CINE promotes scientific immersion for high school girls

Members of the Center for Innovation on New Energies (CINE) organized several activities in January to bring science closer to high school students and teachers in the Campinas region. The events took place as part of the scientific immersion program that was held at the Chemistry Institute of Unicamp in the context of the Brazilian program Future Women Scientists.
On the 16th, a group of girls was welcomed by the team from the Nanotechnology and Solar Energy Laboratory (LNES). Initially, Professor Ana Flavia Nogueira, coordinator of the laboratory and director of CINE, gave a presentation on energy transition and low-carbon economy. After that, young women from the group (postdoctoral researchers and students) spoke to the visitors about their experiences and trajectories in science and technology. “During visits to the laboratories, the students were able to discover how today’s research is shaping the future of energy generation and storage,” says Camila Pedroso, Education and Knowledge Dissemination Analyst at CINE, who participated in leading the activities.
On the 20th and 21st, the laboratory coordinated by Professor Juliano Bonacin, a researcher at CINE, welcomed female students and a high school teacher for an immersion in additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing. The “future scientists” learned how to use digital model production programs and printed the objects they created, in addition to seeing electrodes produced on 3D printers for use in generating hydrogen. “The idea was to show the impact that additive manufacturing has on scientific and educational activities, in addition to showing the importance of this technique as a more sustainable process that minimizes waste in the production of objects,” says Bonacin. The Future Women Scientists program is an initiative of the Northeast Strategic Technologies Center (CETENE), a research unit of the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), to promote gender equality in science and technology throughout Brazil.