Over the summer break our department’s outreach team has kept busy.

As soon as spring semester ended, the team headed south on their annual outreach trip through rural Utah. This year they hit high schools in Emery and Grand County, visiting hundreds of potential chemical engineers in places that typically do not get the attention of large research universities. Our department is very grateful for the welcoming hospitality of these high schools each year.

The Outreach Team Hiking in Moab
The Outreach Team Hiking in Moab
Outreach Presentation at Gran County High School
Outreach Presentation at Grand County High School

In July, our department hosted the Hi-GEAR engineering camp for high school girls. The campers explored the product engineering side of chemical engineering through the example of nail polish.

Learning the Science Behind Nail Polish Production
Learning the Science Behind Nail Polish Production
Campers Comparing Their Product to Commercial Products
Campers Comparing Their Product to Commercial Products
Finished Product
Finished Product

It turns out that nitrocellulose (or flash cotton, as magicians call it) is one of the key and most entertaining ingredients in nail polish. The team had a great deal of fun safely disposing of the excess.


YouTube – Lab-Made Nitrocellulose

Throughout the summer, we have also partnered with the University of Utah’s Club-U. We put together three camps for nine groups of the Club-U kids: Hydrogels & Polymers, Carbon Capture in Chalk, and Water Rockets & Propulsion.

Firing off the Club-U Camper-Built Rockets
Firing off the Club-U Camper-Built Rockets
A Camper Shows off a Slimy Hydrogel
A Camper Shows off a Slimy Hydrogel
Building Water Rockets
Building Water Rockets

Lastly, we partnered with the Adelente Program at the University of Utah to put together a summer camp for the 8th graders at Bryant Middle School. The kids learned about chemical engineering, and created and tested alginate beads.

The campers designing their process to create uniform alginate beads for delivery of medicine.
The campers designing their process to create uniform alginate beads for delivery of medicine.

This summer has been one of the busiest on record for our outreach team. Thanks to their hard work, we have reached hundreds of great young minds who may have never before considered chemical engineering as a possible career path.

If you are a student in our department and are interested in getting involved with our outreach team or a teaching who would like our team to visit your classroom, more information may be found here: https://www.che.utah.edu/outreach/k12_program/.