Leah Saracco, Cherish Erb-White, Alyssa Westrom, and Kennedy Johnson Baden Academy Future Engineers
The four leaders of our Future Engineers afterschool club and the authors of the upcoming book “Wings to the Sun” took the afternoon to tour the amazing Swindell Dressler. They were there to learn more about the kilns that fire ceramics.
They have inherited our media labs love of ceramics! Their book was inspired by the new technology developed by HRL Labs, a new resin that can be printed as a ceramic, and fired in a kiln to make it one of the robust ceramics made.
The tour was hosted by CEO Don Buzinski and Technical Sales Manager Garrett Sullivan. The girls began in the conference room where they discovered the immensity of the kilns that Sindell Dressler builds, some as large as football fields. The technology and chemistry needed are incredible. The tour included the CAD designs of the kiln constructions, the complexity of the computer controls tied into the gas and temperature sensors, the materials needed to line the kiln, even the sophistication of testing until equipment specifications were established.
We are looking forward to seeing which pictures they choose for the book and how their new knowledge shapes the story line! Thank you Swindell Dressler.
