Tag: Metallurgy

Speaking of Gutenberg

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One of the reasons I blog is for “Knowledge Retention.” I want to be sure that the stuff I know and take for granted makes the cut into the electronic realm.

In 5o years or so (the apparent limit of paper’s routine usefulness in my experience) the out of print books with the stuff that I practice will be pretty much lost.

These won't be kept around as "useful."

We think we are living in an information age. Actually, the books that those of us over 50 learned from will be mostly lost, and we will be considered by history to have lived in the last “Dark Age.”

So my blogging is my “Project Gutenberg” for Metallurgy, Machining, Management and this Moment in time in our Market.

What knowledge do you (your people) have that will be lost when you (they) leave? What is your plan for assuring it is not lost?

Disney had a plan. Jobs had a plan.

What’s your plan?

Mine is speakingofprecision.

What Does A Molecule Look Like?

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As machinists, we are used to handling materials in the bulk world.
As machinists, our ease in obtaining productivity is influenced by the microscopic world of phases, microstructures, and chemistry.
Underneath this microscopic world lies the world of molecules  and atoms themselves.
This is the chemical formula for pentacene. It is used in organic thin film transistors.
Pentacene_png
 
 
 
Recently researchers from IBM research team in Zurich used an atomic force microscope to capture an image of a single molecule of this substance.

Compare to the structure above.
Compare to the structure above.

This image of a single molecule shows the five rings of six carbon atoms and suggests the hydrogen bonds along the edges.
The precision needed to resolve at this atomic level requires both extremely high vacuum and frighteningly cryogenic temperatures. And you thought you had temperature control issues in your metrology lab.
Our industry will not be at this atomic-level nanoscale any time soon, at least not for our production processes.
We hope this glimpse of what makes up our material world from the frontiers of science gives you a better appreciation for the work of all the chemists, metallurgists and engineers in the supply chain that produce our raw materials, tools, and metalworking fluids. For all of history, scientists have struggled to  make sense of their observations, develop theory, structure and formulas that made sense. This IBM image confirms that we’re on the right track.
Full story care of BBC .
 
 
 

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