Departmental Outreach

SUNY-ESF Family Weekends are hosted across various Departments on the SUNY-ESF Campus and are open for students and their family and friends to attend.

 

In these two-day events, participants get to explore the SUNY-ESF Campus through various field-related activities. They also get to learn more about the college, student life, and student culture through seminars, meal sessions, and even sporting events and off-campus tours. Additionally, specialty tours are held on the SUNY-ESF campus to showcase the Departments at the College. 

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During Family Weekends, I volunteer within the Department of Chemical Engineering to provide papermaking and paper testing demonstrations. In papermaking, participants have the opportunity to make a sheet of paper by hand with pulp that is recycled from used Blotter Paper in the Department. It is a great way to show not only families what papermaking is and address common misconceptions about papermaking, but to show fellow students who may not have stepped foot in the Department of Chemical Engineering what their student peers study. Paper testing is also a hands-on activity for attendees. Here, participants get to perform an unofficial tensile, burst, and crush test on different types of paper to learn about their properties and why these properties are important in papermaking. 

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Depending upon the attendee's schedule, I have also provided personal, in-depth tours of the Pilot Plant in the Department of Chemical Engineering. These smaller group tours allow for more questions, exploration, and off-script interactions with students and families alike.

SUNY-ESF Field Days are hosted across various Departments on the SUNY-ESF Campus and is sponsored by the Division of Student Affairs and Academic Affairs.

 

In Field Day Events, students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to visit different Departments to participate in a variety of Department-Related activities and demonstrations. The purpose of this event is to expose participants to research opportunities, topics, and fields of study outside of their area of expertise and to build relationships with people across the college campus. 

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During Field Days, I volunteer within the Department of Chemical Engineering to provide papermaking and paper testing demonstrations. I have also assisted in Pilot Plant Tours when needed. In the papermaking demonstrations, participants have the opportunity to make a sheet of paper by hand with pulp that is recycled from used Blotter Paper in the Department. Paper testing is also a hands-on activity for attendees. Here, participants get to perform an unofficial tensile, burst, and crush test on different types of paper to learn about their properties and why these properties are important in papermaking. 

Auburn High School in Auburn, New York hosted the Chemical Engineering Department at their Science Career Fair as a way to introduce students to careers in science. This event was sponsored by the CNY American Chemical Society chapter, Auburn High School, and the ACS Auburn High School Chemistry Club. 

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The goal of the Career Fair was to help high school and college students in nearby counties (Cayuga and Onondaga) identify careers in science that would interest them. Learning about potential career interests would also help students take courses to meet the requirements for those careers. 

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Each group was given a display table for students to ask presenters questions about their careers and interact with science-related activities or demonstrations. There was also a requirement to have a portable display of information and pictures related to the science career being presented. 

 

For this event, I assisted in the management and implementation of the papermaking and paper testing demonstrations in the high school gymnasium. I also created a poster (linked below) to showcase the different major areas of study in the Chemical Engineering Department (then the Department of Paper and Bioprocess Engineering) to be used at this event and future events, if desired.

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Department Career Fair Poster

Every year, the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science and Technology (MOST) organizes the Central New York Science and Engineering Fair (CNYSEF). This fair ranges from grades 4-12 with a mixture of junior, senior, and special awards judges. Projects cover a variety of topics, from environmental science to chemistry to biomedical applications to technology and more!

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During my time as a Joachim Assistant, I have served in all three judging roles. Additionally, I have served as a Special Awards Judge and Representative of the Syracuse Pulp and Paper Foundation for several years. I have also had the opportunity to judge projects related to environmental science and related fields as a representative of SUNY-ESF as well. This is an interesting area of outreach because I got to converse with students in high school (grades 9-12) about their research, ideas, and aspirations for the future. When having these discussions, it gives the opportunity to examine their interests and tell them more about their potential options, including education at SUNY-ESF upon graduation. 

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Some of the awards given to the students are sponsored by SUNY-ESF and the Syracuse Pulp and Paper Foundation. The latter is an award for a $4,000 scholarship to the recipient if they have a paper-related project or show a potential to study materials engineering, chemical engineering, or a related field. This scholarship is awarded if the high school student enrolls in the Paper Engineering program at SUNY-ESF and offers additional financial aid as an incentive to join. In some cases (pictured), this has inspired students to continue their pursuit of math, science, and engineering, with the potential to visit the college to learn more about the program and SUNY-ESF in general. If more awards offered this opportunity, it may grow as an outreach tool for younger high school students to pursue various fields and career options prior to their final years before graduation. 

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This science fair - and science fairs in general - are one of my favorite methods of networking with students of all age ranges and encouraging them to explore even more science in the future!

SUNY-ESF benefits from its close proximity to the Syracuse University campus in many ways, one of which is exposure and networking with other students at Syracuse University through clubs and other campus relationships. Throughout my tenure in my co-ed service fraternity - Alpha Phi Omega - I have provided tours of the paper machine and Pilot Plant to several SUNY-ESF and Syracuse University students. I have also provided tours to other members of the campus communities upon request. The goal of these tours was to address misconceptions about the paper industry, teach peers about papermaking, and pique interest in paper and paper-related fields for students to become more conscious about papermaking and paper products. 

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The Central New York (CNY) Girls' Summit is a hands-on career exploration day hosted at both SUNY-ESF and Syracuse University. This event is part of a collaboration between the YWCA in Syracuse and Onondaga Counter, SUNY-ESF, Syracuse University, CSTEP, and girls inc. 

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This event offers students in 5th-10th grade the opportunity to explore "non-traditional" fields through sessions, workshops, and panel discussions with focus on STEAM or Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math. Topics have ranged from Papermaking and Testing, Energy and Technology Careers, Urban Ecosystems, and Sustainable Building Materials to activities sponsoring skills like carpentry and veterinarian-inspired sewing. Subjects vary depending upon the year and the group that attends the event. 

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During CNY Girls' Summits, I volunteer within the Department of Chemical Engineering to provide papermaking and paper testing demonstrations and Pilot Plant Tour support. In most cases, participants have the opportunity to make a sheet of paper by hand with pulp recycled from used Blotter Paper in the Department, though on occasion, this event also allowed attendees to explore Pulp Painting. This is the process of using different colored pulp spread across the mould and within the deckle (or, essentially, frames and wire to make the paper) to make some sort of design or picture. 

Hamilton College hosts a plethora of Exploration Adventure Trips for their students in the summer as part of their First Year Student Orientation Experience.

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During Exploration Adventure Trips, students travel to various areas in the community to learn about and gain exposure to a field that they aim to study at the college. 

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During this event, students from the Letterpress Printing and Book Arts Group visited the Department of Chemical Engineering to learn about papermaking. Students first received a tour of one of our paper machines whilst under operation to see the papermaking process in action! They then toured additional areas of the Pilot Plant (the Paper and Bioprocess Technology Center). 

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After this, students engaged in making hand sheets and paper testing demonstrations. Students were introduced to two methods of making hand sheets: the dip method with pulp made form blotter paper, and the pour method with pulp made from blotter paper newsprint that they "recycled" themselves with a blender. Once students completed their hand sheets, they participated in paper testing demonstrations of the crush test and burst test. My responsibilities included assisting the setup and tear down of the stations, demonstrating and facilitating the hand sheet making, and guiding the students during the paper testing.

Jordan Elbridge High School in Jordan, New York hosted the Chemical Engineering Department from SUNY-ESF, along with other companies and groups, at their Women in Engineering Panel as a way to get girls excited about careers in science. 

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The goal of the Women in Engineering Panel was to help high school students learn about various careers in engineering that women were actively studying or participating in. It also aimed to promote the importance of diversity in the STEM fields and help students learn more about what engineering is.

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For this event, I participated in the panel as an undergraduate representative in Paper Engineering. I assisted in the creating and delivery of a presentation along with answering student questions. In addition, I arranged for the use of papermaking demonstration equipment for the event to show the attendees papermaking in-person. 

At SUNY-ESF and Syracuse University, various departments and organizations, such as Alpha Phi Omega, have hosted both Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts to earn merit badges from student and staff-led lessons. One badge for the Boy Scouts that I have assisted with is the Pulp and Paper Badge. For this badge, the Department of Chemical Engineering helps Scouts fulfill a majority of the requirements for the badge, which include learning about the history of papermaking, learning about the pulp and paper industry, describing how paper is made, and other various information and tasks. 

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During this event, I have helped coordinate the signups and chaperoning of the Boy Scouts, assisted in answering questions during information sessions, and provided guidance during the papermaking demonstrations and activities. Support for setup and takedown of the event was also provided.

At SUNY-ESF and other local areas, a variety of networking events occur in which students can table for their club, department, or cause. In the past, I have participated in a multitude of tabling events for different clubs, from organizing the networking event to signing up and participating in the actual tabling. Other than for my fraternity (Alpha Phi Omega) and other clubs at Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF, I have tabled for the Department of Chemistry and their student club, formerly the PBE Club and the Papyrus Club. 

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During tabling events, I have handed out fliers and brochures to students and other visitors, hosted papermaking and paper testing demonstrations, and assisted with other activities like paper marbling. Additional duties have included setup and teardown of the tabling display, preparation of materials, and management of club and department signups/registrations.