In early 2021, the Nanotechnology Applications and Career Knowledge (NACK) Resource Center’s very long reign for holding the most remote sessions came to an end. A relative new-comer, San Diego Nanotechnology Infrastructure (SDNI) at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) now holds that title. The NanoWire staff asked SDNI’s Director of Education & Outreach, Yves Theriault, for some thoughts on this distinction.
“First off, I would like to thank the founders of the RAIN network for opening the door to a network dedicated to reaching out to, among a vast audience, students and teachers across the nation and sharing the wonders of nanotechnology instrumentation in real-time. We started our RAIN outreach in 2019 with remote SEM sessions, and it has been a fantastic experience. We triggered fascination in the eyes of so many students from elementary, middle, and high schools as well as community colleges. For most of them, it was their first exposure to the visualization of micro and nanostructures found in a variety of specimens ranging from pollen, gecko feet, and prehistoric deep see sediments to MEMS and optical cards. Big contributors to our success were 1) the skills and dedication of our wonderful undergrads students (Natalie, Almira, Marquez, Eric, Jasmin, and Laura) as well as Ryan Nicholl, our SEM manager, who initiated the program at UCSD (SDNI); and 2) our proactive outreach. In the process of promoting our program, I met with several school and district administrators and teachers and introduced them to the field of nanotechnology and offered them to participate in remote SEM sessions with their students. The very positive response has been a key factor in making us one of the best contributing sites of the RAIN network. I would like to thank all of the people who helped us to provide such a great learning experience to so many young pupils.”
Below are some comments from the teachers about UCSD’s sessions:
“Ryan Nicholl and his colleagues at UCSD were amazing! Ryan was so helpful with troubleshooting. The kids loved it and were so engaged and fascinating by the images or a bee, shark’s skin, pollen etc.”
“Students were inspired by the remote access experience and had additional questions afterwards. Many are looking forward to additional/future sessions with the Scanning Electron Microscope.”
“Students were fully engaged in discussions among themselves about their experience and even shared the event through their social media.”
“The sessions that Mr. Alvarez presented to would not have gotten to learn about the scanning electron microscope at this level had it not been for RAIN. Many students in high school have not been taught about electron microscopes but because of RAIN my students have had the opportunity to operate one.”
“Wonderful experience and Eric had some conversations with my students about college plans and majors which was great for them to talk about!”
