An important focus of the IGERT program is to expose the concepts of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology to the youth of Austin and it's surrounding communities. All IGERT trainees and faculty members participate in some capacity in the outreach activities. More specifically, the outreach program consists of:

 
1. Summer Nanoscience Academy
2. Partnership with Austin Children's Museum
3. Summer Camp
4. K-12 Outreach
 

Summer Nanoscience Academy
July 16-18, 2009
View the schedule from this year.


This free special nanoscience academy is designed for secondary school science teachers and 1-2 of their students. Room and board will be provided for all participants. The Summer Nanoscience Academy is being offered as a means to provide teachers and students with a better understanding and hands on experience in the field of nanoscience.

Here's a look at the 2008 Academy: 2008 Summer Nanoscience Academy.

Here's a look at the 2007 Academy: 2007 Summer Nanoscience Academy. The Summer Nanoscience Academy from this year was featured in a front page Daily Texan article.

Here are some of the presentations given in the Nanoscience Academies: Nanoparticles and Color, by Dr. Willets, MRC Overview, by Dr. Banerjee, Quantum Mechanics, by Dr. MacDonald, Intro to Nanoscience, by Dr. Lackowski, and Nanoscience Review, by Chris Mann.

Here are some of the handouts given in the Nanoscience Academies: Nanolab Experiment, Hands on Lab Experiment, and TACC information.
Austin Children's Museum
Our partnership with the Austin's Children Museum is aimed at introducing children to key concepts of nanoscience at an early age and making science accessible to the general public. We co-sponsored a Nano Day on Sunday, March 30, 2008. There were two workshops for kids and families that uncovered how nano scientists are thinking about and exploring the nano world. IGERT students during Fall 2006 coordinated with Austin Children’s Museum to teach children about the basics of interfaces and defects in a Science Sunday sponsorship of "It Fits!"
Flyer
Summer Camp
Our IGERT program each summer will choose high school students to participate in a camp program focused on exposing high school students to cutting edge university research. Pictured on the right is high school student Eric Chen participating in a summer program in Dr. Ken Shih's lab in the physics department. During Eric's stay at UT, he heavily contributed to a project in which he designed and built a piezoelectric actuated motor utilized for studying quantum dot structures via laser optics. After his summer research, he presented his research to a group of working researchers (pictured).

Austin area K-12 schools
All IGERT trainees and faculty members will work with Austin area K-12 schools through giving lectures and demonstrations to present the basic ideas behind nanoscience and nanotechnology. In addition, we will seek out other opportunities to reach the general public concerning the societal impacts of nanoscience and nanotechnology.