Student Outreach:
"For any man to abdicate an interest in science is to walk with open eyes towards slavery"
-Jacob Bronowski
The goal of student outreach is to teach students from grades 1 - 12 about science, engineering, and of course chemical engineering. Take part in our award winning outreach activities. For more information or suggestions on any Student Outreach Activity, contact Alan Zagoria.
Recent Activities
National Engineers Week: Five AIChE members represented our profession to hundreds of children at the National Engineers Week celebration at IIT Wheaton on February 23. Our volunteers, led by Steve Schade, included Shannon Brown, Nelida Flores, Tom King, and Jessica Swary. The presentation focused on chemistry in the kitchen. We showed how baking and cooking are examples of such principles as kinetics and heat transfer. More than 200 students stopped at our table to talk and get free plastic eggs with Silly Putty inside.
Current Student Outreach Opportunities
The Student Outreach Committee is looking for volunteers to help us introduce and promote the Chemical Engineering profession to Chicago area children. Whether you're interested in participating in one event or working on the committee itself, we have opportunities.
There are lots of ways to participate:
Contact Alan Zagoria to get more information on any of these activities.
Science Ambassadors: Speak for one day at the school your children attend, or at a school that has requested an engineer to appear for their career day. The AIChE Speaker's Kit has everything you need. See Classroom Visits Made Easy, below.
Chemistry Day Booth: Every year we celebrate chemistry day by setting up a booth at the ACS chemistry day fair. It is usually held in the middle of October. We get a chance to talk with hundreds of middle school and high school students.
National Engineers Week Booth: Every February we celebrate National Engineers Week by setting up a booth at the engineering day hosted by IIT's Wheaton campus. Again, we see hundreds of middle school and high school students, and even participate in the ScavEngineer Hunt.
Judges: Participate as a judge at your child's school's science fair, a Chicago Public Schools Regional Science Fair, or the Future Cities competition. Please let us know if you participate, so that we can keep track of how our members have contributed and share from their experiences.
Get Involved With University Students: We have three student AIChE chapters in our region, Illinois Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, and University of Illinois at Chicago AIChE Student Chapter. IIT in particular holds weekly meetings on Thursday afternoons and would like a different professional engineer to visit every week to talk about technical, professional or career topics. All the student chapters would enjoy a plant tour you can offer.
Classroom Visits Made Easy
Our goal is to get EVERY MEMBER of the Chicago Local Section to visit just one school this year.
Just think what a difference that would make! Visit your child or grandchild's school, your local
scout troop, or we will try to match you up with a school.
It's easy. Here's what you do:
- Select a school to visit. Alan can help if you need suggestions.
- Select a topic with the teacher. We have canned presentations and hands-on projects in our Speaker's Kit, or talk about something you already know about. Discuss time alotted, student skill level, etc. We strongly recommend you review the Planning Your Presentation guide to help you cover all the bases with your teacher.
- Set a date. Work out a time that is convenient for you and the teacher. Consider setting the timing to maximize the number of students (classes) you reach during your visit.
- Prepare and customize your presentation. Get the presentations and support material you need in the Speakers Kit. If you have any trouble downloading materials, or need hard copies, contact Alan Zagoria.
- Visit the School. Have fun. Fill out the Evaluation Form in the speaker's kit, and return it to Alan Zagoria.
- You never know whom you will influence in one of these visits. It is worthwhile. Even if no children in the room choose to become engineers, you may have influenced their opinions of what engineers do and who they are. Would you have become an engineer if you had never met one?
Presentation Materials & Handouts
- Descriptions of Available Presentations
- Speaker's Kit (full presentations, handouts, and speaker aids)
Links
Outreach
Career Information
Student AIChE Chapters
- Illinois Institute of Technology AIChE Chapter
- Northwestern University AIChE Student Chapter
- University of Illinois at Chicago AIChE Student Chapter
Student Outreach Contact Information
Alan Zagoria, Chair
UOP
25 E Algonquin Rd
Des Plaines, IL 60017
Alan.Zagoria@uop.com
847-375-7335