I’m reaching out because BME will be hosting a tent at Purdue Spring Fest on April 18th (9 AM – ~4 PM), and we’re looking for a few grad students to help represent our department through interactive demos and outreach.

The idea is to showcase simple, engaging demos of your research (or anything BME-related!) that can resonate with a general audience, especially kids and families. Spring Fest is very much a community, family-friendly event with hands-on, interactive activities—think along the lines of slime-making, simple experiments, or visual/interactive displays rather than formal presentations.

If helpful, you can check out examples of past demos/activities here:
https://ag.purdue.edu/springfest/spring-fest-at-home-activities-demos.html
These are a good reference point—they’re fun, accessible, and not academically heavy, but still grounded in real science (e.g., simplified demos from your research, making popping boba, extracting DNA from strawberries).

Logistics:

• We’ll have 2–3 hour shifts so no one is there all day
• Aim for ~3 demos running at a time
• Open to both grad and undergrad involvement

• Very informal, outreach-focused environment

You’re also very welcome to do an activity with your lab mates or friends!

If you’re interested, you can sign up here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14vqGJRtZsJ0pM5Io_U-w-KneuRf3aUmkcjUVmwiI7QE/edit?usp=sharing

Even a short shift would be super helpful, and it’s honestly a really fun way to share your work with the community.

Let me know if you have questions or want to brainstorm demo ideas, I’m happy to help!

Thanks so much :)

Best,

Samantha Mata Robles, B.S. BME

PhD Candidate Biomedical Engineering

Linnes Lab & Health TechQuity Lab

Purdue University

(she/her/hers)

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