REU Site Nanotechnology Research Experiences with a Focus on Community Colleges

John S.Hutchinson莱斯大学为期十周的REU现场项目将为社区大学的学生提供纳米技术领域的实践研究经验。具体的研究领域横跨整个纳米技术领域，包括碳纳米管和量子点等新纳米材料的合成和表征；纳米材料在空气和水净化中的应用；纳米粒子(NP)光子学和等离子激元；纳米材料在医学成像、诊断和治疗中的应用；以及纳米材料的能量学工程。本课程的伦理部分将为研究经验提供一个框架，并将允许学生探索人类学和历史研究的伦理含义。为了增强实践研究体验，各种活动都被纳入其中。这些活动包括：参观约翰逊空间中心和埃克森美孚等当地研究实验室；公开演讲指导；海报研讨会；以及社会活动。在研究体验结束后，学生将在一个竞争性的正式海报会议上向研究人员、教职员工和学生展示他们的研究成果。该计划将专门针对德克萨斯州墨西哥湾沿岸地区的社区大学学生进行招聘。这些学校(圣哈辛托社区学院、朗尼斯塔学院、加尔维斯顿社区学院、大陆学院、沃顿商学院和休斯顿社区学院)将提供多样化的未来有才华的研究人员，否则他们可能没有资源或机会从事研究工作。这个REU项目将作为两年制和四年制大学之间的桥梁，并将成为这些学生进入研究生院的管道。该项目的参与者将有独特的机会与莱斯大学摩根大通科学与工程职业学院的高危市内高中生合作，担任这些学生的导师，并与高中教师实习生互动。研究结果将通过《青年研究人员杂志》上的学生出版物、同行评议的工程教育期刊上的教师出版物、莱斯纳米REU网站上的教师出版物、纳米科学和工程资源门户中的国家学习与教学中心以及YouTube视频来传播。

0852008John S. HutchinsonThis ten week REU site program at Rice University will provide community college students with a hands-on research experience in the field of nanotechnology. Specific research areas span the whole range of nanotechnology, including the synthesis and characterization of new nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes and quantum dots (QDs); application of nanomaterials to air and water purification; nanoparticle (NP) photonics and plasmonics; application of nanomaterials in medical imaging, diagnosis, and treatment; and engineering the energetics of nanomaterials. The ethics component of this program will provide a framework for the research experience and will allow students to explore the ethical implications of anthropological and historical studies. To enhance the hands-on research experience, a variety of activities have been incorporated. These include: tours of local research labs such as the Johnson Space Center and ExxonMobile; instruction in public presentation; a poster session workshop; and social activities. At the conclusion of the research experience, the students will present their research findings in a competitive formal poster session to research faculty, staff and students. This program will specifically focus recruitment efforts on community college students in the Texas Gulf Coast area. These schools (San Jacinto Community College, Lonestar College, Galveston Community College, College of the Mainland, Wharton, and Houston Community College) will provide a diverse pool of talented future researchers who might not otherwise have the resources or opportunities to pursue careers in research. This REU program will serve as a bridge between two-year and four-year colleges and will be a pipeline for these students to graduate school. Participants in this program will have the unique opportunity to work with at-risk inner-city high school students in the Rice University JP Morgan Chase Science and Engineering Career Academy, serve as mentors for these students and interact with high school teacher interns. Results from the research will be disseminated via student publications in The Journal of Young Investigators, faculty publications in peer-reviewed engineering education journals, on the Rice NanoREU Website, on the National Center for Learning and Teaching in Nanoscale Science and Engineering Resource Portal and via YouTube videos.