Johnathon Brehm, a junior majoring in materials science and engineering, received honorable mentions in two categories for his visually arresting microscope images in the International Metallographic Society photo contest. Using light microscopy, Brehm captured a striking shot of metallic microstructure rendered in coolly luminescent blues and grays—the crystalline features almost resembling an arctic landscape on some strange alien world.
Brehm’s black and white image of wrought iron slag.
His black and white image of wrought iron slag shows a starkly bright, rippled and pockmarked plane, bisected vertically by a thick dark stripe. Glancing closer reveals intricate irregular grids within the photo’s dark spaces, reminiscent of a dense urban street grid that has been violently compressed to eliminate all right angles.
Brehm captured the images during his co-op work at Scott Forge during winter 2018. Brehm expects to graduate from UW-Madison in December 2020 with a specialization in metals.