A new vacuum furnace, donated by the Solar Atmospheres Inc. companies, was dedicated in an official ribbon-cutting ceremony at ASM headquarters in Materials Park, Ohio, on July 20. This lab-sized furnace, named “The Mentor,” was designed and built by Solar Manufacturing for use in ASM’s Teaching Lab. This $250,000 gift was made by Solar in commemoration of ASM International’s 100th anniversary.

Mr. Roger Jones, corporate president of Solar Atmospheres and several other company representatives attended the celebration, which was a part of ASM’s Annual Chapter Leadership Days and the ASM Materials Education Foundation’s Eisenman Materials Camp. As part of the 2013 Materials Camp, attending students were excited to have the honor of being the first people to work with “The Mentor,” which they used to learn about failure analysis. 

“The Mentor” is a horizontal, internal quenching furnace with a hot zone that measures 12 inches wide x 12 inches high x 18 inches deep and is capable of operation to 2400°F. The hearth will accept a load of 250 pounds.  Featuring state-of-the-art vacuum furnace technology, this furnace will allow students to perform a wide variety of tests and experiments relating to vacuum heat treating, brazing and sintering.