The nexAir STEM Ice Cream Lab Came to Whitney
- Alliance Healthcare Services
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
The Alliance Foundation and nexAir spent the last Friday of summer break making ice cream at 320 degrees below zero.
On Friday, The Alliance Foundation brought nexAir's STEM volunteer team to our Whitney Ave campus for the nexAir STEM Ice Cream Lab. School started Monday, so this was the last free afternoon of the summer.
The volunteers set up with liquid nitrogen, cream, and sugar, and made ice cream in front of a room full of kids.
How it works
Liquid nitrogen boils at about 320 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. nexAir employees pour it into a bowl of cream and sugar, and it freezes the mixture in seconds instead of hours.
That speed is what makes the ice cream good. Slow freezing gives water time to form large ice crystals, which is why freezer-burned ice cream feels grainy. Freeze it fast enough, and the crystals stay small. The result is noticeably smoother than what comes out of a carton.
The careers part
The nexAir volunteers also talked about their jobs.
People handle industrial gases. People design the equipment that stores and moves them. People keep hospitals, food plants, and manufacturers supplied. These are real careers, they pay well, and they are here in Memphis.
Most kids only know the jobs they have seen someone doing.
Who did this
The Alliance Foundation planned this event, funded it, and recruited nexAir. Alliance Healthcare Services provided the space.
The Foundation is a separate organization with its own board. It raises the support for things that clinical care alone does not cover, including this.
Thank you to nexAir for sending a team out on a Friday to do it.
The Alliance Foundation raises support for projects and programs across Shelby County. Learn more and make your donation at thealliancefoundation.org.
To learn more about Alliance Healthcare Services, visit alliance-hs.org or call (901) 369-1410.