REU Site: Advanced Materials Synthesis at the University of Virginia

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NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: This REU site offers unique opportunities for undergraduate students in the mid-Atlantic region to engage in research in advanced materials synthesis. The REU students, recruited heavily from historically black colleges and universities and two-year community colleges, include all populations that are underrepresented in science and engineering fields; thus, the students are diverse in gender, race, ethnicity, first-generation, socioeconomic status, disability, age, and sexual orientation. They work in interdisciplinary research teams and receive training in materials science and engineering, state-of-the-art research methods, science communication, responsible conduct, and career development during the ten-week summer program. Integrated throughout the REU are mentorship activities, workshops, and seminars that prepare students for successful careers in industry, national laboratories, and academia, and build a pipeline of scientist and engineers to address grand challenges of the 21st century. This REU advances fundamental research to support applications in additive manufacturing and printing, nanomaterial synthesis, materials development and discovery, and electrochemical processes. Hence, the REU students meaningfully contribute to studies supporting the development of societally-important materials and technologies relevant to advanced manufacturing, transportation, water filtration, energy storage, catalysis, and drug delivery.TECHNICAL DETAILS: The participants spend the summer embedded in a research group working with one of 12 participating faculty mentors. Interns participate in immersive experiences, with topics falling into one of four foci: (1) Additive Manufacturing and Printing ; (2) Nanomaterials Synthesis; (3) Materials Development and Discovery; (4) Electrochemical Processes. The individual studies support the development of materials and technologies relevant to advanced manufacturing, transportation, water filtration, energy storage, catalysis, and drug delivery, which are current concern to society and where advances will have real and lasting impacts. The students learn advanced synthesis and characterization techniques and develop skills for obtaining quality data, providing meaningful analysis of the data, and communicating their work to their peers. The Advanced Materials Synthesis REU experience becomes even more transformational for students’ career preparation by including extensive mentorship training, evaluation and feedback. The REU impact is assessed and supported by embedded data collection on how participation in research affects interns’ learning and overall professional development, beyond simple measures of persistence in science and engineering.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.