Computer Usage in Materials/Metallurgy Education

Abstract

The computer and microprocessor revolution will continue to have an increasing influence on our lives in future years. It no longer is a question of whether or not the computer will affect our professional as well as our personal lives but rather how it will affect us. Among the various engineering disciplines, the materials/metallurgy field has been one of the slower ones to incorporate computer usage. In the last few years, however, this trend has seen a change. Throughout recent years there has been considerable thought given by our academic programs on the question of how we should integrate computers into our materials/metallurgy curricula. In the fall 1984 meeting two sessions on Computer Usage in Materials/Metallurgical Education were held. These sessions were sponsored by the TMS-AIME Education and Professional Affairs Committee and the ASM Education Committee. The primary purpose of the sessions was to share experience and to illustrate the spectrum of computer utilization in our educational programs. This article is intended to bring to the forefront some of the questions and concerns of computer utilization in our educational programs and to highlight some of the presentations made at the fall meeting.