Hands-on Materials Science for Education

Crystalline materials are indispensable to modern life, and the development of crystal growth processes for novel materials remains an important challenge in materials science and engineering. However, the knowledge about these processes is limited to very select, specialist communities.

Researchers from different fields often use crystals just as ""products"" without being aware of the exciting multi-disciplinary background of their production processes. The HANDSOME project aims to facilitate the integration of this topic in educational curricula at various levels.

We will adopt a macroscopic perspective on crystal growth, starting with heat transfer phenomena and phase changes between solid and liquid states, which can be related to many aspects of everyday life such as cooking or weather.

A modular hands-on setup (EduCrys) will be developed to demonstrate the growth of tin crystals from melt using a process very similar to the industrial production of silicon crystals for microelectronics. Various sensors will be utilized to measure the temperature or power consumption.

In the HANDSOME project, we envision EduCrys as a unique, innovative educational product for both schools and universities.

We will follow the principles of open hardware with low-cost components and open source control software to maximize accessibility and customizability.

The EduCrys setup will allow the transfer of knowledge from high-tech industries and specialized research labs to the classroom while preserving the possibility of hands-on experience and therefore increasing interactivity in science education.

The HANDSOME project aims to reach a new level of awareness in the society about the challenges of modern materials science, in particular the production processes of crystalline materials, their energy-efficiency, and their environmental impact.