Lawrence Marlow constantly has a hunger to learn and grow in his understanding of materials science, heat treatment, and chemistry. He earned an associate’s degree in Metallurgy and Materials Engineering from Schoolcraft Community College and then continued his education by earning a bachelor’s in Engineering Chemistry from Oakland University. He also earned an advanced pyrometry certificate and ASM International fractography certificate. Lawrence’s degrees and certifications, paired with 12 years of experience, provides him with a strong foundation for his current materials analysis.

The following scenario captures Lawrence’s expertise when problem-solving for a client: When creating a process for induction heat treating a cast iron cam shaft, Lawrence ran into a problem with not meeting a client’s specification for allowable amounts of retained austenite. He attempted to decrease the amount that was being achieved, but after several attempts he realized it may be a flaw in the design. Lawrence consulted a design engineer and realized he needed to prove that a design change was required. So, he calculated the time it was taking to get into quench (which was well within the time to complete full transformation into martensite). Using a TTT diagram, he derived a longer duration to get to quench that would still result in full martensitic transformation. Using the limits of the machine’s travel speed, he calculated a new positioning of the quench block. Then, Lawrence manufactured a quench set up at this distance and ran the program with the appropriate settings. The resulting microstructure contained 60% less retained austenite and met the print specification with a large tolerance left. The quench system underwent redesign with his parameters as print requirements.

Lawrence’s experience — with particular expertise in induction heat treatment and vacuum carburizing heat treatment — is paired with an ability to operate independently and produce outstanding results for clients, which will likely lead him to a position of management in the near future.