LITE: Light, Infrared, and Thermal Energy

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.

  • RTB02762
  • IMG_3840
  • RTB02766
  • RTB02767
  • RTB02750
  • IMG_3891
  • RTB02657
  • RTB02641
  • IMG_4096
  • IMG_3934
  • IMG_3915
  • RTB02759
  • RTB02676

Student Project: Cooling jacket, Bartlett High School, Illinois

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.

Nixon Family Engineering Night, Lucille M. Nixon Elementary School

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!

ME131A student project mentor

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.