Outreach
Prof. Agrios and various students over the years have found numerous opportunities to engage with K-12 students, and their teachers, to excite a new generation in sustainability and the technologies that can get us there. A sampling of our efforts:
CT Kids Fueling the Future. We have conducted workshops with middle school students making homemade solar cells based on the concept of the dye-sensitized solar cell but using powdered donuts as the source of titanium dioxide, sensitized by immersion in colorful herbal teas. These “tea-sensitized donut cells” captured students’ attention and always produced a gasp upon the generation of a significant voltage under a desk lamp.
Joule Fellows. K-12 teachers were hosted for 5-week summer research projects under a program funded by the National Science Foundation.
daVinci Workshops. Groups of K-12 teachers were trained in week-long intensive programs in how to understand and develop demonstrations along the lines of the “tea-sensitized donut cells” described above for use in their classrooms.