REU Site: Soft Materials for Applications in Sustainability and Healthcare Engineering

这个新的为期三年的REU网站名为“可持续发展和医疗工程应用的软材料”，由圣母大学主办，每年为十名学生提供暑期研究体验，并为潜在的STEM职业做准备。软材料领域的最新进展正在为研究界提供必要的工具，以解决21世纪最大的工程挑战之一：创造可持续的能源未来，为世界人口提供饮用水，以及开发负担得起的医疗保健解决方案。这个REU网站由圣母大学工程学院的教职员工指导，将向不同的本科生参与者展示软材料分子工程方面的最先进研究--这是一个历来在许多本科生课堂上被忽视的跨学科课题。招生的重点是传统上在工程领域代表性较低的群体，以及缺乏广泛研究机会的大学。帮助学生研究人员成为独立、批判性思考者的关键计划要素包括技术准备、动手实验室经验、专业发展和团队活动。除了产生有影响力的技术成果，这个REU网站还将为参与者提供身临其境的研究体验，鼓励他们(1)注册或继续工程教育，(2)坚持加入科学和工程工作大军，(3)考虑以研究为基础的研究生学位。这个新的为期三年的REU网站名为“可持续发展和医疗工程应用的软材料”，由圣母大学主办，每年为十名学生提供暑期研究体验，并为潜在的STEM职业做准备。该REU网站的目标是为本科生提供一个支持性和指导性的研究环境，以培养他们改进基于材料的解决方案的能力，以应对无处不在的可持续发展和医疗保健挑战。以学生为中心的项目将使用可持续发展和医疗保健两个主题领域来框架，突出工程在日常生活中的影响。该网站的范围将从与聚合物材料的分子设计相关的基础科学到用于定义感兴趣问题的解决方案的工程方法。该计划的主要目标是1)帮助学生培养生成、分析和报告技术数据所需的批判性思维技能；2)教育学生在研究生院和劳动力市场取得成功所需的专业精神；3)让学生接触多学科方法来应对重大挑战；以及4)为学生在研究领域追求职业生涯提供激励。进入课程的学生将通过一个简短的课程为富有成效的体验做好准备，该课程通过动手演示技术来补充基于课堂的基本概念讨论。每周工作坊的主题包括科学和工程方法、交流和职业，将鼓励学生开阔他们的视野。研究和教育活动之间的协同关系将产生影响的结果，并培养下一批不同的科学家和工程师。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This new three year REU Site entitled "Soft Materials for Applications in Sustainability and Healthcare Engineering" hosted by the University of Notre Dame offers ten students each year a summer research experience and preparation for potential STEM careers. Recent advances in soft materials are empowering the research community with the tools needed to address issues that are among the greatest engineering challenges of the 21st century: creating a sustainable energy future, providing potable water to the world’s population, and developing affordable healthcare solutions. This REU site, guided by faculty across the College of Engineering at the University of Notre Dame, will expose a diverse cohort of undergraduate participants to state-of-the-art research in the molecular engineering of soft materials—an interdisciplinary subject that has historically been ignored in many undergraduate classrooms. Student recruitment is focused on groups traditionally underrepresented in engineering and from colleges lacking expansive research opportunities. Key program elements that will help student researchers become independent, critical thinkers include technical preparation, hands-on laboratory experience, professional development, and team activities. In addition to producing impactful technical results, this REU site will provide participants with an immersive research experience that will encourage them (1) to enroll in or continue engineering education, (2) to persist to joining the science and engineering workforce, and (3) to consider research-based graduate degrees. This new three year REU Site entitled "Soft Materials for Applications in Sustainability and Healthcare Engineering" hosted by the University of Notre Dame offers ten students each year a summer research experience and preparation for potential STEM careers. The objective of this REU site is to provide a supportive and instructive research environment for undergraduate students to develop their ability to advance materials-based solutions for ubiquitous sustainability and healthcare challenges. Student-centric projects will be framed using two topical areas, sustainability and healthcare, highlighting the impact of engineering in everyday lives. The scope of the site will span from the basic science associated with the molecular design of polymeric materials through the engineering approaches used to define a solution to a problem of interest. The primary goals of the program are to 1) help students develop the critical thinking skills needed to generate, analyze, and report technical data; 2) educate students on the professionalism needed to succeed in graduate school and the workforce; 3) expose students to multi-disciplinary approaches to address grand challenges; and 4) provide students incentives for pursuing careers in research. Entering students will be prepared for a productive experience through a short course that complements classroom-based discussions of foundational concepts with hands-on demonstrations of techniques. Weekly workshops covering topics, such as science and engineering methods, communication, and careers, will encourage students to broaden their perspectives. The synergistic relationship between the research and educational activities will produce impactful results and train the next cohort of diverse scientists and engineers.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.