Call for ‘Materials Radio’ Podcasts from Material Advantage Student Chapters $500 awarded for each podcast accepted Next contest: Fall 2008

ASM International has started Materials Radio, a series of podcasts on materials and their uses for middle school students. This program was part of the K-12 education committee’s desire to help middle school students, parents and teachers learn more about the world of materials and their importance to everyone.

As part of our strategic objective to bring materials outreach to future engineers and scientists, ASM is asking its newest members -- University student Material Advantage members -- to pass along their knowledge of materials by creating short audio programs that are informative, entertaining and easy to understand.

$500 will be given for each podcast accepted for Materials Radio by a Material Advantage Student Chapter. Multiple applications from each student chapter are encouraged. Applications will be reviewed and chosen by the Materials Radio Selection Committee and winners will be selected based on professionalism and creativity.

Listen to sample Podcasts

Podcast rules and requirements:

1. To be considered, your entry/entries must be postmarked no later than November 15, 2007 and include: a completed Application Form, completed Copyright Transfer Form, mp3 audio file (on CD), and a file containing the script which matches the audio.

Mail your completed and signed forms with a CD containing both the podcast audio file and the written script to:

ASM International
K-12 Education Committee
9639 Kinsman Rd.
Materials Park, OH 44073-0002 USA

2. Applications and forms must be legible and complete. The Advisor Approval portion of the application must be completed and signed by the Materials Advantage Chapter Advisor. Applications must include complete contact information for individuals involved. Incomplete applications will not be evaluated.

3. Podcasts Applications will be reviewed by the Materials Radio Selection Committee and winners will be selected based on professionalism, creativity, accuracy and suitability for a middle school age audience. The selection committee may accept entries “as is” and award $500.00, accept with revisions or reject. When entries are “accepted with revisions” $200.00 will be awarded initially followed by $300.00 when requested revisions to the podcast are completed.

4. Podcasts should be between 1½ and 3 minutes in length.

5. Podcasts must include the introduction tagline, “Welcome to Materials Radio. This week's topic: ___________.” and the ending tagline, “Materials Radio was made possible by the 40,000 members of ASM International, The Materials Information Society and the Material Advantage Student Chapter at (insert name of your institution).”

6. If the podcast encourages the listener to perform a science activity of any type, the podcast should also advise the listener of the appropriate safety information.

7. Podcasts should be written for students at the middle school level. Podcasts and scripts may build on fundamental topics in sample Materials Radio podcasts, or may be based on a materials aspect of everyday items such as beverage containers, contact lenses, bicycles, etc. Previously accepted topics include annealing, work hardening, composites and Scanning Electron Microscopy. Avoid duplication to increase your chances.

Address any questions to Email: MaterialsRadio@asminternational.org

Materials Radio: All Materials, All the Time.

Materials Radio is brought to you by the ASM Education Committee

Materials Radio Founders and Chairs:
Molly Kennedy, Pat Ferro, Julia Nowak

ASM Coordinator:
John Peppler

K-12 Subcommittee Chair:
Jan Edwards