40th International Conference and Expo on Advanced Ceramics and Composites

Es ist soweit! Die Schüler Ritvik Mathur, Jan Hünermann und Firat Biradli aus unserem aktuellen Projektkurs „3D-Druck“ sind in Daytona Beach, um an der 40th International Conference and Expo on Advanced Ceramics and Composites der American Ceramic Society teilzunehmen und ihr eigenes wissenschaftliches Poster vorzustellen. Die Reise wird eine ganze Woche dauern, so dass neben dem wissenschaftlichen Programm auch ausreichend Zeit bleibt, den Strand direkt vor dem Hotel zu genießen, in einer großen Outlet Mall zu shoppen, das Kennedy Space Center zu besuchen und Florida zu erkunden … wer viel leistet, soll ja auch belohnt werden.

Wir möchten uns an dieser Stelle ganz herzlich für die tolle Unterstützung durch das Institut für anorganische Chemie der Universität Köln, insbesondere bei Frau Isabella Ahrens und Herrn Tim Ludwig, vor und während der Reise bedanken.

Zudem möchten wir uns bei Battelle, Inc. und der „American Ceramic Society“ für die großzügige Unterstützung hinsichtlich der Übernahme der Reisekosten und der Anmeldegebühr bedanken. Das Dankeschön geht natürlich auch an Herrn Dr. Jeff Wadsworth, Präsident und CEO von Battelle, Inc., der ebenfalls an der Tagung teilgenommen hat und für den renommierten James I. Müller-Preis ausgezeichnet wurde:

Die Schüler mit ihrem betreuenden wissenschaftlichen Mitarbeiter Hr. Ludwig. V.l.n.r: Firat Biradli, Jan Hünerman, Ritvik Mathur, Hr. Ludwig

Am Stand des Teams herrscht reges Interesse an den wissenschaftlichen Ergebnissen.

 

Rtivik, Firat und Jan: 

Our trip to Daytona Beach to the International Conference and Expo on Advanced Ceramics and Composites 2016 gave us some unique insights into the professional life of a scientist and provided us with valuable knowledge regarding our professional career.
Lectures about 3D-printing and battery technology, that we read and approached at school were presented at this conference and gave us some rare first-hand experiences. In addition to this, we also encountered upcoming technologies and professional research done at universities and got in contact with industry leaders and people from all around the world.

As sixteen-year-olds, events like the Student mixer or the Global Young Investigator Forum were perfect occasions to ask more experienced people for advice in terms of college and finding funding for future projects. Especially the profuse variety of presentations and posters illustrated us how the professional world works and how to correctly present your own scientific research. Our poster presentation was very well received, while at the same time we had the chance to meet many new people. Besides being a very well organized and structured conference, we particularly liked the fact that after almost every talk the Q&A session did not come to short, so that one may had the chance to interact with others as well as the presenter himself.

Moreover, you were confronted with new ideas and concepts which also sometimes made you encounter different opinions. Although occasionally there were some very abstract topics, this conference has altered the way we look at things and reconfirmed us to choose science as a major for our college education.

In addition to the educational scope, we also saw it as an invaluable social enrichment platform for experiencing an inter-cultural and international environment.

The idea of a Young Professional Network also encouraged us to make new connections with others and showed us how important it is to extend your social network.

But we also had some spare time to explore Florida, for instance like visiting the Kennedy Space Center or participating at the Schott Glass competition, which was quite amusing, while at the same time being in a competitive situation against college students.


To sum up, the ICACC meeting was an unique opportunity to widen our horizon and a great exposure to prepare ourselves for our future career path. It provided us with valuable knowledge concerning leadership skills and abilities as well as our college education.

All of us will definitely be studying science and we are looking forward to future opportunities like this, which help us shape our future.