MRSEC II (2000 - 2005) News Archive

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  Events:

• [04/30/05] Join MRSEC and the Physics Department at Maryland Day: April 30, 2005


• [01/29/05] MRSEC-GK12 Education Outreach team takes 1st place in regional Future City competition
  On January 29, 2005, a group of 3 homeschool students along with their MRSEC-GK12 mentor took first place in the regionals of the National Engineers Week Future City Competition. The team is now gearing up for the national competition, set to take place in Washington, D.C. February 19-24.


• [07/17/04] On July 17th, MRSEC presented an educational show on the Physics of Light at the Capital Children's Museum. During the show, several demos were used to demonstrate and engage the young audience on the properties of light, speed of light and how light moves. The 45 minute show was presented twice to a full room of children ages 2-8 and their parents, who got to go home with rinsing illusion sticks and diffraction glasses.


• [06/16/04] Making Connections Between the University & K-12 Community: On Wednesday June 16, 2004, the Materials Resource Science Engineering Center’s (MRSEC) Graduate Teaching Fellows Program (GK-12 Program) held a successful three-hour teacher-training workshop for 60 visiting science and technology teachers and administrators from various provinces of South Africa. The teacher-training workshop consisted of talks and activities focusing on creating relationships between Universities and K-12 communities and how research faculty and University graduate students can be resources in the classroom through a service-based approach. The teachers also participated in a hands-on activity and toured the physics lecture demonstration facility.


• [04/12/04] Join MRSEC and the Physics Department at Maryland Day: April 24, 2004!


• [03/01/04] MRSEC sponsored the 3rd Annual Homeschool Science Fair on February 5th. The fair was a huge success with seventeen participants, ranging from Kindergarten to ninth grade. Many of these students were returning participants, however this was the first science fair experience for five of them. In preparation for the fair, MRSEC faculty, staff and graduate students mentored thirteen of these students on their experimental design, data analysis, and presentation. Projects submitted by each age group were exceptional, which made it difficult for the judges to decide on 1st and 2nd prizewinners. Science fair projects included topics in areas of Engineering, Chemistry, Botany, Physics, Wildlife Biology, Aeronautics, and Genetics.


• [11/22/03] On Saturday November 22, MRSEC's Graduate Teaching Fellows (GK-12 Program) visited the Capital Children's Museum in Washington D.C. The visit was planned in order to reinforce and expand the principals of K-12 formal and informal science education locally and nationally. Emphasis was placed on the major successes of the museum's science programs featuring a chemistry show and hands-on inquiry based activities. See http://www.ncm.museum/ for information about the Capital Children's Museum.


• [11/19/03] Making Connections Between the University & K-12 Community: On Wednesday November 19, 2003, the Materials Resource Science Engineering Center’s Graduate Teaching Fellows Program held a successful three-hour teacher-training workshop for 40 visiting math teachers and science administrators from various provinces of South Africa.
  The teacher-training workshop consisted of talks and activities focusing on the connection between Universities and K-12 communities and how research faculty and University graduate students can be resources in the classroom through a service-based approach. The discussion also emphasized enhancing existing science curricula using demonstrations and equipment not available to teachers and introducing exciting research topics that take students' minds beyond the classroom. The teachers were also able to participate in a hands-on activity and toured the physics lecture demonstration facility.


• [08/27/03] MRSEC co-sponsors the Center for Scientific Computation and Mathematical Modeling's (CSCAMM) workshop: Nonequilibrium Interface Dynamics: Theory and Simulation from Atomistic to Continuum Scales. The workshop will take place Monday October 13 - Friday October 31, 2003. For more information on the workshop, please see CSCAMM's website.


• [Summer 2003] The MRSEC and GK-12 Program offer a number of summer programs for K-12 students. Please see our Summer Programs page for more information.


• [4/26/03] MRSEC and the Physics Department at Maryland Day: April 26, 2003!
  
  • Included are the links for our Maryland Day pictures, our silly putty recipe and for the site from which to purchase color-changing beads and nail polish.

  MRSEC Featured:

• [09/23/03] 2003 Summer Camp Review
  Maryland Physics welcomes students of alll ages to campus to discover the magic of physics through a variety of fun summer programs.


• [11/19/02] Outlook Online features MRSEC's GK-12 Program: Fellows Share Love of Science, Engineering with Children


• [05/09/02] President Mote features MRSEC in testimony before congress.

  Other MRSEC News:

• [05/03/05] Dr. Ellen D. Williams, MRSEC Director, has been elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of her "distinguished and continuing achievements in original research."
  

  "The National Academy of Sciences is a private organization of scientists and engineers dedicated to the furtherance of science and its use for the general welfare. It was established in 1863 by a congressional act of incorporation signed by Abraham Lincoln that calls on the Academy to act as an official adviser to the federal government, upon request, in any matter of science or technology."

  Please see the full press release from the National Academy of Sciences for more information.


• [06/09/05] Dr. Ellen D. Williams has been named this year's recipient of the George A. Snow Memorial Award, which recognizes a student or faculty member who personally helps to advance the representation of women in the field of physics.


• [09/23/04] MRSEC Director Ellen Williams featured in MRS Bulletin: "Nanoscale Structures: Lability, Length Scales, and Fluctuations"


• [12/14/03] MRSEC congratulates two of its IRG 1graduate students who received awards for graduate student work at the 2003 MRS Fall Meeting. Haimei Zheng and Junling Wang, received Gold and Silver awards, respectively, which were awarded to "graduate students who authored or co-authored symposium papers which exemplified significant and timely research."


• [10/24/03] Donna Hammer, Assistant Director of the MRSEC, is this year's recipient of the Sibylle Sampson Award. The Sibylle Sampson Award is given in recognition of an individual's accomplishment for the benefit of the Department of Physics or a specific unit therein which often is taken for granted and therefore goes unrecognized.


• [08/25/03] On behalf of the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, we would like to announce and to congratulate Dr. Ellen D. Williams, MRSEC Director, as a "recipient of the 2003 MRS David Turnbull Lectureship. The Turnbull Lectureship is awarded to recognize the career of a scientist who has made outstanding contributions to understanding materials phenomena and properties through research, writing, and lectureing. [Dr. Williams] was chosen from a group of outstanding nominees for 'groundbreaking research on the atomic-scale science of surfaces and for leadership, writing, teaching, and outreach that conveys her deep understanding of and enthusiasm for materials research'." Formal presentation of the award will take place at the 2003 MRS Fall Meeting at the Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, December 3, 2003.


• [07/15/03] Professor Named Academy Fellow:
  "Her interdisciplinary work in physics, chemistry and physical science means that distinguished physics professor, Ellen D. Williams [Director of MRSEC], wears a lot of hats. Most recently, being named a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences has added a new dimension to her repertoire..."     (see full Outlook article...)