Date

Subject

Speaker/Affiliation

Sept. 2003

Talk: Space Systems Loral Flight Experiments

Certain aspects of the space environment cannot be simulated on Earth with sufficient fidelity. These include the radiation environment and contamination environment.  Evaluation of new spacecraft technologies relative to these environments thus needs to be conducted in space.  Several flight experiments are being conducted by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) to demonstrate the performance of three new spacecraft technologies.  SS/L has material coupons on the International Space Station that will demonstrate patented radiation shielding materials in a Low Earth Orbit environment.  Another flight experiment is comprised of a pallet, installed on an SS/L-owned satellite, which demonstrates in a Geostationary Orbit, radiation shielding materials, as well as new thermal control coatings and a solar cell concentrator concept. These experiments will be described in the presentation

John Kespradist, Space Systems Loral

Mr. Kesapradist has worked as an Engineering Specialist at Space Systems/Loral since 1997.  He specializes in the application of advanced composite materials in Research and Development efforts. His work in composite materials include composites for: radiation shielding, RF applications, heat transfer, and thermal expansion control. He has developed two flight experiments for space environments.  Previously, Mr. Kesapradist worked at Research Opportunities, Inc., where he worked with high modulus, high thermal conductivity composites and developed a materials database for those materials. Mr. Kesapradist has an MS degree in Materials Science, with emphasis in composite materials, from UCLA; and a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering, with emphasis in mechanical design, from UC Irvine

Oct. 2003

Tour: 2Phase Technologies

Nearly everything that is manufactured requires tooling to form the desired shape. 2Phase Technologies has developed and patented a rapid tooling system that provides nearly instant manufacture of detailed tools of any size.

With the 2Phase system, tools can be made for fabrication or forming of any shape that can be processed at 350F or lower and at less than 100psi. The tooling can be formed to .005 inch tolerance in less than 5 minutes, and this concept is valid for approximately half of the 16 billion dollar per year US tooling industry that produces non-metal parts, from aircraft components to hearing aides.

The 2Phase tooling system allows pattern shapes to be pressed into a forming bed while the tooling material is in the liquid form, and then the material is consolidated and turned into a rock-like hard state. Once part fabrication is complete the tool may be returned to its liquid like form, readying it to create a tool for a different part. We refer to this as a phase changeable tooling system - from the liquid phase to the solid phase, and back again to the liquid phase.

This technology will replace many very expensive long lead-time metal tools that are used in a variety of applications in aerospace, transportation, medical and many consumer fields. This tooling system is also an obvious choice for prototyping and small production run parts requiring properties that current rapid prototyping systems can't offer. This system offers a low cost approach that can provide very significant savings both in time to market and in out of pocket costs.

Dr. John Crowley is a founder of 2Phase Technologies.

He has held a number of technical management positions in semiconductor capital equipment companies, including startup companies, where he was responsible for developing advanced processes and for insuring that equipment performance achieved product specifications. As an independent consultant for eleven years, he provided his expertise in developing new innovative technologies to his clients in the flat panel display and semiconductor capital equipment areas. His clients have included both large and small companies ranging from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency where he coordinated DARPA funded university programs with U.S. industry needs to Applied Materials where he consulted on issues of engineering work force training and equipment donations to universities. In addition, he served as project manager for thin film photovoltaic development at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), and worked on thin film devices and radiation effects on integrated circuits at the Lockheed Palo Alto Research Laboratory. He received his Bachelors in Electrical Engineering from Marquette University and his MS and Ph.D. degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University.

Dr. Linda Clements is an authority on composite materials, polymers and mechanical testing of materials, and she is currently on the SAMPE® International Board of Directors where she is serving as International Secretary. Dr. Clements is also President of C & C Technologies – a firm that offers project management, training, consulting, and market research in composite materials, polymers, and thin film semiconductors. Dr. Clements served for 10 years as a Professor of Materials Engineering at San Jose State University, with prior experience as an engineer and project leader at NASA-Ames Research Center and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. She has worked on such diverse projects as Trident missile, Space Shuttle, the Air Superiority Fighter, commercial aircraft, wind tunnel development, orthotics and nanotechnology. She received her BS and PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University, and her MSE in Metallurgy and Materials Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. She is an Adjunct Professor in the Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering Department at the University of Nevada Reno and an adjunct faculty member for ASM International.

Talk: Application of Thermoplastic Composites Materials in Aircraft Applications

In the mid to late 1980's continuous fiber thermoplastic composites we hailed to be the next great composites technology with a promise of easy processing, labor savings, re-formability and recyclable. Instead the reality for the products offered at the time was that their processing was more expensive and labor intensive, their reformability was not less than ideal and the recycling was not as clean cut as hoped for.

This situation however has changed drastically with the introduction of Ten Cate Advanced Composites Group, Cetex Thermoplastics Composite Systems. Ten Cate, the parent company of Bryte Technologies, came to the market with a novel concept to take thermoplastic composite material into the production realm and have realized the processing ease, cost savings and performance expected from thermoplastic based systems used in demanding aircraft applications.

Scott Unger, Vice President and COO, Bryte Technologies

Scott received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering Technology from Cal Poly State University in 1985. He was employed at Lockheed Missiles and Space Company from 1985 to 1990. In 1990 he was one of four Lockheed employees to found Bryte Technologies, Inc.

Dec. 2003

Talk: From Seaplane To Spy Plane: The History Of Aviation In Northern California

Bob Michael will highlight key contributions to aviation in the Bay Area, including the seaplane that Alan and Malcolm Lockheed built and flew in San Leandro Bay. Michael also will discuss one of the Lockheed brothers' original engines and the YO-3A, the "Quiet Star" that Lockheed Missiles & Space Company built clandestinely in Palo Alto for the U.S. Army. The presentation will include models of various aircraft and a video of Boeing's Condor spy plane, which is on exhibit at Hiller Aviation Museum at San Carlos Airport.

Robert Michael, Hiller Aviation Museum

Now a member of the Hiller Aviation Institute & Museum's Exhibits and Marketing Committees, Bob Michael worked as a design specialist and handled public relations activities at Hiller Aircraft Corporation in the 1950s and 1960s. He subsequently spent 29 years as a design/research specialist for Lockheed Martin in Sunnyvale. In addition, Michael taught courses in the General & Computer Sciences Engineering Department at San Jose State University. He also is a registered professional engineer in the State of California.

Dinner slide show by Wally Hansen, NorCalSAMPE Program Chair In commemoration of the 100^th anniversary of the Wright Brothers First Flight on The Wright Brother’s Development of the First Airplane.

Jan. 2004

28th Annual Composites Workshop Program

"Bonding -- Water – Adhesion"

Dr. George Epstein, Composites and Adhesives Newsletter

NDT of Composites via Laser Shearography

Mr. John Newman, Laser Technology, Inc.

Advanced Aerospace RTM Techniques

Mr. Gary Sharpless, Fiber Innovations

Design of Bonded Structures

Professor Keith Kedward, University of California at Santa Barbara

"Winning at Poker and Succeeding in Life"

Dr. George Epstein

Composite Thermophysical Properties

Dr. Ernest Wolff, PMIC

Fatigue of Wind Turbine Blades

Mr. Herb Sutherland, Sandia

Aquarius - Economic Value of a Consumables Launcher

Mr. Andy Turner, Space Systems/ Loral

"Playstation" Materials and Construction of a World Record Holding Catamaran.

Mr. Wally Hansen, Ultracor, Inc.

Chair: Dr. Stan Peters, Process Research Inc.

Feb. 2004

Talk: The world of fluoropolymers – Discovered

From the dark and stormy night of April 6th, 1938, when Dr. Roy Plunkett discovered PTFE - the first fluoropolymer, the world has seen new and interesting versions of this material being developed for many unique applications. Over the last sixty years, chemical engineers and chemist have been leading a quiet revolution in their laboratories and evolving this chain of carbon and fluorine atoms into hundreds and thousands of different polymers.

Fluoropolymers, whether plastic or elastomeric, offer unique combinations of properties that are simply unavailable from other types of materials. Coatings that will not burn, films and surfaces with low friction and outstanding release characteristics, electrical wire insulations with outstanding cut through resistance, seals and O-rings that stand up to harsh chemicals and high temperatures - yet remain flexible at freezing temperatures. As a result of these unique properties, fluoropolymers are used in just about every walk of life - architectural membranes, fuel cells, automotive, solar panels, food processing, filtration, aerospace, data communications, and yes, even camping!

Thomas J. Blong, Fluorothermoplastics Group Leader, 3M Dyneon Fluoropolymers

Mr. Blong is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, Institute of Technology. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering with an emphasis in Polymer Science. He joined the 3M Company in 1987 and has spent his entire career in the field of fluoropolymers. He has held various positions in technical service, research, and product development. Tom has been the team leader responsible for developing market driven products such as stress crack resistant, ultra high pure and flexible fluoropolymers. Currently, he is the Group Leader for Application & Product Development of 3M’s Dyneon ™ Fluorothermoplastics. Mr. Blong has authored numerous papers on polymer processing and has over 20 patents that are issued or pending

Mar. 2003

Talk: Structural Health Monitoring using SMART Layer® Technology

Acellent Technologies, Inc. develops and manufactures sensor network products that leverage its proprietary SMART Systems technologies to obtain solutions for real-time structural health monitoring. Acellent’s patented SMART Layer® is a thin dielectric film with an embedded network of distributed piezoelectric actuators/sensors. The novelty of the SMART Layer® lies in its networking capabilities with any type of sensor and elimination of the need to place each type of sensor individually on the structure. Acellent's system can utilize both passive monitoring based on randomly applied external input energy such as externals loads, or active monitoring based on controlled input energy to monitor the structure at any time. The structural diagnostic systems and technology have widespread applications and customers in many major industries.

Dr. Scott O. Peck, Acellent Technologies, Inc.

Dr. Peck is the Business Director at Acellent Technologies, Inc. in Sunnyvale, CA. His responsibilities include developing new opportunities for Acellent's structural health monitoring Smart Layer technology. He is also president of Composite Design in Palo Alto, a small company specializing in methods for the design of new laminated composite materials. Previously, he was manager of Advanced Materials Development at Space Systems/Loral. He has taught courses in mechanical engineering, composite materials, and sandwich structures at Berkeley, San Jose State, and UCLA Extension. He has four US patents awarded, three pending. His interests include plate and shell theories, nonlinear mechanics, tensor analysis, smart materials, and the design of composite materials and structures. Dr. Peck earned a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford, specializing in composite materials, an M.S. from Stanford in Applied Mechanics, and a B.S. from M.I.T. in Metallurgy and Materials Science.

Apr. 2003

Talk: Software and Properties Data for the Selection of Materials in Structural Design

Materials professionals are often surprised by the lack of information technology systems to comprehensively address the needs of their field. After all, isn't materials science and engineering very data intensive? And where are the 'materials equivalents' of CAD and CAE, both now mature offerings that have had a huge impact on engineering and design?

Today’s engineers are confronted by an enormous quantity of information regarding materials in different conditions and environments. This spectrum covers the range: from in-house information generated for specific materials or conditions (and is often specific to the corporation and highly detailed), through to sets of standard reference data purchased from qualified external sources which are relevant to individual sectors (but cover more general materials and their properties).

The Cambridge Engineering Selector is based on the materials selection and structural design methodology developed at Cambridge University and Granta Design by Prof. Mike Ashby and colleagues.

Dr. Will Marsden, Granta Design Limited

Since 2000 Dr. Marsden has been Aerospace and Defence Product Manager, Granta Design Ltd. Prior to his emloyment at Granta, Dr. Marsden was a Principal Materials Specialist at FEA, Ltd, the developers of the LUSAS Finite Element System. From 1996-98 he was a Research Scientist at DERA Farnborough. He obtained his degrees at U. Surrey and conducted Ph.D and post-doc investigations of the growth of damage in a variety of systems, principally, fibre reinforced composites.

Dr. Marsden states, “It had struck me working in my previous positions that (often) those who have materials data do not know what to do with it while those who do not have it, do not know where to get it from. Working for Granta, my role is to understand the frustrations of the engineering community with regard to materials information within some of the largest materials intensive organisations in the world. This is a multi-faceted subject as the expectations of the materials scientists who produce the data are different from the needs of the designers who use the data. The organisation management have a third set of requirements, and there are often other interested parties who are keen to express an opinion.

May 2004

Tour : The Mars Center at NASA Ames Research Center

Located in the former Space Camp tent adjacent to the main entrance to Moffett Field on Moffet Blvd in Mountain View, the Mars Center features interactive displays and exhibits focused on Mars, the Mars Exploration Rover mission and Ames' scientific and engineering roles in Mars missions - both past and present.

The Mars Center at NASA Ames will feature a dynamic array of interactive displays, exhibits and demonstrations designed to excite, inform and educate the public about the mysteries of the red planet. The center's chief goals are to serve as a resource about Mars for the San Francisco Bay area community and to support the agency-wide mission of inspiring the next-generation of explorers.

For this 4:30-6:00 pm special tour, the facility will only be open to Nor Cal SAMPE memberes, family members, and their guests. In appreciation for all of joint Science Fair and student Scholarship activities we sponsor with the Santa Clara Valley chapter of ASMI, members and family of ASMI are also invited to share this tour and subsequent dinner and slide show with us.

Dinner Slide Show by Dr. Frank Crossman on Photographic Views of Mars

This slide show has been presented at the Tech Museum’s Mars Weekend in January and again on May 8^th at the Tech’s Space Day. It encompasses photographic views of Mars from a variety of Mars orbiters, landers, and rovers going back to the Viking Missions in the 1970s and continuing today with three current orbiters and two rovers on the surface of Mars. It includes a subset of images from two Mars Simulation facilities run by the Mars Society in Canada and Utah.