Section 3 of the FM14 focus on the The IAU National Outreach Contacts (NOC) Network. This paper also contains supplementary materials that point to poster presentations that can be found online.

We explored the use of galvanostatic electrochemical deposition of Pt for cost-effective fabrication of interconnects in flexible implantable bio-medical devices. Initial studies were done on coupons diced from 200 mm Si wafers coated with PVD TiN. Based on the physical and chemical properties of the electrodeposited Pt films, optimal conditions were chosen for through-mask plating of centimeters long Pt lines on flexible, medical grade, releasable polyimide layers. Possibility for further up-scaling was considered with special emphasis on high throughput manufacturing of Pt interconnects with good adhesion to TiN/flexible substrates, low impurity content and resistivity, and acceptable roughness and uniformity.

Light pollution is a serious problem, not only to astronomy but also to the environment and the economy. The amount of light energy loss from Cairo has been calculated using data obtained at Kottamia Observatory in 1980 and 1995. The amount of energy loss is much greater in 1995. Comparison with a number of other world cities is given. These results show that much money is being wasted. Recommendations to overcome the problem, and the corresponding savings, are given.