The U.S. Army and the U.S. Office of Naval Research have turned to the University of Central Florida to help push the limits of additive manufacturing, commonly known as 3-D printing with metallic alloys.
Additive manufacturing looks to use different metallic alloys to print a variety of finished components used in everything from children’s toys to aircraft and naval ships, which is why the armed services are interested in seeing the industry advance. The UCF process, once perfected, promises to be more efficient and mobile.
Yongho Sohn, a Pegasus Professor in the College of Engineering and Computer Science and associate director of the Materials Characterization Facility, is leading work on overcoming the challenges associated with using metallic alloys. With the Army and Navy’s nearly $5 million in grants over the next five years, he expects to be able to accelerate breakthroughs in this area, something that’s been the focus of his 18-year career at UCF.
“Additive manufacturing technology offers unprecedented capability for agility, customization, delivery and, most importantly, design possibilities unexplored due to conventional manufacturing limitations,” Sohn said. “This is a disruptive technology that can change how we manufacture things and, equally important, how we educate and train the next generation of our technology workforce.”
Much like personal printers, toners (the alloy powders) in additive manufacturing determine the range and quality of the materials that can be printed and the resolution of the finished products.
Sohn is working with a team that is exploring the development of new alloys specifically for some of the most technically challenging applications required by Army and Navy.
UCF is positioned to make leaps in this field because of Sohn’s expertise and the resources in his laboratory. It is one of a few university labs in the nation to have the tools to investigate the complete manufacturing process for metallic alloys from powders to finished components.
“Literally we can design a new alloy composition to try by lunch time, make the new alloy into powder form and feed it into the 3-D printer before going home, and have a component printed out when we return to work the next morning so we can run a variety of characterization/testing,” he said.
He is collaborating with Ranganathan Kumar from UCF’s mechanical and aerospace engineering program, Hae-Bum Yun from civil and environmental engineering, and Kevin Coffey and Tenfie Jiang, both from materials science and engineering. External collaborators include scientists from the U.S. Army Research Laboratory and Rajiv Mishra from the University of North Texas.
Students and post docs are also benefiting from this cutting-edge research. Several have been trained to use the equipment and certified to conduct research with it. They include: two research scientists, Le Zhou and Ed Dein in the Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center, one doctoral student, Holden Hyer from materials and science and engineering and one undergraduate, Sharon Park, a junior in mechanical and aerospace engineering.
technology
Modern Tech Commercials Still Fall Short in Diversity, Study Finds
ORLANDO ‑ Recent commercials from major technology firms fail to represent diversity of genders and races, according to a University of Central Florida study.
Researchers found white and male faces were dominant in 54 commercials from 2012-13 from Apple, AT&T, Hewlett-Packard, Verizon, Microsoft, Comcast, Dell, Intel and Google.
Race was identifiable in 316 of the people featured in the ads. Of these, 68.4 percent were white, 17.4 percent were black, 11.7 percent were Asian/Pacific Islander and 2.5 percent were Hispanic/Latino.
Of the 401 people in the commercials whose gender was identifiable, 58 percent were male. Men also dominated voiceovers in commercials, with just 13 percent featuring a female voice.
“Given these findings, it is possible that video advertisements may not be helping to question stereotypes that contribute to the gap that exists in the field of computer science,” according to the study recently published in Gender Issues.
Just 18 percent of computer science degrees awarded in 2014-15 went to females, and just over 10 percent went to non-white females in that same year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
“We’re not saying that these ads cause women and girls to avoid computer technology and other STEM fields, but they also do little to change these patterns,” said UCF professor and co-author Elizabeth Grauerholz.
Subriena Persaud, a graduate of UCF’s applied sociology master’s degree program who is now a development research analyst at George Mason University, was the lead author of the study. UCF associate professor Amanda Koontz Anthony was also a co-author.
When gender and race were combined, the study found white males were the most represented group at 37.6 percent. The second-most represented group was white females at 31.2 percent, followed by black males at 11.1 percent. Hispanic females were the least represented group at below 1 percent, with Hispanic males represented just slightly more at 2.2 percent.
All of the commercials examined advertised a product or service for these companies.
Men have dominated advertisements for decades, according to literature as far back as 1979 that’s cited in the study. Women often were portrayed as subordinate to men, and would have a feminine touch or would be highly emotional and withdrawn from social interactions, for example.
While progress has been made in equal representation – Microsoft’s “Make What’s Next” campaign that highlights women and girls of various races is a great example, said Grauerholz – there is still room for improvement.
“In many white-and male-dominated fields, there is the assumption that race and gender don’t matter – just talent,” said Grauerholz. “But we know that gender and race shape all interactions, no matter how subtle.”
The researchers hope these findings will spur companies to include more diversity in their advertisements, and that individuals will become more educated consumers.
“Media matters, and as a society, it’s important to open doors to equality, not close them,” said Grauerholz.
Governor Scott's "Fighting for Florida's Future" budget fights to transform state government technology
The Agency for State Technology (AST) today highlighted Governor Rick Scott’s proposed 2017-2018 “Fighting for Florida’s Future” Budget which recommends $75.9 million to help transform state government technology. The “Fighting for Florida’s Future” Budget provides additional resources to address customer agency growth and enhance information technology (IT) security and remediation.
Governor Scott said, “The Agency for State Technology is working to transform state government technology and ensure we are using the safest, most efficient resource to serve Floridians across the state. As AST launches its third year as our state’s information technology resource, these investments will ensure they can continue on their goal to becoming a national leader in government technology.”
Governor Scott’s “Fighting for Florida’s Future” Budget includes:
- $3.5 million to meet the needs of customer agencies;
- $6.6 million to enhance information technology security and remediation; and
- $2.2 million in consolidation savings
“Governor Scott’s commitment to leveraging technology to provide the best and most valuable services for its customers is reflected in this budget. We applaud the Governor for his focus on technology and making sure our agency has the resources we need to effectively and efficiently serve the many agencies and Floridians we are dedicated to assisting,” said AST Executive Director/State Chief Information Officer Jason Allison.
For additional details on the Governor’s budget, visit www.fightingforfloridasfuturebudget.com.
For more information on the Agency for State Technology, visit www.ast.myflorida.com.
