Minds Over Materials

For the last thirty years, scientists and space nerds alike have been wowed by the beautiful and mysterious images the Hubble Telescope has been beaming back to Earth from its vantage point 340 miles above Earth. But in approximately 100 days, NASA will launch Hubble’s successor - the James Webb Space Telescope, where it will orbit a million miles from Earth and attempt to show scientists the dawn of the universe. 

In this episode, host Marissa Milliron, talks to two Materion team members who have been deeply involved with providing NASA some of the advanced materials from Materion that are part of this technological leap into space - Keith Smith and Martyn Acreman from the Performance Alloys and Composites business.

As the Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G become a reality to provide faster speeds and more data for a virtually connected life, a staggering amount of bandwidth is going to be needed to support them. Currently there are an estimated 20 billion connected devices currently in use worldwide and that number is expected to grow to 34 billion by 2025! Enabling this growth will be a combination of new bandwidths and a new generation of Radio Frequency filters commonly referred to as RF filters. 

In this episode we take a look at Materion’s Scandium doped Aluminum Nitride – the material that is partly responsible for manufacturing the new 5G cellular network, futuristic sensors and communication for the “internet of things,” as well as being a small piece in the design of next-gen sensors, among other really cool technology.  

For over seventy years, Materion Balzers Optics has been a global leader in optical thin film coating solutions. Today they provide innovative optical coatings and solutions for a variety of markets such as Life Science, Industry, Consumer, Lighting, Space, Defense and Automotive.

In this episode, “The Art of Life Science”, our host, Melissa Mahl talks with guests John Freiermuth and Stefan Gliech, both with Materion Optics Balzers, to learn how they enable their Life Science customers to develop technologies that detect disease, prevent illness and improve quality of life through advancements in microscopy and bio photonics.

Materion has a long history of contributing to space programs, including projects for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA). From the Mercury missions in the 1950s and 60s to present day, Materion's advanced materials have proven themselves invaluable for the harsh conditions of space. In this episode, "Materion on Mars", join our host, Melissa Mahl and her guests Dave Harrison, Thomas Weber, Aidan Durack and Keith Smith to learn about the materials each of the company's businesses have on the NASA Mars Rover, Perseverance, and the contributions our experts have made to this mission. We also preview exciting new space ventures the company is involved with.