Special Summer Issue 2015 | TechNews ' campus@technewsiit.com i E: E iii i : E: i 5

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students at Commencement

 

Photos by bonnie Robinson and Michael 6055

HT Interns perform science demonstrations
at Museum of Science and Industry

Kori Bowns
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

The Museum of Science and Industry
(M81) is one of Chicago’s most-popular
museums and tourist destinations. MSI holds
over 35 thousand artifacts in its nearly 14 acres
of interactive exhibit space located in Chicago’s
Hyde Park neighborhood, making it the largest
science museum in the western hemisphere.

For IIT students, though, it is more
than just an attraction to visit on the weekend.
Each year, the museum works toward achieving
its mission to “inspire the inventive genius in
everyone” with the help of several Illinois Tech
students. For eight years, IIT students have
worked as interns at MSI through a unique
partnership shared between the university
and the museum. Each semester, students
apply for a volunteer opportunity at the
museum. During both the fall and spring
semesters, 12 student volunteers spend a few
days volunteering at the museum where they
learn science demonstrations and then present

them to the museum’s general audience. These
volunteers receive close training and feedback
from museum staff to help them grow their
presentation skills. The topics that student
volunteers present about during their volunteer
time at the museum include sound, Newton’s
Laws, and electricity and magnetism.

After completing a required minimum
number of volunteer hours at the museum in
either semester, students become eligible to
also apply for a paid internship at MS] during
the following summer. Last year’s eight summer
interns reached over 30 thousand museum
guests through their science demonstrations.
Though that amount of human interaction
might seem daunting to some, staff at the
museum set interns up to succeed, providing
extensive training in guest readiness, public
speaking, and science literacy, as well as closely
observing their presentations and providing
constructive feedback.

This year’s summer internship group
is well on their way to delivering programs
to tens of thousands of guests once again at

MSI. Seven interns were selected from the
last academic year’s group of volunteers to
continue as paid full-time interns at the museum
throughout the summer. This summer, IIT
interns are learning a variety of programs and
demonstrations to deliver to guests during the
museum’s busiest season of the year.

Demonstrations learned by summer
interns include varieties of fast and small
physical science experiments dubbed “pocket
science,” a show where interns show guests
how they can use household items to see their
own DNA, a demonstration of how a Segway
personal transporter works, a demonstration
using a telepresence robot, and a chemistry
show where guests learn about chemical
reactions. Less than a month after the internship
has begun, this year’s group of interns have
already reached over 5,000 guests with their
demonstrations.

Rubab Fatima and Kathleen Mullin,
two current interns at the museum, say
they’ve learned a lot so far. Fatima says that
the communication skills she has gained are

valuable. “A lot of us are in STEM fields; it helps
a lot to have a job where we’re not holed up
in a lab somewhere; we have to communicate
science with others,” she said. Mullin added,
“We get to talk to people who don’t have the
same background as use, which will be useful
training for any future job.” Both interns also
agree that they find their work enjoyable and
fun, specifically noting that they enjoy seeing
the look on guests’ faces when they discover
new things.

The MSI-IIT volunteership and
internship program is open to undergraduates
of all majors at IIT. In order to apply for the
program, students must attend one of several
information sessions to be held during the first
few weeks of each academic semester. Dates
and times for information sessions will be
announced on campus as well as in future issues
of TechNews. Questions about the program can
be directed to Lynne Meyer, IIT’s Director of the
Office of Spiritual Life, Diversity, and Service, at
lmeyer2@iit.edu.

 

Photos by Kori Bowns and Austin Gonzalez