Last year, RCS Chemical Solutions donated $50,000 to the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering in order to fund a new minor and scholarship support.
The donation was announced on December 13, 2013.
"The minor started because people in the industry wanted undergraduates to have a background in this area," Robert Jackson, associate professor in mechanical engineering, said. "There's really no one coming out with that in their education right now, especially at the undergraduate level."
The new tribology minor specializes in the study of contact, friction, wear and lubrication of surfaces.
In today's world, two main ongoing concerns are energy efficiency and global warming.
Tribology has a direct impact on both of these points.
"We can design lubricants that will allow equipment to run more efficiently, therefore saving fuel," Auburn alumni, Ralph Beard, global technical and business development manager of Lubricant Additives, said. "And if we save fuel, we reduce carbon footprints."
Auburn is the first university, nationally, to incorporate a tribology minor into their program.
"It's a difficult science to teach at the undergraduate level, because most universities have not figured out how to get different schools talking to each other," Beard said. "It is new and it is unique. There is nothing else like it anywhere in the entire western hemisphere."
There was not a demand or need for the universities to teach tribology, until now, according to Beard.
Today, many of the workers in industry businesses with knowledge of how tribology works, are retiring, leaving no one to train incoming employees.
"It's everywhere," Jackson said. "It's in every industry. It often gets overlooked because it's very multidisciplinary in nature and that's why we created the minor."
The few students, thus far, who have taken an interest in tribology, are helping to build a bridge between the different colleges of COSAM (college of science and mathematics) and the engineering school.
"What Dr. Jackson is trying to do, and what I think a lot of people are now realizing, is get a lot of the other majors that can get involved in tribology, to try it," William Ferguson, senior in mechanical engineering with a minor in tribology, said. "Chemistry majors shouldn't be afraid of mechanical classes because he's (Jackson) not going to let you fail. He's going to help you out and if you don't know the basics, he's going to teach it to you first."
The college of engineering is looking for more students to get involved.
Although most of the people who work in it are mechanical engineers, the minor also calls for other numerous fields to participate.
There are people in chemical engineering, material science, physics, chemistry, and many different kinds of fields that are able to minor in tribology.
"We're really trying to find more students to get involved in the minor," Jackson said. "It's a pretty exciting area. I think it's a good thing to get into to build a promising career off of."
The hopes for more support from alumni and from companies who have an interest in the area are still high and the search for more students continue.
"Auburn is at the forefront now in terms of being able to create value around the world with this education program," Beard said. "It's going to benefit auburn by giving auburn students an opportunity to lead an industry that needs new leaders."
There is a tribology minor industry open house coming up in March where guests are able to meet with industry leaders and future employees.
For more information regarding the tribology minor, visit the Auburn University website and look under the College of Engineering.
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