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	Podcast:		UC Science Today
	Episode:		The quest to develop lighter and stronger materials literally hits the road
	Category:		Science & Medicine
	Duration:		00:01:03
	Publish Date:		2016-03-24 00:00:00
	Description:		Researchers are looking to develop materials that are lighter and stronger for a variety of applications – including vehicles. Materials scientist Suveen Mathaudhu of the University of California, Riverside studies the underlying mechanisms that will make metallic materials and composites lighter and stronger. Mathaudhu says this quest for different materials has a real world example – the Ford F-150 truck. "Last year’s Ford model shifted from using a steel frame to an aluminum frame, which saves a lot of mileage and increases the fuel economy of the vehicle by taking over 700 pounds out of the frame of the vehicle. As we continue to do this, our vehicles should become more and more efficient, but we have to design materials that are able to fit into where the heavier materials lie to be able to do this more efficiently." To do this, researchers can use computational tools, but Mathaudhu says one of the current challenges is to accelerate the design and application of materials.
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