In its five-year span, Nebraska’s Emergent Quantum Materials and Technologies (EQUATE) project has gathered annually for Nebraska Research and Innovation Conference (NRIC) events. With 2025 as the International Year of Quantum, it was time for this tiny science to go BIGGER, so EQUATE shared its materials research with a wider community: Nebraska science teachers.
This year, when the Nebraska Association of Teachers of Science (NATS) hosted its annual fall conference at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) for the first time in decades, EQUATE scientists and engineers added quantum phenomena to sessions held at UNL’s Carolyn Pope Edwards Hall and at an evening social, “Night at the Museum,” in Morrill Hall.
On Friday, October 17, more than 170 teachers accessed:
- Lab tour – led by Abdelghani Laraoui, associate professor of mechanical and materials engineering.
- Demonstrations of quantum lessons and classroom activities developed by Sehrish Iqbal, Sina Khayam, Himanshu Mavani, Gauthami Viswan, and YuanYuan Zhang (EQUATE-supported students in UNL Engineering and Physics programs).
- Presentations by Young Nebraska Scientists and the Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience.
Sponsoring of the event came from EQUATE’s funder, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), via Nebraska EPSCoR; this funding helped cover entry fees and travel costs to attend the conference for dozens of teachers from rural Nebraska.
Above: During a conference, Nebraska teachers visit with EQUATE scientists in a lab (top), an information showcase (middle), and at a museum social gathering (lower).
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