The KY MMNIN is extensively involved in many educational and outreach activities. We summarize each of those activities below along with a brief description of the activity. Although listed below by the core facility which served as the lead, most all of these activities are a combined effort from the dedicated staff of multiple cores. For additional information regarding any of the programs listed below please send an email to Ana.Sanchez@louisville.edu
The Brood X Cicadas
Micro/Nano Technology Engineers capture the amazing nature of these creatures that emerge every 17 years. “Underground cicadas hide from predators and they remain until the soil temperature tells them it's time to come out. They emerge wearing a protective outer shell that they shed once they're hiding again inside the foliage of nearby trees.”*
(*)https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/brood-x-cicada/85-42c6299c-1e9a-4d08-859a-436b96afd2ec
Earth 2050 3D Printing
Speed School’s AMIST Facility of the KY Multiscale and its manager Tim Gornet were highlighted in this 5 minute video featured in “Xploration Earth 2050”. This video is courtesy of 'Xploration Earth 2050'. Earth 2050 is part of a two hour block designed to get young people excited about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) that airs on local FOX broadcast stations across the country. Earth 2050 focuses on future technologies and how it might affect our lives in the year 2050.
NANO + AM SYMPOSIUM 2019
Our signature outreach event in Year 4 was our annual KY Nano + AM Symposium, which focuses on the intersection of nanotechnology and additive/advanced manufacturing (AM). This was the second year for the well-attended regional conference. The two-day event consisted of parallel technical and business sessions, several joint keynote presentations by national renowned speakers, poster presentations, sponsorship opportunities, food and refreshments, core facility tours, and a valuable evening networking reception. Local dignitaries included the mayor of Louisville and the president of UofL. This annual conference included an Industry Outreach Day where potential industrial users were invited to tour our core facilities. The goal of our annual Nano+AM Symposium is to bring together researchers in the Nano+AM space to discuss new findings, share results, discuss applications, debate the future, and network with one another. The 2019 KY Nano+AM Symposium venue was conveniently located on UofL campus enabling all KY Multiscale Core Facility users to participate. It was held on July 31 – August 1, 2019. The symposium brought together over 150 participants from industry and academia.
NANO + AM SYMPOSIUM 2018
The KY NANO + Advanced Manufacturing Symposium was held August 1 -2, 2018 at the Louisville Speed Art Museum. This annual conference hosted by the KY Multiscale brought together researchers and industry partners in the advanced manufacturing fields of additive manufacturing and micro/nanotechnolgoy to discuss applications, debate the future, and network with one another. For more information about the symposium please click here.
News Article : 3-D Printing, tiny tech and Iron Man at UofL conference, By BAYLEE PULLIAM -AUGUST 6, 2018 - Source UofL News
REU and NNCI Network Activities 2018
NNCI REU Convocation 2018
IMPACT REU 2018 Students participating in the NNCI REU Convocation RTNN hosted. Picture provided by RTNN includes coordinators and participants from all NNCI participanting sites.
Happy National Nanotechnology Day!
National Nanotechnology Day is an annual event featuring a series of community-led events and activities on or around October 9th to help raise awareness of nanotechnology, how it is currently used in products that enrich our daily lives, and the challenges and opportunities it holds for the future. This date, 10/9, pays homage to the nanometer scale, 10-9 meters. The National Nanotechnology Coordination Office is promoting the 100 Billion Nanometer Dash, a challenge to run 100 Billion Nanometers (equal to 100 meters). The KY Multiscale Node invited UofL's team mascot "Louie", he was a fierce competitor!
Event supported by NNCO https://www.nano.gov/NND2017events
On 10/9 the field of "Nanotechnology" is celebrated nationally. The NSF NNCI Kentucky Multiscale SItehonors this national event by traveling to our local children's museum, the Kentucky Sicence Center, and participating in a series of educational demos about the science of micro and nanotechnology.
Come Join us! October 9
or 10/9, the field of "Nanotechnology" is celebrated nationally. The NSF NNCI Kentucky Multiscale SIte will honor this national event by traveling to our local children's museum, the Kentucky Sicence Center, and participating in a series of educational demos about the science of micro and nanotechnology.
Our traveling show includes posters, an assortment of interesting samples that children will observe under a professional high-power microscope, and a variety of commercial toys that demonstrate exciting nano principles, such as photovoltaics and nano surface effects.
YOUTH SCIENCE SUMMIT 2017
KY Multiscale in partnership with the Kentucky Science Center hosted the 7th Annual Louisville Youth Science Summit. This annual event attracts Middle, High School, and College Undergraduates. The participants are divided into groups depending upon their age and provided with core facility tours and demonstrations of nanotechnology with the help of our graduate students and professional staff.
Youth Science Summit participants at NGS labs tour coordinated by KY Multiscale.
IMPACT REU 2017
KY MMNIN hosted another year of our research experience for undergraduates Micro/Nano Manufacturing program called INTERDISCIPLINARY MICRO/NANO MANUFACTURING PROGRAM ADDRESSING CHALLENGES TODAY (IMPACT). Our REU 2017 students also participated in the NNCI 2017 Convocation hosted @ Georgia Tech.
Entrepreneurship Workshop
Dr. Hastings’ discusses the prototyping capabilities available through the KY MMNIN and NNCI at the Von Allmen Center for Entrepreneurship Prototyping Workshop for local small businesses and emerging entrepreneurs
2016 UK REU Cohort in Engineered Bioactive Interfaces and Devices
Several members of this cohort utilized KY Multiscale CeNSE and the EMC Core Facilities.
International Visitors
Summer Mining Institute with the Chinese University of Mining and Technology – demonstrations of cleanroom microfabrication processes and electron microscopy. Summer 2017
UK's STEM Camp
70 middle schools students from UK's STEM camp enjoyed extended demonstrations of fabrication and characterization instruments .
MNTC Summer Camp 2017
The Micro/Nano Technology Center hosted a week long summer camp in June 2017 for high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors at the University of Louisville. Students learned the same microfabrication techniques to make a variety of devices such as solar cells, gyroscopes, pressure sensors, temperature sensors, etc. Participants were exposed to 3D printing and learned how to communicate with a variety of sensors using an Arduino microcontroller. After completion of the program, participants took with them their silicon wafers, a cleanroom notebook, lecture notes used from the labs, and an embroidered polo shirt.
GIRLS STEM DAY
Girl Scouts visiting the NGS Lab during Girls STEM day
Nano Nuggets
Nano Nuggets
Dr. Alphenaar - Electronics
Nano Nuggets
Dr. Cohn - Bioengineered Materials and Soft Materilas
Nano Nuggets
Dr. Kate - Additive Manufacturing/3D Printing
Nano Nuggets
Dr. Sunkara - Nanotechnology Research
Science Celebrations at the Kentucky Science Center
Every year, during the first week of April, the Kentucky Science Center (KSC) in Louisville KY celebrates a themed-event dedicated to sharing the “science of the small” with the general public to generate interest in micro/nano science. This event has become a very popular annual event at the KY Science Center with over 2,000 participants last year. KY MMNIN in partnership with the KSC have made this event instrumental for introducing a variety of STEM careers and activities to our next-generation scientists and provides them the opportunity to interact with nanotechnology professionals. This career-focused science celebration features extra interactive micro/nano experiences, local professionals, hands-on activities, and powerful demonstrations regarding micro-nanotechnology.
UofL Summer REU Program in Micro/NanoTechnology
The University of Louisville was successful in landing a NNCI-complementary NSF REU program which began this summer. The title of the hands-on engineering-based REU is IMPACT, which stands for Interdisciplinary Micro/nanotechnology Program Addressing Challenges Today. The goal of IMPACT is to recruit and train next-generation students in the interdisciplinary field of advanced micro/nano-manufacturing through exciting hands-on research projects which demonstrate how this remarkable miniaturization technology can be used to create new devices and systems capable of "impacting" the grand challenges of today in energy, healthcare, advanced manufacturing, security and the environment. The application portal for summer 2017 is now open @ www.louisville.edu/reu
MNTC Summer Camps
The Micro/Nano Technology Center is in the process of hosting two summer camps for high school sophomores, juniors and seniors at the University of Louisville’s premier $30 million NNCI cleanroom. During the 1 week concentrated class, students learn the same microfabrication techniques used in Silicon Valley to make a variety of devices such as solar cells, gyroscopes, pressure sensors, temperature sensors, etc. In Particular, the students fabricate and test a crystalline silicon solar cell. The participants also learn how to solder electronic components and communicate with a variety of devices using the Arduino and/or Raspberry Pi microcontrollers. After completion of the program, the high school participants get to take home their silicon wafers, a cleanroom notebook, lecture notes used from the labs, and an embroidered polo shirt. For more information visit http://louisville.edu/micronano/summer-camps
CCRER Summer Camps
The Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research, which is part of the KY MMNIN, summer camps are hosted for high school students. Camp participants learn the driving principles behind cutting edge renewable energy research from the Conn Center’s research staff, and experience working in the labs on real hands-on projects using state-of-the-art analytical tools and research methods. This program allows the Conn Center to work directly with area high school students who are entering STEM fields.
RPC Prototyping Center Support and Coordinated Educational Activities
The UofL RPC provides 3D printing and other fabrication support for engineering classes and teams such as ME Capstone, SAE Formula and Baja team competitions, including super mileage and human powered vehicle teams and the NASA-sponsored River City Rocketry team which took 2nd place in national competition 2016. RPC also provides 3D printed components of student-designed mechanisms for final presentations in ME’s Computer Aided Design (CAD) course.
UK REU Program in Engineered Bioactive Interfaces and Devices
UK currently has a REU program in Engineered Bioactive Interfaces and Devices directed by Professor Kim Anderson. During the first week of the REU program, all students participate in a one day introduction to CeNSE and EMC capabilities and research goals. A number of these students are trained on the centers’ instrumentation and continue as users throughout the course of the summer. Before the start of the NNCI award CeNSE and the EMC supported the research of several members of the 2015 cohort. During summer 2016 students are fabricating devices within CeNSE, one of our core facilities at UK.
CeNSE and AMC Lead Activities
CeNSE is also currently being used by selected high school students from prestigious programs in the Lexington area. CeNSE and the EMC are core participants in the University of Kentucky’s engineering day. Over 2,500 people attended last year. A variety of events including demonstrations of lithography, nanoparticle synthesis, and electron microscopy. This year, CeNSE and the EMC hosted 70 middle school students for nano-fabrication and electron microscopy demonstrations during UK’s seeblue STEM camp. These students visited the facilities in small groups to ensure interaction and engagements in the educational experience.
