I-STEM Education Initiative

Tour of Illinois’ Materials Research Lab through I-MRSEC sparks Franklin students’ interest in Materials Science

MRL staff scientist Dr. Xiaoli Wang and a group of Franklin STEAM Academy students and leaders suited up before going on a tour of the MRL cleanroom in February (2023). Photo by Virgil Ward

By Bruce Adams, Contributing Writer

“I can.”

That’s what Krisha, an 8th grader at Franklin STEAM Academy, said confidently when asked if she could see herself pursuing a college education in material sciences.

Krisha and 43 7th- and 8th-grade classmates from the Champaign middle school had completed a tour of the Material Research Laboratory (MRL) in early February. The tour was part of the Illinois Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (I-MRSEC) Musical Magnetism program that included visits to a scanning electron microscope, B80: Optical profilometer, Dynamical Mechanical Analysis, a virtual reality classroom, X-ray and fluorescence labs, and the clean room.

I-MRSEC Director Nadya Mason welcomes the Franklin STEAM Academy group to the lab. Photo by Virgil Ward

Musical Magnetism is a collaboration between I-MRSEC and the academy, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The outreach program encourages middle school students’ interest in science, engineering, and mathematics through teaching and interacting with University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty and graduate and post-doctoral students. During the height of the global pandemic outbreak, those interactions took place over Zoom. However, this year, Franklin students had a chance to see a range of MRL activities in person.

Krisha became interested in aerospace engineering about a year ago. She said she is interested in how spacecraft and bodies move through outer space.

Jakub is a 7th grader who was particularly interested in the demonstration of fluorescence by Dr. Julio A. N.T. Soares a Senior Optical Research Scientist in Laser and Optical Spectroscopies. Jakub was fascinated by the revelation of unseen properties in the liquids Soares exposed to ultraviolet light. He said he might go on to study biology.

   Left: Dr. Julio Soares shows two students the fluorescence demonstration, while grad student Lawrence Anderson assists. Right: Graduate student Soho Shim and a student make drawings using highlighters during the fluorescence activity led by MRL staff scientist Dr Julio Soares. Photos by Pamela Pena Martin.

Lilly is in 8th grade. She’s visited labs as a Girl Scout and enjoyed the fluorescence materials. Lilly said she will continue to take science courses in high school. And Dy’Mirah was taken with the virtual classroom, using the scanning electron microscope on a piece of chocolate and the fluorescence laboratory.

As part of the tour, MRL staff scientist Dr. Kathy Walsh led a lesson from the basement of the lab. She demonstrated a 3D optical profiler that uses light to make detailed pictures of a surface.

   Left: MRL staff scientist Dr. Kathy Walsh shows a group of Franklin students an instrument called a 3D optical profilometer. Photo by Virgil Ward Right: A Franklin student prepares a sample to study using the x-ray diffraction instrument, in an activity led by MRL staff scientist Dr. Juan Lopez. Photo by Pamela Pena Martin

Soho Shim is a graduate student in I-MRSEC Director and Rosalyn Sussman Yalow Professor of Physics Nadya Mason’s group, who had her first experience guiding students around the labs. She said that “the high point of the tour for me was chatting with students on how we do research with the introduced instruments, beyond the demos shown during the tour. Students in my group were very engaged with the demos, and some even wanted to know how our life as a graduate researcher was and what the actual research projects we worked on were.”

Prof. Andre Schleife introduces the Franklin group to virtual reality and materials science. Photo by Virgil Ward

I-MRSEC and Blue Waters Associate Professor of Materials Science André Schleife hosted the Virtual Reality classroom and said, "we have worked with the MRSEC before and had groups like this, and it is usually really fun. I found the students I interacted with pretty excited about this. Many of them have not played with VR before, and they really liked the experience.”

The visual appeal of virtual reality and classroom, with the ability to examine molecular

structures from various perspectives, is undeniable. But will it encourage middle schoolers to pursue STEM?

“Of course, that is hard to say for middle school students,” Schleife remarked. “But I would hope that, at the very least, they would be more curious now to come back.”

Graduate student Junehu Park and a Franklin student do a virtual reality activity to study a crystal. Photo by Pamela Pena Martin.

Junehu Park, a graduate student in Prof. Schleife’s group who assisted with the group, noted, "I know how it can be hard to get the students involved in science activities, but they gave more attention than I expected, so it was fun. Most students were excited to interact with atoms in the virtual space. I heard students talking a lot about their VR activity, so I hope our program encouraged them to explore STEM for their future or at least think science is cool!”

A Franklin student operates a scanning electron microscope with help from MRL staff scientist Dr. Jade Wang Photo by Virgil Ward

  

MRL staff scientist Dr. Roddel Remy shows a group of students the dynamical mechanical analyzer, which they used to study the force it takes to break a piece of chocolate. Photo by Virgil Ward