improve the technique’s downstream applications for materials discovery and optimization. He taught a course on automated experimentation through the ACerS Online Learning Center in spring 2024, and he will teach another course on scanning probe microscopy this fall.

About ACerS
Founded in 1898, The American Ceramic Society is the leading professional membership organization for scientists, engineers, researchers, manufacturers, plant personnel, educators, and students working with ceramics and related materials.

There are many ways for students and young professionals to network and build relationships with others in the materials science community. Alessandro De Zanet, Materials Research Fellow at Leonardo Labs, explains how networking led to his involvement in the ceramics field, describes some of the communities he’s involved with in ACerS, and previews the reimagined annual student section of the upcoming June/July 2024 ACerS Bulletin.

View the transcript for this episode here.

About the guest
Alessandro De Zanet is Materials Research Fellow at Leonardo Labs in Rome, Italy. His research is focused in two areas: adhesion technologies for coatings and for joining of dissimilar materials, and ceramics and ceramic matrix composites. He is currently chair of ACerS Young Professionals Network, and he will be one of the featured authors in the “Emerging Professionals” section of the upcoming June/July 2024 ACerS Bulletin, which publishes June 6.

About ACerS
Founded in 1898, The American Ceramic Society is the leading professional membership organization for scientists, engineers, researchers, manufacturers, plant personnel, educators, and students working with ceramics and related materials.