RII Track-1: Arkansas Advancing and Supporting Science, Engineering, and Technology (ASSET) III - Multifunctional and Tunable Nanostructured Surfaces

非技术性描述这项研究基础设施改进（RII）轨道1奖建立了一个先进的表面工程中心（CASE），该中心将吸引阿肯色州（AR）的几个学术机构和行业。 一个跨学科的研究人员团队，具有物理，化学，生物学，工程和计算科学的专业知识，将专注于工程材料表面，以解决加工/切割工具的性能，食品的不可渗透包装和污染物的选择性过滤，辐射和污染物的检测，以及神经细胞生长的控制。 CASE将培养一支多元化的未来劳动力队伍，他们将具备加强制造业、林业、农业、石油天然气、航空航天防御和医疗保健领域AR行业所需的技能。 继续教育研讨会，表面科学和工程证书课程，以及教育水平适当的推广活动将提供培训行业专业人士，K-12教师和学生在AR。 现有的全州网络基础设施将用于支持全州的研究和扩大教育，以促进AR技术为基础的经济繁荣。 技术描述拟议的研究重点是设计，制造和研究纳米结构表面，改变颜色，自锐化，润滑，或改变孔径为特定应用所需。 该项目团队将探索各种受自然启发的材料表面创新（例如，荷叶的水排斥，海贝壳的承载能力，以及变色龙的皮肤颜色变化），并通过外部刺激进行控制。 基于建模和仿真的表面设计将指导实验，并提供对中纳米尺度材料行为的基本理解。该项目将利用涉及10所AR高等教育机构的全州范围内的研究来生产新型材料及其属性数据库，这些数据库可以与行业共享，以加速产品创新。 CASE研究人员将教育研究生，本科生和高中生，准备课程材料以培训行业专业人员，并开发表面科学和工程的跨机构证书课程。

Non-technical DescriptionThis Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) Track-1 award establishes a Center for Advanced Surface Engineering (CASE) which will engage several academic institutions and industries in Arkansas (AR). An interdisciplinary team of researchers with expertise in physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, and computational science will focus on engineering material surfaces to address performance of machining/cutting tools, impermeable packaging of food and selective filtering of contaminants, detection of radiation and pollutants, and control of neural cell growth. CASE will prepare a diverse future workforce with skills needed to strengthen AR industries in the areas of manufacturing, forestry, agriculture oil & gas, aerospace & defense, and healthcare. Continuing education workshops, certificate programs on surface science and engineering, and education-level appropriate outreach activities will be offered to train industry professionals, K-12 teachers and students across AR. Existing statewide cyber-infrastructure will be used to support research and expand education across the state to enhance technology-based economic prosperity in AR. Technical DescriptionThe proposed research focuses on the design, fabrication, and study of nanostructured surfaces that change color, self-sharpen, lubricate, or change pore size as needed for specific applications. The project team will explore a wide range of material surface innovations inspired by nature (for example, lotus leaves for water repulsion, sea shells for their load bearing capacity, and chameleons for changing skin color) and controlled by external stimuli. Modeling and simulation based surface design will guide experiments and provide fundamental understanding of meso- to nano-scale material behavior. The project will leverage statewide research involving ten AR higher education institutions to produce novel materials and a database of their properties, which can be shared with industries to accelerate product innovations. CASE researchers will educate graduate, undergraduate, and high school students, prepare curricular materials to train industry professionals, and develop a cross-institutional certificate program in surface science and engineering.