Science as Art: Microscopy Image Competition (2019)
Each year the Materials Science and Engineering Graduate Student Board hosts a competition for the most stunning images in electron or optical microscopy taken on NMCF instrumentation. The images are evaluated not on their scientific merit, but on their artistic aesthetic. This year's winning micrographs are all scanning electron microscopy images taken using the Quanta 650 or 200 LV SEM instruments. Congratulations to all who participated! And the winners are......1st Place: Diversity by Jon Skelton
Gas atomized Al-Cu powder at the eutectic composition. The different microstructures in the particles correspond to the varying rates of solidification that occur during process.
2nd Place: Snow Capped Mountains of Yttria by Cory Parker
Faceting of Y2O3 in high temperature water vapor reveals majestic mountains.
3rd Place: The Hive by KJ Meisner
Superalloys are susceptible to hot corrosion in gas turbines. They are typically composed of cubic gamma prime NiAl precipitates in a gamma matrix. This image is from the surface of a hot corrosion pit on a turbine blade in a shipboard engine. The gamma prime precipitates selectively corroded, leaving cubic voids and a skeleton of the gamma matrix.