Shane Mayer-Gawlik image of the Bridger Aurora, part of his Night Skies photography collection to be exhibited at the upcoming Art-Science Festival on April 23rd–25th. (Image courtesy of Shane Mayer-Gawlik.) Click here to register for the Festival.
Current STEM Ed Highlights
HML 2021 Virtual Health Make-a-Thon Gives Citizen Scientists a Shot at Making Their Health-Related Innovations a Reality
April 19, 2021
Two contestants' winning health-related idea submitted to the 2021 Virtual Health Make-a-thon Competition: a Haptoglobin injector that prevents acute Renal failure after a crush injury.
Eyes on the prize, twenty teams of “citizen scientists” from across the state—students, healthcare workers, educators, entrepreneurs, community members, and professionals— participated in the Spring 2021 Virtual Health Make-a-Thon competition on Saturday, August 17th. The prize? A Maker Lab Innovation coin that would entitle the bearer to $10,000-worth of resources from the University of Illinois’s Health Maker Lab (HML) network. The citizen scientists' goal? To come up with a health innovation that would make a difference.
I-MRSEC’s Music Video for EOH ’21 Plugs Graphene, 2D Materials
Preetha Sarkar singing the bridge of "Graphene Has My Heart" during the video.
April 7, 2021
Although 2021’s Engineering Open House (EOH) was not the traditional live, on-campus event but virtual due to COVID-19, I-MRSEC researchers who are passionate about STEM outreach didn’t let that stop them. Unable to engage in person with the public, specifically the numerous children who usually attend, they figured out how to meet with them face to face anyway—via a music video. Their goals? To communicate about 2D materials research, to show the public how tax dollars are being spent, and to share benefits to be gained from scientific research. They also hoped youngsters watching might be intrigued and eventually pursue careers in research. Along with inspiring the public, they hoped to rekindle their own excitement by reminding themselves why they’d chosen science careers.
