REU Site: Integrated Nanomanufacturing

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BROADER SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROJECT:Nanomanufacturing research is an emerging interdisciplinary area at the intersection of nanotechnology and fabrication. Nanotechnology seeks to develop and synthesize systems that manipulate, measure or control physical processes at the nanoscale, while integrated nanomanufacturing incorporates nanofabrication and materials research. The Boston University (BU) REU Site in Integrated Nanomanufacturing will bring ten undergraduate students from universities and two-year colleges to engage in summer research in more than 30 potential interdisciplinary labs in Nanotechnology, Electrical and Computer, Biomedical, Materials Science, and/or Mechanical Engineering at the Boston University Charles River campus. The REU Site will offer an interdisciplinary and transformative experience to students from varying engineering disciplines that reflect the diversity of the BU mentors in Integrated Nanomanufacturing. The program's target is to recruit at least 50% of the 10 participants from underrepresented minorities and at least 50% female participants. Training female and underrepresented minorities from universities that have limited STEM research capabilities for graduate studies will provide the largest impact to diversifying future role models in nanotechnology. Participants will be immersed in research while simultaneously gaining an education in the proper techniques for research via mentored training from faculty and graduate students with clear learning goals agreed upon at the start of the program. The REU site program will be organized into various training sessions, hands-on cleanroom activities, scientific research in appointed laboratories and seminars for undergraduate research students. The Boston University NSF REU Site in Integrated Nanomanufacturing will provide a program with the aim of educating a diverse group of the next generation of engineers in nanotechnology.PROJECT DESCRIPTION:Participants will be mentored and coached through a unique problem-based research experience, from basic skills building to open-ended discovery, with a focus on developing research independence. Through the mentored training, participants will also engage in a training program of nanotechnology content, skills development, and career preparation with a focus on interdisciplinary engineering topics. Participants will also be immersed in a positive research culture in the mentor's laboratories and through the research mentoring training program that favorably shapes the mentee's and mentor's awareness, confidence and understanding of research, graduate school and other STEM career choices. Students will participate in mentored discovery, engineering of new devices, and fabrication at the nanoscale level to explore optical and integrated nanoscale systems, while developing critical skills, awareness and confidence necessary to advance along their career pathways in academics and research. Through this site, students will gain the opportunity to share their work with the research community at BU through presentations and to also submit to national conferences or co-author publications based on their research. Three thematic research areas will serve as the foundation for this REU Site: 1) Materials synthesis and characterization, 2) Combination photonic and electronic nanostructures, and 3) Integration of nanosystems that generate, sense, and manipulate.The project will emphasize the participation of underrepresented minority students, including novices (first and second year undergraduates) to establish primarily racial and ethnic, but also institutional, technical, and experiential diversity among the participants and to seed greater diversity in the national graduate student applicant pool. Recruiting will utilize strong existing relationships BU has with historically Black colleges and Universities (HBCU's) and Hispanic serving institutions (HSI's). Recruiting for this NSF REU site will also be concentrated on two-year colleges as well as four-year colleges that lack graduate research in STEM. As part of the REU site goals, a minimum of 50% of ten participants will be from colleges where graduate research opportunities in STEM are unavailable with a minimum of 50% underrepresented minorities and 50% female participants to be recruited. Undergraduate students who are veterans of the U.S. Armed Services will also be encouraged to apply.The NSF REU site Integrated Nanomanufacturing has been funded by the National Science Foundation Division of Engineering Education and Centers (EEC).