The grant has helped support an outreach program for high school girls of grades 9-12 co-organized by the Women in Engineering Program at University of Illinois. Over the past year, we added brand new activities introducing molecular assembly through fun exercises on liquid crystals, nucleation and growth, and shape memory alloys. Further, visiting students were excited to experience 3D printing of chocolate during our outreach program.

Further, we initiated a 3D printing face masks project on during the COVID medical supply shortage in April and May. We have 3D printed over 300 face masks and respirators, which were donated to the Monticello Police Department, the Piatt County Sheriff’s Department, the Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas etc.