Richard Sisson Jr., George F. Fuller Professor of Mechanical Engineering, has a gift for boiling things down to their essence, and a sense of humor that comes through even when he's talking shop. His colleague Yan Wang, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and an expert on rechargeable energy cells, is "the battery guy." Diana Lados, associate professor of mechanical engineering and a specialist in metal fatigue and fracture mechanics, "breaks things."
WASHBURN By Alexander Gelfand VIDEO EXTRA
Professor Lados explains why metal parts fail.
But when Sisson claims that he and his fellow metallurgists have magical powers —"We're the wizards and warlocks," he says from his office in the Washburn Shops — one gets the distinct impression that he's only half joking. Metallurgy, the science of creating, processing, and using metal alloys, has been a focus of education and research at WPI since the Institute opened its doors in 1868. Where students once gained hands-on experience working in a foundry and crafting products for sale in the Washburn Shops, faculty and student researchers today advance all aspects of the science and engineering of metals in an impressive array of laboratories in Washburn that fall under the umbrella of the Metal Processing Institute (see sidebar, page 14) and the Manufacturing and Materials Engineering programs, which Sisson directs. Through this research, and through the application of
advanced computational tools, they are taking the theory and practice of materials science and engineering to new places, and to new levels of sophistication. They are, as Sisson says, performing feats of metallurgical magic. Fortu- nately, they only use their powers for good.
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