REU Site: Engineering Materials for a Healthy World

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The three-year REU Site: Engineering Materials for a Healthy World at the University of Colorado Boulder will host a 10-week summer research experience for ten undergraduate students each year to participate in highly innovative materials research and science policy projects that are at the forefront of addressing major challenges in energy, health, and infrastructure. Participants will engage in multidisciplinary projects and conduct hands-on research while working closely with faculty, graduate student, and post-doc mentors. This REU Site will run a new mentoring program for undergraduate students from minority serving institutions where prospective students are paired with a graduate student mentor. The mentoring program will begin prior to the REU and extend for two years, with the goal of strengthening the mentee’s REU application, bolstering self-efficacy, and navigating applications to graduate school. Participants in the REU program will expand their knowledge of science justice and science policy through seminar talks by leaders in the field and will learn how to conduct scientific research, communicate effectively, and network through professional development activities that prepare students for future careers in materials science and engineering.The three-year REU Site: Engineering Materials for a Healthy World at the University of Colorado Boulder will host a 10-week summer research experience for ten undergraduate students each year to participate in highly innovative materials research and science policy projects. The next generation of scientists and engineers will become increasingly responsible for developing innovative solutions to address the energy, health, and infrastructure crises. The REU Site will focus on diversifying the workforce with underrepresented minority and female science and engineering students to address these crises. The REU Site will engage undergraduate students in highly interdisciplinary and innovative research projects. The REU materials research projects will focus on developing innovative and creative just technologies for alternative renewable energy sources, addressing disparities in health and disease through patient-specific biomaterials, and engineering sustainable infrastructure from cement alternatives to clean water. The science policy projects will focus on how media and social networks impact the just transition of these technologies. Students will contribute to the advancement of fundamental knowledge in materials science and engineering through materials design, development, processing, and characterization and environmental science policy in real-world applications.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.