This material was produced by the Royal Society of New Zealand (RSNZ)
under contract to the Ministry of Education in 2000 and 2001. It was written
to assist teachers and schools in their delivery of the technology/ hangarau
curriculum statements. The project was jointly coordinated by personnel
from the Technology Education New Zealand (TENZ)
and National Association of Māori Mathematicians, Scientists and Technologists
(NAMMSAT) networks. Monitoring and evaluation of the material was carried
out by a national project advisory group.
Like a snowball, the concept of a high-tech economy for New Zealand
seems to grow by the accumulation of insights. First came the
idea that we needed to develop information technology. Second
came the idea that we need to "grow" biotechnology.
What will the next insight be?
Chris Harris
Chris Harris is an independent engineering researcher with an interest
in environmental technologies. In a November 2000 article in The
Independent he predicts that recent developments in material technology
may soon become visible through such things as metals lighter than water
and harder than steel, shoes with soles that never wear out, bearings
that run at high speeds without oil and the ubiquitous, mass-produced
carbon fibre products.
He suggests that if New Zealand gets in on the ground floor of this
coming materials revolution it could well end up supplying lightweight,
high value articles to the rest of the world. Like IT and biotechnology
the new materials are potential distance killers. But if we are slow
to get on board, we could find some of our "safest" industries
are wiped out by competitors using materials of which we've never heard.
These new materials are as varied as industry itself ... but as a rule
they are lighter, more economical and "greener" than those we have at
the moment.
The article illustrates four specific developments in materials technology:
At present composite materials like fibre glass and carbon fibre are laid
up by hand using toxic resins that harden on mixing. These resins are
the only forms of plastic that mix easily into the reinforcement. The
work is done by hand because the mixture of fibre and resin is too fiddly
to allow mechanised processes.
It would be much healthier for the workforce if ordinary plastic could
somehow be mixed into the reinforcement when molten. The mixture of fibre
and plastic would also be mouldable, allowing mass production techniques
already used in other branches of the plastics industry to be employed.
The Americans have now developed such mouldable composites and their
mills are beginning to turn out continuous strips and tubes of the material.
Factories are starting to stamp out fibre composite boats, bicycles,
pressure vessels and sporting goods on an assembly line basis. An implication
of this would appear to be the threat it poses to handicraft fibre glass
and carbon fibre builders, who may have to adapt to use the material
to produce upmarket speciality products or face the threat of closure.
2.
Gem coatings
The hardest naturally-occurring mineral is diamond ... the second hardest
is sapphire. While no-one has yet managed to produce large, three dimension
gemstones by artificial means, it is becoming possible to produce thin
layers of diamond and sapphire on the surfaces of quite ordinary materials.
This can give these materials extraordinary properties.
A Russian group has recently managed to generate a diamond film on rubber,
which may mean that we can look forward to wearing shoes that will never
wear out.
A British firm has also started to sell turnkey factories to plate aluminium
with sapphire. The process converts the surface of the aluminium to
a layer of firmly anchored sapphires that grow into the aluminium like
teeth – and never come loose. Aluminium treated in this way is
the new state of the art in the metal trade. If you made a circular
saw from it, it would be able to cut steel.
3. Non-stick
coatings
Progress in the field of non-stick coatings has been just as dramatic.
In the United Kingdom, new non-stick coating has been developed to be
both slippery and hard wearing. This opens up the possibility of its
use a the sole lubricant for piston rings – for the whole life
of the vehicle.
In America it has been found that certain non-toxic fuel additives can
be induced to form a coating on surfaces made hot by rubbing. As fast
as this coating wears away, more is replaced from the fuel. This may
allow new, super efficient engines running at temperatures too high
for today's oil-based lubricants. If adapted to industrial uses they
may allow all sorts of entirely new products and processes to be developed.
4. Carbon
fibre
Chris Harris makes the point that nothing moves without mechanical engineering
... and our industries in New Zealand will have to become savvy to the
new materials, or be left with the prospect of being quickly left far
behind. He sees this not so much as a threat but as an opportunity and
cites the example of our boatbuilding industry.
If the NZ marine industry were to help all its tradespeople, designers
and workshops convert to the new mouldable composite technique as fast
as possible – and to lobby for the local establishment of a mill,
perhaps – it could soon be selling cheaper boats to a bigger market
and exporting spin-off low cost products such as carbon fibre bicycles
as well.
However if individual boatbuilders merely muddle through as best they
can, we could find by 2010 that most of the carbon fibre articles sold
in new Zealand are imported. He emphasises that what goes for boatbuilding
also goes for other industries.
Final observation
in news article
If we are to come to grips with the materials revolution, we
will have to abandon any lingering academic belief that innovation
and knowledge-power need to be confined to one or two elite
sectors.
Every industry now needs a system of innovation by which it
may plan to take best advantage of these new materials. This
means all our industries - not just a few - are in a position
to progress through knowledge.
