Recap 2016: Aluminium Journeys into the Future. And How!

The year 2016 was an eventful year for aluminium. The light metal transcended all generic application areas to embrace sports, gadgets, appliances, home décor, air batteries, art and what not! It even made it to the stage casting a spell on the audience with an out-of-the-box performance. The world of electronics saw some of the most successful launches which had aluminium in them in conspicuous form. Then there were unusual art installations in aluminium that decked the biggest cities around the globe- almost all of them went on to become famous landmarks of all times. The metal with an inexhaustible recycling potential also inspired many to create objects of beauty and everyday use which they then chose to sell in order to earn a livelihood. In one word, aluminium went places and touched the lives of modern man in ways, one couldn’t have imagined before.

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Here’s a recap of the top aluminium news of 2016 which upheld the versatility of the futuristic metal in multiple arenas of application:

Aluminium in Electronics:

1. Apple unveiled iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in aluminium-finish and mirrorless-finish variants

2. Acer launched new Swift series ultra-thin all-aluminium notebook

3. Meizu launched M3 Max phablet made from aircraft grade aluminium

4. Microsoft introduced Surface Studio desktop PC featuring aluminium frame.

5. Xiaomi added anodised aluminium Mi Mouse to its portfolio.

6. Juuk introduced aircraft-grade aluminium band for the Apple Watch.

7. Satechi launched slim aluminium wireless keypad for Mac.

8. MacWorld announced the upcoming launch of iPad Mini in a new aluminium body.

9. Fossil's Misfit introduced its Phase hybrid smartwatch in stainless steel and aluminium cases.

10.Panasonic launched ELUGA Arc2 featuring body with aircraft grade aluminium alloy

11. HP unveiled the world's thinnest laptop made from aluminium, carbon fibre

12. HTC 10 and HTC 10 Lifestyle with all-aluminium unibody were launched In India

Aluminium in Art ‘n’ Art in Aluminium:

•  Sohar Aluminium launched the Sultanate’s first aluminium handicraft centre in Oman.

•  Wisconsin Historical Museum recently opened an aluminium Christmas tree exhibit in November.

•  Michal Porycki, an artist in Olsztyn, Poland, utilized advanced technology to design relief maps in wood and aluminium, structured them in a 3D printing process that layerd the lakes into a visual model based on a fairly niche discipline: bathymetry, the science and study of underwater topography.

• Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde installed the Smog Free Tower, a seven-meter high aluminium structure in Beijing that removes smog from the air just like an air purifier.

• Stunning aluminium foil artwork pieces were a central feature of an exhibition by the Manchester Urban Pioneers at this year’s Favoriten Theatre Festival in Dortmund, Germany. The aluminium foil, supplied by European Aluminium Foil Association member Eurofoil, was used to create replicas of heritage building facades of the city.

• In May 2016, Olaf Diegel, a Swedish professor from the University of Lund showed a unique 3D printed aluminium guitar- ‘'Heavy Metal” to the world. The gorgeous instrument originally nick-named ‘War and Peace’ was packed with barbed wire and decorative roses.

• Israeli architect created monumental aluminium structure for St Pancras station in London.

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Aluminium on Stage

A new family show titled The Aluminium Show was added by The Lutcher Theater for the Performing Arts in Orange County, Texas; it was premiered in the first week of October amid huge applause. The show has been running full-house since then and has seen a lot of improvisations being done in it, purely on public demand.


How aluminium upcycling made headlines?

Aluminium by virtue of being endlessly recyclable inspired many people to upcycle the metal retrieved from used objects. Most of the endeavours, though in small scales, made impact in a large way.

• Aluminium made it to the Rio Olympics! - The Rio 2016 torch was designed to represent the diversity and vibrancy of Brazil, and the Olympic spirit was made from recycled aluminium and resin with a satin finish. The use of recycled aluminium in such an object of high importance in the world's most awaited sports meet went a long way in upholding the need for recycling for the sake of sustainable development and use of a "green" metal for a greener planet and humanity.


• Painter Nguyen Van Phuc in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam developed techniques to make bas-reliefs on aluminium. He is reportedly the first to do it in Viet Nam. With a precise mind and skilled hands, the artist turns waste materials, such as empty aluminium beer or juice cans, into sophisticated works of art!

• Jacob Therrien, a teen from Victoria Harbour, for instance, decided to create art out of recycled aluminium. The 14-year-old high school student started creating sculptures by remelting scrap aluminium.

Aluminium ‘to’ and ‘from’ another world … from another era:

• The spacecraft Juno carrying aluminium Legos entered Jupiter’s orbit in the solar system on July 4.

• A piece of aluminium that apparently seems to be handmade aroused much curiosity among archaeologists and general public all over the world. The 20cm-long metal chunk unearthed near the banks of Mures River in Aiud, Romania, was found to be made of 12 metals- 90 per cent aluminium. The Romanian officials claimed it was 250,000 years old! That was indeed an astonishing finding given the fact that aluminium was first produced on earth only 200 years ago.

According to a report in Environmental Science & Technology, researchers have developed a new technique that uses aluminium ions in place of sodium in an effort to do away with health and environmental concerns caused by the salt released by sodium-based water softening systems.
 
The journey for the green metal has just begun. 2017 will see it further spreading its wings beyond unknown horizons.

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