Dr. Montclare’s Proposal to Teach Girls Chemistry with iPads Up for Pepsi Refresh Grant

Thanks to NYU-Poly’s Dr. [USER:386|profilelink], the Urban Assembly Institute, and the Pepsi Refresh Project, the chance to inspire minority, female students to love chemistry and encourage them to pursue science and engineering careers is a click away.

The Pepsi Refresh Project, an initiative that awards $1.3 million in grants each month, has selected Dr. Montclare and the Urban Assembly Institute’s proposal as a candidate to receive a Pepsi Refresh grant. The grant would provide underprivileged high school students in Brooklyn with iPads and apps that would allow them to visualize and “touch” molecules. To receive the grant, the proposal must be voted within the top ten ideas for the month of September on refresheverything.com.

“In New York City, 230,000 young adults between the age of 16 and 24 live in disadvantaged households, with limited access to technology and educational resources, and they often do not consider careers in science and engineering,” said Dr. Montclare, an associate professor of chemical and biological science. “Yet, our nation is need of diverse young minds to address the grand challenges of renewable energy, global warming, and waste accumulation.”

Dr. Montclare explained that, “the iPad will serve as inspiration and at the same time provide an interactive ‘hands on’ approach to understanding chemistry as the molecules being explored will be from the components of the iPad itself, for example, lithium ions and silica.”

Vote for the project and learn more about it at refresheverything.com (You can vote multiple times a day; voting closes on September 30.)