Drexel University FEI XL30
Hitachi TM3000

Scanning Electron Microscopy

 
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This year, there are 9 research teams in the Engineering Design and Development class of the North Penn High School engineering academy.  The main research endeavors that the students are involved with are listed below.  Many of the students within these teams will also be performing various extended and supplementary experiments.  A team research section will be added to the website soon to share various images and videos of the students' research.  Please check back soon!
 

 
Advanced Prosthetics Development
Team Name: BioSyn

HEALTH
RESEARCH

  Aidan Daly  |  Daniel Trumpp  | Zachary Warner
 

Ideal prosthetics provide lifelike mobility to amputees; however they lack biomimetic properties and can be very expensive, costing up to $100,000 or more. It is projected that the number of people living with the loss of a limb will more than double by the year 2050 to 3.6 million. Advanced material science has the potential to revolutionize the market for prosthetics and dramatically improve the quality of life for amputees.


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First time electrospinning polymer nanofibers!
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Zeiss Microscope nanofiber analysis

Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #1
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #1
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #1
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #1
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #1
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #1
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #1
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #1
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #1
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #1
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #1
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #1
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #1
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #1
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #1
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #1
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #1
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #1

Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #2
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #2
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #2
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #2
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #2
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #2
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Artificial Muscle Development: Comparison #1 to #2
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Artificial Muscle Development: Comparison #1 to #2
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Artificial Muscle Development: Analysis
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Artificial Muscle Development: Analysis

Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #3
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #3
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #3
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #3
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #3
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #3
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #3
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #3
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #3
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #3
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #3
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #3 - SUCCESS!!!
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Artificial Muscle Development: Experiment #3 - SUCCESS!!!

Artificial Muscle Development: Performance Analysis
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Artificial Muscle Development: Preliminary Muscle Development
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Artificial Muscle Development: Preliminary Muscle Development
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Artificial Muscle Development: Preliminary Muscle Development
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Artificial Muscle Development: Preliminary Muscle Development
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Artificial Muscle Development: Preliminary Muscle Development
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Artificial Muscle Development: Preliminary Muscle Development
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Artificial Muscle Development: Preliminary Muscle Development
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Artificial Muscle Development: Preliminary Muscle Development
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Artificial Muscle Development: Preliminary Muscle Development
 
 
 
Photochromic / Electrochromic Materials
Team Name: EC Tint

MATERIALS
RESEARCH

  Colin Beatty  |  Tyler Ratliff
 

Tint can be a great asset to a home or car window for a multitude of reasons. It can effectively keep the temperature of your home or car down, which in the long run saves you money. However, it also has its downfalls, since it is permanently fixed to the windows, at times when the sun's light is not beaming down on your home or car, the tint is serving no purpose. In fact the tint is actually blocking the sliver of light that is trying to reach its way through the window. A new technology is needed that will allow for a darkened window, but upon request also allow for a transparent window.


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First time electrospinning polymer nanofibers!
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First time electrospinning polymer nanofibers!

Prussian Blue Electroactive Thin Film Development
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Electrochromic Experimental Dry Run Through!
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Electrochromic Experiment
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Electrochromic Experiment
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Electrochromic Experiment
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Electrochromic Experiment
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Electrochromic Experiment
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Electrochromic Experiment
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Electrochromic Experiment
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Electrochromic Experiment

Thin Film Performance Test Development
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First step in characterization of thin film performance - develop a transparency test.
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Thin film characterization: 3D Printed apparatus.
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Thin film characterization: 3D Printed apparatus
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Thin film characterization: 3D Printed apparatus
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Thin film characterization: 3D Printed apparatus
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Thin film characterization: 3D Printed apparatus
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Thin film characterization: First completed apparatus
 
 
 
Phase Change Materials
Team Name: PCM United

ENERGY
RESEARCH

  Kurt Barclay  |  Jessica Niebuhr  | Braxton Sweeny-Higley
 

Over the past ten years, air conditioners have steadily become more efficient; however, keeping people cool in buildings and homes is costly and requires a large amount of energy. Present day methodologies for cooling are responsible for consuming at least one trillion kilowatt hours of electricity each year, and consumers spend $29 billion each year on cooling. Through the recent advancements in nanotechnology, the cooling of homes and buildings have the potential to save an immense amount of energy, and to save consumers a great deal of money.


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First time electrospinning polymer nanofibers!
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First time electrospinning polymer nanofibers!

Phase Change Measurements: Ice
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Phase Change Experimentation: Proof of Concept!
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BlueTherm Duo - Thermocouple Analysis!
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Experiment 2: Proof of Concept - Phase Change - Frozen thermocouple
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Experiment 2: Proof of Concept - Phase Change - Initial temperature
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Experiment 2: Proof of Concept - Phase Change
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Experiment 2: Proof of Concept - Phase Change

Phase Change Test Apparatus Development
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Experiment 2: Proof of Concept - Phase Change - Inital graph
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Experiment 3: Heat development for test apparatus
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Experiment 3: Phase change test box
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Experiment 3: Initial Set Up
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Experiment 3: PCM Powder Setup
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Experiment 3: Initial graph
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Experiment 4: Double Box thermal test - Initial trial
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Experiment 5: Laser cut PCM shelf
 
 
 
Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting
Team Name: PiezoPOWER

ENERGY
RESEARCH

  Tahsinul Huq  |  Matthew Knoebel
 

Many modern electronic devices are now portable and they constantly need to be recharged due to their high current demand. However, charging these devices require a hard-wired connection to an outlet (or a power bank). It can become difficult, or at times impossible, to charge these devices when one’s not near a power supply. Additional research is required to develop alternate methods to supply energy to these portable devices.


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First time electrospinning polymer nanofibers!
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First time electrospinning polymer nanofibers!

Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Circuit
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Piezoelectric Energy Harvester

Aligned Nanofiber Apparatus Development
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Team designed nanofiber alignment apparatus
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Team designed nanofiber alignment apparatus
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Team designed nanofiber alignment apparatus
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Initial test: inconsistent RPM
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Initial test: inconsistent RPM
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Version #2.0
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Version #2.0
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Version #2.0: Electrospinning Test
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Version #2.0: Electrospinning Test
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Version #2.0: Electrospinning Test
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Version #2.0: Electrospinning Test
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Version #2.0: Prliminary test... Success - several millivolts were recorded!
 
 
 
Electronic Plants
Team Name: Power Plant

MATERIALS
RESEARCH

  Stephen Hammond  |  Istiaq Rahman
 

Due to the rapid growth of the human population, further developments must be made to efficiently harvest energy. All plants create energy which has the potential to become beneficial if harvested properly. This energy can be efficiently collected with many of th current advancements being developed in science and engineering.


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First time electrospinning polymer nanofibers!
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First time electrospinning polymer nanofibers!
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Self-healing mat experimentation.
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Self-healing mat experimentation.
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Self-repairing material - homemade Play-Doh!
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Self-repairing material - homemade Play-Doh!
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Self-repairing material - homemade Play-Doh!
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Self-repairing material - homemade Play-Doh!
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Self-repairing material - homemade Play-Doh!

PowerPlant: Research Focus - Conductive Plants
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PowerPlant: Electrically conductive plant research!
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PowerPlant: Electrically conductive plant research!
 
 
 
Virtual Reality
Team Name: simVRT

EDUCATION
RESEARCH

  Connor Bryant  |  Ryan Munch  | Ryan Winkworth
 

Most teachers today do a fantastic job teaching students new information and helpful skills that will be useful in the future. Unfortunately, not all students learn the same way and process information as well as other students. In 2006, 4.6 million people in the US were diagnosed with learning disabilities according to the National Institute of Health. Since then, this number has multiplied and it doesn't even include the people who don't have diagnosed learning disabilities but still have trouble learning some concepts through the conventional way of teaching. Our society as a whole suffers when its population is not educated to the highest capability possible for each human. When we don't continue to look for ways to educate our citizens, we are setting them up to be ill prepared to function at higher levels for the rest of their life.


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First time electrospinning polymer nanofibers!
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First time electrospinning polymer nanofibers!
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2017 Grad, Bryan Moed, to offer assistance!
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Programming the environment
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Scanning additional materials for 3D world!
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Scanning additional materials for 3D world!
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Scanning additional materials for 3D world!
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Placing materials in VR!
 
 
 
Solid State Photovoltaic Cells
Team Name: Sunposite

ENERGY
RESEARCH

  Kirollos Eskandar  |  Patrick Haley  | Kevin Ung
 

Due to the information revolution and the apparent climate change effects, people began acknowledging the consequences of fossil fuels and restrictions of using non-reusable energy.  An answer to this dilemma lies in the rapidly developing solar industry, but limitations, such as large expenses, inefficiency, and the lack of proper materials exist. Our research group located in North Penn High School attempts to tackle those frailties by researching new materials that can be used for solar panels, making them more accessible and less expensive to obtain.


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First time electrospinning polymer nanofibers!
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First time electrospinning polymer nanofibers!

DSSC Development: Experiment #1
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DSSC Experiment #1
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DSSC Experiment #1
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DSSC Experiment #1
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DSSC Experiment #1
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DSSC Experiment #1
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DSSC Experiment #1
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DSSC Experiment #1
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DSSC Experiment #1
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DSSC Experiment #1
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DSSC Experiment #1
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DSSC Experiment #1
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DSSC Experiment #1
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DSSC Experiment #1
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DSSC Experiment #1
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DSSC Experiment #1

DSSC Development: Experiment #2
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DSSC Experiment #2
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DSSC Experiment #2
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DSSC Experiment #2
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DSSC Experiment #2

DSSC Testing Development:
100W Full Spectrum LED and LUX analysis

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DSSC Experiment #2 - 100W Full Spectrum LED
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DSSC Experiment #2 - LED Power Supply
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DSSC Experiment #2 - Full Spectrum LED
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DSSC Experiment #2 - LUX Sensor Code
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DSSC Experiment #2
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DSSC Experiment #2
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DSSC Experiment #2
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DSSC Experiment #2
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DSSC Experiment #2
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DSSC Test apparatus development
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DSSC Experiment #3
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DSSC Experiment #3
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DSSC Experiment #3
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DSSC Experiment #3
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DSSC Test apparatus development
 
 
 
Synthetic Nerve Development
Team Name: SynBioinc Inc.

HEALTH
RESEARCH

  Bryce Furek  |  Alexander Hotchkiss
 

An estimated 20 million Americans alone suffer from some degree of peripheral neuropathy (PN). The need for a solution to this hindering condition is evident from the sheer number alone of people suffering from peripheral neuropathy. Everyday, hundreds or even thousands of individuals are diagnosed with some form of PN, from diabetic nerve damage, to chemotherapy, to accidents from burns and amputations. Most current methods only treat PN with few being cured from nerve grafts and cell scaffolds for small scale damage. More severe nerve damage cannot be catalyzed into new nerve growth and requires a new method for nerve replacement. Current advances in technology allow us to conceive creating alternative methods to nerve grafts and cell scaffolding.


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First time electrospinning polymer nanofibers!
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First time electrospinning polymer nanofibers!

Synthetic Nerve Development: Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS
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Electrospinning Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate)
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS - Conductive Nanofibers!
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS - Conductive Nanofibers!
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS - Conductive Nanofibers!

Zeiss Brightfield Optical Microscopy
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS - Conductive Polymer Characterization: Zeiss Brightfield Microscopy
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS - Conductive Polymer Characterization: Zeiss Brightfield Microscopy
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS - Conductive Polymer Characterization: Zeiss Brightfield Microscopy
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS - Conductive Polymer Characterization: Zeiss Brightfield Microscopy
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS - Conductive Polymer Characterization: Zeiss Brightfield Microscopy

Signatone 4 Point Probe Electrical Characterization
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS - Conductive Polymer Characterization: 4 point probe electrical analysis
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS - Polymer Characterization: 4 point probe electrical analysis
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS - Experiment #2

Synthetic Nerve Development: Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS #2 and #3
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS - Experiment #2
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS - Experiment #2
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS - Experiment #3

Ethylene Glycol Bathing
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS - Ethylene Glycol bath
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS - Ethylene Glycol bath
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS - Ethylene Glycol bath
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS - Ethylene Glycol bath

Zeiss Darkfield Optical Microscopy
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS - Conductive Polymer Characterization: Zeiss Darkfield Microscopy
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS
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Characterizing PEDOT:PSS
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS - Ethylene Glycol bathing
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS - 3rd Test
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS - 3rd Test
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS - Beginning the characterization process
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS - Rotational electrospinning nanofiber collection
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS - Rotational electrospinning nanofiber collection
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS - Rotational electrospinning nanofiber analysis
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Electrospinning PEDOT:PSS - Rotational electrospinning nanofiber analysis
 
 
 
Multisource Energy Harvesting
Team Name: T.P.S. Energy Systems

ENERGY
RESEARCH

  Mason Ahner  |  Jared O'Neill  | Jacob Tarlo
 

The Earth is full of clean, renewable energy opportunities. With the advancement of technology, the world is closer to solely using sustainable energy to power our electrical needs. With high energy demands, non renewable resources are used to quickly supply energy even though it causes pollution. Although clean energy sources do not provide energy as reliably as other methods, it doesn't produce pollution . If the world continues to use fossil fuels and nonrenewable energy, our atmosphere will be filled with chemical waste and pollutants that will ruin our planet. In addition to that, we will eventually have a deficit of power meaning there will be a greater demand for electricity than what is immediately available.


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First time electrospinning polymer nanofibers!
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First time electrospinning polymer nanofibers!
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Energy Harvesting Circuit: Pre-Research
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Energy Harvesting Circuit: Pre-Research
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Energy Harvesting Circuit: Solar panel prep
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Energy Harvesting Circuit: Solar panel test (incandescent light off)
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Energy Harvesting Circuit: Solar panel test (incandescent light on)
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Energy Harvesting Circuit: Mini LED Test
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Energy Harvesting Circuit: Bridge Rectifier Test

ZnO Based PhotoElectroChemical (PEC) Test
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FTO Glass
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Electrospinning Zinc Acetate / PVA - 3Hour Spin
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ZincAcetate / PVA Nanofibers
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Zeiss Darkfield Optical Characterization
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Calcinating to remove PVA
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Heat gun did not reach critical temperature.
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Hot Plate calcination
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Hot plate worked!
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PhotoElectroChemical Bath
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Setting up the Full Spectrum LED
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Full Spectrum LED
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Initial test
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Final Set Up
 
 
 

 

  NASA Hydrophobic Nanofiber Research
  Special Education Communication Devices
  Advanced Clock System
  Custom Application Development
  Water Transport Protection

RESEARCH

      Engineering Projects In Community Service Club
 
Below are a few videos from the 2016-2017 school year research endeavors.  The video below is the final presentation offered by the students on May 30, 2017. 

2017 Philly Materials Day Images

 

Dr. James Perkins Visit

     
     
Anna Janoff '12 NP, '16 Georgia Tech Grad NASTek Wireless Energy Transfer Middle School Girls Engineering Night
     
     
     
 
 
 
Below are a few videos from the 2015-2016 school year research endeavors.  The video below is the final presentation offered by the students on June 1, 2016. 

2016 Philly Materials Day Images

 

Core-Sheath Phase Change Nanofibers

Electronic Plants Thermoelectric Cells Atmospheric Pressure Research
     
     
     
Below are a few videos from the 2014-2015 school year research endeavors.  The video below is the final presentation offered by the students on June 3, 2015. 

2015 Philly Materials Day Images

 

PAN-CU Nanofibers

Dow Engineers Visit NPHS Superconductive Nanofibers We Have Vision!
     
     
Below are a few videos from the 2013-2014 school year research endeavors.  The video below is the final presentation offered by the students on June 4, 2014. 

2014 Philly Materials Day Images

 

Electrochromic Glass

Photochromic Nanofibers Microparticle Encapsulation Electrochromic Film
     
     

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    North Penn High School Engineering Academy  |  1340 S. Valley Forge Road  |  Lansdale, Pa 19446  |  215.368.9800

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