Metal gets a second life at Duke University’s Innovation Co-Lab

Chip Bobbert eyes a sheet of shiny aluminum that is several feet long and crimped on one end. He guesses that this was once the backsplash of a restaurant kitchen. Nearby, he spots another piece of metal with a square opening at the center. When he mentions that it likely once framed the entry to a roof or ventilation shaft, the shape of the piece makes sense. He then picks up a softball-size chunk of dense stainless steel. With an intricate series of holes shooting through the thickest part, it looks like a central piece of a complex engine. "Some of this stuff is crazy," Bobbert said, pointing out the holes. "If you look at the precision machining, somebody paid thousands of dollars for that."