After passing the aforementioned assessment, the students were given an afternoon of laboratory facility tours, where graduate students and postdoctoral researchers described the equipment in each room, such as the ellipsometer, goniometer, differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), Fourier Infrared (FTIR) Spectrometer, and spin caster; in some cases, example demonstrations were given (FIG ). After the lab tours were completed, students were sent slides regarding the proper use and specifications of each piece of equipment. On the following day, students were tested on the use and specifications of the equipment through a 10-point assessment. After scoring 80% or higher, students were handed their PPE, goggles and lab coat, and a laboratory notebook in preparation for experimentation. In this way, students went through an extensive preparation before embarking on laboratory work. were placed under an optical microscope with a digital display to allow students to see the structure and orientation of the material they were working with, and then to determine which type of lattice structure would be most suitable. Students cleaved silicon wafers and spin casted the polystyrene samples. Using these coated wafers, the students measured contact angles and hydrophobicity on a goniometer and perform ellipsometry to determine film thickness, which was used in the calculation of the samples' molecular weight.