As 2019 is drawing to a close, the Materials World team wanted to highlight a couple of stories to end the year on a high note. Today we will share the news story that got the most clicks on our website in 2019 and on Friday we will share the top feature. We hope you enjoy and Merry Christmas from the editorial team.
RARE PRECIOUS METAL OSMIUM CHALLENGES THE DIAMOND INDUSTRY
By: Shardell Joseph
Osmium in crystal form has attracted attention from jewellers and is set to rival the global diamond industry. Shardell Joseph reports.
Image credit: Osmium Institute
At least a thousand times rarer than diamonds, the aesthetic of osmium has attracted attention among jewellers and watchmakers, and experts have predicted it will challenge the global diamond industry.
Co-mined with platinum, there are 2m of osmium minable on Earth, making the metal incredibly rare. The crystallisation imparts a unique lustre, resulting in a distinct blue-silver tint, which has been nicknamed ‘the sparkle’.
Due to its high level of toxicity as a raw material, the element was previously difficult to work with, so unpopular. It has only been available for a few years after a discovery in 2013 found that crystallising the metal rendered it harmless. Now, osmium is providing opportunities for investors and possibilities for premium jewellery designs.
The Osmium Institute in Germany is globally marketing the metal in anticipation of it rivalling the diamond industry. Osmium Institute Director, Ingo Wolf, said it had been almost unavailable for three years. There were efforts in the Osmium Institute globally to negotiate individual customs agreements with individual states. He said that deals with the USA required two years, while the Australia agreements were reached quite quickly.
‘At the same time, new shapes were prepared for the jewellery market, which can serve as semi-finished products,’ Wolf said. ‘The current growth is about 100% per month. However, after a hot phase, this curve will also drop back to a more normal level if growth continues. Nonetheless, 100% per year is absolutely probable for a few years from next year.’
Osmium as a jewellery commodity is still a long way away from the value of diamond. According to Wolf, for every 0.2g, diamonds are currently valued at approximately €8,000 per carat, whereas osmium is valued at €210. However, it is highly likely the value will spike along with the demand due to the expected exponential growth of the metal.
‘Competition of cheap diamonds with Swarovski and other fiscal developments will pave the way for metals with surfaces that exceed the diamond’s radiant power,’ Wolf said.
‘The sparkle’ metal
Most commonly produced in South Africa, Canada and Russia, osmium is one of seven metals considered precious – platinum, gold, silver, palladium, iridium, rhodium and ruthenium. Among these precious metals, osmium is the rarest with the highest density. It exceeds the compression and abrasion resistance of a diamond. When osmium is cooled, it becomes a superconductor, with the capacity to transport electricity without loss.
Usually used as an alloying agent with uridium platinum and other platinum group metals, the material can be found in fountain pens and medical devices. Some compounds are used for fingerprint detection. Osmium has been used in research development as a catalyst in the process for making ammonia from combined hydrogen and nitrogen.
But handling and storing the metal is critical as its raw powdered form, called osmium sponge, is considered extremely toxic. The powder tends to form osmium tetroxide, which is a health hazard, restricting trade of the metal between private parties.
This situation changed when it was discovered in 2013 that osmium could be crystallised and therefore detoxified. This process changes the crystal structure of osmium and hugely limits its chemical reactivity. In its unreactive crystalline form, osmium behaves even more nobly than other precious metals.
Because osmium can be crystallised in two or three-dimensional forms, osmium interests jewellers. Because of its rarity - only 30g of osmium found in 10,000t of platinum ore - its popularity among investors is expected to spike.
Among the reasons for investors to be interested in the crystallisation of osmium over diamonds are the ethical considerations.
Osmium demands very high ethical standards for sourcing the raw material. This is because the ore housing it comes from mines that supply platinum for automotive catalysts. These companies would have aready undergone a comprehensive programme to ensure compliance with strict ethical and sustainability standards. Thus investors are likely to be attracted by the guilt-free component of osmium.
I don’t know about you, but the end of 2018 was a total whirlwind for us and the kitties. Louis and Olivia are quite disgusted with how much I have slacked on their blog here. I hope to get back to my regular posting soon.
During these past two years at the SU, we have achieved some very exciting goals this year and I wanted to let you know about a few of them:
Consent
Consent was a big priority of mine this past two years, we worked collaboratively with UAL to tackle harassment and sexual violence. There have been some exciting changes so far, such as the reposting system which has been up and running for the last two years. Students can now report anonymously or non-anonymously. They can report a variety of stuff, such as discrimination, sexual harassment, problems on their course. You can access this here.
We have also worked collaboratively with UAL on two poster campaigns that promote consent and celebrate our diversity as a university, whilst taking a stand against discrimination, you will be seeing these around your campus.
A very big part of my campaigning was mandatory consent training. In the past two years, we have been implementing mandatory training for both sports and societies as well as foundation year students.
And I’m super stoked to let you know that UAL is now launching mandatory consent training for all foundation students and first years at one college. This will be growing over the years, and I’m so excited to see all the positive impact on the culture at UAL.
Zero Tolerance
In our Students’ Union, we care about the safety of our members. Which is why this year we have created a zero tolerance policy and poster campaign. As a Union, we now have an official zero tolerance policy against any forms of discriminatory behaviour at UAL and at our events, sports and societies. The policy will up on our website in September.
Cultural sensitivity training
We are now providing a cultural sensitivity training for clubs and societies. This is followed by the induction period as well as tour training. The training explores various conversations around race, institutionalised racism, attainment and cultural appropriation.
Trans Officer
We created a new role for a Trans Officer in 2018. This was result of a motion passed in student council, leading to a referendum. And in our latest elections, we elected our first ever Trans Officer which is super exciting and we can’t wait to see all the exciting work they do.
You can find out more about Al our first Trans Officer here
Student Sex Workers
Following a motion which was passed in our student council, we have started working towards a policy that is inclusive of our members who partake in sex work.
We organised a talk with sex work activists and discussed ally ship and politics of sex work and decriminalisation. It is really important for us that student sex workers know we’re on their side and support their rights.
Pregnancy and student parents
We worked with UAL to make sure they were hearing the voices of students who are parents or pregnant whilst studying. As the result of this I’m very excited to say that UAL have now added pregnancy on the Extenuating Circumstances (EC’s) form. They’re also in the process of creating a policy to help the access to study for students that fall under this category.
Another EC’s win this year has been changes made to medical evidence and time out policy. UAL has now extended the deadline for taking time out, and students are now allowed to provide EC evidence from private counsellors (as opposed to limiting it to UAL counsellors) - YAY!
Healthcare
We now have sexual health clinic regular visits at all UAL colleges. They are advertised on the website. For more information you can refer to the college coordinator at your college.
We’ve also created a map to help you find the clinics in your area, which you can access here
This year I also created info packs to help any trans identifying individuals who make be in need of further information regarding healthcare and wellbeing. This info pack includes information on healthcare, mental health services and activists groups in London for trans people.
This info pack also has information on sex workers rights and reproductive justice and abortion rights. It will be going live soon on our website and can be found on the advice and campaigns tabs.
The past two years have been some of the most exciting moments of mms student activism career, and I’m so excited to hand over my role to my successor Pinky, and to see what amazing things all the new officers have in the bag for the future of Arts SU.
Picture from last years Arts SU X Bishopsgate pride event.
There’s no better way to start of the year than with a zero waste cosmetics workshop! As part of our Arts Unlocked Program, we organised and hosted a workshop at the Skip Gardenin Kings Cross, teaching students how to make their own face masks, toothpaste and deodorant from natural and organic ingredients you can find in your cupboard.
Most great ideas start with a really bad period, which is exactly what brought about the inspiration to start our own Evironmenstrual Campaign. Partly inspired by an international campaign initiated by the Women’s Environmental Network. The campaign was to raise awareness of the environmental and health implications that single use sanitary products have on our bodies and the environment, as well as period poverty, which remains global issue. We created a poster campaign advertising the discounted menstrual cups that we sell at the Students’ Union, amongst facts about period poverty and the issues surrounding period stigma.
We successfully managed to lobby the university to place FREE sanitary products in all the women’s and non-binary toilets at the UAL sites, which is a fantastic win!
We are also aware that many women cannot afford to buy menstrual products, or even sanitary products, and so we have been setting up workshops, teaching students how to sew their own reusable sanitary pads. We will be celebrating the campaign with our period party in the LCC Darkroom Bar on the 26th of June! There will be FREE wine, a pub quiz and lots of fun prizes to win!
As a student I noticed that the bins at UAL didn’t work. They were confusing, mismatched and didn’t do a great job at separating waste. Upon visiting the Mitcham Waste Depot, we discovered that due to our lack of recycling, our waste was becoming contaminated. This contamination and lack of recycling, was costing us money to dispose of our waste, being subsidised by our student fees! So after many discussions with the university, we worked with the comms team and the UAL estates team to replace the bins across all UAL sites! Buy the next academic year there will be food waste bins, and clearly labelled recycling and waste bins.
On another note of sustainability, through the cost of study working group set up by our Educations Officer Anita Israel, the university has agreed to set aside specific funding for recycling and materials swapping spaces, across UAL campuses. This will hopefully encourage a low waste culture at the university, and save students from spending massive amounts of money buying new art supplies and fabric!
As link officer for London College of Fashion and a Fashion Design and Development Graduate, I have worked closely with the LCF events team and an external organisation La Marche, to put on several talks and events, focusing on representation and inclusivity within the fashion industry. The fashion industry has a huge problem with representation and it’s lack of diversity and opportunities need to be discussed more. By collaborating with La Marche we hosted some incredibly positive events, creating spaces for students who feel underrepresented, and a chance to network with industry professionals.
I think it’s really important to note that without the staff at Arts SU, I wouldn’t have been able to achieve half of my successes this year. I want to say a massive thank you to all the staff for supporting me, the UAL students for inspiring me, and my sabbatical team, for teaching me so much about so much. It’s been an incredible year, with it’s highlights and it’s challenges. Becoming an independent Arts Students’ Union and shaping the future of the SU, has been one of the many challenges we have faced as a team. And I cannot wait to see what the new sabbatical officers and amazing staff team will achieve next year!
I cannot believe a year has gone past already! It has been a privilege and honour to be your Activities Officer of the 2018/2019 Academic year.
My manifesto in 2018 focused on four main areas:
1. Improving the accessibility of sports and societies for students
2. Ensuring parity across sites and lobbying the university to extend opening hours at Wimbledon
3. Helping students understand how to create opportunities for themselves whilst at UAL and once they leave
4. Supporting students who run sports and societies
It has been an incredible yet challenging experience to see all of this and more come into fruition. Here are some of the projects I embarked on:
CURATING THE BIGGEST BLACK HISTORY MONTH PROGRAMME and BEYOND BLACK HISTORY MONTH
During what felt like a few minutes in my sabbatical role, one of the first projects I took on together with my incredible team was curating a series of events during Black History Month. This programme included a major exhibition at the Copeland gallery, several talks relating to fine art and fashion practice, Afrobeat dance classes, film screenings and self-care workshops.
This was very much possible with the support of the Dean of Students Mark Crawley!
After the Black History Month was over, we continued to curate other talks and events. Such included ‘’Elevating Our POC Voices’’ organised by Shannon Bono, the Women’s’ officer.
At LCF, we hosted Tolu Coker (Alumni) and Mariam Tijani (student at the time) to have a conversation about their fashion practices. It was well attended by current students and external foundation students who wanted to know about what it was like to study fashion at LCF and CSM.
The exhibition at Copeland Gallery was well attended and saw over 300 guests throughout its duration. Students were able to sell work through the show and establish new networks.
WIMBLEDON COLLEGE OF ART OPENING HOURS MADE EQUAL TO CHELSEA AND CAMBERWELL: LOBBYING FOR PARITY
As a Wimbledon Alumni, I was very aware of the frustrations students feel about the luck of consistency in areas such as opening hours and CLS in CCW. It was my mission to change the opening hours at Wimbledon. With your help, through statements and focus groups we were able to have conversations with the head of college at CCW to address this inconsistency.
The parity in opening hours across CCW does not end there! We seek for parity across all 6 colleges now! I have written a report which expresses the demand for equal opening hours across all 6 colleges. This will be used to lobby the university and implement the change we want to see.
BEHIND THE SCENES STUDIO VISITS: PARTNERSHIP WITH CREATIVE SHIFT AT CAREERS AND EMPLOYABILITY
Our courses do very well to invite external speakers and practicing artists throughout the year, which is beneficial to the student experience. However, we understand that these opportunities can create a space for artists to talk about the polished side of things and to delve into the difficulties and strategical ways to get around any obstacles, especially after graduation.
We partnered up with the Creative Shift team at Careers and Employability to organise a programme of visits to artists’ studios and companies. These small intimate groups created a space for an alternative way of learning and observing what goes on in the real art world.
We visited PR Agencies, sculptors, film makers, painters etc.
These visits have now been compiled with podcasts and other interviews to create a publication which will serve as a tool/guidance for recent graduates.
YOGA AND FOOD: A SERIES OF YOGA AND CREATIVE EVENTS AIMED AT BUILDING COMMUNITIES AND IMPROVING ENGAGEMENT AT CCW
Earlier during the first term we received a call to apply for funding to run a series of events relating to health and wellbeing. After a couple of brainstorming activities led by Claire Flannery, the Creative Activities team were able to secure the grant for the programme titled “Yoga and Food’’. This programme focused on community building in Camberwell, Chelsea and Wimbledon. Brilliantly delivered by the Arts Active Coordinator, Camille Koosyial, the Yoga and Food event engaged over 70 students and saw several collaborations happen between Arts Active, societies and MiAL artists. The Latino X society delivered a brilliant clay workshop, Lizzie Reid and Ella Banard delivered a watercolour pattern workshop and ArtsFems society delivered a homemade face masks workshop. These are only a few of the collaborations that happened.
The Yoga and Food events evidently made more students aware of not only Arts Active but other opportunities that Arts SU provided. Some students went on to attend the Behind the Scenes visits in June!
SUCCESS’ & BYE LAWS AND CONSTITUTION REVIEW FOR SPORTS AND SOCIETIES
Throughout the year, I have seen and approved several applications from students wanting to create new spaces and communities. There is literally something for everyone! If there isn’t, I challenge you to start a new society or sport next academic year. Some of the new societies we have had this year include Fail Better Society, Lingerie Society, UAL for All and Fashion Psychology.
This year, I introduced a Creative Activities newsletter which goes out to all students. It contains match results, events and other happenings within sports, societies and Arts Active. This was to help committees spot opportunities for collaboration with other societies but also celebrate achievements on a regular basis. We also introduced an equality, diversity and inclusion training for committee training attended by presidents, treasurers and other members of sports and societies.
I reviewed our Bye Laws and Constitution for Sports and Societies and approved them through Student Council. The changes are not weighty but were important for us to ensure a continuous and successful running of sports and societies at Arts SU.
Last but not the least, I had the opportunity to wear the UAL Women’s Basketball jersey one last time in a victorious varsity win. Go Arts!
PREPARATION FOR THE SECOND EDITION OF THE DECOLONISING THE CURRICULUM ZINE
The impact and distance the decolonising the curriculum zine has travelled so far is incredible and I believe it is only the beginning. My predecessor on this project, Hansika Jethnani, did an impeccable job to begin this work and it has been an important decision for me to play a part in not just helping people understand its purpose and message, but also using it as a tool to educate and lobby change. The Zine has toured all the colleges with the great work of Rahul Patel, Lucy Panesar, Gustavo Grandal Montero and many others. We are in the process of creating the next Zine!
SPECIAL THANKS TO THE CREATIVE ACTIVITIES TEAM
With all that said, I will like to make it clear that this work could not have been done without the support of students, Sophie Greaves, Vinesh Kurup, Camille Koosyial, Claire Flannery, Lotte Dawson, Katie Hughes, Sophie Risner, Sarah Choudhary Grant and the entire team at the Student Union. These people have supported me in ways you cannot imagine.
It has been an incredible and eye-opening journey and I am thankful for all of you!
