Education & Outreach

¡MIRA!-PREM: Sparking Curiosity In Materials Science!!

Northern Arizona University (Montaño)

During UT-Austin’s STEM Girl Day on Feb 22, 2025, the SparCS team from NAU ¡MIRA!-PREM highlighted its outreach work. Joined by the Center for Dynamics and Control of Materials, students, faculty, and staff introduced SparCS to the Austin community. They led hands-on activities for hundreds of middle-school girls and their families to spark interest in materials science, quantum tech, and photonics, making STEM fun and accessible.

Conference Across MRSEC and PREM Schools (CAMPS)

Jul 31, 2025

Texas State University

Conference Across MRSEC and PREM Schools (CAMPS)

Tania Betancourt, Texas State University

Texas State University hosted the 2025 Conference Across MRSEC and PREM Schools (CAMPS), bringing together 94 students from over 30 universities. The event featured a speaker series with faculty and industry presenters, rapid-fire oral presentations, and poster sessions. Attendees also participated in a career panel, networking lunch, and toured research labs to learn about materials characterization equipment, including electron microscopy tools. The conference aimed to foster collaboration and networking among students and professionals in the field.

TOP left Group photo from PEAQS retreat. TOP right FLC and NSU students work together during an interviewing workshop. MIDDLE left NSU students touring STROBE labs. MIDDLE right Keynote presentation.
BOTTOM FLC and NSU studenttouring aerospace engineering labs — TOP left Group photo from PEAQS retreat. TOP right FLC and NSU students work together during an interviewing workshop. MIDDLE left NSU students touring STROBE labs. MIDDLE right Keynote presentation. BOTTOM FLC and NSU studenttouring aerospace engineering labs

Nov 20, 2024

Fort Lewis College

Community Building at the PEAQS Student Retreat

Sarah Schreiner, CU Boulder

PEAQS hosted its first student retreat March 25-26th at CU Boulder.

TOP left Baldwin Varner with his CU Boulder mentor, Dr. Emma Caiting TOP right FLC graduate, Terrell Curley at his new position as a Failure Analysis Engineer BOTTOM Dakota Rodriguez presenting his work atthe
MRS PREM Symposium in San Francisco. — TOP left Baldwin Varner with his CU Boulder mentor, Dr. Emma Caiting TOP right FLC graduate, Terrell Curley at his new position as a Failure Analysis Engineer BOTTOM Dakota Rodriguez presenting his work atthe MRS PREM Symposium in San Francisco.

Nov 20, 2024

Fort Lewis College

PEAQS student pathways

Sarah Schreiner, CU Boulder

"I never realized how much this experience would make me a perfect fit for this career."

TOP NSU undergraduates performing STEM demonstrations at a local
STEM carnival day. BOTTOM FLC undergraduate Ryan Calabaza helping middle schoolers in Cortez, CO understand their local watershed and water filtration at the local water processing plant. — TOP NSU undergraduates performing STEM demonstrations at a local STEM carnival day. BOTTOM FLC undergraduate Ryan Calabaza helping middle schoolers in Cortez, CO understand their local watershed and water filtration at the local water processing plant.

Nov 20, 2024

Fort Lewis College

PEAQS students in the community

Sarah Schreiner, CU Boulder

PEAQS undergraduates have been busy getting out into their local communities to get K12 students interested in STEM.

Fluorescence imaging locating a tumor in a mouse, shown in the animal and after removal. Image by Goldshaid et al. via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Nov 19, 2024

Texas State University

Image Guided Surgery for Tumor Resection

A simulation of how surgeons find cancerous tissue during an operation. One glass bead is marked with a transparent fluorescent pen, mixed in with others, and picked out under a black lamp in a dark room. It introduces fluorescence and how it is used to label cells and image tumors.

Alginate droplets gelling in calcium chloride to form beads. Image by Paredes Juarez et al., Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 2014, CC BY.

Nov 19, 2024

Texas State University

Dye Encapsulation within Alginate Beads

An introduction to hydrogels and drug delivery. Drops of alginate solution with food coloring in it form beads in a calcium chloride solution. Moving the beads to clean water shows the color coming out slowly, standing in for the controlled release of a medicine. The ingredients are food grade.

Dry ice sublimating in a bowl of water. Photo by Christopher (Salem, OR) via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Nov 19, 2024

Texas State University

Dry Ice Fog, Bubbles and Balloons

Three demonstrations of sublimation, the change from a solid straight to a gas. Dry ice goes into plain water to make fog, into soapy water to make carbon dioxide bubbles, and into a balloon, which inflates. Includes safety guidance, because dry ice is -78.5 C and has to be handled with gloves or tongs.

Nov 19, 2024

Texas State University

Lego Zipline Engineering

Teams build a Lego carrier that runs down a zip line, then compare designs to see what matters most: the size of the carrier, its weight, or the shape of the part that touches the line. It needs only Lego pieces and cord.