Past Successes in Education and Outreach

UD CHARM is home to faculty and staff with a passion for engaging our local communities in science and engineering innovation.  Below are a few of our past projects that have influenced CHARM’s education program development:

Soft Matter for All
The Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSECs) of Princeton University and the University of Delaware hosted several one-day virtual symposium to promote early-career researchers in Soft and Living Matter, with a focus on those from underrepresented groups. The symposium highlighted the research of doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers, in addition to a keynote — each showcasing innovative and inspirational research across our field. A follow-on professional development workshop gave participants a chance to engage with a wide range of speakers representing academia, industry, and policy to help students and researchers navigate uncertainty across different career paths.

Meet-a-Scientist Event at the Newark Free Library
CHARM along with volunteers from various UD COE student organizations came together at the Newark Free Library to engage families in the community through various STEM demonstrations. With over 200 visitors, parents and their children got a chance to interact with UD grad students and staff where they experienced basic science concepts in a fun way! Local kids were able to enjoy demonstrations on nitrogen ice cream, angular momentum, wiggly polymer worms, and got the chance to dress up as scientists with props at our photo corner.

COE Lending Library Showcase with the UD College School
Experiments and demonstration instructables and materials are available for use by the UD community and local school teachers. In order to increase awareness of the available kits, CHARM and The College School (TCS) teamed up to facilitate an evening showcase of kits from the COE Lending Library. Local teachers, administrators, and librarians rotated through classrooms at TCS where graduate student volunteers walked visitors through the kits and their available materials.

DE Elementary Science Olympiad
The Center teamed up with the Delaware Elementary Science Olympiad to provide physics, chemistry and biology test kits for several classrooms in rural and intercity schools that are otherwise unable to participate in similar programs due to the cost. In addition to the kits, CHARM connected teachers with several MRSEC-funded graduate students trained in elementary outreach to provide mentorship to the students using the kits.