REU Site: Advanced Materials for Environmental Sustainability

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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.