Many patients—and sometimes even dentists—are not aware of the many ceramic and glass materials that sneakily find application in the dental world. Carolyn Primus, medical device consultant, shares her journey into the field of dental materials, provides a glimpse of the history and variety of ceramic materials used in dentistry, and describes some of the ways she’s personally contributed to this field.

View the transcript for this episode here.

About the guest
Carolyn Primus is a medical device consultant and adjunct associate professor at Augusta University in Georgia. She has spent more than 35 years working with dental materials, particularly for endodontic applications, and will publish a book through ACerS–Wiley in fall 2025 that provides an expansive overview of everything she knows about ceramics in dentistry.

About ACerS
Founded in 1898, The American Ceramic Society is the leading professional membership organization for scientists, engineers, researchers, manufacturers, plant personnel, educators, and students working with ceramics and related materials.

Glass is a solution to many modern challenges, and there remains ample opportunities for further improvements. William LaCourse, Emeritus Professor of glass science in the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, shares how several serendipitous encounters with giants in the glass field led to his employment at Alfred, highlights some of the untapped markets for ion-exchanged glass products, and gives some fun anecdotes from his time as the Alfred sports announcer for football and basketball.

View the transcript for this episode here.

About the guest
William LaCourse is Emeritus Professor of glass science in the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. He has conducted extensive research in the field of glass strengthening, with a current focus on ion-exchange processing of commercial soda-lime-silica glasses, as described in the May 2025 ACerS Bulletin.

About ACerS
Founded in 1898, The American Ceramic Society is the leading professional membership organization for scientists, engineers, researchers, manufacturers, plant personnel, educators, and students working with ceramics and related materials.

Developing technologies with a deep impact in certain niche areas is arguably just as important as research that has a widespread impact. Joe Cesarano, founder and president of Robocasting Enterprises, explains how he helped develop a 3D ceramic printing method called robocasting at Sandia National Laboratories, provides examples of its applications, and shares tips on how to successfully bring your ideas to market.

View the transcript for this episode here.

About the guest
Joe Cesarano is founder and president of Robocasting Enterprises in Albuquerque, N.M. The company uses a 3D printing method called robocasting to build different types of ceramic components. The method began as a research project at Sandia National Laboratories, as explained in this video, and Joe successfully transitioned that research into commercial application through his company.

About ACerS
Founded in 1898, The American Ceramic Society is the leading professional membership organization for scientists, engineers, researchers, manufacturers, plant personnel, educators, and students working with ceramics and related materials.

As we prepare for a future traveling the stars, energy-efficient processing technologies will be a necessity for both those in space and those remaining as Earth’s stewards. Holly Shulman, research professor at Alfred University, shares how she became interested in microwave sintering, describes its benefits compared to conventional sintering processes, and explains how it could support the development of future lunar colonies.

View the transcript for this episode here.

About the guest
Holly Shulman is research professor at Alfred University and founder, president, and chief technology officer of Bluestar Advanced Manufacturing. She specializes in developing microwave processing technologies, and she was recently named director of the new Space Materials Institute at Alfred University in part due to the potential applications of her research on the moon. She will be giving a talk on microwave processing for lunar construction at the 59th Annual Microwave Power Symposium in June 2025, and she plans to teach an ACerS short course in the near future.

About ACerS
Founded in 1898, The American Ceramic Society is the leading professional membership organization for scientists, engineers, researchers, manufacturers, plant personnel, educators, and students working with ceramics and related materials.

The rapid advancement of technology has allowed people to more easily join with others in their research community and together support the search for the next big discovery in materials science. Monica Ferraris, full professor at Politecnico di Torino, shares details about her work on the joining and coating of materials, describes her involvement with the ACerS International Italy Chapter, and discusses her plans and goals as president of ACerS this year.

View the transcript for this episode here.

About the guest
Monica Ferraris is full professor at Politecnico di Torino in Italy and cofounder of the university’s interdepartmental, multidisciplinary research center on advanced joining technologies. Her group studies the joining of similar and dissimilar materials as well as antibacterial and antiviral coatings. She is serving as this year’s president of The American Ceramic Society, and she previously helped cofound the ACerS International Italy Chapter along with Paolo Colombo.

About ACerS
Founded in 1898, The American Ceramic Society is the leading professional membership organization for scientists, engineers, researchers, manufacturers, plant personnel, educators, and students working with ceramics and related materials.

Ceramic and glass manufacturing is a broad field that offers many opportunities for a fulfilling career. Tim Powers, retired engineering design lead at Owens Corning, shares his personal experiences working on some of the most well-known products produced by Corning and Owens Corning and describes how he is now supporting the next generation of the ceramic and glass workforce through the Ceramic and Glass Industry Foundation.

View the transcript for this episode here.

About the guest
Tim Powers (retired) was the engineering design lead for glass furnace rebuilds in the Insulation Division at Owens Corning. Throughout his career at Corning and Owens Corning, he worked on some of the companies’ most well-known products, including catalytic converter substrates, Pyrex, and fiberglass insulation. He currently serves as chair-elect of the Ceramic and Glass Industry Foundation Board.

About ACerS
Founded in 1898, The American Ceramic Society is the leading professional membership organization for scientists, engineers, researchers, manufacturers, plant personnel, educators, and students working with ceramics and related materials.

Breath and gas-based diagnostic tools have the potential to revolutionize medical monitoring and diagnosis. Perena Gouma, the Edward Orton Jr., Chair in ceramic engineering at The Ohio State University, describes how she became interested in this area of research, explains how electrospinning can be used to fabricate components for these devices, and shares her passion for educating students and the public about these discoveries.

View the transcript for this episode here.

About the guest
Perena Gouma is the Edward Orton Jr., Chair in ceramic engineering at The Ohio State University. Her research involves using the nanomanufacturing technique of electrospinning to fabricate ceramics and composites for use in biomedical and environmental applications, including breath and other gas analysis devices. Recently, in collaboration with the Edward Orton Jr. Ceramic Foundation, her group developed a high-throughput electrospinning setup that opens the door to widespread use of this technique.

About ACerS
Founded in 1898, The American Ceramic Society is the leading professional membership organization for scientists, engineers, researchers, manufacturers, plant personnel, educators, and students working with ceramics and related materials.

Energy conversion technologies such as fuel cells and photocatalysts have great potential in the future of zero-carbon transportation. Scott Misture, Inamori Professor of materials science and engineering at Alfred University in New York, discusses the benefits and challenges of adopting this technology, describes how he uses diffraction techniques to study materials for energy conversion applications, and shares his thoughts on the personal and broader benefits of being involved in the materials science community.

View the transcript for this episode here.

About the guest
Scott Misture is an Inamori Professor of materials science and engineering at Alfred University in New York. His research involves using diffraction techniques to study the dynamic behavior of ceramics and glasses related to energy conversion devices. He is currently chair of the International Center for Diffraction Data, a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to collecting, editing, publishing, and distributing powder diffraction data for the identification of materials.

About ACerS
Founded in 1898, The American Ceramic Society is the leading professional membership organization for scientists, engineers, researchers, manufacturers, plant personnel, educators, and students working with ceramics and related materials.