Coffee: the fuel of materials research

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ver the years that I’ve been involved in materials research, many people have discussed the topic of what drives materials research. Some rightfully discuss the influence of intellect and creativity. Others attribute progress to resources—money, equipment, facilities, staff. Others bend toward interdisciplinary work. It seems clear that all of these contribute in major ways. What I haven’t heard people discuss is coffee. Coffee is one of the major contributors toward progress in materials research. Without it, we are lost. Consider the morning, lunch, and afternoon coffee breaks at MRS Meetings. Huge urns of coffee are everywhere. It flows like water over Niagara Falls. It braces and invigorates us. Without it, our minds would dull, and our attention would wander. Some less sturdy souls would nod off. Our sense of community as materials researchers would vanish like a phantom in the night. It has been estimated that humans drink 2,250,000,000 cups of coffee per day.1 Given 16 standard cups to a gallon, that corresponds to 140,625,000 gallons of coffee every day. While this is not anywhere near the daily amount of water that flows over Niagara Falls,2 it is an impressive number. Given what I see at MRS Meetings, I suspect that this average number spikes substantially during the weeklong run. Like many of you, I have colleagues who are tethered to the coffee pot. They walk around all day each day with their coffee mug in their hands and indulge their habit. If you are what you eat and drink, then these materials researchers are 99.9% coffee bean. My coffee habit started when I was a child. One night my family was having dinner with my Uncle John and his family. It was their habit to finish dinner with coffee. The aroma was wonderful, so I begged for some. To my surprise, my wish was granted. Of course, my “coffee” came with a liberal dose of cream and sugar, making the ratio of coffee minimal. Nonetheless, it was wonderful. Throughout my youth, this diluted concoction was my experience with coffee, although the amount of cream and sugar declined as I aged. At some point, I dropped the cream. More recently, I dropped the sugar. Even more recently, I switched to decaf. This is how I start my mornings, with two cups of black decaffeinated coffee. While at home, I use my MRS mug that I obtained at a Fall Meeting many years ago. There is no telling how many thousands of gallons of coffee have passed through that mug. In my youth, coffee was made in specialized metal pots through a percolation process.3 The bottom of the pot was filled with water. The coffee grounds were contained in a metal basket. Flame was applied to the bottom of the pot. The metal basket was porous so

that hot water could flow over the coffee grounds, and the coffee could flow out. Water was transported by the percolation process from a tube that went from the bottom of the pot through the metal basket. The water then flowed back through the metal basket and coffee grounds under the influence of gravity. Most of these pots had a glass port on top so

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