Researchers from the NC State University Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering brought home the Smart Materials Solutions Best Student Poster Prize at the 2022 Carolina Science Symposium held at McKimmon center last month.
During the symposium MAE Graduate Student Oluwatimilehin Oluwajire presented a poster on his research, entitled “Experimental Validation of the Dynamic Molecular State of moisture in Polymer Composites Using Near Infrared Spectroscopy,” which he co-authored with MAE Associate Professor Landon Grace, along with his fellow graduate students Katie Berkorwitz and Rishabh Guha.
“To address safety, which has for long been a key factor in the design, manufacturing and maintenance of products that are made from composite materials, this research employ Near-Infrared spectroscopy technique for detecting and quantifying molecular states of moisture in polymer composites for sub-micron scale damage detection,” Oluwajire said about the research the team’s paper focused on. “The overarching goal is to monitor and prevent barely visible impact damage from propagating to failure in Polymer Composite Structures.”
The symposium was held on November 18 and was jointly organized by the AVS Mid-Atlantic Chapter, Carolinas Central Chapter of ASM International, and the local Materials Research Society (MRS) chapter. With the support of NC State Analytical Instrumentation Facility (AIF), Research Triangle Nanotechnology Network (RTNN), Nanoscale Fabrication facility, Micross AIT and vendor sponsors; the Symposium brought together over one hundred universities, non-profits, and industry participants from around the Mid-Atlantic region. Speakers and Students from five universities in North Carolina made oral and poster presentations on topics related to materials science, processing, characterization and biomaterials.