Outreach
Tactile Toys for BLV Community
Balazs and Emrick collaborated to develop 3D printed objects to engage blind and low vision (BLV) students
Balazs: Developed Lego-like Blocks for Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children (near Pitt Campus)
Each block has distinct height and inscribed braille. Easy tactile means of identifying color Fun to use and can be utilized as teaching tool.
Emrick: Used 3D printing to translate scientific images from CCMA research into tactile objects Enables BLV students to learn about concepts in chemistry and be involved in CCMA
ACC Chem Res
Balazs and Sen (with Peer Fischer from Germany) organized a special issue for Accounts of Chemical Research on the “Fundamental Aspects of Self-Powered Nano- and Micromotors” which encompasses 22 review articles by world renown experts on topics that highlight the key features of the CCMA.
Big Springs Talk
Big Springs is a distillery near Penn State that holds science nights once a month. These science nights are geared towards the local community and are a great opportunity to learn about science while enjoying a drink. Big Springs encourages speakers to give talks for a more general audience so that people without science backgrounds can still enjoy and understand the discussions. In November, Kayla Gentile, a CCMA graduate student, gave a talk regarding motion at the nanoscale, called “Fantastic Voyage: Designing Self-Powered Nanobots”.
2019 CCMA Outreach Events at Princeton University
In December, Howard Stone led the 2019 Holiday Science lecture. It was given twice at Princeton University and twice at Harvard University to a total of approximately 1000 parents and children (photo from the Harvard event is below). The title was “Ice Cream for Science: It’s Legen-Dairy!”. The program included demonstration and audience participation. This was the 18th consecutive year that Professor Stone has led this activity and most years there is a new topic.
ACS Symposium
Balazs and Emrick organized a symposium on topics core to the CCMA, titled “Autonomous Processes, Chemo-mechanics and Active Matter Involving Polymers and Soft Matter”, at the Spring 2019 American Chemical Society meeting in Orlando, FL. CCMA graduate students and postdocs helped to select speakers for this symposium and presented highlights of their research at the meeting.
2019 CCMA Outreach Events at Penn State
Undergraduate Poster Session
Every September, CCMA in collaboration with the American Chemical Society Local ACS section hosts a poster session for undergraduate chemistry students from nearby institutions. This is an opportunity for undergraduate students to present their research to faculty and other students. As part of the activities CCMA-affiliated graduate students, Kayla Gentile and Ambika Somasundar, give a two-part talk. First, they give an overview of graduate school programs and a brief introduction to what students can do with a chemistry degree. Next, they discuss their CCMA projects.
