Workshops with Local Industries

$15 per attendee | A light continental breakfast is included.

A Coatings Primer with PPG

9 AM - 12 PM on Wednesday, November 6

Have you ever wondered how coatings protect and beautify objects that you interact with every day? Join PPG to learn more about the exciting world of paints & coatings at our Coatings Fundamentals Design Thinking Workshop! We will explore the chemistry and physics behind coatings and learn about different types of coatings, their properties, and characterization techniques. Throughout the session, participants will have the opportunity to apply design thinking principles to solve real-world coatings problems to facilitate active learning and practical application of the concepts covered.

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Coal and Waste Coal to Advanced Material Products: Carbon Foams, Graphite Foams, and Coal-Plastic Composites with CONSOL Energy

9 AM - 10:30 AM on Wednesday, November 6

CONSOL Innovations is a subsidiary of CONSOL Energy focused on developing and commercializing new advanced carbon materials and products that can be derived from coal or waste coal feedstocks. Waste coal includes the fine and ultra fine particulates that are produced during the coal mining and preparation process. Utilization of these waste fines prevents their disposal in surface impoundments, and may eventually lead to remediation of impoundment sites and production of valuable products. This short course will provide an overview of our coal-based vitreous carbon and pitch-based graphite foams and their applications in the aerospace/defense, battery, and building materials industries, as well as our work developing coal-plastic composites from coal and waste coal for building materials. We will also discuss our strong relationships with University partners and small businesses that promote rapid research and development efforts and commercialization of new technologies.

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Science-based Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Workshop with National Energy Technology Laboratory

1 PM - 4 PM on Thursday, November 7

The Science-based Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Institute (SAMI) leverages science-based models, artificial intelligence, and machine learning (AI/ML) methods, data analytics, and high-performance computing to accelerate applied technology development for clean, efficient, and affordable energy production and utilization. These advances empower NETL to push the frontiers of AI technology and create next generation architectures, tools, and approaches, expand partnerships to advance the development and adoption of AI, and foster AI workforce development. The Institute combines the expertise of NETL’s energy computational scientists, data scientists, and subject matter experts with strategic partners to enable AI-driven solutions and support to applied energy science, environmental and social justice, and other strategic objectives within DOE’s and NETL's missions. Learn more in this video.

Outline of the Workshop: NETL and SAMI, Energy Data eXchange (EDX), Internships/Fellowships/Recruitment at NETL, AI/ML in Materials Science

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Advanced Tube Bending Workshop with Swagelok

9 AM - 12 PM on Thursday, November 7

More connections equal more potential leaks. We'll give you the foundational knowledge needed to introduce bent tubing to your system to eliminate joints and leak points inherent in traditional welded-pipe systems. Learn how to: properly cut and deburr tubing, understand various marks used in tube bending, bend tubing with the correct bend angle made in the correct location, identify five potential bend defects, and expertly assemble a box comprised of various lengths of tubing bent according to requirements. Our certified technical trainer, Mike Gagel, will ensure that you learn how to properly and safely bend tubing to get optimum value from your Swagelok componentry investment.

Swagelok® Technical Training classes deliver an unparalleled depth of timely and leading-edge content – supplemented with actual hands-on practice – to help significantly reduce your installation errors, excessive maintenance downtime, and overall operating expenses! Graduates receive a genuine Swagelok Certificate of Completion for Install/Inspect and Bending! "We'll help you understand exactly what you're trying to make before any tube is bent. We'll then show you how to mark the tube prior to use of a hand bender to accurately make the bends - in minimal time and without scrap"

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Academic Workshop

Better Together: The Development of Cross-Disciplinary Faculty Learning Communities in Higher Education
9:30 AM - 11 AM on Saturday, November 9 | Free to attend

Our institution was recently awarded an NSF IUSE grant to implement a cross-disciplinary learning community.  A learning community has a facilitator, resembles a focus group, and allows instructors to have conversations centered on instruction and student learning.  In this workshop, we will explain how we implemented our learning community, our thoughts as participants, preliminary findings, and how others could implement a learning community at their institutions.    
Preliminary findings include: (a) every instructor (n=20) at our institution is participating, but attendance was a challenge at times, (b) instructors experimented with different instructional approaches, (c) instructors believed strategies impacted student learning, (d) instructors stated that learning communities differed from their expectations and provided a much-needed forum to discuss shared challenges, (e) facilitators stated some tension between the intended focus and the free-form structure of the learning community; and (e) the first learning community cohort has independently sustained itself apart from the original project. 

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Workshops with ACS

Finding Yourself: Identifying a Career that Matches your Strengths and Values
9 AM - 12 PM on Friday, November 9 | $10 per attendee (refundable) | A light continental breakfast is included.

This course provides self-assessment tools to identify career values and strengths. Participants will compare and contrast the four sectors of chemistry employment to determine which sector best aligns with their values and strengths. This data will then be used to create a targeted job search strategy. Key topics include how to: Identify and describe your values and strengths in terms of employability, compare and contrast job market outlook and skills in industry, academia, government, and self-employment sectors, understand the purposes of networking, and apply questioning strategies to engage in effective networking. More information can be found here.

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The Science of Managing Inclusive and Diverse Teams

1 PM - 5 PM on Friday, November 8

The Science of Managing Inclusive and Diverse Teams provides evidence-based guidance and structure to chemistry professionals so they can create and maintain a diverse, equitable, inclusive and respectful workplace. After this workshop, participants will be able to:

Become familiar with common identity types that scientific and census protocols use to analyze groups of people.
Apply Tuckman’s “Stages of Team Development” model to past, current and future teams.
Differentiate between various social identity models as it pertains to the individual.
Practice and apply an empathy model to remove barriers to professional success based on intersectional social identity models.

Read more about the workshop facilitators.