REU Site Program in Functional Materials

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Proposal: 0851849PI Name: Daniel Schwartz"This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."This three year REU site program will engage nine undergraduate students each year in hands-on-research in the area of functional materials. In addition, two international participants, from the Technological Institute of Monterrey, will join the student cohort and will be supported by the University of Colorado (CU) Chemical and Biological Engineering Department. The students will pursue fundamental investigations of the synthesis and characterization of novel materials designed to have specific properties. Examples include nanocomposites, biomaterials, catalysts, polymers, gels, ceramics, thin films, and membranes. The key components of this REU program include a one-day orientation program, a research project chosen by the student and advised by a faculty member and graduate student or post-doc, a weekly seminar series, organized social and cultural events designed to complement the research activities, and a REU Student Poster Competition to provide feedback on student work, and to recognize exceptional achievement. Participants will also be encouraged to present a technical paper/poster within one year after participating in this program at the Annual AIChE meeting. This REU program aims to encourage students, in particular women, underrepresented minorities, and students from primarily undergraduate institutions to go on to graduate school in order to pursue careers in engineering research. The Co-Principal Investigators have a proactive recruiting strategy to improve diversity that involves a partnership with the University of Colorado -Boulder's Multicultural Engineering Program and Summer Multicultural Access to Research Training Program.