PCCM hosts a full slate of outreach events for k-12 students, families and the public to engage and promote the excitement and societal impact of materials science and engineering.
We collaborate with local schools, the Princeton Public Library Spanish program, and Hispanics Inspiring Students’ Performance & Achievement (HISPA), to host Día de la Ciencia (Science Day), an annual bilingual event designed to encourage participation from the Hispanic community. About 300 people attend each year, interacting with 40 PCCM scientists and bilingual presenters facilitating live demos and hands-on activities.
PCCM organizes two popular public science lectures each year: the Holiday Lecture and Stars of Materials Science where faculty members explain their research through multimedia presentations, interactive demonstrations, and audience participation. These “sold out” events are geared toward the general public and are often attended by families with school-age children due to their accessible language and content as well as entertaining style.
PCCM hosts an Industrial and Government Labs Seminar Series that provides an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students and postdocs to meet with industry and government lab leaders. Designed by PCCM Industrial Outreach Director, Nan Yao, the seminars expose students and research scholars to industrial and government lab scientists, who talk about their fields and the intersection of science, industry, and government research.
PCCM continues to collaborate with Independence Science and Princeton’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion to host the Inclusion in Science, Learning a New Direction (ISLAND) conference. This conference focuses on broadening participation from disabled learners to make STEM education and workplaces more accessible and inclusive. PCCM hosts this conference biennially.
Education and Outreach: Highlights 2015-2019
Videos of Outreach Programs (also view on YouTube):
Holiday Lecture December 2019: Ice Cream for Science: A Legen-dairy Experience!
Holiday Lecture December 2018: "The Science of Pizza - It's a Little Cheesy!"
Liberty Science Center "Partners in Science" program at Princeton 2013
Princeton University's Science & Engineering Expo 2012
Holiday Lecture 2011 "Powerful Potential: The Gift of Energy"
Hydrogen Balloon Explosions at the Holiday Science Lecture 2011
Holiday Lecture 2010 "Good Vibrations: How We Communicate"
WNJN covers the Princeton University Science & Engineering Expo 2004
WZBN covers the Princeton University Science & Engineering Expo 2004