Between the 29th of July and 2nd of August 2019, team members from The University of Sydney (USYD) (Katja, Andrew, Will and Bryan) were fortunate to meet the MURI team at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville (UTK). We were warmly welcomed with some ‘Southern hospitality’ by The UTK team, led by Prof. Suresh Babu and students Sabina, Rakesh and Michael, who generously gave up their time to show us around their facility and downtown Knoxville, while discussing science related to our exciting research collaboration on additively manufactured (AM) metals.
On a guided tour of their laboratories, the USYD team had the pleasure of witnessing additive manufacturing technologies firsthand. Both the UTK and USYD teams also presented their current research, which stimulated great scientific conversation. Team members took the time to learn of each other’s strengths and formulate a collaborative research plan into the future. Perhaps most important of all was simply getting to know each other beyond what is possible via meetings on a computer screen.
The USYD team really enjoyed meeting our UTK colleagues, in both scientific and social settings, and believe our collaboration will benefit from what was a fantastic week.