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Impressive Georgia Tech and MiRC Presence at Spring 2008 MRS Meeting
New NNIN education activities
May 01, 2008:
Hundreds of the 4000+ attendees were inspired by Symposium OO’s Nanoscience and Engineering presentations, tutorial, and tabletop activities. In the three days in San Francisco, there were 55 participants from 20 states, 5 countries, and 14 industries. They shared the most current methods to motivate K-12, undergraduate, and the general public with understanding of how nanostructures interact within in our environment while generating excitement of current nano-programs. Sessions were filled and engendered enthusiastic questions by thoughtful and engaged attendees.
The diversity of presentations was encouraging to our current and future efforts in nanoworkforce development. Sessions described success stories of high quality program information, rationale, websites, and lesson units, modules and kits. Measurement and evaluation techniques used in nano efforts for K-5, 5-8, high school, undergraduate and graduate programs thru universities, public outreach organizations, government and industry settings were presented.
Beginning with our Tutorial on Monday afternoon, the topic of incorporating nanoconcepts into undergraduate courses and increasingly into K-12 programs was lead by Mechanical Engineering professor at Georgia Tech, Samuel Graham, with assistance from Joel Pikarsky, staff engineer at the Georgia Tech Microelectronics Research Center’s state of the art Cleanroom facility. Dr. Graham explained the wide range of outreach programs in which he participates, including GT presidential Fellowship Students involved in a project growing carbon nanotubes and Atlanta high school students engineering Solar Cookers for a program called Engineers without borders. Several samples were then demonstrated in industry donated equipment for the symposium. Attendees were shown the ease with which these samples can be loaded and displayed to show the atoms of the chosen samples from molecular down to atomic, or nano, structures. Some categories of suggested presentation to highlight importance and capture attention were energy, green tech, societal benefits, and new gadgets.
Next were two full days of presentations were focused and strong commitment to developing teachers and students who want challenging lives in engineering. The informal programs represented shared established and new efforts to inform the public about the importance of nano to our nation’s future. The Citizen’s School on Nanotechnology at University of South Carolina, Museum efforts from the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, courses taught on NanoEthics at Northeastern University, the Nanooze online magazine published through the Center for Nano at Cornell University were included. All of these programs have proven very effective in promoting nano knowledge and motivating the public to seek information and education on the value and concerns that will determine the extent to which we can implement the advantages of nano inventions moving forward.
The University of South Carolina’s Citizen School for Nanotechnology initiated a blog format newsletter forum called the Science Café where stakeholders of the community uncover the aspects of nano of importance to their futures. Alison Francies, of the Franklin Institute shared how 20 cart-based museum exhibits have been developed in a program called Small Wonders. They have also gathered evaluation on such ethical questions as the health and safety risks of strawberries stored in silver lined bags and nano sun block.
Alex Prasertchoung and his advisor, Donna Hammer, presented an exhibit to motivate the next generation of CSI’s through the Spy Museum in Washington DC’s newest exhibit, Mission Possible, the Art of Spying. In activities highlighting science behind the scenes, participants identify targets using sensors, imaging, codes and mission microdots. Museum outreach efforts including “Operation Night Spy” and the upcoming Teacher Spy Science Workshop were highlighted. Carl Batt explained the Cornell nanoexhibits developed at the Nanoscale Science and Technology Facility. The key focus of the Center for middle school motivation in nanoscience is the online magazine called Nanooze. Eric Marshall from the New York Hall of Science explained the Interfacial Innovation Dynamics and how partnerships can fuel innovation
Kim Duncan shared the University of Wisconsin-Madison approach to “Bridge the Gap” in recruiting the general public and the professional community in understanding nano to develop nanoresearch responsibly. After identifying change agents through journalists, local policy makers, and educational administrators, then attendees can be recruited through trusted community members, multiple source ads, and competitive fellowships for attendees. In a workshop promoted through the school of public policy, participants are encouraged to engage in hands-on lab activities, take lab tours, and receive input from nanoresearchers on current nano efforts. In this process, nano-misconceptions can be dispelled, and more responsible nano public policy can be generated.
Ron Sandler of Northeastern University, in the field of Environmental Ethics, discussed the types of issues associated with nanotechnology. Included in the discussion were the social context and contested moral issues, as well as technoculture, life, and transformational issues of nanotechnology today.
The government and industry programs highlighted current and developing commitment to increase workforce of the future. Several large National Science Foundation programs were well represented in the sessions. Nancy Healy, Director of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN) Education Program, headquartered at Georgia Tech, shared the measurement and evaluation techniques that have been developed to monitor the impact of this 13 university program of outreach efforts. Effective data management tools were described. Northwestern University’s National Center for Teaching and Learning (NCLT) programs in high school chemistry and physics are studying misconceptions in science today and how classroom approaches can be changed to help as ongoing assessment continues to evaluate the progress of delivering high quality nanoknowledge. Dr. Nate Unterman also shared the NCLT’s curriculum effort and the LEGO AFM unit that has been so highly successful with K-12 students.
Collaborative efforts that have developed in the last several years were among the most provocative and promising of presentations. The Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) s of Puerto Rico, Howard University and UCLA have found creative ways to connect K-12 students, undergraduate and graduate student instructors with the expertise of prestigious university professors and researchers with government and industry funded outreach effort support. This is the best of all program dynamics, and truly proves the effectiveness of the type of program this symposium intended to promote. Several other presentations highlighted similar efforts, such as the Industry Lab to Classroom effort at Santa Clara University, workshops for legislators at University of Wisconsin-Madison, and community college to university to industry training programs through Stanford and IBM Almaden.
Paresh Ray’s PREM program at Jackson State University in Mississippi has a goal of developing teachers as spokesmen of science, using portable mercury sensors to extract findings from fish. Dr. Ray has presented his findings with his students at a conference in South Africa. Another component of his program is professors volunteering to present lectures on their research at Jackson State, effectively inspiring students to pursue college educations. Idalia Ramos, representing the PREM of the University of Puerto Rico, Humacao, shared the overwhelming support of the small community in hosting the MRS Strange Matter exhibit as part of the international tour of this renowned program. Measurement and evaluation of the impact of this 5700 visitor exhibit hosted by over 100 community volunteers was discussed.
Oscar Suarez, whose PREM at the University of Puerto to Rico at Mayaguez acquired Materials Science information for local teachers with a 3 pronged program including teachers, clubs, and high school students in research. They established a class for teachers, emphasizing recognition, identification, competition, and achievement. Frank Gomez of UCLA explored his PREM partnership with CalTech and a community college in East LA to boost the Materials Science Undergraduate & MS program by recruiting minority students with focus on direct access to professor and researcher work in their labs in an ongoing program. With proven assessment provided to highlight success. Josh Halpern of Howard University, in collaboration with Johns Hopkins and Prince George Community college launched enthusiasm through their PREM with the NanoExpress of Howard University. This is a traveling exhibit outfitted in a truck with portable nano tools, such as SEM, and AFM to bring groups of students through this hands-on experiment and demonstration-filled exhibit.
Ray Carpenter of Arizona State University examined the current teaching techniques developed in his Nanoscience for Undergraduate Education (NUE) program for use with undergraduate classes and posting of web data in collaboration with the University of Liverpool. Wendy Crone of University of Wisconsin-Madison’s MRSEC explained their carbon nanotube activities and how they have incorporated the concepts at ISE venues, as a vehicle to reach students and their families. Julie Nucci, of the Cornell Center for Nanoscale Systems shared the Institute for Physics Teachers’ Lab Kit development, as well as effective dissemination and evaluation tools developed.
Many other recently developed programs at all levels of K-undergraduate are leading us to new heights of collaborative innovation across the country. Jessica Webber, from the University of South Florida has developed a fifth grade module for teachers to implement through the STARS program. Nano Research Models and well as a nano scavenger hunt, are highlighted on the nano4newbies website. Kristin Black of Stanford has collaborated with Skyline College and Gavilan Community College to create an outreach program for MESA, whose goal is to expose students to professors and researchers at IBM Almaden Research Center. Pam Rasmussen, an experienced Raymond Central High School teacher in Nebraska, who has participated in MRSEC and RET programs at University of Nebraska, has developed her own program to create a nanoliterate society. Samila Mourad of Santa Clara University promoted a nano e-book that researchers could download to add to the current research they have underway on behavioral transistors.
Alex Prasertchoung also presented a K-12 Engineering Program at the University of Maryland whose goal is to encourage entering minority high school students to engage in science research early and increase college bound levels in the sciences and engineering. In “Project Lead the Way” students interact with undergrads and professors as mentors, engage in Nanotopics Research projects, class and lab visits, and summer research practicum workshops, as well as project competitions. This highly successful program at getting students to college has recently expanded to include home school students.
Kathy Chen of Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo shared her developed curriculum using nanoproducts as a vehicle for teaching nanoconcepts in her materials science courses. In outreach events Dr. Chen uses discrepant events to engage students to develop their own presentations and experiments to explain the current research in nano. Andrew Heitsch of the University of Texas at Austin NanoLab provides undergraduates integrated labs to provide experience in applying materials across diverse disciplines. Dr. Heitsch has created a resource manual of experiments which Teaching Assistants can use to tutor and mentor K-12 students to complete labs to synthesize gold nanorods.
Patrice Green, a Willow Glen High School Engineering course teacher, presented the program resulting from collaboration between with IBM Almaden research facility and her San Jose State internship results. The ITSME and SUMMIT programs for teachers provide industry research lab training for them to take back to their classrooms. Ms. Green’s research led her to develop a full set of lesson plans for teachers which lead students through the process of learning how we will move to the next generation of phase change materials that will eventually replace Flash Memory technology.
Vivian Dang, of Boeing, shared results of a recent study with SRI, which evaluates a series of courses in nano for experts around the world. The Boeing program includes challenging programs to introduce early and reinforce throughout education years. Units developed in the kindergarten to employment (KTE) program include Cosmic Blobs for K-5, Solid Works for 5-8, CATIA for 9-16, and PLM Toolset for undergraduate/graduate levels.
Jeff Welser, Director of the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC)’s Nano Research Initiative, explained the value of the industry consortium’s goals to develop talent pools in the nano areas of research that will allow the industry to grow exponentially.
The graduate programs in international venues highlighted efforts from the Japan, France, and the UK. The rationale for developing these programs is that they must meet the needs of tomorrow’s society and scientists. Talishito Itoh, of Osaka University described how they are using solar cell and multidisciplinary research to integrate nanotechnology into post graduate programs and graduate refresher courses across five fields of interest. Industry liaison programs with such industry partners as Sony and Hitachi were also discussed. David Carrey of the University of Surrey, UK, explained the current nanopolicy approach in the UK. The philosophy of the Royal Academy of England and the UK Department of Trade and Industry policy were examined. David Carrey also shared the UK Master’s Recognition Scheme and how it determines best practices were explained. Marie Isabelle Baraton shared the goals of the EU to become the Most competitive and knowledge based economy in the world. The basis of this effort, the Triangle of Knowledge, was explained as the interaction between education innovation and Research, which are the key drivers in a knowledge-based society.
My goal at the outset of planning this symposium was to bring together all the stakeholders to explain the success to date of nanoknowledge implementation into society. Throughout the three days of events, speakers’ topics and deliveries were highly professional, well-developed, effective, integrated and innovative. I felt that the success of the entire symposium validated the importance of addressing this crucial topic.
Respectfully submitted,
Diana Palma