IRES: U.S.-Hungary Research and Education on Microfluidics Applications in the Chemical and Materials Sciences

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OISE 0754138GomezThis International Research Experience for Students (IRES) activity links a team at the California State University- Los Angeles led by Frank A. Gomez with counterparts from Debrecen University in Hungary. Principal Investigator Gomez and his colleague James Rudd, also at California State University, will work with Hungarian partners, Attila Gaspar and Lajos Daroczi, to manage a balanced, team-based approach that provides undergraduate and graduate-level students with a solid background in microfluidic applications. This will be accomplished by examining problems at the interface of chemistry, materials science and chemistry-related disciplines with the goal of demonstrating the interdisciplinary nature of science and the value of international collaboration.Annually, this IRES program will provide research experience for three U.S. undergraduate students and one graduate student who will travel to Debrecen to work with U.S. and Hungarian mentors on assigned projects that contribute to their professional development through participation in cooperative research, seminars, presentations, and career workshops. The guided student projects for this IRES program involve: 1) design and fabrication of microfluidic chips, 2) testing for leakage and blockage using the microscope and valve and pump techniques; 3) experiments on the chips and analysis of affinity capillary electrophoresis ( ACE) data, 4) use of chemometrics for optimization studies and 5) comparison of separations. Results should lead to refinements for two microfluidic technologies useful in analytical chemistry: a magnet-based valve and a chromatography column. This U.S.-Hungary IRES collaboration fulfills the program objective of developing global scientists and engineers by enabling experts in the United States and Europe to combine complementary talents and share research and education resources in an area of strong mutual interest and competence. Broader impacts include the introduction of U.S. students, including students recruited from community colleges, to international expertise on microfluidic systems, an area relevant to pharmaceutical diagnostics. The educational value of the IRES rests with the students' involvement in their mentors' cutting-edge research and early career exposure to the benefits associated with international cooperation on environmental and pharmacological problems.