Education & Outreach

Brazil has significant and increasingly important research power in the field of glass and glass-ceramic science, and it is one of our CeRTEV’s principal missions to enhance Brazil’s role in the technological innovation sector and secure its appropriate place in the huge global market of glass and glass-ceramic products.To achieve this, we  need  to  increase  significantly  the  numbers  of  qualified  personnel  who  is  appropriately educated  and  trained  in  this  area,  to  replace  the  current  “in-service  training”  still  widely practiced in the Brazilian glass industry. We need to attract more talented students to this field and train them appropriately to become accomplished glass and ceramic scientists. Therefore, we  must  increase  the  public  awareness  of  the  significance  of  glasses  and  glass  ceramics  in modern society.  Because of their special esthetic appeal and their importance in nearly every aspect of everyday life, glasses and glass ceramics are particularly well-suited for attracting public attention and inspiring scientific curiosity. They are also well-suited for demonstration experiments – using inexpensive  and  non-toxic  materials  –  showing  how  small  alterations  in  composition  and thermal treatment affect their properties. Finally, because of its highly interdisciplinary nature, glass research is  well-suited for conveying fundamental scientific concepts to classrooms, at exhibitions and at presentations for the general public.