Sparking Young Minds: A Year of STEM Outreach at CNSE
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At the University at Albany’s College of Nanotechnology, Science, and Engineering (CNSE), The Northeast Regional Defense Technology Hub’s (NORDTECH’s) support is driving semiconductor workforce development at the earliest ages.
During the 2024–25 academic year, CNSE opened its doors to hundreds of students, from elementary to high school, offering them hands-on experiences, eye-opening tours, and personal connections with real-world researchers in hopes of inspiring the next generation of scientists, engineers, and innovators.
This outreach is critical to NORDTECH’s mission to ensure there is a robust pipeline to fill the tens of thousands of microelectronics jobs being created in the U.S. by the strategic investments from the CHIPS & Science Act. The University at Albany is leveraging over $200,000 in Hub funding to support workforce and education initiatives, including its Semiconductor and Microelectronics Leadership Program, summer research interns, a dedicated K-12 outreach coordinator, and an array of hands-on activities and events for students from across the region.
With two locations, at NY CREATES’ world-class Albany NanoTech Complex and in the newly renovated former Albany High School, CNSE offers ideal settings for students to witness how scientific interests can become academic pursuits that lead to high-paying and rewarding careers.
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Where Curiosity Meets Plasma and Electric Circuits
This year’s outreach began in early July when the girls from Girls Inc. Eureka stepped into the world of nanoscale engineering. Their faces lit up as CNSE Instructional Support Technician Steve Stewart unveiled the mysteries of plasma through a dazzling demonstration. Raji Venkat, CNSE’s K-12 education and workforce development coordinator, guided them through electric circuit activities that lit lamps and spun fans, igniting a spark for engineering. The students toured labs and cleanrooms and spoke to undergraduate researchers already gaining hands-on experience with what a career in the microelectronics industry looks like. The Eureka girls left inspired to pursue science with purpose.
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That same month, Tech Valley High School students dove into a summer camp where they built both series and parallel electric circuits. But the real excitement came when sunlight powered the fan and lamp circuits they built through solar panels, bringing renewable energy to life.
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Taking Science on the Road
CNSE’s outreach to young minds on NORDTECH’s behalf wasn’t limited to the impressive nanoscale science and engineering labs and cleanrooms at NY CREATES’ Albany NanoTech Complex. At Hudson Valley Community College’s Career Jam in Malta, New York, over 500 students gathered in early October to explore potential future careers. CNSE’s booth didn’t just display circuits; it also invited students to control them using their flashlights and encouraged them to imagine a future as engineers and innovators.
When Researchers and Students Connect
In November, students from New Visions Engineering got a taste of what college research feels like. CNSE Ph.D. student Justin Nhan shared his personal journey from Guilderland High School to CNSE and Professor Kathleen Dunn’s labs, where he is studying Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography technology, which is employed at NY CREATES’ Albany NanoTech Complex and which will be a cornerstone of the CHIPS for America EUV Accelerator, a flagship NSTC facility that will be located at the site. Similarly, students from Hadley-Luzerne and Shaker high schools gained an opportunity to learn from Nathaniel Cady, CNSE’s associate dean for research, about the future of nanotechnology and biotechnology, while Professor Ji Ung Lee offered them a window into the quantum world.
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CNSE’s outreach prioritizes even the most complex topics, such as quantum computing and semiconductor fabrication, making these technologies accessible and exciting through live demonstrations and interactive lab tours.
STEM at Play
Some of the most memorable and impactful moments were created by blending fun with practical learning. With Professor Yubing Xie, students used an extract from seaweed known as alginic acid to create “polymer worms” to understand the basics of polymer chemistry while crafting creatures they could take home. CNSE graduate researchers brought this same activity to students in the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake School District, showing them how science can be fun even as it challenges them to understand new ideas and concepts.
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During another visit, CNSE partnered with TEL Technology Center, America, one of the major industrial partners at NY CREATES’ Albany NanoTech Complex, to guide students in building potato-lemon clock circuits and understanding how seven-segment decoders and solar-operated circuits work. The students donned actual cleanroom “bunny suits” to help imagine themselves working with some of the most advanced technology on the planet.
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Community and Career Connections
In April, at the Shenendehowa Career Fair, CNSE reached over 500 students with demonstrations of solar-powered circuits and light-sensitive electronic organ-oscillators, which mimic the sound of an electronic organ when fingers are played over the photoresistors to control the amount of light falling on them.
From Redemption Christian Academy to Cambridge Central School, every student who walked through NY CREATES’ Albany NanoTech Complex and participated in the CNSE experiential learning opportunities left with a new perspective on technology, education, and their potential future careers at the cutting edge of science and technology.
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CNSE concluded the year in late April by jointly hosting with NYDesign more than 50 high school, undergraduate and graduate students for a daylong semiconductor design workshop as part of NORDTECH’s hub-wide Open Chips Design Initiative. That event coincided with one of UAlbany’s Accepted Student Open House Days, further increasing the visibility of NORDTECH’s work and the opportunities for students who pursue careers in semiconductors and microelectronics.
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Looking Ahead
Every visit, every circuit built, every cleanroom tour is a small part of a much bigger story, one in which students from all backgrounds can envision a future in science and engineering. With every question they ask, they’re not just learning about the basics of nanotechnology; they’re growing their understanding of how that technology impacts their daily lives and the opportunities available to them in the scientific ecosystem that makes those technological advances possible.
This is the central promise of CNSE’s outreach. It isn’t just about STEM education. It’s about unlocking potential, building confidence, and showing students that the path to a brighter future might just begin with a glowing plasma arc or a tiny blinking LED.