97: From The Mandalorian’s Beskar to Thor’s Hammer: MSE in Pop Culture (ft. Dr Suveen Mathaudhu)

In today’s episode, we welcome Dr Suveen Mathaudhu,  an expert metallurgist with nearly 20 years of metals processing experience. With him, we discuss:    🔹️An important material in the show is beskar, which is described as a super-strong and lightweight metal for armor or weapons. Describe the other ties that beskar has to historic real-life materials (cultural, scientific, etc.)?   🔹️Break down how these three aspects:(1) difficulty in processing such a strong material, (2) the idea that  a pure metal is stronger than an alloy, and (3) its resistance to lightsabers & blaster bolts, could be explained using materials science. 🔹What sort of impact The Armorer character will have in both media and STEM itself? 🔹Advice for students that want to improve their ability to use pop culture to disseminate / teach materials science to diverse crowds. 🔹And much more!  Learn more about our MSE Career Development Online Course, which includes more industry-specific information and advice. https://www.mseacademy.com/courses/students-tier-2   Join our Discord community! You can meet other passionate materials scientists and engineers from around the world, discuss the latest breakthroughs in MSE, share materials-related memes, and get career advice from experts in the field.  https://discord.gg/49dCV3W4eN   Check out our MSE-themed merchandise if you want to support us or simply show off your love of materials science! https://www.itsamaterialworldpodcast.com/shop   For shorter segments and full video podcasts, subscribe to our channel on YouTube. For bloopers, audiograms, and interesting materials science articles, follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Feel free to message us on our social media platforms if you have any feedback or recommendations for future episodes, or email us directly at [email protected]. Finally, reach out to David Yeh and Punith Upadhya on LinkedIn if you'd like to chat about the latest breakthroughs in MSE! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpUXt6ui8iC5npSizlfIJ2A  https://www.instagram.com/itsamaterialworldpodcast/  http://linkedin.com/company/it-s-a-material-world-podcast/  https://twitter.com/ItsAMatWorldPod    Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed by either guests or hosts in this show are their own, and do not represent the opinions of the companies or organizations for which they are affiliated.   #materialsscience #beskar #thor #popculture #thorshammer