IGERT: Multidisciplinary Graduate Education and Research Training in Nanomaterials Science and Engineering

塔斯基吉大学于1998年秋季开始了它的第一个材料科学与工程博士项目，最初得到了国家科学基金会的支持，建立了科学和技术卓越研究中心(CREST)。该计划随后还得到了多个联邦机构(ONR、ARO、AFOSR和NASA)和工业(波音和雷神)的支持。这是一个多学科项目，其主要目标是大幅增加少数族裔的数量，特别是拥有材料科学和工程博士学位的非裔美国人。IGERT项目旨在提供额外的奖学金，以满足学生进入博士项目的需求。它还包括为一些本科生和硕士生提供津贴，这些学生可以为进入博士项目做好适当的准备。研究的主题领域是结构纳米复合材料的开发。最近的研究表明，在聚合物中加入少量的纳米颗粒可以使复合材料的化学和力学性能发生显着变化。为了给结构复合材料带来这些好处，我们计划继续发展纳米复合材料的科学和技术。一个不同的研究团队已经聚集在一起，研究与结构纳米复合材料的合成、制造和表征相关的全部技术。拟议研究主题的三个子项目将是：(I)结构纳米复合材料的合成与分析，(Ii)结构纳米复合材料的建模与制造，以及(Iii)结构纳米复合材料的性能评价。拟议的研究活动将是对先进纳米复合材料的合成、建模和制造的研究的系统和合乎逻辑的扩展，这些研究已经由Tuskegee团队在各种研究拨款下进行。每个子项目将由几个学生研究项目组成。每个研究项目都将有几名教职员工参与。这个团队的一名教职员工也将担任博士生的论文导师。每个项目将包括一名博士生、一名硕士研究生和两名本科生。在开展拟议的研究和教育活动时，Tuskegee团队的成员将与两所拥有国际公认纳米材料研究中心的多数大学(莱斯大学和威斯康星大学)、联邦研究实验室(空军研究实验室、陆军研究实验室和橡树岭国家实验室)和工业(波音和雷神)合作。作为这一IGERT项目的一部分，将开发与纳米材料、科学和工程有关的三门新的研究生水平课程和一门涉及研究中的伦理问题的课程。我们还打算安排博士项目的学生在国家和工业实验室实习，以获得更多的研究和专业发展经验。希望加入教授行列的博士生将有机会教授选定的本科课程，并与教员一起教授选定的研究生课程。这一建议的智力价值在于，利用纳米颗粒注入聚合物的好处正在利用综合方法制造纳米结构复合材料。因此，这些结构复合材料将具有显著优异的机械、化学和热学性能。上述目标的实现将扩大我们对纳米粒子-聚合物相互作用科学的了解，并在短期内提供关于新一代结构材料的全面技术信息。拟议活动产生的更广泛影响包括在一个新兴的材料科学和工程领域培养大量非裔美国人毕业生，包括许多博士水平的毕业生。这样的毕业生应该在未来几年成为许多年轻的少数民族理工科学生的榜样。此外，这些毕业生将有助于为国家先进的技术劳动力带来亟需的多样性。还预计，这里开发的纳米复合材料制造方法很可能导致大规模生产纳米结构复合材料的可申请专利的工艺。IGERT是一个NSF范围的项目，旨在应对培养具有跨学科背景、对所选学科的深厚知识以及未来职业需求所需的技术、专业和个人技能的美国博士科学家和工程师的挑战。该项目旨在通过建立创新的研究生教育和培训新模式，在超越传统学科界限的合作研究的肥沃环境中，催化研究生教育的文化变革。在该计划的第六个年头，由NSF支持的共同跨越科学和工程领域的项目将被授予机构奖项。

Tuskegee University started its first Ph.D. program in Materials Science and Engineering in fall 1998 with initial support from the National Science Foundation through a grant to establish the Center for Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST). The program also received subsequent support from various federal agencies (ONR, ARO, AFOSR, and NASA) and industry (Boeing and Raytheon). It is a multidisciplinary program whose primary objective is to substantially increase the number of minorities, particularly, African Americans with Ph.D. degrees in Materials Science and Engineering. The IGERT project is intended to provide additional fellowships to meet the demand from students to enter the Ph.D. program. It also includes stipends for some undergraduate and Master's level students who could be appropriately prepared to enter the Ph.D. program. The thematic area of research is the development of structural nanocomposites. Recent studies show that an infusion of a small percentage of nanoparticles into a polymer can bring about significant changes in the chemical and mechanical properties of composite materials. To bring these benefits to structural composites, we are planning to continue a development of the science and technology of nanocomposites. A diverse team of researchers has been assembled to study the entire spectrum of technology related to synthesis, fabrication, and characterization of structural nanocomposites. The three subprojects of the proposed research theme will be: (i) Synthesis and Analysis of Structural Nanocomposites, (ii) Modeling and Manufacturing of Structural Nanocomposites, and (iii) Performance Evaluation of Structural Nanocomposites. The proposed research activities will be a systematic and logical expansion of studies of the synthesis, modeling, and manufacturing of advanced nanocomposites that are already being performed by the Tuskegee team under various research grants. Each subproject will consist of several student research projects. Several faculty members will be involved in each research project. A faculty member from this team will also serve as the thesis advisor to the Ph.D. student. Each project will include a Ph.D. student, a Masters student and two undergraduate students. In conducting the proposed research and educational activities, members of the Tuskegee team will collaborate with two majority universities with internationally recognized research centers in nanomaterials (Rice University and the University of Wisconsin), federal research laboratories (Air Force Research Laboratory, Army Research Laboratory, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory) and industry (Boeing and Raytheon). Three new graduate level courses related to nanomaterials science and engineering and one course dealing with issues of ethics in research will be developed as part of this IGERT project. We also intend to make arrangements for the students in the Ph.D. program to intern at national and industrial laboratories to acquire additional research and professional development experience. The Ph.D. students who express a desire to join the professorate will be given opportunities to teach selected undergraduate courses and team with the faculty in teaching selected graduate courses.The intellectual merit of this proposal lies in the fact that the benefits of nanoparticle infusion into a polymer are being harnessed for the manufacture of nanophased structural composites using a comprehensive approach. These structural composites will consequently have significantly superior mechanical, chemical, and thermal properties. Fulfillment of the stated objectives will expand our knowledge of the science of nanoparticle-polymer interactions as well as provide, in the short term, comprehensive technical information on a new generation of structural materials. The broader impacts resulting from the proposed activities include production of a large number of African American graduates, including many at the Ph.D. level, in an emerging area of materials science and engineering. Such graduates should become role models for many young minority science and engineering students in years to come. Moreover, these graduates will help bring much-needed diversity to the nation's advanced technological workforce. It is also anticipated that the methodologies developed here for the manufacture of nanocomposites may well lead to patentable processes for the large-scale production of nanophased structural composites.IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the interdisciplinary background, deep knowledge in a chosen discipline, and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries. In this sixth year of the program, awards are being made to institutions for programs that collectively span the areas of science and engineering supported by NSF.