Penn Summer Science Initiative 2009
Summer Course in Materials Science for High School Students
The Penn Summer Science Initiative, PSSI, is sponsored by
the Penn Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, MRSEC,
which is funded by the National Science Foundation. It will accept
up to 24 high school juniors from the Delaware Valley for a four-week
lecture/lab. course in materials science from July 6 - July 31, 2009. The course will run from 10:00 am to 3:30pm daily in
the
Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter, LRSM, building.
The course will consist of a formal lecture on materials science
every morning followed either by a computer instruction laboratory
or a discussion group on issues in science. Monday afternoons
will be spent visiting local industrial laboratories. Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday afternoons will be devoted to experimental
laboratory work in which the student will be exposed to a variety
of materials characterization techniques e.g. scanning electron,
atomic force and optical microscopies, thermal analysis techniques,
mechanical testing, and x-ray diffraction. Friday mornings will
be spent visiting some of Penn's major facilities e.g. Regional
Laser Lab., Robotics Center, Ion Scattering Laboratory, Museum
Applied Science Center for Archeology, etc. and Friday afternoons
will be spent writing group lab reports. This program will be
taught by Penn faculty and staff who are associated with the
LRSM and by teaching fellows in the Penn NSF-Access program.
Students will be selected for this program based on their scholastic achievements, curriculum vitae, and teachers' letters of recommendation. Students must have taken chemistry and/or physics courses. Minority and female students are especially encouraged to apply. This student enrichment course is free. Any student wishing to apply to this program should fill out the On-Line Application Form. Subsequently a CV, school transcript, and two letters of recommendation from current or former teachers should be sent to:
Send application to:
Dr. A. R. McGhie, Associate Director
Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter
University of Pennsylvania
3231 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6202
Tel. (215) 898-6461
Fax (215) 898-8296
e-mail: mcghie@lrsm.upenn.edu