Standardization News

2012 Grant Deadline Announced

ASTM International has awarded two $500 grants to university students to assist them with senior or graduate design projects that contain an ASTM International standards component. The winners will have their final papers posted on the ASTM website. The 2011 winners are as follows.

Solar Cookstove with Energy Storage

Solar cookstoves have proved to be an effective way to cook without electricity. Elana Green and her University of Pennsylvania project team will build a collector, with the main goal being to use a phase change material to accomplish thermal energy storage overnight. The project references standards from ASTM International Committee E44 on Solar, Geothermal and Other Alternative Energy Sources.

Thermoplastic Composite Pistons

The full title of this project is "A Method of Injection Molding 1 1/2- to 4-Inch (40- to 60-mm) Thick Reinforced Thermoplastic Composite Pistons fo Use in Pressurized Hydraulic Powered Cylinder Applications." The goal of the project, being headed by Harry E. Bundy, Jr., of Texas A&M University, is to develop and define a cost-effective manufacturing method for molding composite hydraulic pistons capable of meeting ASTM standards and those of the hydraulics industry. ASTM standards from Committee D20 on Plastics and E07 on Nondestructive Testing will be incorporated into the project.

Oct 31 Is Deadline for 2012 Project Grants

The ASTM project grant program will be continued in 2012, and the deadline for 2012 applications is Oct. 31. For more information, visit www.astm.org/campus.