Materialism: A Materials Science Podcast

We have all seen the heat of atmospheric reentry depicted a thousand times in movies and TV shows, but how do we actually protect spacecraft from that danger? Taylor and Andrew sit down with Nate Olson, an aerospace engineer at NASA's Johnson Space Center, to explore the history of thermal protection systems. Nate unpacks the science of surviving atmospheric entry from the simple blunt-body design that made reentry physically possible, to the ~300,000 honeycomb cells hand-caulked with Avcoat on Apollo. We also touch on modern events like the Artemis I heat-shield anomaly and where he believes the technology could be headed. This episode was sponsored by Expert Lab Services. Learn more about their services on their website [ LINK ] The Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Materials Today, an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more. [LINK] Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show! If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at materialism.podcast@gmail.com or connect with us on social media: Instagram, Twitter. Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks, Andrew Falkowski, & Jared Duffy.

What if a materials lab on Earth could screen a hundred alloys a day with little input from the scientist? Taylor and Andrew sit down with Joseph Krause, CEO and co-founder of Radical AI, to dig into what it takes to build a self-driving lab and why most of the field is still missing the hard part. From discovering that flagship SEM and XRD instruments ship with no real data access (and rebuilding their entire OS around the workaround), to MATRIX — their multimodal vision-language model that hones in on a target property in roughly 20 experiments — Joseph walks through the technical bets that got them here. He explains why they're using language-model embeddings to teach Bayesian optimization what "28% titanium" actually means, why "scientific intuition" has to be measured as a delta between human and AI annotations, and why Radical is going all the way to manufacturing instead of licensing compositions — because the real IP, and the only training data that matters, lives on the production floor. Nominations for the Materials Today Rising Star awards are currently open and close on July 31st. If you know an early career researcher in the fields of materials science and engineering you think deserves recognition you can submit them here. [LINK} Check out Radical AI here [LINK] https://www.ses.ai/ This episode of the Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Momentum Transfer. Visit their website for more details about their measurement services. [LINK] The Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Materials Today, an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more. [LINK] Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show! If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at materialism.podcast@gmail.com or connect with us on social media: Instagram, Twitter. Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks, Andrew Falkowski, & Jared Duffy.

What if you could know which batteries are worth building before you actually build them? Taylor and Andrew sit down with Dr. Qichao Hu, founder of SES AI, to explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping battery discovery and his experience in the field. From his decision to ditch solid state electrolytes and double down on liquid, to building a suite of simulation tools that map molecules all the way up to full cell performance. Dr. Hu lays out how SES went from lithium metal battery startup to offering their hard-won design tools as a platform for the rest of the industry. This episode of the Materialism Podcast is sponsored by SES AI. To learn more about their tools and how they can benefit you check out their website. [LINK] This episode of the Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Momentum Transfer. Visit their website for more details about their measurement services. [LINK] The Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Materials Today, an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more. [LINK] Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show! If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at materialism.podcast@gmail.com or connect with us on social media: Instagram, Twitter. Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks, Andrew Falkowski, & Jared Duffy.

The fanciest suit isn't on the runway, it's in orbit. In this follow-up episode, Taylor and Andrew bring back Kate Winning from Oxford Space Systems to dive into the world of space textiles. From the knitted gold-plated mesh antennas that fold up for launch and deploy to the size of a room, to the 14-layer suit that keeps astronauts alive. Learn why tungsten makes a better yarn than you'd expect, how ancient crafts still have a place in high tech manufacturing, and why the hardest part of a spacesuit might just be the gloves. Thanks to Kate from Oxford for talking to us. Learn more about Oxford Space Systems here [LINK] Taylors sweater video [LINK] This episode of the Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Momentum Transfer. Visit their website for more details about their measurement services. [LINK] The Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Materials Today, an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more. [LINK] Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show! If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at materialism.podcast@gmail.com or connect with us on social media: Instagram, Twitter. Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks, Andrew Falkowski, & Jared Duffy.

Textiles are all around us, they are literally woven into nearly every part of our daily lives. From the everyday materials in the clothes we wear to the specialty materials in parachutes, spacesuits, and even bulletproof armor. They play a bigger role than we often think about but what exactly is a textile? We sit down with Kate Winning from Oxford Space to explore the world of textiles, breaking down the different types, how they are turned from fiber into usable materials, and their wide-ranging applications. Sparks Death Star Sweater [LINK] This episode of the Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Momentum Transfer. Visit their website for more details about their measurement services. [LINK] The Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Materials Today, an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more. [LINK] Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show! If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at materialism.podcast@gmail.com or connect with us on social media: Instagram, Twitter. Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks, Andrew Falkowski, & Jared Duffy.

Many digital models use hard boundaries to simulate how materials change, but the real world is rarely that clean. Phase field modeling takes a more natural approach, capturing the gradual, messy transitions that actually occur. This makes it ideal for simulating things like crack growth or dendrite formation. Taylor sits down with Dr. Jake Bair , an assistant professor at Oklahoma State University to discuss how it works and the history behind it. Link of NISTs Phase Field Hub [HERE] This episode was Sponsored by California Nanotechnologies. Check out their upcoming SPS/FAST Experts Workshop in beautiful San Diego at the link. [HERE] This episode of the Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Momentum Transfer. Visit their website for more details about their measurement services. [LINK] The Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Materials Today, an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more. Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show! If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at materialism.podcast@gmail.com or connect with us on social media: Instagram, Twitter. Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks, Andrew Falkowski, & Jared Duffy.

Having access to advanced characterization tools sounds great but sadly they aren't easily attainable. Momentum Transfer seeks to remedy this by offering mail-in access to synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction and scattering measurements. Taylor sits down with Dr. Maxwell Terban co-founder of Momentum Transfer to go over the technology and his history with it. They also discuss some interesting uses of the technology including the characterization of Neanderthal campfire ash. This episode of the Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Momentum Transfer. Visit their website for more details about their measurement services. [LINK] he Materialism Podcast is sponsored by the American Ceramics Society. Visit them, at ceramics.org/materialism to unlock full access to the Bulletin with a free ACerS membership. The Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Materials Today, an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more. Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show! If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at materialism.podcast@gmail.com or connect with us on social media: Instagram, Twitter. Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks, Andrew Falkowski, & Jared Duffy.

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to pioneers in the field of MOFs, but what exactly is a MOF? We sit down with Dr. Matthew J. Cliffe, an associate professor at the University of Cambridge, to discuss what makes metal–organic frameworks deserving of a Nobel Prize. Our conversation ranges from their potential role in capturing CO₂ from the atmosphere to the unique methods used to characterize these remarkable materials. Matthew's faculty page [LINK] This episode is sponsored by the American Ceramics Society Learning Center. Visit ceramics.org/materialism to learn more or use code MATERIALISM to get $100 off your next On-Demand course registration. This Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Materials Today , an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more. Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show! If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at materialism.podcast@gmail.com or connect with us on social media: Instagram , Twitter . Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks, Andrew Falkowski, & Jared Duffy. https://www.msm.cam.ac.uk/people/academic-staff-overview/cliffe

3D printing and SPS(Spark Plasma Sintering) are two incredible techniques that are best suited for different purposes, but what if there was a way to combine them to open up a whole new world of possibilities. We sit down with Christopher Melnyk, Director of Business Development at CalNano to talk about how they are achieving this combination. We explore the different parts that make up this new hybrid approach as well as the possible use cases that exist. This episode was Sponsored by California Nanotechnologies. Check out their upcoming SPS/FAST Experts Workshop in beautiful San Diego at the link [[HERE]( https://www.calnanocorp.com/spsworkshop )]. The Materialism Podcast is sponsored by the American Ceramics Society. Visit them, at this link [HERE] to unlock full access to the Bulletin with a free ACerS membership. This Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Materials Today, an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more. Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show! If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at materialism.podcast@gmail.com or connect with us on social media: Instagram, Twitter. Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks, Andrew Falkowski, & Jared Duffy.

There’s a lot more to gems than just sparkly rocks. While we can’t promise they’ll cleanse bad vibes, we can dive into the incredible science behind them. In this episode, Andrew and Taylor chat with Mubashir Mansoor, a gemologist and PhD candidate in Materials Science at Istanbul Technical University, to uncover the rich past of gemstones and how they are shaping the future. From restoring a man’s sight to a possible future in quantum computing, these crystals hold more secrets than you’d think. We trace the evolution of gem technology, from bamboo rods and coal to high-tech scanners that can spot microscopic flaws and reveal exactly where a gem was mined. Most importantly we discuss how gemologists are looking for help from materials scientists and engineers to help crack the secrets of these sparkly rocks. Diamonds are Forever: The Evolution of the Bionic Eye [ LINK ] This episode is sponsored by the American Ceramics Society Learning Center. Visit ceramics.org/materialism to learn more or use code MATERIALISM to get $100 off your next On-Demand course registration. This Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Materials Today , an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more. Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show! If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at materialism.podcast@gmail.com or connect with us on social media: Instagram , Twitter . Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks, Andrew Falkowski, & Jared Duffy.

You may not think of glass production as a significant source of CO₂, but the stats may surprise you. Enter Penn State and their LionGlass, a phosphate-based glass that not only lowers the temperature needed for forming, but also avoids the CO₂ emissions that come from the carbonate materials used in conventional glassmaking. We sit down to discuss the recently published paper on this new glass and how its properties compare to the glass we use every day. The Materialism Podcast is sponsored by the American Ceramics Society. Visit them, at this link [ HERE ] to unlock full access to the Bulletin with a free ACerS membership. This Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Materials Today , an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more. Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show! If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at materialism.podcast@gmail.com or connect with us on social media: Instagram , Twitter . Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks, Andrew Falkowski, & Jared Duffy.

Seeing atomic scale interactions in real time may sound like science fiction, but operando TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy) has made it science fact. Unlike traditional TEM, which looks at static samples, operando TEM enables scientists to watch materials evolve dynamically while they undergo reactions. In this episode, we sit down with Patricia Kooyman, a professor at the University of Cape Town, to explore the science behind this technique as well as her unique history with it. This episode is sponsored by Momentum Transfer. They have an upcoming Powder Diffraction workshop at Politecnico di Bari in Italy. This 3 day workshop runs from September 29th to October 1st, 2025. Find more info [HERE] . This episode is sponsored by the American Ceramics Society Learning Center. Visit ceramics.org/materialism to learn more or use code MATERIALISM to get $100 off your next On-Demand course registration. This Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Materials Today , an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more. Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show! If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at materialism.podcast@gmail.com or connect with us on social media: Instagram , Twitter . Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks, Andrew Falkowski, & Jared Duffy.

We are surrounded by processed and packaged food, but how did we get here? Inspired by "The Material Advantage " by Bernie Bulkin, Taylor and Andrew explore the topic of food packaging. From prizes offered by Napoleon to patent theft, the history of food packaging is an interesting one. Thanks to Bernie Bulkin for sending us copies of the book to read. You can find an Amazon Link to the Book [HERE] The Materialism Podcast is sponsored by the American Ceramics Society. Visit them, at this link [ HERE ] to unlock full access to the Bulletin with a free ACerS membership. This Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Materials Today , an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more. Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show! If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at materialism.podcast@gmail.com or connect with us on social media: Instagram , Twitter . Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks, Andrew Falkowski, & Jared Duffy.

Glass is all around us but you may not spend much time thinking about it's history and advancements. In this episode we sit down with Colin Schmucker and Dr. Sebastian Leukel from SCHOTT AG to discuss this common but fascinating material. From naturally occurring glass formed by lightning to stained glass windows in cathedrals, glass has been apart of human history forever. We explore some of the advancements that helped make glass more versatile for use in cookware and cell phones. This episode was sponsored by SCHOTT AG, you can find more about their products at this link [HERE] . The Materialism Podcast is sponsored by the American Ceramics Society. Visit them, at this link [ HERE ] to unlock full access to the Bulletin with a free ACerS membership. This Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Materials Today , an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more. Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show! If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at materialism.podcast@gmail.com or connect with us on social media: Instagram , Twitter . Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks, Andrew Falkowski, & Jared Duffy.

From glowing plastic stars on bedroom ceilings to quirky novelty items, most of us have encountered the magic of things that shine in the dark but what’s really behind the glow? Andrew and Taylor dive into the science of photoluminescence, breaking down the physics of how it works and the materials that make it possible. Join them as they explore the two main glow-in-the-dark methods—phosphorescence and fluorescence—and reveal what makes each one shine. This episode of the Materialism Podcast is sponsored by the American Ceramics Society. Check out the ACerS learning center with over 20+ On-Demand Courses on topics such as the fundamentals, research, manufacturing, and more. Visit them, at this link [ HERE ] for $100 off your next On-Demand course registration with the ACerS Learning Center. The Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Materials Today , an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show! If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at materialism.podcast@gmail.com or connect with us on social media: Instagram , Twitter . Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks, Andrew Falkowski, & Jared Duffy.

Just because the temperature is rising doesn’t mean your electric bill has to. Introducing cooling paints: Jared and Andrew discuss how painting your house with specialized coatings can noticeably reduce the temperature. We dive into the physics behind these paints and the materials that make them possible. We explore topics ranging from common pigments to health concerns over VOCs and Nanoparticle inclusion. The Materialism Podcast is sponsored by the American Ceramics Society. Visit them, at this link [ HERE ] to unlock full access to the Bulletin with a free ACerS membership. This Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Materials Today , an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more. For this episode we read through [this article] in our research. Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show! If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at materialism.podcast@gmail.com or connect with us on social media: Instagram , Twitter . Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks, Andrew Falkowski, & Jared Duffy.

Few things in materials science are more interesting and rewarding than discovering new materials. In this episode, Taylor and Andrew sit down with Paul Canfield, a physicist from Ames Laboratory to discuss materials discovery—and the creative ways he writes about it. From cooking metaphors to "shaving the dice" to beat nature, they dive into the colorful word choice he uses to bring his work to life.. This episode of the Materialism Podcast is sponsored by the American Ceramics Society. Check out the ACerS learning center with over 20+ On-Demand Courses on topics such as the fundamentals, research, manufacturing, and more. Visit them, at this link [ HERE ] for $100 off your next On-Demand course registration with the ACerS Learning Center or use code MATERIALISM. The Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Materials Today , an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show! If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at materialism.podcast@gmail.com or connect with us on social media: Instagram , Twitter . Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks, Andrew Falkowski, & Jared Duffy.

What if you could find materials with tailored properties without ever entering the lab? We sit down with Tian Xie from Microsoft to discuss their new AI tool MatterGen. We learn all about what the tool does and the tests they put it through to validate the output. We also discuss the new Azure AI Foundry where they plan to have MatterSim and MatterGen interact and support each other. This Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Materials Today , an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more The Materialism Podcast is sponsored by the American Ceramics Society. Visit them, at this link [ HERE ] to unlock full access to the Bulletin with a free ACerS membership. MatterSim page on Azure AI Foundry Azure AI Foundry Labs Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show! If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at materialism.podcast@gmail.com or connect with us on social media: Instagram , Twitter . Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks, Andrew Falkowski, & Jared Duffy. Keywords: Microsoft MatterSim MatterGen

Have you ever read a published paper and wished you had access to the raw data? The journal Integrating Materials and Manufacturing Innovation (IMMI) seeks to solve that issue. Taylor, the current Editor-in-Chief, sits down with Chuck Ward( Previously Chief of Manufacturing and Industrial Technologies at AFRL and outgoing Editor-in-Chief at IMMI) to discuss how IMMI is different from other journals. They cover the history of IMMI, the use cases of the journal, and also some exciting news about Taylor and his position with the journal. This Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Materials Today , an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more You can find out more about IMMI by clicking here . Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show! If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at materialism.podcast@gmail.com or connect with us on social media: Instagram , Twitter . Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks, Andrew Falkowski, & Jared Duffy. Keywords: Manufacturing Publishing Scientific Journals

How do we turn plants into plastics and polymers? Find out in this episode as Taylor leaves Utah and ventures to Washington to sit down with Eleftheria Roumeli, an assistant professor at the University of Washington and researcher in the field of biomatter. Learn all about how a fish tank full of "gross" bacteria can be used to create complex and surprisingly strong shapes or about how Eleftheria's research group forages around local shores for seaweed to get the necessary biological materials. Finally we cap it off with a discussion about the environmental impact these materials have and how we should be evaluating their footprint. Relevant Articles: Eleftheria's Research Group [LINK] Fabricating Strong and Stiff Bioplastics from Whole Spirulina Cells [LINK] The role of biomolecular building blocks on the cohesion of biomatter plastics [LINK] Progress in Sustainable Polymers from Biological Matter [LINK] This Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Materials Today , an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show! If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at materialism.podcast@gmail.com or connect with us on social media: Instagram , Twitter . Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks, Andrew Falkowski, & Jared Duffy. Keywords: Plants Biomatter Biopolymers Bioplastics