Virtual Reality for Chemical Education & Research

While Virtual Reality(VR) is emerging as an interactive, dynamic tool for chemical education, we are interested in its application and assessment. In an educational setting, we recently designed a chemical exploration with virtual reality (CEVR) activity to demonstrate molecular structures and engage students to explore molecular motions and interactions. In Fall 2018, 70 students in the first semester of an introductory organic chemistry course were asked to complete an example task to pull a methane molecule through a carbon nanotube. Our assessments of this activity have shown valuable motivational impacts and measurable learning gains. We are currently exploring the application of VR in other courses like physical chemistry and biochemistry.



Outreach Activities & Conference Organization

    We have strived to serve our academic and local communities by organizing outreach events and academic symposiums:

  1. ACS Symposium “Advances in Multiscale Modeling” (San Diego, CA 2019).
  2. The Annual Green Mountain Biophysical Symposium Series, with grant supports from the Biophysical Society (Burlington, VT 2017-2019).
  3. The first user meeting of the Vermont Advanced Computer Core (Burlington, VT 2017).
  4. Open house of the STEM complex at UVM (Burlington, VT 2017).
  5. The “Chemistry Fun” outreach event at the ECHO lake aquarium and science center (Burlington, VT 2015).
  6. Modeling workshops for experimentalists: KAUST (Saudi Arabia 2015), McGill University (Canada 2017), and Hong Kong University (People’s Republic of China 2018).