Outreach

WEI Open House

Katherine, Xiaoqi, Frederick, and James presented demonstrations at the Wisconsin Energy Institute's Science Expeditions Open House.

University Place

Prof. Mike Arnold was featured on PBS Wisconsin's University Place program. Watch the recording here for an explanation on the basics of solar cells and solar energy in Wisconsin!

Wednesday Nite @ The Lab

Prof. Mike Arnold gave a presentation on the science, history, and future potential of solar cells. Access the presentation slides here and stream the presentation here!

2022 Engineering Expo

Chris, Freddie, Katherine, and Mike volunteered at the 2021 Engineering Expo, leading demonstrations on shape memory alloys, LEDs, and more.

Vibranium! Exploring The World Of Marvel

Prof. Mike Arnold was featured on WORT 89.9 FM to discuss the element "Vibranium" from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and materials science and engineering in the real world. Listen here!

Synthesis and Fabrication of Gold Nanoparticle Electrolyte Sensors

Graduate student Katy Jinkins led an outreach activity for middle-school students through the UW-Madison PEOPLE program in July, 2019. The students were introduced to materials science, chemistry, and nanotechnology through the hands-on synthesis and utilization of gold nanoparticles in electrolyte sensors.

Summer Camp at the Madison Children's Museum

Two students from our group (undergraduate student Jemimah Mawende and graduate student Austin Way) designed and ran a week-long summer camp for kids (grades 3-5) in 2018. The young students were able to learn about the consumption and production of energy, with a focus on solar and wind energy through activities like Pedal Power, demonstrations on potential and kinetic energy, and Solar S'mores. The week culminated in a wind turbine design competition (pictured on the left).

Summer Camp for Middle School Kids

The group has developed a 3-week summer camp for under-represented middle school students regarding on the theme of energy, engineering, and the environment. The camp has been run by the group as part of PEOPLE (Pre-College Enrichment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence) in 2015 and 2016. Each summer the camp met for 15 days for 2.75 hours per day. Pictured above is a tour of the Madison Gas & Electric west campus cogeneration facility, given by Jim Jenson. Thanks Jim!

High School Students Grow Graphene by CVD

Bobby has developed (in collaboration with the UW-Madison MRSEC and Jennifer Wroblewski of Madison West Memorial High School) a new laboratory for high school chemistry students on the chemical vapor deposition of graphene using accessible components and precursors that has been completed by hundreds of high school students. The laboratory and assessments of the laboratory are published in Jacobberger et al., J. Chem. Education (2015).

Jen Ehrlich of Oregon High School Makes Graphene

Jen Ehrlich of Oregon High School spent several weeks in our laboratory this summer, learning how to exfoliate, grow, and "see" monolayers of graphene as part of her development of new lessons on carbon materials for her Chemistry classes at Oregon, Summer 2011.

Paul Dietre of West High School Sorts Nanotubes

West High School Senior Paul Dietrle spent the summer and fall in our laboratory researching the sorting of carbon nanotubes. Here he is measuring optical absorption spectra, Summer 2011.

2016 update: Paul is a Prestigious Hertz Foundation Fellowship Winner!

Dr. Amsata Ndiaye Visits our Lab

Dr. Amsata Ndiaye of L'Université Gaston Berger de Saint-Louis, Sénégal, conducts research on copper sulfide nanocrystals in our laboratory as a visiting scientist, Sept. 2011.

Adam Brewer and Meng-Yin Wu Volunteer at the 2011 Wisconsin State Fair

Graduate students Adam Brewer (left) and Meng-Yin Wu (center) explain shape memory alloys to visitors as part of the UW-Madison Day at the Wisconsin State Fair.

Why Doesn't My Electricity Come from the Sun? Future Materials for Harnessing Solar Energy

This lecture was composed and delivered to the interested general public of the Madison, Wisconsin, area by Prof. Michael Arnold on January 13th, 2010 via the University's Wednesday Nite at the Lab Program. We had a large audience of about 75-80 people with a lot of great questions! Denise Thornton of Madison was in attendance. Afterwards, she posted a nice entry about solar photovoltaics in her blog, here.

Abstract: The Earth is continuously bathing in over one-hundred-million-billion watts of sunlight. This talk will discuss the science, technology, and economics of using photovoltaic solar cells to collect and convert a fraction of this free solar energy into electricity. In particular, this talk will focus on the materials and composition of photovoltaic solar cells and the principles of their operation and will attempt to answer the question of why past and current solar cell technologies have failed to become widespread. The talk will conclude by discussing the future of solar photovoltaics and new materials and technologies that have the potential to boost the efficiency, decrease cost, and increase the practicality of solar cells.

2009 Engineering Expo

Mike Arnold builds a carbon nanotube out of party balloons with Madison students at the 2009 UW-Madison Engineering Expo.