The Humacao Strange Matter Exhibition: Prem Brings Materials Science and Nanotechnology to Puerto Rican Communities

2008 ◽  
Vol 1105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Idalia Ramos ◽  
Ramón A. Rivera ◽  
Nicholas J. Pinto ◽  
José Sotero ◽  
Esther Vega ◽  
...  

AbstractThe “UPRH-PENN Partnership for Research and Education in Materials” (PREM) is sponsored by the Division of Materials Research of the National Science Foundation and since 2004 it has contributed to increasing the participation of Puerto Rican men and women in materials research and education. The program integrates K-12, undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty collaborating through research and education in a partnership between the University of Puerto Rico at Humacao (UPRH) along with UPRC and UPRRP and the University of Pennsylvania Materials Research Science & Engineering Center. The UPRH-PREM has strong links with schools in the eastern region of Puerto Rico and has successfully integrated K-12 students and teachers into the program through workshops, web resources, open houses, a Summer Program and research experiences during the academic year. In an effort to integrate the wider community into the outreach efforts, from October to December 2007 PREM hosted the presentation of the Interactive Materials Science Exhibition “Strange Matter”. “Strange Matter” was designed and produced by the Materials Research Society (MRS) in conjunction with the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto. Funding for the project is being provided by the National Science Foundation and industrial partners 3M, Dow, Ford, Intel, and Alcan. The exhibition brings interactive activities that highlight the fact that materials science is all around us. This exhibition is the first and only one in the island of Puerto Rico and was presented at UPRH's Casa Roig Museum, a historic plantation house located in downtown Humacao. Local scientists complemented the exhibition with live demonstrations and talks to provide deeper explanations and motivate young visitors to study materials. To make the exhibition possible, PREM integrated UPR-Humacao administration, faculty, students, non-teaching workers, Casa Roig staff, schools, Humacao municipality, local businesses and individual citizens. Dozens of students, faculty and other members of the community were mobilized as volunteers to support all aspects of the exhibition.

MRS Bulletin ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 36-36
Author(s):  
Stephen H. Carr

The Materials Research Center at Northwestern University is an interdisciplinary center that supports theoretical and applied research on experimental advanced materials. Conceived during the post-Sputnik era, it is now in its 26th year.The Center, housed in the university's Technological Institute, was one of the first three centers funded at selected universities by the federal government in 1960. The federal government, through the National Science Foundation, now supplies $2.4 million annually toward the Center's budget, and Northwestern University supplements this amount. Approximately one third of the money is used for a central pool of essential equipment, and the other two thirds is granted to professors for direct support of their research. Large amounts of time on supercomputers are also awarded to the Materials Research Center from the National Science Foundation and other sources.The Center's role enables it to provide partial support for Northwestern University faculty working at the frontiers of materials research and to purchase expensive, sophisticated equipment. All members of the Center are Northwestern University investigators in the departments of materials science and engineering, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, chemistry, or physics. The Materials Research Center is a major agent in fostering cross-departmental research efforts, thereby assuring that materials research at Northwestern University includes carefully chosen groups of faculty in physics, chemistry, and various engineering departments.


MRS Bulletin ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 637-645
Author(s):  
Clyde L. Briant

In 1994, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) established Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSECs). The goal was to provide support for interdisciplinary materials research and education of the highest quality while addressing fundamental problems in science and engineering that are important to society. The centers are expected to undertake materials research of a scope and complexity that would not be feasible under traditional funding for individual research projects or small groups. Centers are funded for a limited period of time—currently five years—after which they can re-compete against new proposals. In 1994, MRSECs were established at 11 universities throughout the country. Two years later, 13 new centers were established in a second round of funding. Additional competitions were completed in 1998, 2000, and 2002. As of April 2002, there were 29 MRSECs.


1997 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 74
Author(s):  
Sharon Stenglein

Outreach and connections with K–12 education are part of the mission of the Geometry Center, a Science and Technology Research Center funded by the National Science Foundation and the University of Minnesota. One vehicle for this outreach is an intensive summer course for teachers in which they experience new learning using the center's technology resources. A graduate-level mathematics course, “Technology in the Geometry Classroom,” was created at the Geometry Center by director Richard McGehee with two graduate students, Eduardo Tabacman and Evelyn Sander, and two postdoctoral fellows, Chaim Goodman-Strauss and Heidi Burgiel.


2005 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 377-377
Author(s):  
Wayne King

The Ninth Frontiers of Electron Microscopy in Materials Science Conference (FEMMS 2003) was held October 5–10, 2003 at the Claremont Resort and Spa in Berkeley, CA. Major sponsors for this meeting included Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, National Science Foundation, and University of California at Davis. Sponsors also included LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd. (Carl Zeiss SMT), E. A. Fischione, Inc., Gatan, Inc., Thermo NORAN (Thermo Electron Corp.), FEI Company, Hitachi-HHTA, JEOL USA, Inc., Seiko Instruments, and CEOS GmbH.


2004 ◽  
Vol 827 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna Hammer ◽  
Deepa Srikantaiah

AbstractUniversity-based education outreach efforts in the areas of science and engineering are continuing to grow and be refined as their success stories rapidly increase. As we have learned, effective outreach to K-12 schools and the broader community requires an understanding of the K-12 educational system, making a long-term commitment to support and enhance the existing curriculum, training researchers, and meeting our own goals of integrating the excitement of new science and technology into the classroom.The University of Maryland (UMD) Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) Graduate Teaching Fellows Program (GK-12) is making strides to accomplish these objectives. This paper will be a descriptive overview of the of the UMD GK-12 Program. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of developing viable partnerships, integrating research-based concepts into the curriculum (emphasizing materials science related topics), and training research Fellows to develop the necessary skills to take advantage of their research background and to refine their teaching and communication skills within the scope of informal science and engineering education.


1999 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.C. Roco ◽  
D. Senich

Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) is a National Science Foundation (NSF) initiative which covers a broad spectrum of university–industry interaction mechanisms, from faculty visits to industry and graduate student industrial assistantships to full scale industry–university research projects. The initiative promotes high-risk/high-gain research with focus on fundamental topics, which would not have been undertaken by industry. It also encourages development of innovative collaborative industry–university educational programmes, and direct deployment of new knowledge between academe and industry. This paper outlines the basic concepts of the initiative, characteristics of the funded research and education projects, and several trends. Illustrations of projects from engineering, manufacturing, environment and education are included.


1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan W. Eberhardt ◽  
Laura K. Vogtle ◽  
Gary Edwards

Abstract This paper presents a review of two years experience regarding senior design projects to aid persons with disabilities, for mechanical engineering students at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). The efforts are funded by the National Science Foundation and are aimed at developing alternative, low cost, custom devices to aid specific disabled individuals or targeted groups. A collaboration has been established with UAB Occupational Therapy and United Cerebral Palsy of Birmingham (UCP), who have provided projects which combine depth in both engineering and life sciences. The “UAB experience” described in the following includes project selection, development, student advising and overall significance. Completed designs are listed, along with efforts to bring the products to a marketable level.


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