by Marc Zupan, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Olympians expect top-notch performance from their minds and bodies, but they get crucial advantages from the very best equipment for their sports and the weather conditions they’re competing in. Skis, for example, must stand up to near-constant changes in stress during races.

The ideal ski provides a stiff and rigid platform for skiers’ boots to attach to, flexes to carve through turns, doesn’t break under the pressure of jumps and landings and is light enough not to slow the athlete down. But that’s not all: Skis must resist damage from collisions, absorb vibrations from icy conditions and withstand the temperature extremes and intense sunlight common in mountain environments.

That’s a lot to ask of a single item. The first skis were made of strong, flexible ash wood, but technology has found ways to do much better. Today’s materials design and construction processes are closely guarded industrial secrets, specific to individual ski companies. But I and other materials experts know that the essential components and methods are very similar: All skis are like sandwiches, stacking separate layers of different materials with all those separate properties into a single item, a competition-class ski.

Advanced materials for extreme conditions

Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene is a highly engineered plastic often used in high-strength ropes as well as in artificial hip and knee implants. It’s tough, bends and flexes a lot without breaking, resists scratches, retains its properties across a range of temperatures and has tiny microscopic pores across its surface. When it’s used as the base layer of a ski, those microscopic pores act like a sponge into which racing wax is melted to fine-tune the ski’s contact with whatever the snow conditions are.

The sides of the ski base are made of high-strength steel alloys that are heated and processed to meet the demanding conditions of skiing. These processes make the steel resistant to rust and able to be sharpened like a knife. The steel needs to hold its edge to carve through snow and ice while flexing with the rest of the ski without cracking or breaking.

Inside the ski

On top of the base is a complex layer in the ski sandwich, an element itself called a “sandwich panel,” made of similar materials and with the same techniques as those used to build spacecraft, aircraft and performance race cars. The center of the sandwich is a core material surrounded by fiber-reinforced composites.

The cores of ski sandwich panels can be lightweight titanium alloys, polymer foams similar to Styrofoam coffee cups or different kinds of woods – such as maple, oak, aspen or poplar. These different plastic, wood and metal materials are layered and combined to tune the ski to the desired levels of strength, stiffness, ability to twist and vibration-damping, all with as little weight as possible.

The outer layers of the sandwich panel are made from epoxy resins – high-performance glues – into and onto which are laid engineered fabrics like carbon fibers, fiberglass and Kevlar. These resin-fiber layers hold the sandwich core structure together and make all of the different material types work as one.

Like the core, these composite layers vary in thickness and makeup along the ski. They’re even applied at different angles to the ski itself to improve ski stiffness and strength.

The sandwich panel ski makes turning quicker and helps the ski ride smoothly over bumps and ruts in the terrain. It’s more responsive to the skier and more stable at high speeds than less advanced designs because it can take advantage of the best aspects of all its ingredients. Overall, the sandwich panel is built to be stiffest under the binding area where the boot attaches, and more flexible near the ski tips, to glide more easily over uneven terrain. Each ski’s sandwich panel is designed and built to optimize performance in a specific skiing event – such as downhill racing, snowcross or jumping – or even a particular skier’s preferences.

Rapid improvement

The ski industry, and particularly its competitive elements, are willing to take risks and push limits, exploring the most advanced materials concepts to achieve optimum performance. As a result, decades of research have improved Olympic skiers’ times significantly over the years.

That work has also spread benefits well beyond the Olympic medal podium and into the recreational market. Amateur skiers can explore more advanced terrain and more challenging slopes with help from the tuned spring response, vibration damping and light weight of their skis. Recreational skiers can also go faster in changing snow conditions and steer more easily through turns because their skis are adaptable and responsive to individual skiers’ strengths, as well as slope conditions. The materials advancements help recreational skiers ski well on terrain previously accessible only by superior athletes.

All these advances happen very quickly. Before the next Winter Olympic Games, consumers will likely be able to easily purchase the same kinds of skis and snowboards that the 2018 Olympians competed on – and the 2022 Olympians will be using even better materials that help them go faster, higher and stronger than ever before.

Marc Zupan, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering- Materials and Solid Mechanics, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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UMBC’s Cleftomaniacs rocked the stage at a sold-out venue last Saturday at the Inter Collegiate Competition of a cappella, better known as the ICCAs. The Cleftomaniacs not only placed for the first time ever at the Mid-Atlantic Quarterfinals, but also won first prize, making history at UMBC.

In recent years, a cappella groups have taken over college campuses throughout the nation and abroad. For those unfamiliar with the term a cappella, it is the act of singing without the use of instruments. Vocal percussion such as beatboxing takes over the role of percussion instruments.

Founded 12 years ago, the Cleftomaniacs are one of four a cappella groups that exist on campus. Along with annual performances and competitions, the Cleftomaniacs put out an album (Last Kiss) in 2016 to commemorate their twelve-year anniversary as a club at UMBC. They are the only co-ed a cappella group at UMBC, differentiating them from the Mama’s Boys, the all-male a cappella group, and the Stilettos, the all-female a capella group.

All three groups competed against seven other teams at the Mid-Atlantic Quarterfinals that took place Saturday, February 3 at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Cleftomaniacs were up against some tough competitors, said freshman theatre major, Edima Essien.

“Winning ICCAs was a surreal experience. We weren’t expecting to win outstanding choreography, but when the judges called our name for both that award and first place, our whole group was in utter shock.”

College a cappella groups competing at the Mid-Atlantic Quarterfinals ranged from schools all over Maryland, including 2 teams from Johns Hopkins University, Saint Mary’s College of Maryland, and University of Maryland College Park. Washington and Lee University was also represented, bringing the total to 10 competing teams.

In order to compete at the Mid-Atlantic Quarterfinals, each team was required to submit a video to the ICCA judges. From there, 10 groups were chosen to perform at the first round of ICCAs. The top two ranked teams from the quarterfinals then move on to compete at the semifinals.

This year, the Cleftomaniacs and DeCadence, from the University of Maryland, College Park, will be performing in Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to compete against six other teams.

Andy O’Neil, senior business technology and administration major and the Cleftomaniacs’ music director, spoke on his experience leading the group throughout his years.

“As music director I’m either arranging songs, teaching music or making sure other people are arranging songs […] ICCAs has always been about the experience for our group. This year we took a change in style in terms of leading the group,” said O’Neil.

“It wasn’t just this year’s work that lead us to victory. It was all three years of learning what went wrong in our performances and figuring out how to come back from our failures. Each year we got a little bit better, but I think this year was the year all of those lessons compiled and we finally figured out what worked best.”

AJ Potvin, senior, music technology major, Vice President of Cleftomaniacs and a member of the choreography committee, helped design the choreography to the four-song performance.  Along with first prize, the team won outstanding choreography at the quarterfinals.

“I think choreography brings a performance to the next level. It supplemented our performance over all […]. It wasn’t just the choreo committee that made the choreography great. It’s what everyone brought to the performance,” Potvin said.

The group is the first ever from UMBC to compete at ICCA semifinals. They will be performing on March 31 in a theater that seats 2,500 people, and tickets are expected to sell out.

Sanjana Taskar, junior and Bachelor of Fine Arts acting and sociology major, speaks on the importance of having a strong community dynamic within the group.

“We really emphasized teamwork this time at ICCAs. We all put our heart and soul into the rehearsals and performances.”

In 2016, Jane Sprigg, Ph.D. ’16, physics, submitted a research paper demonstrating a technique that would enable a camera to snap crystal clear images from an airplane or satellite, even over deserts with air turbulence caused by severe heat. Her paper was rejected. Despite strong evidence presented in the paper, one reviewer refused to accept the idea that quantum theory could apply to light other than lasers—and physicists agree that classical theory does not lead to turbulence-free imaging. Sprigg has since successfully pursued her invention in industry, but the academic world remains skeptical.

Yanhua Shih, professor of physics and Sprigg’s advisor, told his new Ph.D. student, Thomas Smith, that the physics community didn’t think it was possible to use ideas from quantum theory, specifically quantum interference, to create turbulence-free measurements. Smith replied simply, “Why don’t we demonstrate that it is?” In less than a year, the pair has done so in a context other than a camera (with the help of the lab’s toaster oven), and they have just published their results in Physics Review Letters, a premier physics journal.

The paper demonstrates Smith and Shih’s development of an interferometer, a device that uses the interference of light to make precise measurements, that is unaffected by turbulence in the air. “For now, large interferometers with high sensitivity have to be put in a vacuum to avoid atmospheric turbulence and vibrations,” says Shih. “Our research shows how you could just put them in the open air—no problem.”

Accommodating the limitations of today’s interferometers can be quite costly, especially for devices precise and large enough to detect elusive gravitational waves from outer space. “Detecting gravitational waves is the most expensive use of the vacuum, because it’s on such a large scale,” says Smith.

Their setup is a modification of a classic type of interferometer, called the “Young’s double-slit,” where light hits a plate with two slits and passes through to a detector beyond the slits. The detector counts the number of light particles (photons) that strike it per second. Analysis software uses that information to calculate the interference (how the light particles interact), which depends on the likelihood of a photon passing through one slit or the other. That’s where the quantum part comes in—at the single particle level, you can’t know for certain which path the photon took, so the analysis is based on probabilities of the potential paths. It’s as if the particle is “interfering with itself,” says Shih, quoting renowned theoretical physicist Paul Dirac.

In Smith and Shih’s interferometer, there is still a plate with two slits, but there are two detectors waiting to count photons on the other side. Much more complex software is interested in how many times one photon strikes the first detector and another photon strikes the second detector within each of many tiny time windows. In typical interferometers, any turbulence in the air will unequally affect the two possible paths of a single photon (either through the first or second slit) and disrupt the interference measurement. In this case, however, the photons are analyzed as pairs. It is possible for the two possible paths of the photon pair to be identically affected by turbulence, so that it does not alter the interference pattern—leading to a result that is “turbulence-free.” In this situation, Shih explains in a nod to Dirac, “the pair is interfering with itself.”

The physics is complex, but Smith says one of the hardest parts was generating enough turbulence in the lab to get strong results. First he tried candles; then they tried heat guns. In the end? At the recommendation of fellow Ph.D. student Brian Uthe, “I took the toaster oven and deconstructed it partially, and I’m using the toaster oven right now,” Smith explains. “Sometimes when you’re doing an experiment, it’s not the high-tech part, but the low-tech part that is the problem,” says Shih with a smile.

Both authors are hoping their new research will bring about a sea change in the physics community, and encourage even the most traditional physicists that quantum interference applies in optics experiments using non-laser light. “It should change the whole picture,” says Shih. There are already signs that they’re stirring the pot: Smith has given invited talks at three major conferences, including at Princeton University in front of physics giants from around the world. Next steps include trying to apply the same principles to other types of interferometer.

Smith, who is in his first year in Shih’s lab, is trying to absorb it all. “It’s a bit overwhelming,” he says. “I guess what’s most exciting for me is that we are working on fundamental physics, and I enjoy working at the basic fundamental level—discussing single photons and quantum interference,” and even so, it’s easy to imagine where the work could lead him. From cameras that can see through heat waves to confirming Einstein’s fundamental theory by detecting gravitational waves in open air, “what’s exciting is seeing the potential applications ahead of us.”

Image: Large interferometers that are part of the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory in Penticton, British Columbia. Photo by Mark Klotz, used under CC BY-NC 2.0.

UMBC’s fourth annual Engineers Week will feature a dozen creative, hands-on activities and eye-opening events, February 19–23, to highlight how engineering impacts society and contributes to solving global challenges. The week-long celebration at UMBC coincides with National Engineers Week, which aims to “inspire wonder,” encouraging children to imagine themselves in engineering careers.

This year, collaboration is the core organizing principle behind the week of exploration and discovery. Tau Beta Pi, UMBC’s engineering honors society, has teamed up with engineering organizations on campus to bring students, alumni, corporate partners, faculty, and staff together to celebrate the engineering disciplines.

“Leading this year’s planning has given me a chance to implement what I’ve learned from the past events and collaborate with more groups,” says Beth Wolinski ‘18, chemical engineering, president of Tau Beta Pi. “I am hoping these new events will allow participants to experience the innovation happening throughout our campus. That is really what Engineers Week is about.”

As part of the festivities, the UMBC Racing Team will unveil its 2018 mini Baja race car on Tuesday, February 20, at 6 p.m. on Commons Mainstreet, as a sneak peek ahead of their upcoming competition season The team is known nationwide for its skill in building high-performing, cost-conscious vehicles.

New Engineers Week events this year include a networking session focusing on careers in the defense and aerospace industries, and celebration of diversity in the College of Engineering and Information Technology. Throughout the week, the broader UMBC community will also have opportunities to tour select engineering labs and to watch 3D printing demonstrations. Students are also organizing Let’s Get Techy, an outreach event for local elementary school students to experience engineering through games. The week will conclude with the hotly anticipated Battle of the Engineers, a popular annual competition featuring minute-to-win-it-style challenges.

“Although Engineers Week has been around since 1951, it is only in the last couple decades that we fully realized celebrating engineering innovation is also a great way to engage with the public,” says Keith J. Bowman, dean of the College of Engineering and Information Technology. “We want everyone to understand that engineering is done by people inspired to create solutions for our greatest challenges.”

For the full schedule of events, visit the COEIT Dean’s Office website.

Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.