Giving Back

Dr. Badger has been enormously fortunate to have had the opportunity to receive a quality education in Mechanical Engineering and in grinding. His Ph.D. in Ireland was supported by two honorable gentlemen, Dr. Andrew Torrance and Professor Brian Rowe. In addition, Dr. Badger was fortunate to have had two parents who believed strongly in education.

Therefore, The Grinding Doc believes strongly in giving back – both in terms of time and in financial support – with a special emphasis on education. Some of his efforts:

• Dr. Badger funded and oversaw a Ph.D. student at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland (his alma mater). This has resulted in a person receiving a Ph.D. and in several publications in first-tier academic journals, contributing to mankind’s understanding of grinding.
• Dr. badger offers free or heavily discounted attendance to The Grinding Doc’s three-day High Intensity Grinding Course for Master’s-level and Ph.D.- level students doing research in grinding. Or, for those who can not afford the travel, a free or heavily discounted copy of The Book of Grinding to facilitate students in their research.
• In December of each year, Dr. Badger takes one or two subjects that are still not well understood in grinding, investigates the subject in-depth, validates the theory with experimental data taken during his company visits, and submits the work to a refereed academic journal. This is a slow, tedious process – performed without outside financial assistance – but is necessary for developing a first-principles understanding of complex grinding phenomenon. The end result is a contribution to mankind’s understanding of grinding and abrasives.
  Some examples are: 1) grindability of high-speed steel (2007 CIRP Annals); 2) wheel collapse (2009 CIRP Annals); 3) grinding of sub-micron grade tungsten-carbide (2015 CIRP Annals); 4) chip formation mechanisms when grinding with Cubitron II grit in coated abrasives (2013 Weld Journal).
• Dr. Badger serves as a reviewer/referee in several top-tier academic journals, evaluating state-of-the-art grinding research.
• In the winter of 2022/2023, The Grinding Doc will be funding and overseeing a team of Mechanical Engineering students at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. The subject of their senior research project will be burr formation in grinding.
• Dr. Badger is heading a project involving two Italian Master’s students at Chalmers University in Gothenburg, Sweden. The focus is diamond-roll dressing and involves both theoretical and experimental work.
• Each year The Grinding Doc funds two new scholarships at Big Springs Charter School, a tuition-free public charter school that serves many disadvantaged students. The scholarship is done in the name of Judith Kavanaugh Badger, who devoted her life to helping disadvantaged children.
• Full sponsorship of a student’s education in Guatemala through the organization Safe Passage. (Safe Passage is an organization that takes children who normally would be working with their parents in the dangerous job of collecting recyclables in the Guatemala City garbage dump and instead provides them with full-time education. Safe Passage has received top ratings from organizations that monitor the charities.)

Do you have an interesting project that could contribute to our understanding of grinding and provide education to an aspiring grinder? Contact Dr. Badger to see if it might be a good fit.