REU site: Advanced Interdisciplinary Materials Research for Maritime Applications

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Non-Technical SummaryThis award establishes a new Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (UMassD) to provide an exciting residential setting for summer cohorts of 10 community college students and involve in interdisciplinary research in advanced materials relevant to marine economy. This summer program supported by Division of Materials Research and Division of Ocean Sciences, begins with training sessions on safe laboratory practices, research ethics, research communication skills; and includes hands-on experience with research instrumentation, field trips to local industries and national research laboratories, and career advising. The summer research program culminates with an oral symposium, and open forum on industry and research careers with invited eminent marine materials scholars. This interdisciplinary site integrates the efforts of dedicated educators from four departments (Bioengineering, Chemistry, Civil & Environmental Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering) who have strong track records in mentoring students for research. The entire summer activities are designed to facilitate community college students to seek jobs in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields or pursue education in four-year research university and develop meaningful relationships with faculty and students. Technical SummaryInnovative materials and their broader use are vital to improve the structural reliability and life cycle performance of ships and maritime structures, to lower their environmental footprint, to make maritime industries more viable at a global scale and thus to generate and sustain employment. Many young scientists in STEM disciplines are naturally fascinated by these outstanding challenges as they search for a greater drive for their education and meaningful ways to serve society. The overarching goal of this REU site is to prepare scholars to address the challenges in advanced materials and fill critical gaps in knowledge on materials needed to transform marine technologies. The REU participants at this site conduct independent research on projects that will leverage and advance a wide range of studies on novel materials currently underway at UMassD, including: nonaqueous redox flow batteries, multi-functional sandwich composites, functional composite materials for structural energy storage, underwater super-hydrophobic surfaces, tactile sensors, bioinspired photonic materials, meta-materials, granular materials, and nanostructured surfaces for antifouling. With the inter-disciplinary nature of these research projects, faculty and students interact and advance the materials science across different fields.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.