Rock star Boeing expert in metals has unusual pastime—a gold mine By Candace Heckman Photos by Bob Ferguson Esuper strong and lightweight, highly resistant to corrosionlementally speaking, titanium is some of the best stuff outthere for jet engine fan blades and aircraft frames. It’s and fatigue, and is a low conductor of heat and electricity. But not a lot of people can or even want to work with titanium, one of the most challenging metals on Earth. “Of all the metal forming, this one you need to finesse,” explains Boeing Senior Technical Fellow Daniel Sanders, whose work supports Boeing’s Enterprise Technology Strategy for manufacturing. “It’s so easy for things to go wrong, and no human being would want to have to drill titanium.” He would know. Sanders started with Boeing as a tool and die maker at age 19. He has worked with metals for his entire professional life and is now one of a handful of recognized titanium gurus in the world. Not only is Sanders’ deep knowledge a gold mine for materials science, but he also has a real one. His voracious enthusiasm for metallurgy extends even into his spare time, digging in his family’s mining claim in Eastern Washington. When he was 8 years old, Sanders began helping his grand- father mine for gold in the Northwest’s Cascade Mountains. His fascination in the mine’s history—claimed during the gold rush, since won and lost in countless Wild West–style card games— also fuels Sanders’ interest in this hobby and his work at Boeing. “As time went on, I never lost that interest in metals,” he said on a late summer excursion to the gold mine. He recently bought a book on tantalum, a rare earth metal, because he just happened upon some out there. Strategic metals mining in the West has experienced economic peaks and valleys, specifically driven by international competition. But one of the biggest issues in locating what are known as rare earth metals has recently become critical for U.S. manufacturers, and therefore, economically worthy once again. Sanders was excited to find some to study from his own tunnels of rock. “It’s not just a mine, it’s a big puzzle here,” Sanders explained about the meandering tunnels on his claim. “Where will we find the next big find? What did the old-timers leave behind? And 16 BOEING FRONTIERS / OCTOBER 2012
Frontiers October 2012 Issue
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