REU Site: Biomaterials Research Initiative Dedicated to Gateway Experiences (BRIDGE)

教师和学生将参与跨学科研究和教育项目，寻求理解和应用自然界的设计策略来开发新型生物材料。对生命系统如何自组织和构建结构的基本理解可以导致改进和低成本的医疗设备，以及更有效的能源转换和制造范例。作为暑期计划的一部分，教师和学生将参加专业发展研讨会，包括建立口头和书面沟通的技能，道德和职业行为，以及如何进行研究。学生和教师还将制作一段短片，旨在让公众参与他们的研究，以及最后的技术演示。该计划还侧重于招募退伍军人、没有先前研究经验的学生以及传统上在科学和工程领域代表性较低的学生。该项目侧重于发展对生物材料如何在自然界中形成和表现的基本理解，并利用这些见解来设计新型工程生物材料。参与者将参与正在进行的将实验与理论和模拟相结合的研究项目，研究和设计自我和定向分子组装、细胞与表面之间的界面、凝胶和网络、药物输送系统、组织培养支架、矿化以及多功能生物材料，如光子和电子生物材料。项目围绕三个中心主题组织：(1)用于生物和医学的纳米和微尺度结构(2)用于创造新生物材料的工具，以及(3)自组装和自组织结构。该REU网站由美国国家科学基金会材料科学部门(DMR)和工程教育与中心(ENG/EEC)以及国防部(DOD)共同资助。

Teachers and students will participate in interdisciplinary research and educational projects that seek to understand and apply design strategies in nature to the development novel biomaterials. A fundamental understanding of how living systems self-organize and build structures could lead to improved and low-cost medical devices, as well as more efficient paradigms for energy conversion and manufacturing. As part of the summer program, teachers and students will participate in professional development workshops, including building skills in oral and written communication, ethics and professional conduct, and how to conduct research. Students and teachers will also create a short video designed to engage the public in their research, as well as a final technical presentation. The program also focuses on recruiting veterans, students without prior research experience, and students traditionally underrepresented in science and engineering.This project focuses on developing fundamental understanding of how biomaterials form and perform in nature and using these insights to design novel engineered biomaterials. Participants will contribute to ongoing research projects that combine experiment with theory and simulation, in the study and design of self- and directed molecular assemblies, interfaces between cells and surfaces, gels and networks, drug delivery systems, tissue culture scaffolds, mineralization, and multi-functional biomaterials such as photonic and electronic biomaterials. Projects are organized around 3 central themes: (1) nano- and microscale structures for biology and medicine (2) tools for creating novel biomaterials, and (3) self-assembling and self-organizing structures.This REU site is co-funded by the NSF Divisions of Materials Science (DMR) and Engineering Education and Centers (ENG/EEC), and by the Department of Defense (DOD).