scholarly journals Making Stuff Outreach at the Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University

2011 ◽  
Vol 1364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine A. Ament ◽  
Steve Karsjen ◽  
Adah Leshem-Ackerman ◽  
Alexander King

ABSTRACTThe U. S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory in Ames, Iowa was a coalition partner for outreach activities connected with NOVA’s Making Stuff television series on PBS. Volunteers affiliated with the Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University, with backgrounds in materials science, took part in activities including a science-themed Family Night at a local mall, Science Cafés at the Science Center of Iowa, teacher workshops, demonstrations at science nights in elementary and middle schools, and various other events. We describe a selection of the activities and present a summary of their outcomes and extent of their impact on Ames, Des Moines and the surrounding communities in Iowa.In Part 2, results of a volunteer attitude survey are presented, which shed some light on the volunteer experience and show how the volunteers’ participation in outreach activities has affected their views of materials education.

Author(s):  
L. S. Chumbley ◽  
M. Meyer ◽  
K. Fredrickson ◽  
F.C. Laabs

The development of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) suitable for instructional purposes has created a large number of outreach opportunities for the Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) Department at Iowa State University. Several collaborative efforts are presently underway with local schools and the Department of Curriculum and Instruction (C&I) at ISU to bring SEM technology into the classroom in a near live-time, interactive manner. The SEM laboratory is shown in Figure 1.Interactions between the laboratory and the classroom use inexpensive digital cameras and shareware called CU-SeeMe, Figure 2. Developed by Cornell University and available over the internet, CUSeeMe provides inexpensive video conferencing capabilities. The software allows video and audio signals from Quikcam™ cameras to be sent and received between computers. A reflector site has been established in the MSE department that allows eight different computers to be interconnected simultaneously. This arrangement allows us to demonstrate SEM principles in the classroom. An Apple Macintosh has been configured to allow the SEM image to be seen using CU-SeeMe.


Author(s):  
L. S. Chumbley ◽  
M. Meyer ◽  
K. Fredrickson ◽  
F.C. Laabs

The Materials Science Department at Iowa State University has developed a laboratory designed to improve instruction in the use of the scanning electron microscope (SEM). The laboratory makes use of a computer network and a series of remote workstations in a classroom setting to provide students with increased hands-on access to the SEM. The laboratory has also been equipped such that distance learning via the internet can be achieved.A view of the laboratory is shown in Figure 1. The laboratory consists of a JEOL 6100 SEM, a Macintosh Quadra computer that acts as a server for the network and controls the energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), four Macintosh computers that act as remote workstations, and a fifth Macintosh that acts as an internet server. A schematic layout of the classroom is shown in Figure 2. The workstations are connected directly to the SEM to allow joystick and computer control of the microscope. An ethernet connection between the Quadra and the workstations allows students seated there to operate the EDS. Control of the microscope and joystick is passed between the workstations by a switch-box assembly that resides at the microscope console. When the switch-box assembly is activated a direct serial line is established between the specified workstation and the microscope via the SEM’s RS-232.


1999 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 157-158
Author(s):  
Dilnawaz A. Siddiqui

Professor Mushtaqur Rahman, a renowned Muslim geographer, who wasborn on July 1,1933 in Agra (India), died of cardiac arrest at Des Moines,Iowa (USA), on November 5, 1999. He had heart problems for severalyears that had slowed down his academic and social service activities butnever deterred him from performing them.In 1947, he migrated to Pakistan, a country he loved dearly and lived toserve throughout his life. Still, his contributions went beyond it in a numberof ways. Having done his B.A. (1953) and M.A. (1955) from theUniversity of Karachi, he taught at Islamiah College, Karachi, and SindhUniversity, Hyderabad for a few years. He earned his Ph.D. degree inCultural Geography, from Louisiana State University in 1960, and didpostdoctoral research at the University of Geisen, Germany in 1966-67. Heserved in the Department of Geography, University of Karachi, Pakistanfrom 1963 to 1969. He was appointed Professor of Geography in theDepartment of Anthropology, Iowa State University (ISU), Ames, Iowa.He served ISU till his retirement in May 1998.Dr.. Rahman’s contribution to the field of Cultural Geography of SouthAsia has been recognized worldwide. In Professor Rahman was combinedan activist and quiet researcher. He was a founding member of the OldStudents’ Association of Karachi University (OSAKU), which he served invarious capacities. Besides carrying out advisory duties for the MuslimStudents Association at ISU, he organized for its students and faculty manystudy tours of Pakistan and brought a number of Pakistani scholars to IowaState.His main scholarly contributions are through his very long, sincere, dedicatedservice to the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS) andthrough his many worthy publications in the field of political and culturalgeography. Not only did he serve AMSS as its vice president with one ofits founders, Dr. AbdulHamid AbuSulayman, but he was also elected its ...


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