My tribological proclamations
Dr. Martin Webster | TLT President's Report January 2016
These are the three changes I would make to our industry. What about you?
STLE members are happy in their work but disappointed in the low public awareness of the contributions we make to the economy and society.
© Can Stock Photo Inc. / ayzek
DURING A BREAK IN ONE OF OUR RECENT EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETINGS, I asked my colleagues whether there were some hidden powers bestowed upon the STLE president that had not yet been revealed to me. In particular I was interested to find out whether I had the ability to issue presidential proclamations to fix a few issues that have bugged me over the years.
My question raised some wry smiles, but regrettably I was informed that no such powers would be forthcoming. Furthermore, they said that even if such powers did exist, like Aladdin, I would be restricted to only three proclamations. I guess this would protect the tribology community from the tyranny of an obsessed president overreaching his or her authority.
Despite my disappointing limits of authority, I have given further thought to what proclamations I would be tempted to issue. At the risk of missing some glaringly obvious ones I would like to share my three items. Of course if such an opportunity were bestowed upon me, like many of you, I would naturally select wishes aimed at ridding the world of the human suffering caused by poverty, starvation and human conflict. That aside, I hereby present my three tribological proclamations.
1. Tribology and lubrication engineering will hitherto receive its due credit for contributions to society, industry and humanity. Our emerging trends study revealed that while most of us are very happy working in our field, we are very disappointed with the low public awareness of the contributions we collectively make to the economy and society. This may appear to be a frivolous waste of a proclamation, but the poor understanding of the broad impact we have made, and will continue to make in the future, affects decision makers at all levels of industry and government. It also deters those who might consider a career in our field, and we are at risk that the best and brightest will gravitate to higher profile disciplines.
2. Tribology and lubrication will be a core topic in degree level engineering courses. Although there are some notable exceptions, most engineers, including mechanical, do not receive adequate training in lubrication and tribology fundamentals. This is despite the fact that during their careers they will no doubt have to deal with lubrication whether they are designing, manufacturing or using machines that include moving parts.
3. The tribology and lubrication community will use terms that have clear definitions and avoid vague generalities. This last one is based on a more personal observation that may cause consternation among my colleagues. For the longest time I have had trouble with some of the terms that are used in our vocabulary. Examples include lubricity, lubricity additive, film former, film strength additive and last but not least EP additive. I am sure that when initially introduced they were based on the best descriptions available at the time. These days though such terms can be vague and are occasionally used to describe very different phenomena. For example I have seen the term lubricity additive used to describe both antiwear and friction modifier additives. At the simplest level the term could be applied to either, but we can choose to be clearer in our definitions, so why not use the term friction modifier and add further descriptors as necessary? For example, the description “soluble organic molybdenum friction modifier” may be more of a mouthful but provides a clear definition of function and a class of chemistry.
In reality, my proclamations carry no sway. However, the good news is that we can do something on the first two proclamations without relying on magical powers. The STLE strategic plan that we are aggressively following has a number of projects aimed at improving our advocacy efforts. This includes our highly popular STEM camp that is now a permanent fixture at our annual meetings. I am happy to report that several STLE sections are now considering establishing similar camps at a local level.
Through the tireless efforts of professor Robert Jackson, Auburn University has now established an undergraduate tribology minor program. Enrollment in the program is increasing and may spawn similar efforts at other institutions. Furthermore, the STLE Presidential Council is looking at improving our student outreach efforts through enhancing our scholarship programs.
Unfortunately, my third proclamation is not likely to be addressed anytime soon. For action on this item I am going to have to rely on continuing to rub the STLE gavel that was presented to me in Dallas in the long shot hope that a tribology genie will eventually emerge.
Having presented my own, I am now left wondering what proclamations others would make. Please let me know your tribological and lubrication proclamations. You never know—they might end up in an updated version of our strategic plan!
Martin Webster is a senior research associate for ExxonMobil Research and Engineering in Annandale, N.J. You can reach him at martin.n.webster@exxonmobil.com.