Created to provide a “place where academic knowledge gained through materials science and other engineering courses can be tested through real world application,” according to the group’s constitution, students in the Lehigh Blacksmithing Club have been honing their skills at the historic Bethlehem Smithy. Originally built in 1750, the Smithy is located in the city’s Colonial Industrial Quarter at the south end of Main Street.
That will soon change. A dedicated blacksmithing lab is being created in Whitaker Laboratory complete with ventilation hoods, anvils and space for larger tools.
The club has been supported by advisors, Wojciech Misiolek, Loewy Professor and director of The Loewy Institute, formerly the Institute for Metal Forming, and Laura Moyer ’99 MS’02 Ph.D.’05, manager of metallography, light optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction at Lehigh.
