REU Site: Advanced Materials for Environmental Sustainability

这个在北卡罗莱纳州立大学（NCSU）的为期三年的REU现场项目将在一个有指导的、假设驱动的材料研究环境中每年引进和培养10名本科生。现场活动旨在将重点研究项目与环境可持续性相关的广泛工程挑战以及研究和开发中的各种职业机会联系起来。参与的教师导师既有经验丰富的终身教授，也有非常新的助理教授，他们来自几个代表性不足的群体。将进行正式的导师培训，并在为期10周的REU项目中对指导效果进行间歇性评估。通过各种综合活动，REU网站旨在：1)让学生参与多学科研究，利用校园内最先进的研究设施；2)通过有针对性的技术培训、实验室工作、小组会议和每周的研讨会和讨论，了解“研究人员的生活”；3)通过与学术界和工业界研究人员的互动，向学生介绍与可持续发展相关的研究就业机会；4)在指导下准备海报和口头报告，培养沟通技巧；5)通过邀请少数民族服务机构的教师参加最后的REU研讨会，促进与这些机构的长期互动。REU的参与者将与他们的教师和研究生导师合作，推进以一系列多样化和有影响力的科学和工程领域为中心的科学研究项目：太阳能驱动的清洁能源和环境技术；紫外线消毒用于水净化；能源储存和输送；连续可靠能源系统的材料可靠性用于室温磁场感应、能量收集和低功耗高速存储器的器件。更广泛的影响每年REU网站都会介绍一群不同的本科生进行研究，他们中的许多人没有机会在自己的母校参与本科生研究。REU的现场活动旨在将学生与他们的研究对社会和环境的影响联系起来，并帮助激励他们追求科学和工程方面的高级学位和职业。有重点的招聘工作旨在增加妇女和少数民族的代表性，并在国立国立大学和少数民族服务机构之间建立长期的互动，而不是在REU网站的范围内。

Intellectual MeritThis three year REU site program at North Carolina State University (NCSU) will introduce and train ten undergraduate students per year in a mentored, hypothesis-driven materials research environment. The site activities are designed to connect focused research projects to broad engineering challenges associated with environmental sustainability and to diverse career opportunities in research and development. The participating faculty mentors include both experienced, tenured faculty as well as very new assistant professors, with strong representation from several underrepresented groups. Formalized mentor training will be conducted, with intermittent assessment of mentoring efficacy throughout the 10-week REU program. Through a variety of integrated activities, the REU site aims to: 1)engage students in multidisciplinary research that will take advantage of state-of-the-art research facilities across campus; 2) gain an understanding of "life as a researcher" through focused technique training,laboratory work, group meetings and weekly seminars and discussions; 3) introduce students to research career opportunities associated with sustainability through interactions with researchers in academia and industry; 4) develop communication skills through mentored preparation for poster and oral presentations; and 5) promote long-term interactions with a number of minority-serving institutions by inviting faculty from these institutions to the final REU symposium.The REU participants will collaborate with their faculty and graduate-student mentors to advance scientific research projects centered on a number of diverse and impactful science and engineering areas: solar-driven clean energy and environmental technologies; ultraviolet disinfection for water purification; energy storage and delivery; material reliability for continuous and dependable energy systems; devices for room-temperature magnetic field sensing, energy harvesting, and low-power, high-speed memory.Broader ImpactsEach year the REU site will introduce a diverse group of undergraduate students to research, many of whom do not have the opportunity to participate in undergraduate research at their home institution. The REU site activities are designed to connect students to the sociological and environmental impacts of their research and to help motivate them to pursue advanced degrees and careers in science and engineering. Focused recruiting efforts aim to increase the representation of women and minorities and to establish long-term interactions between NCSU and minority-serving institutions beyond the scope of the REU site.