MII Students Engage Future Scientists at "Flip the Fair"
Graduate students pose for a group photo after voluntering. Pictured from left: John Joyce, Zoe Benton, Laura Simpson, Ella Williams, Ruwanthika Kularathna, Yeunhee Kim.
MII Graduate students are honing their presentation skills teaching fifth graders the wonders of science. The fifth annual Flip the Fair was held at Melrose Branch Library in Roanoke, Virginia. The event adds a twist to the traditional science fair by empowering Roanoke City students to become the judges.
The Virginia Tech Center for Communicating Science leads this collaboration between Roanoke Public Libraries and Roanoke City Public Schools, along with other Virginia Tech colleges and institutes.
Almost 400 students from six different schools were able to view 22 poster stations manned by Virginia Tech graduate students. Dozens of volunteers accompanied the keen young judges through each station, tallying scores for each presenter. This year, MII had six graduate volunteers, not only presenting, but also assisting with chaperoning.
The Bartlett and Martin research groups had the volunteer spirit! Graduate students Laura Simpson and Ruwanthika Kularathna represented Steve Martin’s Research Lab, while Zoe Benton, Yeunhee Kim, John Joyce, and Ella Williams represented Michael Bartlett’s Soft Materials and Structures Lab.
Winning last year’s award for “Best Overall Communicator”, Macromolecular Science and Engineering (MACR) graduate student Laura Simpson brought back her station on “Filtration!”. Students experienced an enlightening taste test as they partook in “ocean water” during her presentation.
Chemical Engineering graduate student Ruwanthika Kularathna posed the question “Can we separate invisible gas?” with another interactive station.
Yeunhee Kim, a Mechanical Engineering graduate student, gave students a tactile experience with the opportunity to touch and feel “Sticky Gripper” materials.
Another Mechanical Engineering graduate student, John Joyce, offered the fifth graders a new world of wearables with “Iron-On Electronics.”
“How well do liquid metal polymer composites work underwater?” A rising group of young scientists now know the answer after visiting the station of Mechanical Engineering graduate student Ella Williams.
The fourth member of the Bartlett group, Mechanical Engineering graduate student Zoe Benton, showed up in a different way. Volunteering to chaperone students through their stations, she was one of the many volunteers helping to make the day memorable for local elementary students.
After all votes were tallied, the MII graduate team had two winners! Ruwanthika wowed students with her methodology, taking home the third-place award for “Methods Master”. Laura received another first-place win for her project outcomes, yielding “Radical Results”.
While Flip the Fair provides a meaningful experience for young fifth graders, it also helps graduate students refine their skills and tailor their presentations to a wider audience. The VT Center for Communicating Science even offered a workshop for volunteers to practice turning their research into accessible stories for young attendees. We’re proud to see our students stepping outside of the familiar and formal research poster presentations to share their discoveries with the next group of scientists and engineers.
The Flip the Fair program is supported by: The U.S. NSF COMPASS Center and the Pandemic, Prediction, and Prevention Destination Area at Virginia Tech; The Graduate School at Virginia Tech; Fralin Biomedical Research Center at Virginia Tech-Carilion; VT Center for Communicating Science; the Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Program at VT; the Global Change Center at VT; VT Fralin Life Sciences Institute; VT College of Sciences; VT Department of Computer Science; Virginia Tech Carilion Student Outreach Program; and the Roanoke Public Libraries.