We hosted an optics booth for the 5th annual Southside Science Festival on October 3, 2026. Our program explored blackbody emissivity using several materials with different optical properties. Participants got hands-on with thermal cameras while learning about optics!
Back at it for the 4th annual South Side Science Festival on October 4, 2025! Our optics booth let participants explore blackbody emissivity with different materials, play with thermal cameras, and take home fun thermal stickers. Science never looked so cool! Below are some photos!
We hosted once again an optics booth for the 3rd annual UChicago event on October 5, 2024. Our program consisted of learning about blackbody emissivity with several materials with different optical properties. Participants had the opportunity to use thermal cameras while learning about optics! Thermal stickers were also passed out to participants.
We hosted an optics booth at UChicago for the 2nd annual South Side Science Festival. Below are photos from the first year we hosted a workshop with the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering.
We hosted an one-day outreach event for highschool students at Duke! Participants assembled their own DIY live-imaging, thermal cardboard headsets — like the movie Predator! Through a series of mini lectures, workshops, and lab tours, students learned how to use optics and material science for real-world applications. Participants were exposed to the latest technology researched in our lab and how to potentially get involved in STEM and research-based careers.
I was an external mentor for the Bartlett High School class project to build cooling (in fact, ice-cold!) jacket for emergency conditions such as heat stroke. It was really fun to see the creativity of the brilliant yound minds.
Voltunteered and showcased my radiative heating/cooling textile at the Family Engineering Night at Lucille M. Nixon Elementary School. I brought my FLIR One thermal camera to the event. Everyone loves mid-IR selfie!
Prof. Arun Majumdar’s heat transfer class final project demonstration
One team put my name on their tank-top. What a great advertisement!
The nanoporous polyethylene textile is really transaprent under the thermal camera.
The IR property of nanoporous polyethylene is in striking contrast to traditional cotton fabric.
This piece of work, named “The Gladiator”, is as avant-garde as it can be. I cannot vouch for its cooling performance, but it’s definitely an eye-catcher.