Hi All,

Wanted to let you know we have started our 2019 AMRI High School Summer Research Program crowdfunding campaign.  If you are able to help with this effort or know of others that might be able to contribute, the students would certainly appreciate your support.  You can now access the campaign at: https://app.mobilecause.com/vf/AMRI2019.

Best regards,

John Wiley

Director of AMRI

jwiley@uno.edu

Hi All,

Just a reminder that the final program will be tomorrow, July 26th,  starting at 10:30 AM.  First, the poster session will be in the UNO Science Building foyer, outside of SC1001 (write me if you need directions, jwiley@uno.edu).  During the poster session you will be able to talk with the talented students you supported about their accomplishments and experiences during the AMRI program.  Following the poster session, there will be an AMRI sponsored bar-b-que at 12 noon in the adjacent Chemistry Building (CSB101). Parking is available in the university pay lot ($3) just north of the Science Building. 

Bookkeeping.  Please note that we had a few additional dollars remaining from the crowdfunding effort. These funds will be carried over to next year, contributing to our 2019 campaign.

Gift packs.  We have the final component for the gift packs – we will be mailing these out shortly.

Hi All,

Wanted to let you know that the high school summer research program is going really well.  All the high school students you supported are progressing in their research and are really benefiting from the experience.  Their experiences have been varied, one student is working on brain development, one on cell communication, another on battery development, and the fourth on 3-D printing. Outside the lab, the students have toured the chemistry and AMRI research facilities to see the major equipment we have available.  Also, they have attended talks and discussions on crystallography and diffraction, methods for diffraction data analysis and drawing crystal structures, a graduate student research presentation on new oxynitride ceramics, careers in materials science, effective leadership styles, ethics, and an entrepreneurial talk by the president of the local company, Advano, highlighting the development and growth of startups. 

Invitation. You all are invited to attend the closing program on Thursday, July 26th.  The event will include a poster session by the students between 10 AM and noon in the Science Building foyer near SC1001 and a barbeque luncheon (next door) in the Chemical Sciences Building, CSB101.  Parking is available in the pay lot ($3.00) north of the science building.  If you need directions, please contact me at jwiley@uno.edu.

Gift packs.  We are waiting on one item to complete the gift packs.  If you have not already, please send me your address (or let me know if you will come pick it up) so that we will be able to send you your gifts.

Hi All,

1. First, some of you may have noted that we adjusted the final target for the fundraising.  Though we did not reach our original goal, we were still quite successful in that through your generosity we are able to support 4 high school students this summer. 

2. Program update. The first week of the AMRI High School Summer Research Program has gone very well. The 4 students were given an orientation on their first day and then in the afternoon were taken to their assigned mentor research labs.  The students are working on a variety of projects, including those in Psychology, Biochemistry, Materials, and Engineering.  Projects include studies on brain development, cellular-level sensing, new anode materials for rechargeable batteries, and 3-D manufacturing of polymer nanocomposites.  The students have also received training in safety and ethics.

3. Gifts!  We are putting together the various gifts packages for donors at the different funding levels.  If you would like to get the gift package to which you are entitled, please send me the address you would the items sent.  You can e-mail me at jwiley@uno.edu and please use the subject heading “AMRI gift”.  For those of you that are here at UNO, I will just give these gift items to you directly.

Best regards,

John

_____________________

John B. Wiley

Director of AMRI and Professor of Chemistry

University of New Orleans

Though we did not reach our ultimate goal, the campaign was still a really great success.  Due to your generosity, we are able to support 4(!) talented students from the Greater New Orleans Area.  Combining this with other funding sources, there will be 7 students in our program this summer.  This is 2 more students than last year (an increase of 40%).  The students will be involved in several exciting programs in psychology, biochemistry, additive manufacturing, batteries, catalysts, and computational modeling. 

Though I will give you further updates as we go along, our program will start on Monday, June 4th and finish on Thursday, July 26th.  The last day of the program will have posters by the students from 10-12, followed by lunch (a BBQ).

Thank you again for your support!!!

Thank you for all the donations.  Your generosity has guaranteed support for 3 High School students this summer.  Since we are so close to having enough support for a 4th student, we have decided to extend the campaign another week.  If those of you that have contributed can again contact your friends and family to encourage them to participate, this would be very much appreciated.  We will continue at our end to seek support from a wide variety of avenues.  Thanks again for your help – this will go far to positively impacting the lives of 3-4 well-deserving High School students.

Thanks to all of the generous donors!!!  Your support has allowed us to pass the halfway point in our campaign!

For those of that have contributed, again thank you so much, and for those of you planning on contributing, now would be an excellent time to submit your donation.  We are currently reviewing applications and we are hoping that we can make 5 offers to well deserving local High School students.

Additionally, please help spread the work about our campaign.  If you can tell friends, family, coworkers, etc. about our program, this should go far in helping us quickly meet our goal. 

Thanks to all the donors!!!  We are off to an excellent start.  Only a few days into our campaign and have already raised over a third of the targeted funds.  Thank you for your contributions and thank you for sharing this campaign with others - we have had several "friends-of-friends" donations.