Steve and Tim talk with Professor Rob Beck at the University of Michigan. Rob and Steve teach a joint course combining MSE with Archaeology & Anthropology to teach materials engineering students about the humanities and to teach humanities students about engineering. The course is called "Making Things: Three Million Years of Materials and Culture". It is based on work that Kevin Jones (see podcast episode S1E8) did in his Impact of Materials on Society project. This version was reworked with Archaeology instead of the Sociology. We discuss all aspects of the course, including many tangents into the wild world of materials history and culture!

You can find our more about Rob here:
https://lsa.umich.edu/anthro/people/faculty/archaeological-faculty/rabeck.html

The article about Rob's work in Cahokia that he talks about at the end of the podcast can be found here (highly recommended reading):
https://lsa.umich.edu/lsa/news-events/lsa-magazine/lsa-magazine-archive/spring-2025/notes-from-underground.html

Rob is also Curator of the UM Museum of Anthropological Archaeology: https://lsa.umich.edu/ummaa

You can find a video where Rob and Steve talk about the course for a virtual talk they presented on the meaning of social learning here:
https://youtu.be/osBdpU5VA_s

A video introducing the course from a few years ago can be found here:
https://youtu.be/e82iosMorBo

The YouTube video can be found here:
https://youtu.be/nxeVc67cLkk

Our YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.Materials

This episode is sponsored by the TMS Foundation and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Tim and Steve interview Dr. Tricia Nguyen about her career in textiles that evolved from her degrees in Materials Science & Engineering. She currently owns and operates a historical embroidery company, Thistle Threads: https://thistle-threads.myshopify.com/pages/about-us . If you're interested in learning more, you can even take classes in historical needlework projects at her online university! https://thistle-threads.thinkific.com/ . We also discuss the implications of her research for STEM education and how we can engage more women in STEM careers.

The YouTube video can be found here:
https://youtu.be/BkTVetZBhv0

Our YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.Materials

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Steve and Tim talked with Professor Ivan Baiges from University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez about the new undergraduate program he and his team developed called Sustainability Engineering. He described the need for such a program, especially in Puerto Rico, as well as how he went about assembling a team of faculty to do the hard work of creating new courses, convincing administrators, and making it happen. He suggested several books that inspired him, and he recommends them to all interested in Sustainability Engineering.

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/DB3lG_fE9L0

Here is his reading list:
On the subject of “Emergy or Embodied Energy

Environment, Power, and Society for the Twenty-First Century: The Hierarchy of Energy Illustrated Edition; by Howard Odum (Author)ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780231128872

Emergy or EMbodied/EMbedded energy is based on the concept that the value of something (ecosystem, products/materials, services, built environment, etc.) is based on the amount of resources/energy that goes into creating that something, instead of how much one is willing to pay for it. This is an excellent method to understand the actual value of any given material solution.

On the subject of Economics in a different light:
Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered by E. F. Schumacher (Author)
Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist by Kate Raworth (Author)
Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution by Paul Hawken , Amory Lovins, L. Hunter Lovins (you can download the whole book in pdf format at https://www.natcap.org/ )

On circular design and the circular economy:
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, by William McDonough and Michael Braungart
The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability--Designing for Abundance, by William McDonough and Michael Braungart
Circular Economy, Ellen MacArthur Foundation https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/circular-economy-introduction/overview

You can find more about Ivan at this link: www.linkedin.com/in/ivan-baiges-valentin-023106223; email ivan.baiges@upr.edu

You can find more about the U. Puerto Rico Mayaguez Sustainability Engineering here: https://www.uprm.edu/isos/en/ (ISOS stands for Ingenieria de Sostenibilidad or Sustainability Engineering)

You can find more about the U. Puerto Rico Mayaguez here: https://www.uprm.edu

Our YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.Materials

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).