Video feature: 'Polymers'

Richard Register

Local middle school students help Princeton faculty members and graduate students present a hands-on explanation of polymers in a video recorded at the University's 2010 Science and Engineering Expo. Engineering professor Richard Register (above) uses a Hoberman Sphere and other common objects to demonstrate the flexibiilty of long-chain molecules.

Photos: School of Engineering and Applied Science

What are polymers, anyway? With the help of local middle school students, Princeton faculty members and graduate students give a hands-on explanation of these long-chain molecules in a video recorded at the University's 2010 Science and Engineering Expo.

The spring expo was attended by approximately 1,000 area middle school students. It was co-organized by the Princeton Center for Complex Materials (PCCM), which offers outreach programs designed to spark and sustain enthusiasm for science among young people at a critical time in their education.

The video features Richard Register, chair of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering; Daniel Steinberg, director of educational outreach at the Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials; and Princeton graduate students Keith Gallow and Colin Neikirk.

PCCM also hosts a materials science teacher training program, as well as other programs. The outreach programs are funded by the National Science Foundation.