Both the US and the UK require employees with science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) backgrounds: STEM employment sector growth has been projected to continue to outstrip that of non-STEM growth in the US, whilst the UK was expected to experience a STEM recruitment shortage of 1.5 million employees in 2018. Public engagement, defined as “the involvement of specialists listening to, developing their understanding of, and interacting with, non-specialists”, has successfully been used to improve STEM uptake – the STEM graduate shortfall dropped 90 % between 2015 and 2018 in the UK. However, this has mainly focussed on high footfall with low impact, rather than high impact for a few individuals. In the US, independent research projects have been performed in schools, such as North Penn High School and Princeton International School of Science and Math, providing students with an opportunity to develop skills and their interest and enthusiasm for science and engineering. This concept is beginning to gain traction in the UK with the Institute of Research in Schools at the forefront of facilitating projects across the country. Here, we investigate the electrospinning of cellulose from ionic liquid systems as a research project with students from Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, UK and North Penn High School, USA. We present their development of the equipment and the results generated over two school terms. The study demonstrates that, with the right support, we can engage with the future researchers of tomorrow today, and further both their knowledge and our own.

Electrospinning cellulose from ionic liquid systems: A secondary school research project

2019 Spring National Meeting

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