MEE provided a virtual 90 minute laboratory course on materials characterization and fracture analysis for students in the Materials Science and Engineering program at the University of St Thomas.  For the past six years, we have hosted the students in our lab for this coursework but current recommendations for physical distancing  required us to created an interactive classroom experience using a videoconferencing service and screen sharing technology.

In the images below, you can see staff engineer Neal Hanke  using a USB digital microscope camera to share visual examinations of fracture features and corrosion morphology on a variety of samples.  Hanke also used live online screen sharing of SEM and EDS imaging to instruct students in the use of these imaging tools and techniques in identifying and characterizing materials. Although we miss the experience of having the students in our laboratory we are pleased that we could facilitate live, remote instruction and analyses.