06/15/2024 | Aktuelles

Institute of Materials Engineering represented at MI(N)T-Mach-Saturday

On June 15, the University of Kassel hosted the second MI(N)T-Mach-Saturday at the Wilhelmshöher Allee site. The wide range of offers from companies, schools and institutions in the region relating to STEM subjects (mathematics, computer science, natural sciences, technology) was accepted by numerous families and interested parties. The program ranged from a simulator for virtual welding and augmented reality glasses to the investigation of bending beams made of chocolate. We from the Institute of Materials Engineering https://www.uni-kassel.de/maschinenbau/institute/werkstofftechnik were also represented with various hands-on activities.

Julia Richter, Lisa Ott and Johanna Frenck (photo from left) had a lot of fun presenting the Institute's research topics to the visitors and were delighted with the many interested people at their stand. Here, the mainly younger visitors were able to diligently microscope and also see how copper coins are "dyed" gold. In addition to a corroded steel pipe and a copper coin, any object within reach of the microscope could be examined under the microscope. There were no limits to the imagination of the little ones, who were able to examine clothing, skin and even jewelry. The microscope, which is an elementary tool for material analysis, aroused great interest among the visitors and was therefore in constant use.

The three women were also "on the trail of the secret of corrosion", as advertised on their poster. Copper coins were coated with a layer of zinc in an alkaline zinc powder suspension. The coins were then held in a burner flame, causing the zinc layer to react with the copper layer on the coin to form a brass alloy.