THE MELODIES OF MATERIALS
Materials science is at the heart of innovation, shaping the tools and technologies of our modern world. Let's dive into the intricacies behind the materials that define the music and sounds of our lives.
7/23/2025 ⋅ By Rishi Pai ⋅ 8 min read
The Eisenman Materials Camp Experience - 2025
Photo Gallery at the Camp
This summer, I had the opportunity to attend the ASM Eisenman Materials Camp, and it was honestly one of the most engaging academic experiences I’ve had so far. Held from July 13–18, 2025, at the ASM International Headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, the week brought together 28 other top high school juniors and seniors from around the United States who all shared a deep curiosity for science and engineering. We spent the week diving into the world of materials science, exploring metals, polymers, ceramics, and failure analysis through engaging, hands-on labs, expert-led lectures, and even real-world case studies. Not only did the camp expand my technical knowledge, but it also gave me a new appreciation for how materials impact everything we use and rely on every day.
A New Way of Thinking
From the very first night, I realized this camp wasn’t going to be about memorizing definitions or sitting through basic lectures. It was all about hands-on learning and thinking like a real engineer. On the first evening, as somewhat of a warmup activity, we took apart a leafblower and identified different materials inside: steel, copper, ABS plastic, and ceramics. The mentors gave us the opportunity to explore why each one was used and present our findings. That alone made me start noticing materials in everyday objects around me in a completely different way.
Throughout the week, we had a mix of lectures and lab-based activities. One morning we cast pewter into molds, another we fractured food to demonstrate different kinds of material failures. In the mornings, we listened to expert lectures covering a wide-range of topics such as steel, corrosion, phase changes, failure analysis, and polymers. There was a clear focus on how materials behave under different conditions, and how their internal structures define their strength, brittleness, flexibility, or resistance to wear.
The Main Project: Deep Diving into Failure Analysis
The highlight of the entire week, though, was the failure analysis project. My group, the Red Team, was assigned an M20 U-Bolt from the CAT Challenger Tractor. It sounds simple at first, but our job was to analyze how and why it failed, and that meant going through the same process actual engineers would use in industry. The answer wasn’t so simple; it required a different kind of thinking: the thinking of real industry professionals.
We started by visually inspecting the bolt and taking careful measurements. We noticed cracks near the curve of the U-bolt, away from the threads, which already told us a lot about where the stress had likely been concentrated. Then, using non-destructive tests like dye penetrant and hardness testing, we investigated further before freezing the bolt with liquid nitrogen to break it cleanly and examine the fracture up close.
Over the next few days, we used scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and stereo microscopes to perform fractography and mounted/polished samples in resin to analyze the deepest cracks of the steel. What we found was pretty fascinating: the bolt had suffered from stress corrosion cracking, likely caused by a combination of mechanical stress and chemical exposure during manufacturing.
We even traced it back to a step where the bolt was left too long in a sodium hydroxide bath during plating. This caused hydrogen embrittlement, where hydrogen atoms sneak into the metal’s structure and weaken it. The zinc plating process that followed actually sealed in the damage, which eventually led to the fracture. We concluded that the bolt failed during assembly, not from r or wear, but from how it was processed. And best of all, all of the teams were given the chance to present their research in front of camp members, parents, mentors, and industry professionals.
The Eisenman Class of 2025
Takeaways
What made this project so exciting wasn’t just the tools we got to use (although making liquid nitrogen ice cream was awesome). It was the way we were taught to think: observe carefully, ask good questions, and back up every conclusion with evidence. Whether we were doing microscopy or casting metal or analyzing candy to show ductile vs brittle behavior, the instructors kept encouraging us to connect the activity to real-world materials challenges.
Before this camp, I had a pretty vague idea of how materials science is studied in industry and even what the potential career options were in the field of materials science. Now, I see it as the science of why things work the way they do. And speaking and shadowing a number of mentors that have touched every corner of the field has given me a multi-faceted perspective on the career options that I have in this field. At the end of the day, materials science is at the intersection of chemistry, physics, and engineering, and it’s essential for designing everything from safer airplanes to better batteries.
Looking back, I’m so glad I took the leap and applied to this competitive camp. It gave me a much clearer picture of what engineering can look like beyond textbooks, and I walked away not just with new knowledge but also with confidence in my ability to tackle complex problems step by step.
If you're a high school student who's even a little curious about how materials behave, or you’ve ever wondered why things break, bend, snap, or last forever, I can’t recommend the ASM Materials Camp enough. It’s hands-on, it’s challenging, and most of all, it’s fun (my roommate was pretty amazing too), and at no cost! And who knows? One day I might be the materials scientist investigating a real-world failure, just like I did this summer. But until dhin . . . stay upbeat and stay tuned.