Breakthrough Research and Education Workshop (BREW)

What is BREW?

The annual Breakthrough Research and Education Workshops (BREWs) are an opportunity for MRSEC members to share and discuss research breakthroughs from the past year and new ideas for future work.

One of the key challenges to developing high-quality content is distilling research breakthroughs into ideas for accessible and engaging educational resources.  The workshops are a platform for attendees to channel their excitement for current research findings into ideas for new education efforts.

Since 2012, the BREW has generated several education/outreach ideas that led to new activities, such as:

• The 2023 BREW kicked off the new MRSEC center and focused outreach strategies and VR technology.
• The 2022 BREW, which focused on how to engage with people who are Blind and Low Vision, helped MRSEC members improve their outreach activities, research presentations and classroom teaching.
• During the 2021 BREW, participants evaluated at-home science activities kits to find ways to make them more accessible.  Feedback from the workshop led to improvements in the instructions for the kits and the inclusion of more video instructions.
• The 2020 BREW was virtual and focused on new ideas for at-home video content that could be created during the pandemic. The subsequent MRSEC At-Home Video Competition resulted in several new videos from MRSEC members: The winning videos were:
  • Freezing Fun from the Ediger Group
  • Thin Film Fun from the Ediger Group
  • Determining Distances using Diffraction Featuring Dog by Tesia Janiki