Immersion and Outreach with VINSE
Immersion Vanderbilt is one of the more unique aspects of attending the university, aiming to help students seek out work that they are passionate about. VINSE is a leader in Immersion Vanderbilt, and has developed numerous hands-on activities to train the next generation of scientists and engineers.
The immersive process goes hand in hand with VINSE’s commitment to outreach and education; over 500 students from across Middle Tennessee, representing 14 Middle Tennessee counties, will participate in the VINSE High School Field Trip Program during the 2022-2023 academic year. These field trip groups get to visit our facilities, utilize our electron microscope, and learn about nanotechnology and energy during their visit. Students will also get to perform an experiment involving solar cells, either by squeezing electricity from a blackberry or building and testing silicon solar cells in the VINSE cleanroom.
VINSE has also fostered an immersive learning environment for undergraduate and graduate students. The Tech Crew program is a unique and immersive experience for Vanderbilt undergraduates that provides hands-on technical skills in the VINSE cleanroom as well as the opportunity to work on cutting edge research projects in nanoscience and nanoengineering. VINSE has also supported a record number of Vanderbilt graduate and undergraduates students in several courses, including but not limited to:
- EECE 3891.03 – Nanoscale Innovation and Making
- Phys 2660/8159 – Experimental Nanoscale Fabrication and Characterization
- MSE 3890/6392 – Fabrication of Microfluidic Systems
- CHBE 3890/5890 – Applications of 2D Nanomaterials
- Nano 3000 – Materials Characterization Techniques in Nanoscale Engineering
- MSE 6343 – Electron Microscopy
- ES 1115 – Engineering Freshman Seminar – Exploring Nanotechnology
- CHBE 4850/5850 – Semiconductor Materials Processing
- ME 3890 – Battery and Fuel Cell Vehicles
Dr. Orest Glembocki, Adjunct Professor of Materials Science & Engineering, brought fourteen undergraduate students from his MSE 2500 minilab during the fall semester to create and test Au:Si Schottky solar cells, devices that convert energy in the form of light to energy in the form of electricity. VINSE designed and implemented a two-class immersive hands-on “mini-lab” in the VINSE cleanroom, allowing these students to experience each of the main parts of the fabrication process for these devices.
“I was hugely impressed with how smoothly things went on both days,” he said. “The initial feedback from the students is that they enjoyed the minilab as much as I did.”
To learn more about immersion and outreach with VINSE, please reach out to vinse@vanderbilt.edu.