Professor Ricardo H.R. Castro, chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering
As part of Engineering Superheroes, an undergraduate course Castro launched at Lehigh in 2024, students studied how materials give superheroes— like Captain America, Thor and Ironman—their powers through a combination of lectures, demonstrations and labs. Students then created their own versions of those shields, hammers and battery packs.
The class examined what makes Captain America’s only weapon so effective and discussed what materials could make the shield a good thermal insulator. Together, they designed a small shield with a thin protective organic layer on the surface, then tested it outside by hitting the shield with a flame.
“I’m always the one behind the shield, of course, but that’s another thing we talk a lot about—the safety concerns that are a big part of engineering,” Castro said.
Scaling Up Materials
The class also explored scalability of materials. Everything worked on paper, Castro said, and while the thermal layer they designed can protect the shield, he challenged the students to think of how that same design could be scaled up to protect buildings or aircraft. “It becomes a very comprehensive education story,” he said.
“In the real world, developing better and more sustainable materials that can scale up is arguably the biggest—but most exciting—challenge,” according to the Popular Science article. In the article, Castro shares that “space, aviation and electric car batteries are only a few of the realms that will benefit from continued research into the next generation of materials.”
Story By Christine Fennessy and Lauren Thein
