Ye Jin standing near winning poster.
Guest lecturers inspire Orediggers — as was the case for Ye Jin (Senior, Mechanical Engineering). During his junior year in the Mines Mechanical Engineering program, Dr. Joy Gockel presented a guest lecture on additive manufacturing (AM) during his Manufacturing Processes class and Jin became interested in the various metal AM capabilities. At that time, he began to think about graduate school and concluded an assignment in research could help him get ready for the next step in his education. He learned about the Mines Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program and saw Dr. Gockel’s project on metal AM. Jin applied to and was accepted into the program and has been working on the research topic ever since.
Initially his focus was on two mini projects: one on porosity and another on densification behavior of AM-produced 316L stainless steel in relationship with processing parameters. The researchers examined how changing machine parameters would affect the level and types of porosity defects in the material. The second part of the research focused on using computational modeling to further understand how those parameters affect microstructure characteristics in the material. Both porosity and microstructures can greatly affect the mechanical behavior so it was important for the research to understand the influence of the different factors.
Jin credits Dr. Gockel as his research advisor for his inspiration and success. “She was great at giving help and advice, and she cares a lot about her students. The initial learning curve for getting into research can be steep so having someone that can guide you through and mentor you can be very helpful”, he shared. Research is both important for academic and industry advancement and can lead to a new perspective on career options. Jin’s tip for other undergrads that are thinking about doing research, “if you enjoy learning new things and solving problems, this is the place for you! Doing research has been challenging but fun for me and it has taught me many useful skills such as thinking critically and making decisions with diligence and deliberation.”
Congratulations to Ye Jin on the 1st place poster at the University Honors and Scholars 2022 Undergraduate Research Symposium.