2003 Outreach Results

Task 1. (NMT) — Plan, develop and present a Nanoscience course curriculum that will be used to teach a Nanoscience course as part of the NMT MST summer program.

Task Statement — The Materials Engineering Department at NMT assumed the responsibility to prepare a nanoscience course for the summer MST program at NMT. It was presented for the first time during the summer 2002 MST program. And it will be presented again during the second and third plan years.

Achievement Evaluation — Presentation of a Nanoscience-oriented course as part of the MST program during the 2003 summer session.

Outcome — The Nanoscience course was successfully presented during the summer 2003 MST program. The attendance was lower compared to the first year. This appears to be the result of (1) holding the course during the first MST session, right after school is out and (2) intimidation because of the prerequisite college level chemistry and physics courses. We will schedule the third year nano course during the second session and will deemphasize the college chemistry and physics requirements.

Task 2. (NMT, ENMU, NMSU, UNM) — Develop and present two Nanoscience/materials science three-day workshops for K-12 teachers to be held during the fall semester, third quarter of each plan year. The workshops will be designed to accommodate 20-30 K-12 teacher students and will be held in different locations across the State. Once again, hands-on activity should be an important part of the workshop.

Task Statement — It is important to design the K-12 workshops to provide as much hands-on experience in nanotechnology and materials science as possible. The workshop attendees will receive resource materials, which they can use in their own classroom and laboratory teaching assignments. They also will be furnished a list of resource scientists and engineers that they can call on as consultants to help them introduce workshop materials into their own school programs. These resource persons are located at various New Mexico research organizations including Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories. Where the necessary workshop locations have adequate laboratory facilities, the Attendees will have the opportunity to perform hands-on laboratory experiments designed to teach fundamental concepts in nanoscience and materials science. Two workshops will be presented during the fall semester of each plan year.

Achievement Evaluation — Successful completion of this task requires that (1) fall workshops are conducted at ENMU, Portales and NMSU, Las Cruces and (2) that hands-on laboratory exercises and demonstrations are an integral part of the workshops.

Outcome — (1) A three-day nanomaterials and materials science workshop principally for Middle school and high school teachers was held at ENMU in close cooperation and coordination with Professor Long, ENMU. The attendance was less than expected, 12 teachers. A post evaluation revealed that the local Clovis and Portales school principals likely did not disseminate information on the Nano workshop to their teachers. This appears to be a way of discouraging teachers from attending. However, the fact that Portales is a small town, in a rural setting, may also have been a factor. In contrast, the November workshop at Las Cruces is oversubscribed with 36 applications received to date. In the future, we will develop communication mechanisms to enable us to reach key, individual teachers located close to the workshop sites so that we can achieve a direct internal notification. (2) The ENMU workshop featured the following hands-on laboratory exercises and demonstrations: catalysts and oxidation catalyzed reactions; electrolysis and electrode potentials; polymer synthesis and processing; Interfaces and composites; fuel cells and the direct methanol fuel cell; osmosis.

Outcome (2) — (1) A three-day nanomaterials and materials science workshop principally for Middle school and high school teachers was held at NMSU in close cooperation and coordination with Professor Shay Curran, NMSU Department of Physics.. This workshop was fully subscribed with 30 teacher participants. Having learned from our previous workshops, Professor Curran in conjunction with Vannetta Perry to minimize lecture presentations and to maximize hands-on laboratory experiences for the teachers. Based on their after-course evaluations the strategy worked. The special laboratories included an introduction to polymerization and polymer properties, use of the scanning electron microscope and carbon nanotubes and the transmission electron microscope. There were also demonstrations of fuel cells and the use of nanomaterials to prevent counterfeiting. These teachers should find it very easy to take their workshop experiences and the descriptive information provided and implement the same type of demos and experiments in their own classrooms and laboratories.

Task 3 (Community Education Director, and Nanomaterials Initiative Outreach Coordinator) — Relatively inexpensive hands-on kits, which illustrate important principles of nanotechnology and materials science, are commercially available at nominal costs. These kits contain educational materials and laboratory exercises in materials science, nanoscience and nanotechnology. In order to supply graduates from the MST Nanoscience course and the Nano fall workshops with selected kits that they could use in their classrooms and laboratories a means of funding these purchases must be found.

Task Statement — Write and submit proposals to selected educational institutions or companies that offer an educational grant program.

Achievement Evaluation — Preparation and submittal of grant proposals to generate funds to purchase nanomaterials kits for graduates of the Nanoscience MST course and the Nanoscience fall workshops.

Outcome (1) — A $10 K proposal was submitted to the UNM Foundation but it was turned down. Therefore, a more comprehensive proposal was prepared and submitted from the EPSCoR office to the Public Service Company of New Mexico, PNM. It was for $20 K.

Outcome (2) — The proposal to PNM was funded but for $6,500 not the requested $20,00.

Task 4 (Community Education Director, EPSCoR Nanoscience Director, and EPSCoR Administration) — An important function of the Nanoscience Community Education Program is to increase the exposure of K-12 teachers and the general public to the NM EPSCoR program in general and specifically to the educational opportunities provided by the Nanomaterials Initiative outreach program.

Task Statement — Participate as exhibitors in appropriate New Mexico teacher meetings, scientific conferences, professional meetings and the like. The objective is to promote both the EPSCoR program and the Nanomaterials Initiative Community Education Outreach Program.

Achievement Evaluation — Participation in several New Mexico public activities to promote the NM EPSCoR Program and to create participant interest in the Nanomaterials Initiative educational workshops and course offerings for K-12 teachers.

Outcome — The Community Education Outreach Team represented NM EPSCoR and the Nanomaterials Initiative at the following external events:

• Vannetta Perry exhibited at the 2003 New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science teacher Open House In Albuquerque and disseminated outreach education information.
• Vannetta Perry and Bill Kroenke exhibited at the American Association Of Physics Plasma Physics day 2003 in Albuquerque. The exhibit included a NM EPSCoR display, and a video and a poster that explained the use of the plasma torch to modify and synthesize materials, especially nanomaterials.
• Vannetta Perry and Shay Curran will be exhibiting in December 2003 at the New Mexico Science Teachers’ Association 2003 Annual meeting in Las Cruces.
• Vannetta Perry will be attending in the NSF Design, Service, and Manufacturing Grantees and research Conference in January 2004 at Southern Methodist University. Vannetta Perry has submitted a paper coauthored by Bill Kroenke and Bhaskar Majumdar, NMT. It presents the outreach education model implemented in the Nanomaterials Initiative program. The paper has been accepted.