IMB-CNM participates in the activities of the XI Ibero-American Festival of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in Catalonia

One of the activities promoted by the 10alamenos9 festival, led by the ICE of the UAB, aims to bring nanoscience and nanotechnology closer to the public by showing where it is researched.

Through guided visits to IMB-CNM, the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB), and the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), high school students were able to learn first-hand about the facilities that make progress in this field possible, thereby fostering scientific vocations.

Specifically, students from Institut Torrent dels Alous (Rubí) and Institut Joan Brossa (Barcelona) visited IMB-CNM and toured the perimeter of the largest public cleanroom in Spain. The visits were made possible thanks to the participation of  Gemma Rius, Maria Benito, Joan Marc Rafí, Yohanna López, and Jordi Antoja, as well as the coordination of Sabela Rey and Natalia Bermejo.

Within the framework of the festival, a wide range of workshops, micro-talks, and interactive activities were also held at the CosmoCaixa Science Museum. Several researchers from IMB-CNM took part in outreach proposals aimed at the general public:

• “Connect if you can!” contest, led by Gemma Rius and Sergi Valero. The activity consisted of a competition between participants or teams testing their knowledge of nanotechnology and microelectronics through different rounds of questions.
• Workshop “Electron Dance”, conducted by Mercedes Saludes, Carla Blanes, and Cristina Vaca Chanatasig. Through experiments and visual resources, the workshop explained atomic structure, electron movement, and the generation of electric current in different materials.
• Micro-talk (Speaking Corner): “Memristors: electronics that learn and remember”, by Mercedes Saludes.
• Micro-talk (Speaking Corner): “From Paintbrush to Nanosheet: The Cost of Color”, by Vadim Nikitin.
• Micro-talk (Speaking Corner): “Graphene: a great detective of neurons and diseases”, by Sergi Valero.

The festival takes its name from the characteristic scale of nanotechnology: the nanometer, one millionth of a millimeter, a scale at which materials exhibit properties that are very different from those they have at the macroscopic scale. Its aim is therefore to bring nanoscience and nanotechnology closer to society in an experiential and accessible way, showing how these disciplines are already part of our everyday lives.

Coordinated mainly by science communicator Jordi Díaz and initially promoted by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) with the support of BASF, the festival brings together scientific institutions from Spain and Latin America and is positioned as an international benchmark for the dissemination of nanoscience and nanotechnology.