Steve and Tim talk to Professor Mark Asta from Berkeley. Mark is the Dean of Engineering at UC Berkeley. He is also a Materials Science and Engineering Professor. Mark was named as the Van Vlack Professor in 2026 and we caught up with him after one of his talks when he visited us in October 2026. We talked about materials education, engineering education, and how AI and agenic agents will be more and more important to our students.

You can learn more about Mark Asta, the dean here:
https://engineering.berkeley.edu/about/leadership-team/meet-the-dean/

and Mark Asta the researcher and faculty member here:
https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/faculty/mark-asta

You can learn about the Larry Van Vlack Lectureship here:
https://mse.engin.umich.edu/updates/van-vlack-lecture/

You can find the YouTube version of the podcast here:
https://youtu.be/7Shi45VIWgA

Our YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.Materials

If you want to add a voice comment on this or any other of our podcasts, suggest a guest, or volunteer to be a guest, please visit our website:
https://java.engin.umich.edu/undercooled/

This episode is sponsored by the TMS Foundation (https://www.tms.org/TMSFoundation/TMSFoundation/Default.aspx), The Electric Vehicle Center (EVC) at the University of Michigan (https://evc.engin.umich.edu/), and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Steve and Tim talk with some of our undergraduate students to hear their opinions and stories about their undergraduate experience. They talk with Eli Richey, Bella Calfas, and Olivia Schroder, who are officers of the Michigan Materials Society at the University of Michigan.

You can find the YouTube version of the podcast here:
https://youtu.be/_SnDu-mrZ4c

Our YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.Materials

If you want to add a voice comment on this or any other of our podcasts, suggest a guest, or volunteer to be a guest, please visit our website:
https://java.engin.umich.edu/undercooled/

This episode is sponsored by the TMS Foundation (https://www.tms.org/TMSFoundation/TMSFoundation/Default.aspx), The Electric Vehicle Center (EVC) at the University of Michigan (https://evc.engin.umich.edu/), and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Tim and Steve talk with Professor Franklin Hobbs from University of Wisconsin's Materials Science and Engineering Department. Franklin is a teaching professor with an uncanny resemblance to Tim Chambers at UM. We talk about his career, the lab courses he developed at Wisconsin, and his really interesting course for non-materials and non-STEM majors.

Here are some interesting tidbits and links related to the episode:

Stuff Matters by Mark Miodownik. Fun fact, For the past two years I think my Spring class has made this the top selling Materials Science book on Amazon in January.

Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape our Man-Made World
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/18222843-stuff-matters

The Alchemy of Us by Ainissa Ramirez
https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262542265/the-alchemy-of-us/

Wisc MS&E department:
https://engineering.wisc.edu/departments/materials-science-engineering/

Franklin's directory page:
https://directory.engr.wisc.edu/mse/Faculty/Hobbs_Franklin/

You can find the YouTube version of the podcast here:
https://youtu.be/IuDLeNtf4e4

Our YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.Materials

If you want to add a voice comment on this or any other of our podcasts, suggest a guest, or volunteer to be a guest, please visit our website:
https://java.engin.umich.edu/undercooled/

This episode is sponsored by the TMS Foundation (https://www.tms.org/TMSFoundation/TMSFoundation/Default.aspx), The Electric Vehicle Center (EVC) at the University of Michigan (https://evc.engin.umich.edu/), and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).