RII Track 1: Materials Assembly and Design Excellence in South Carolina: MADE in SC

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Non-technical DescriptionThe initiative for Materials Assembly and Design Excellence in South Carolina (MADE in SC) promises to break new ground in advanced materials design. The project will combine computational and experimental methods to design materials with specific desirable properties. The project will advance fundamental knowledge of complex materials while simultaneously working toward the development of products with valuable commercial applications, such as improved lasers, water treatment, and regenerative medicine. The project will make major investments in South Carolina?s research capacity, acquiring state-of-the art instrumentation and computing capabilities and hiring seventeen new faculty researchers at institutions across the state. In parallel with its research agenda, MADE in SC will also work to improve Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education capacity in South Carolina through college curriculum improvements and professional development activities for high school teachers.Technical Description MADE in SC materials development process will use a Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) framework, incorporating an iterative design loop wherein modeling and computation based on initial design constraints provide data that will inform experimental design. Imaging and data visualization of experimental results will lead to insights that can then drive additional modeling work, with the cycle continuing until an optimal solution is achieved. This MGI-based framework will depend on the resources of the Multiscale Modeling and Computational Core (MCC), which will be established as part of the project. The MCC will develop modeling capabilities appropriate across length scales (microscopic, mesoscopic, and continuum), and will support the application of these tools to the project?s major research thrusts: 1) hierarchical structures with controlled optical and magnetic properties; 2) stimuli-responsive polymeric materials; and 3) rational design of interactive biomaterials. These research efforts will advance fundamental understanding of the chemical and physical drivers of observed material properties while also realizing new materials with desirable properties for commercial applications.