PCCM Education Outreach

With a focus on the materials science research of the Princeton Center for Complex Materials, the 2nd annual Materials Science Nano Day introduced the community to the wonders of the very small.  On Saturday, March 30, more than 50 faculty and students from the Princeton Center for Complex Materials and the Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials came together at the Princeton Public Library to share their love of materials science with the public at PCCM’s Materials Science in the Nano World. The event was jam-packed with materials scientists and the amazing things they study. The sunny weather brought kids of all ages and their families downtown to experience super conductors with Professor Robert J. Cava and polymers with Professor Richard Register and his research group. Professor Cliff Brangwynne and his student William Gilpin showed the worms he studies under microscopes to five year olds as well as octogenarians. Dr. Anthony Novembre, Associate Director of PRISM, brought a real Scanning Electron Microscope to allow kids to zoom into a fly’s eye on the same equipment that real materials scientists have used to study all kinds of materials. People also were able to explore computer simulations used to study fluids and materials with Professor Athanassios Z. Panagiotopoulos and his research group. As materials science on the nanoscale was the theme, visitors learned all about nano with other professors and their students such as Jason Petta, Antoine Kahn, and Michael McAlpine.

Other PRISM/PCCM faculty were represented by their group members such as Howard Stone and Rodney Priestley. PRISM undergraduate students got in on the fun as well; the Princeton University Materials Research Society student chapter used K’Nex building kits to illustrate nanostructures. Partners from on and off campus joined the materials scientist volunteers such as the Office of Information Technology, graduate students from the department of Molecular Biology, the New Jersey State Museum, and even middle and high school students from the Princeton Public Library’s Go-Between Club. Faculty, students and staff volunteers and great partners like the Princeton Public Library helped the PCCM Education team make this event a huge success.

Materials Science Nano Day

Where: Princeton Public Library,
65 Witherspoon St., Princeton, NJ

When: Saturday, March 30, 12:00-4:00 PM