ESP Biography

In this class, students will learn about hydrogels — soft, water-filled materials with applications from food science to medicine. Through a hands-on activity making popping boba, students will explore how hydrogels form when long polymer chains are cross-linked to trap water and form gels. Students will gain a practical understanding of how polymer chemistry and structure–property relationships shape the materials that surround us.

Explore the science of slime by making your own alginate slime! Join us in a workshop where we'll explore why polymers (large molecules) are so important in everyday life. Learn about viscosity, elasticity, and viscoelasticity, and how polymer interactions give rise to fascinating material behavior through a hands-on experiment.