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Overview

What Is Material Advantage

Material Advantage is a student chapter specifically created for undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in engineering programs who are interested in or would like to learn more about material science and its applications. By exposing students to several of the leading materials-based societies through a single-low cost membership, Material Advantage empowers students to advance their academic careers and create a solid foundation for engaging the world as a professional upon graduation.

Membership Perks

Join Material Advantage

Join Material Advantage at the low cost of $30 per year. This will cover the subscription costs for ACerS, AIST, ASM, and TMS.


Material Designs


In the Area

The towers on the Brooklyn Bridge are constructed of granite, limestone, and cement. The utilized cables are a mixture of steel strands and solid steel poles. In addition, the deck is composed of steel trusses combined with a grid deck manufactured from cured and pre-cast concrete. To make sure the towers were firmly grounded into the East River, wooden boxes filled with concrete, called caissons, were attached to the towers and inserted into the riverbed.

The pedestal of the Statue of Liberty is chiefly made from concrete. The outer portion is covered in granite slabs. The inner portion of the statue is made from a steel frame that is attached to an outer copper shell. Repousse, a method of forcing sheet metal into a mold, was the main technique used to structure the copper shell. A layer of shellac-impregnated asbestos cloth was used to account for the different expansion and contraction rates of copper and steel.

The One World Trade Center is constructed of a composite steel-concrete material, allowing for both resistance from compression and tension. Reflecting on the disastrous events of September 9, 2001, the structure has a dedicated core made of 14,000 psi concrete, the strongest in New York, used to encase a staircase for first responder use. The One World Trade center also exudes an environmentally friendly design where 95% of the steel used in construction was recycled.

The inner skeleton of the Red Bull Arena is supported by 9,000 tons of structural steel. The exterior of the stadium is constructed from three different types of curved fabrics: FEP-coated PTFE mesh, silver metallic colored PTFE glass, and silver metallic-colored PTFE glass mesh. The combined elasticity and strength of the materials support the stadium.

The Liberty Bell, built in England, is composed of 70% copper, 25% tin, and trace amounts of lead, zinc, arsenic, gold, and silver. The bell was created via the casting process, where a mold was used to constrain a heated metal so that it can cool into the shape of the mold and solidify. The bell was recast a second time in the United States with the addition of 10% copper, since many assumed that the bell was too brittle. Regardless, the bell still fractured.

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