Seeing the results It didn't take the students long to synchronize their thumbs on their respective controls and successfully collect data on three different polymers. Back in Crosby's office, they fed the figures into a computer and watched as it drew smooth, colored curves comparing the adhesive strengths of the three polymers. Aircraft manufacturers are beginning to use tape to hold plane components together, he said, because it is much cheaper than welding or riveting and is corrosion-free. In metal, you can predict where and how a crack will propagate, but for adhesives you can't. Hopefully, my research will take you one step closer to being able to do that, so they can use these things with confidence.
Students discover that they can think like scientists.
And those thought processes you can take away and apply to any discipline.