MRS Fall 2009 Meeting

MRS Fall 2009 Meeting

November 30, 2009 - December 4, 2009
Hynes Convention Center, Boston, MA

The ASTC annual conference is the biggest networking opportunity of the year for museum professionals and those who provide resources and products for museums. Each year, the NISE Net hosts several sessions at ASTC, and does outreach about nano education to the larger museum community. See a list of NISE Net's ASTC activities. Read more.

Semi-annual meeting

Each year, MRS holds two international meetings, one in Boston in the fall and the other in San Francisco in the spring. NISE Net participates in these meetings in a variety of ways, giving workshops, meeting people, and bringing new scientists into the network.

The Fall MRS meeting will be November 30 - December 4, 2009, at the Hynes Convention Center and Sheraton Boston Hotel in Boston.

  • Instructional Seminar-- Mastering Science Presentations
    The scientific process is not just about generating ideas; it is about freely sharing those ideas with the broader world. Now more than ever, our ability to recruit students, to attract colleagues, to garner attention, and to secure funding is tied to our ability to successfully communicate the results of our work, both to our peers and to the general public. In this session you will learn the fundamentals in sharing science as communications expert Tim Miller explains how to choose the very best tools to do the job of communication and shares some of the tips and tricks that can help you take your scientific presentations to the next level. There are 3 opportunities to catch this presentation:

    Sunday November 29th
    5:00-6:00pm Sheraton Hotel
    Gardner Room

    Monday November 30th
    7:30-8:30am Sheraton Hotel
    Beacon Room A

    Tuesday December 1st
    7:30-8:30am Sheraton Hotel
    Beacon Room A

  • Professional Development Seminar-- Crafting Successful Broader Impacts Plans for NSF Proposals
    If you have plans to submit a proposal to the National Science Foundation, you’re going to have to think about broader impacts, and you’re going to have to do so in a rigorous, yet creative way.

    This seminar will feature an overview of and introduction to broader impacts by Dr. Zakya Kafafi, NSF, followed by a moderated panel of speakers who are experts in crafting high quality education-outreach efforts. The seminar will conclude with a discussion of resources and potential partners to help you develop – and implement – your broader impacts plan. Moderated by Assoc. Prof. Amy Moll.

    Tuesday December 1st
    7:00-7:45pm
    Sheraton Hotel | Back Bay D Room

  • Education Symposium PP–Materials Education
    Join your research science and formal education colleagues and professionals from the informal science education community for a three-day education symposium and poster session that will focus on crosscutting issues critical to all levels of materials education audiences (K-12 students, undergraduate students, graduate students, teachers/professors, informal/public audiences). Session topics include demonstration and lab development, partnerships, undergraduate and graduate curriculum development and pedagogy, public outreach and informal science education and professional development and training.

    A unique feature of this symposium is the facilitation of research opportunities for the disabled. In addressing diversity topics it will feature a special memorial session for Marni Goldman, who served as education director of CPIMA at Stanford University in spite of living with a severe form of muscular dystrophy.

    Tuesday-Thursday, December 1st – December 3rd
    8:30 am – 5:00 pm
    Independence E (Sheraton)

    PP Poster Session
    Tuesday December 1st, 8:00 pm -10:00 pm
    Hall D (Hynes Convention Center)

  • Nanodays 2010 and NISE Network
    Learn how you can Celebrate Nanodays 2010 - A Nationwide Festival of Nano-Public Outreach Events!

    • Find out if your community is planning to participate in NanoDays this year and how you can get in on the action.
    • Learn about NanoDays 2010.
    • Find out how your institution can become a partner in the NISE Network.

    Monday-Thursday, November 30th-December 3rd
    8:00 – 4:00 pm

    Friday, December 4th
    9:00 am -12:00 pm

    Hynes Convention Center, 2nd Floor Lobby (across from NISE Booth - Public Outreach Center)

  • Education Outreach Showcase
    Join with national science centers, universities, and science research centers for an evening of fun with science and engineering! Participate in hands-on activities and demonstrations at the Education Outreach Showcase and learn how to create effective and exciting outreach educational materials about materials science and engineering, including nanotechnology. The evening’s events will include a special tribute to Marni Goldman.

    Tuesday, December 1st
    8:00 pm – 10:00 pm
    Hall D (Hynes Convention Center) (during poster session)

  • NISE Network Science Collaborator
    Register at the MRS/NISE Network booth to participate in the NISE Network as a science collaborator. Learn how you can apply your needed expertise to help foster public awareness, engagement and understanding of nanotechnology.

    Monday through Thursday, November 30th – December 3rd
    8:00 am – 4:00 pm

    Friday December 4th
    8:00 am – 12:00 noon

    2nd Floor Lobby (Hynes Convention Center)

  • Nano Activities Center
    Monday-Thursday, November 30-December 3
    8:00 am-4:00 pm
    Hynes Convention Center, Level 2, Lobby

    Join us throughout the week as national science centers in partnership with the NISE Network present educational, outreach and professional development activities and programs.

    The Museum of Science, Boston, will be showcasing a variety of approaches to nano education, outreach, education, and professional development, including The Nanomedicine Explorer, Talking Nano, The Amazing Nano Brothers Juggling Show, Sci-Tech Today cable news segments, and science communication training for graduate and undergraduate students. These have been produced in partnership with the Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing and the Harvard-MIT-UCSB-MOS Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, with funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, and in connection with the NISE Network.

    The Sciencenter from Ithaca, New York, will display a portion of their NanoLab exhibit with educational nano videos and film footage of nanofabrication research being conducted at Cornell.

    The Lawrence Hall of Science, UC-Berkeley challenges you to Enter the Drawing for the IPod Nano Give Away by answering a Power of Small provocative video clip question about nanotechnology and its possible impact on society.

  • Into the Prudential Mall! – Public Hands-on Demonstrations
    MRS Fall Meeting attendees representing universities and science centers will provide interactive, hands-on demonstrations about materials science and engineering and nanotechnology in the Prudential Mall.

    The goal is to provide fun demonstrations that help to inform the general public about materials science and engineering and nanotechnology.

    Monday – Thursday, November 30th – December 3rd
    11:30 am – 1:30 pm

    Thursday, March 27th
    9:00 am – 12:00 pm

    Hynes Court, Prudential Mall (just outside mall entrance to Hynes Convention Center).

  • Got time on the afternoon of Sunday, November 29 to come on over to the Museum of Science to see a live performance of The Amazing Nano Brothers Juggling Show?

    More than 22,000 people have seen this raucous, 40-minute "edutainment" spectacular featuring virtuosos jugglers and comic performers Dan Foley and Joel Harris, who juggle everything from houseplants to tennis rackets atop seven-foot unicyles, back-to-back and in-the-dark, while covering the basics of atoms, molecules and nanoscale forces (also featured on Dragonfly TV-Nano). Fun for the whole family. Performances at 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm on Sunday, November 29. Free with exhibit hall admission ticket. Free with exhibit hall admission ticket. Please arrive early to get a seat; these performances always fill up. Hope to see you there!

    NISE Net's collaboration with the Materials Research Society


    The Materials Research Society (MRS) is a professional organization that includes many scientists working on nanotechnology research. A natural partner for the NISE Net, MRS helps to link scientists and researchers interested in public outreach with informal science education projects and institutions. Some MRS scientists are speakers for NanoDays, others advise on the content of projects, and still others provide meeting venues for NISE Net activities.

    In addition, MRS maintains a database of scientists who have volunteered their interest in participating in the NISE Network. The database, as well as MRS representatives, can help connect museum professionals with the scientific expertise they need.