IRES: Nanofibrous Materials Challenge

该项目将为捷克利贝雷茨技术大学纳米材料、先进技术与创新研究所的至少18名美国学生提供国际研究经验。它是中欧主要从事纳米纤维材料（nfm）研究和纳米纤维静电纺丝技术商业化的机构。纳米纤维具有优异的机械、光学和传输性能，为各种应用提供了关键的优势。高表面积体积比提供了沿纤维相互作用的多种方式。长度和相应的机械柔韧性，在纳米尺度上弯曲成许多不同的形状。纳米纤维基材料由于其纳米特性，在高性能过滤、能量产生、转化和储存、伤口愈合和组织工程等领域有着广泛的应用。然而，nfm市场的增长潜力仍然受到制造具有可预测的复杂宏观结构和理想的电子、机械和生理性能的材料和结构的有限能力的阻碍。在项目期间，来自阿拉巴马大学伯明翰分校的IRES学员将能够参与欧洲最大的纳米纤维材料企业的运营。他们将通过以下方式解决当前纳米纤维科学和技术方面的挑战：(I)提高我们对纳米纤维性能和制造工艺各个方面的基本理解，以便指导nfm的组装成所需的配置；（II）为要求苛刻的应用程序开发组装nfm网络和分层体系结构的新流程。预计这一IRES项目的成果将有助于培养新一代训练有素的全球劳动力，从而大大提高nfm的知识基础。从长远来看，这个IRES项目将通过引入新的合作者和促进相关领域的研究人员和学生之间的多重国际联系，促进nfm领域内国内外研究和工业团体之间更广泛的协同耦合。这个IRES计划的主题是纳米纤维材料（nfm）的新兴领域。这一大类纳米材料表现出卓越的机械、电子和生理特性，可以在各种能源、生物医学和环境应用中提供关键优势。到2017年，全球nfm市场预计将超过40亿美元。目前有超过100家公司从事nfm业务，最近nfm的突破正在改变许多科学和工程领域（例如，基于nfm的组织工程气管植入物的首次成功演示）。然而，nfm市场的增长潜力仍然受到制造这些具有可预测的复杂、宏观结构和理想性能的材料的能力的限制。这个IRES项目将为捷克利贝雷茨技术大学纳米材料、先进技术和创新研究所的美国本科生和研究生提供独特的nfm国际实践经验。它是中欧首屈一指的机构和最大的纳米纤维材料企业。来自阿拉巴马大学伯明翰分校（UAB）的IRES学员将探索“绿色”的方法。可用于nfm制造的工艺。这里的主要挑战不仅是获得正确的配方，而且要开发环境安全且经济可行的工艺，这些工艺可以从简单的实验室系统转移到东道国机构可用的商用nfm设备上。IRES学员还将获得重要的国际文化敏感性经验，并扩展到每个参与者之外。通过与CxI&amp；TU-Liberec的不同国际学生群体的社会活动和互动，我了解了CxI&amp；TU-Liberec。IRES的本科生也将为拥有科学和工程硕士或博士学位的人拓宽他们的全球视野。我们将通过经验丰富的国际方式向IRES受训人员提供这种培训，使他们在具有重要战略意义的技术领域具备全面的能力。

Technical This program will provide the international research experience to a group of at least 18 U.S. students at the Institute for Nanomaterials, Advanced Technology and Innovation at the Technical University of Liberec (CxI&TU-Liberec), Czech Republic. It is a premier institution in Central Europe heavily involved in nanofibrous materials (NFMs) research and commercialization of nanofiber electrospinning technologies. Nanofibers can demonstrate superior mechanical, optical and transport properties providing critical advantages to a variety of applications. The high surface area to volume ratio provides both a multitude of ways to interact along the fibers? length and the corresponding mechanical flexibility to bend into many different configurations at nanoscale. As a result of their nano-enabled unique properties, nanofiber-based materials have a wide range of applications in areas such as high performance filtration, energy generation, conversion and storage, wound healing and tissue engineering, and others. However, the potential for growth of the NFMs market is still hindered by limited ability to create the materials and structures with predictable complex, macroscopic architectures and desirable electronic, mechanical, and physiological properties.During the program, the IRES trainees from the University of Alabama at Birmingham will be able to participate in the operations of a largest nanofibrous materials enterprise in Europe. They will address the current challenges in nanofiber science and technology through: (I) the advancement of our basic understanding of all aspects of nanofiber properties and fabrication processes in order to direct the assembly of NFMs into desired configurations; and (II) the development of new processes for assembling NFMs networks and hierarchical architectures for demanding applications. It is expected that the outcomes of this IRES program will help to create a new generation of highly trained global workforce to significantly advance the knowledge base in NFMs. In a long-term, this IRES program will facilitate a broader synergistic coupling between domestic and international research and industrial groups within the NFMs domain by bringing new collaborators and facilitating multiple international links between the researchers and students in related areas.Non-technicalThe main theme of this IRES program is the emerging area of nanofibrous materials (NFMs). This large class of nanomaterials shows superior mechanical, electronic, and physiological properties that can provide critical advantages in a variety of energy, biomedical and environmental applications. The global market for NFMs is expected to rise above $4 billion by year 2017. There are currently over a hundred of companies in the NFMs business, and recent breakthroughs in NFMs are transforming many areas of science and engineering (for example, the first successful demonstration of NFM-based tissue engineered tracheal implant). However, the potential for growth of the NFMs market is still hindered by limited ability to make these materials with predictable complex, macroscopic architectures and desirable set of properties.This IRES program will provide the unique international hands-on experience in NFMs to a diverse group of U.S. undergraduate and graduate students at the Institute for Nanomaterials, Advanced Technology and Innovation at the Technical University of Liberec (CxI&TU-Liberec), Czech Republic. It is a premier institution and a largest nanofibrous materials enterprise in Central Europe. The IRES trainees from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) will explore the approaches to ?green? processes that can be used for the NFMs fabrication. The major challenge here is not only obtaining right formulations, but to develop the environmentally safe and economically feasible processes that can be transferred from a simple laboratory system to commercial NFMs equipment available at the host institution. The IRES trainees will also gain important international cultural sensitivity experience expanding beyond the each participant?s institution through the social activities and interactions with a diverse international student population at CxI&TU-Liberec. IRES undergraduate participants will also broaden their vision of global perspectives for a person with Masters or PhD degree in science and engineering. By providing IRES trainees with such training via experiential international modalities, we will empower them with a comprehensive set of capabilities in strategically important technological areas.