In this episode, Michael discusses different aspects of product development, product launch, and post-launch where materials engineering will improve product success. Developing and launching a product can be stressful – there are many decisions, problems to overcome, and risks to mitigate. While we’d like the process to go smoothly and be able to calmly meet deadlines, this usually is not the case – things we didn’t consider pop up or things that shouldn’t have been a problem become a problem.   Many of the decisions, problems, and risks are associated with the materials used in a produ ..read more

In this episode I discuss residual stress in metals  See this blog post on residual stress to learn more about residual stress https://www.imetllc.com/residual-stress-in-metals/ --------------------------- Michael Pfeifer, Ph.D., PE is a metallurgist and metals engineer. He works with design and manufacturing clients to help with Component materials selection Manufacturing process development Supplier evaluation Failure analysis and root cause analysis He received a B.S. and M.S. in Metallurgical Engineering from University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineeri ..read more

In this episode I discuss five key metallurgy concepts that apply to all metals and are necessary to understand to be able to apply metallurgy to Produce stock metal Design and fabricate low-cost, reliable components. Figure out the root cause of component failures and production quality problems. See this blog post on the five concepts to learn more https://www.imetllc.com/five-key-metallurgy-concepts/ --------------------------- Michael Pfeifer, Ph.D., PE is a metallurgist and metals engineer. He works with design and manufacturing clients to help with Component materials selection Manuf ..read more

In this episode I discuss the two fundamental principles that are the foundation of metallurgy and metals engineering. See this blog post to learn more https://www.imetllc.com/two-fundamental-metallurgy-principles/ --------------------------- Michael Pfeifer, Ph.D., PE is a metallurgist and metals engineer. He works with design and manufacturing clients to help with Component materials selection Manufacturing process development Supplier evaluation Failure analysis and root cause analysis He received a B.S. and M.S. in Metallurgical Engineering from University of Illinois and a Ph.D. i ..read more

In this episode I discuss the hydrogen embrittlement mechanism and the engineering steps needed to prevent hydrogen embrittlement of steel fasteners. See our blog post on hydrogen embrittlement to learn more https://www.imetllc.com/steel-hydrogen-embrittlement/ --------------------------- Michael Pfeifer, Ph.D., PE is a metallurgist and metals engineer. He works with design and manufacturing clients to help with Component materials selection Manufacturing process development Supplier evaluation Failure analysis and root cause analysis He received a B.S. and M.S. in Metallurgical Engineering ..read more

In this episode I discuss a lesson I learned from boxing – being purposeful - and how it applies to engineering (and probably other disciplines) and other aspects of life. Check out my articles on the Industrial Metallurgists website https://www.imetllc.com/. --------------------------- Michael Pfeifer, Ph.D., PE is a metallurgist and metals engineer. He works with design and manufacturing clients to help with Component materials selection Manufacturing process development Supplier evaluation Failure analysis and root cause analysis He received a B.S. and M.S. in Metallurgical Engineering f ..read more

In this episode I discuss another failure analysis project I worked on - an equipment reliability problem. This example demonstrates how failure analysis is applied to improve reliability. I also discuss my motivation for working on failure analyses. This episode is a complement to articles and podcasts available on the Industrial Metallurgists website https://www.imetllc.com/. --------------------------- Michael Pfeifer, Ph.D., PE is a metallurgist and metals engineer. He works with design and manufacturing clients to help with Component materials selection Manufacturing process development ..read more

From an engineering perspective, what is a successful product? In this episode I discuss what I think it is and the influence of metals engineering on product success. I also discuss three new resources for learning about successful component design, designing for reliability, and various metallurgy and metals engineering topics that apply to product design and manufacturing. https://www.imetllc.com/designing-optimized-components/ https://www.imetllc.com/design-for-reliability-course/ https://www.imetllc.com/short-course-series-metallurgy-for-successful-products/ This episode is a complement t ..read more

In this episode I discuss learning and professional development. There’s so much to know to be an engineer and college courses cover the tip of the iceberg, even if you go to grad school. I learned this early in my career as I was faced with decisions and problems related to topics that I never encountered in school. I also learned that I had to shoulder the responsibility of learning the topics. Some of the learning came from colleagues, some came from taking short courses, and some came from reading textbooks and technical journals. I this episode I discuss my learning experiences and philos ..read more

In this episode I discuss failure analysis component or joint failures during product testing or use and manufacturing problems such as supplier quality problems and manufacturing output that doesn't meet specifications.  Failure analysis is part of performing a root cause analysis to identify the action, event, or decision that led to a component failing in a product or led to a manufacturing problem. The information from a root cause analysis is used to either fix a problem - in the case of product design and manufacturing - or assign blame - in the case of an insurance claim or litigat ..read more