At the Institute of Materials and Machine Mechanics SAS, we welcomed five students from the United School on Novohradská Street in Bratislava. After the introductory lecture on metals, which introduced them to metals from a theoretical point of view, the students were under Dr. Erika Hodúlová supervision thrown into practical verification of theoretical knowledge in our laboratories. By measuring the physical properties of metals, they measured the differences between pure metals and alloys and their microscopic structure.
An illustrative demonstration of the thermal properties of materials was a demonstration of aluminum foaming. The method of manufacturing foamed aluminum is simple and resembles the preparation of a sourdough cake. Like a cake, the porous structure is only inside; the material retains a compact aluminum layer on the surface.
In the last part of this scientific day, we allowed the students to look into the secrets of our hydrogen laboratory, where they could see modern devices for destructive and non-destructive methods of testing and evaluating materials.
Throughout the day, we received curious but also very well-founded questions. The students showed an interest in the details and background of our research, which indicates their critical thinking skills and analytical approach to scientific topics.