Page 3 - CEMS Summer 2022 Newsletter

CEMS NEWS
CEMS team wins 2022 TMS Materials Bowl
In an unprecedented win, the team claimed its first championship.
A team of CEMS students including Colton Gerber
(MSE ‘22), Ashlie Hamilton (MSE ‘23), Nicholas Johnson (MSE ‘22), and Kevin Schmalbach (rising sixth-year ChE graduate student) won The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) Materials Bowl in February 2022. The materials-themed knowledge and trivia competition is held at the TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition, which is the premiere undergraduate/graduate student event
at the conference. To compete, each school’s Material Advantage (MA) chapter can assemble a team of four chapter members and one graduate student to represent their school.
Teams competed in one elimination round, and then a championship game was held for cash prizes. As part of the winning team, each CEMS student won $250, and $500 was awarded to the Chapter. The team name (Material Girls) was added to the Materials Bowl trophy.
Stiff Competition
This year’s competition featured a new format, which allowed teams to answer multiple-choice questions from their phones. The fast-paced, interactive game offered a real-time look at the leader boards, which showed that the competition remained close through two rounds of play.
Eleven teams participated in the first elimination round, with the top three teams progressing to the final round. The University of Florida Material Gators team came in second place and the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology team took third place.
It all came down to the final question, which required the three teams to complete the following sentence:
In fireworks, the green flame is produced because of...
• Sodium
• Barium
• Mercury
• Potassium
The correct answer, which secured the win for the CEMS team, is barium.
Historic Win
Professor Nathan Mara, Director of Undergraduate Studies for Materials Science and Engineering, boasted, “The CEMS team went into the competition cold with only
The CEMS championship team was presented with the Materials Bowl trophy by a TMS representative (far left). Winning team members include (pictured, from left) Ashlie Hamilton, Nicholas Johnson, Kevin Schmalbach and Colton Gerber.
minimal preparation. Other teams (especially the reigning champs for the last three years, Colorado School of Mines) studied for several days prior to the competition, and many teams also prepared at their home institutions. It is a testament to the quality of our students and our program that our team was able to achieve at this level.”
Previous Winners
2021 - did not hold the competition
2020 – Colorado School of Mines
2019 – Colorado School of Mines
2018 – Colorado School of Mines
2017 – University of North Texas (Denton) 2016 – University of Utah
2015 – Colorado School of Mines 2014 – University of Florida
2013 – Colorado School of Mines 2012 – Colorado School of Mines 2011 – University of Utah
2010 – Colorado School of Mines 2009 – Colorado School of Mines 2008 – University of Tennessee
2007 – Florida International University
CEMSnews Summer 2022 3