Minerals as Natural Materials, Materials as Engineered Minerals

NOTE: The 5th Africa MRS conference (plus the 8th Nigerian Materials Congress [NIMACON 2009]) takes place Dec. 14-18, 2009 in Abuja. The theme is "Nanotechnology, Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technology for Africa." I’ve previously blogged on earlier A-MRS conferences. I'll be presenting several papers. I hope to see some of you there.

One question I keep asking myself and others is "What should the meaning of 'the field of materials science and engineering in Africa' be today?" Should we mimic the practice in the advanced countries where minerals are separated from other materials?

Very often at conferences in or about Africa, one sees people repeatedly mention the same problems: water, health, energy, environment, food and agriculture. Never do they mention minerals (e.g., see J. D. Sachs' comments "How Science And Medical Communities Can Help Governments Achieve The Millennium Development Goals" on page 17, the 2005 ASADI (African Science Academy Development Initiative) final conference report.

Yet the news is filled with stories about how African minerals (gold, diamonds, tin, coltan, etc.) are driving violence and many of the civil wars on the continent. I feel very strongly that Africa cannot afford to follow the advanced countries and sever this link between materials and minerals.

In December 2004, I presented at the 3rd US/Africa Implementation Meeting and US/Africa Materials Workshop, in Cairo, Egypt, an NSF-sponsored workshop focusing on sustainable materials processing research. In a talk titled "Minerals as Materials, Materials as Minerals," I presented this idea of the integral connection between the two, one I continue to champion.

Douglas Fuerstenau, continued, Parts 2, 3, and 4

As mentioned in my last blog posting, Douglas W. Fuerstenau was recently honored on his 80th birthday. On the right he is shown in a photo taken several years ago with 3 of his former students, all professors at Penn State (me on the left, Prof. Fuerstenau, Prof. Richard Hogg, and the late Prof. Subhash Chander.)

My written tribute to DWF recalled how in graduate school I knew that he was very, very busy, but whenever I went to his office I always felt he was 100% there for me. Later, as I got older and went to conferences I was always struck by how attentive he was in listening to people’s presentations. . . Prof. Fuerstenau was a mentor long before the word became a cliché. It has been my good fortune to learn firsthand from him how a research group can become a genuine academic family.

In Part 1, DWF talked about the mentors in his professional life.
Below are the remaining video clips taken from his remarks at the symposium held in California in December, 2008.

Part 2: Approach to Research


Part 3: Evolution of Research Topics


Part 4: The Future of Minerals/Materials Processing

Douglas Fuerstenau: Giant of Minerals/Materials Processing

In December, 2008, about 70 of his former PhD students, friends, and family gathered near the University of California, Berkeley, to celebrate Professor Douglas W. Fuerstenau's (DWF) 80th birthday.

I don't believe I knew of DWF's existence when I was an undergraduate at Berkeley in the late 1960s. He was on leave and his course "Particulate Materials Processing" was taught by Prof. Klaus Schonert of Germany. When considering graduate school I talked with my instructors about possible options. I wanted to specialize in an area relevant to Africa. High voltage electron microscopy, an area where Berkeley was then a world leader excited me, but I could not see how to pursue this research area once I was back in Africa. My professors suggested I consider the University of British Columbia (Prof. Peters' hydrometallurgy school), and the Henry Krumb School at Columbia University. Eventually one of the professors asked "Have you talked to Prof. Fuerstenau?" I replied "Who is he?"

I was extremely fortunate that I became his graduate student and it was an honor to be a part of this DWF@80 celebration. My wife Fran accompanied me and spontaneously captured the words of wisdom from this giant of the broad field of minerals and materials processing and engineering on her digital camera. With permission from DWF, I am honored and pleased to share his reflections. Below is the first of 4 parts that I will be posting.