Granta Design: Blog

Granta Design: Blog

About Prof. Mike Ashby

Mike Ashby is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge. He is a world-renowned authority on engineering materials and the author/co-author of best-selling textbooks, including the recently published Materials and the Environment. Other current texts include Engineering Materials I & II, Materials Selection in Mechanical Design, Materials in Design, and Materials: Engineering, Science, Processing, and Design. He has authored over 200 papers on mechanisms of plasticity and fracture, powder compaction, mechanisms of wear, methodologies for materials selection, and the modeling of material shaping processes, among other topics. He is recipient of numerous awards and honors including Fellow of the Royal Society and Member of the American Academy of Engineering. He has been a professor at Harvard University and held academic positions in Germany and France. He is also co-founder of Granta Design and guides development of Granta’s CES EduPack.

Ashby's series entitled 

Unappreciated materials
are as always most informative and ingenious.

"Some materials catch headlines, are held in awe, but not all.  Some get little respect, despite having changed the world.  They have become commonplace, anonymous, ignored and (particularly if they are cheap) cast aside when no longer wanted.  If they had feelings, they would be hurt. This brief series of blogs is to draw attention to their plight." says Prof. Ashby. 

Ashby makes learning about materials (engineering) and their mechanical strength very easy and enjoyable and in following the  above quote and link (MATERIAL/PAPER) the reader will hopefully be motivated to read just how great a material is our common old paper.

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GRANTA DESIGN: Blog

Then in the following post you will of a surprising fact when compairing of the energy used to manufacture paper and steel.