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Turning into the “self-starter” that job ads often seek is one of the benefits of opting for an independent study at Lafayette. Chemical engineering major Sharon Steele of Manheim, Pa., a graduate of Manheim Central High School, is getting a lesson in working on her own, and more, this semester.
“Students learn responsibility, research and investigation, and scheduling in an independent study,” says Steele’s adviser, Mehmet Uz, professor of chemical engineering. “They learn how to start and finish a job, which will be an integral part of their lives. People won’t always be asking them if they’ve finished their homework.”
Focusing on materials in manufacturing, Steele is examining metals, alloys, ceramics, and glasses and their properties, as well as processes such as die-casting, forging, and powder-processing.
“This project is right in line with my major,” says Steele. “We are designing the course as we go, picking which processes we want to investigate, doing some lab work to actually perform the material processing, and picking which direction the investigation takes.”
She says Uz, who specializes in materials, is very helpful in coming up with ideas on how to do the lab work. Lafayette is a good learning environment, Steele says, because “there’s always a professor willing to help out with projects like this.”
Uz has been collaborating on projects involving vanadium-titanium-chromium alloys since 1995 with research partners at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois. He has published more than 20 articles in leading journals and conference proceedings and presented a like number of papers at professional meetings. He has co-organized four international symposia, and chaired or co-chaired several technical sessions at internationally attended meetings.
A member of the Lafayette faculty since 1986, he holds Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. degrees from the University of Iowa.
Steele is a member of the campus chapters of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the Society of Women Engineers. She is captain of the varsity fencing team and leader of the low brass section of the Pep Band. She serves as co-director of costumes for the Marquis Players, a student group that produces and performs an annual musical to raise money for hunger and homelessness causes.
Sharon Steele ’02 used a tensile testing machine to determine the stress level that breaks a material in an independent study guided by Mehmet Uz, professor of chemical engineering.