Solar Atmospheres, Souderton, Pa., in conjunction with the William and Myrtle Jones Foundation, has donated and installed a Mentor laboratory furnace for Lehigh University’s Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science.
The Mentor was designed and built by Solar Manufacturing, and features the SolarVac Polaris control system, a hot zone capable of holding up to 250 pounds, and a maximum temperature of 2800°F. It was installed by Solar in Lehigh University’s Whitaker Lab, along with the necessary Solar-built transformer and a water cooling system specifically designed for the installation.
“This is a very powerful, advanced piece of equipment that will allow us to conduct important experiments in our metallurgy teaching and research, especially around additive manufacturing,” explains Dr. Wojciech Misiolek, professor and chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University.
After a tour of Lehigh University in early 2019, Solar founder and CEO William R. Jones decided that donating this furnace would benefit Lehigh, its students, and Solar as well. “Bill was thoroughly impressed during his tour of the metallurgical labs,” says Tim Steber, Regional Sales Manager for Solar Atmospheres. “He saw an opportunity to advance Lehigh’s capabilities and launch them into another area.”
“The need for a pre-production size vacuum furnace for heat treating of additive-manufactured, 3D-printed parts and other metallurgical heat treating operations became apparent for Lehigh University and its teaching and experimental research,” Mr. Jones states.
