• Overview
• Programs & Courses
• Degree Programs
• Degree Requirements
• Courses
• Outreach Programs
• Summer Opportunities
• ASPIRE
• ASPIRE Application
• Admissions
• Introduction
• How To Apply
• Financial Aid
• Scholarships & Fellowships

Matthew Tirrell
Professor Matthew Tirrell is Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He received his undergraduate education in Chemical Engineering at Northwestern University and his Ph.D. in 1977 in Polymer Science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
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Educational Outreach Programs

Over five hundred primary and secondary students took advantage of our educational outreach initiatives last year. These initiatives are supported by both the Polymer Science and Engineering Department and the National Science Foundation as administered through our Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC). Both on-site and off-site efforts have been undertaken.

On-site activities:

1. Lectures and demonstrations for K-12 teachers and students
2. Tours of facilities
3. Workshops for teachers
4. Workshops for high school students*

Off-site activities:

1. Lectures and demonstrations for K-12 teachers and students
2. The Dean of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (NSM) Science Days
3. Western Mass Science Fair Judging
4. Distance learning through videoconferencing

Through the Polymer Science and Engineering Club, our graduate students have actively self-directed two programs, Outreach and ASPIRE. The Outreach program involves classroom lectures and laboratory discovery experiments at the primary or secondary host schools. The ASPIRE program selects ten applicants each winter to come to the Conte facility on five consecutive Saturdays to use the laboratories and Shared Facilities while learning about, creating and characterizing polymers. Through departmental and MRSEC support, the participants take advantage of each of our programs without charge. In addition, our graduate students participate in the NSM's Dean's Science Days and each spring they lend their talents by judging contestants on the Western Massachusetts Science Fair.

The MRSEC also administers a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program. Each summer, up to ten undergraduate students applicants are selected from a very competitive list to participate in the research programs at the Center for a ten week period. This year we extended this initiative by selecting three teachers who participated in a Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program designed to involve high school teachers in research at the Center and to incorporate their research experience into their classroom science curricula.

The MRSEC also supports distance learning programs through the University's videoconferencing studio aimed at introducing polymer concepts into K-12 science curricula. The MRSEC has also sponsored the National Center for Plastics and Museum's "PlastiVan" outreach program.
Contact Gregory M. Dabkowski, (MRSEC Outreach Coordinator) for more information regarding outreach activities.