MsRI-EW: Enabling Transformative Advances in Materials Engineering through Development of Novel Approaches to Electron Microscopy

该项目支持一个研讨会，汇集了来自工程、材料科学和数据科学界的专家，以确定电子显微镜（EM）基础设施的需求，以推进材料工程在广泛的技术应用，包括建筑、制造、催化、结构、通信、能量转换/存储和生物医学设备。研讨会将1)总结电子显微镜成像、光谱学和材料衍射表征的当前和近期仪器技术的现状；2)阐明催化和分离、量子技术、数据科学和人机界面领域的关键科学驱动因素；3)确定最佳的项目管理实践，促进仪器仪表和相关基础设施，使工程材料的变革发现成为可能。该研讨会将于2020年8月举行，届时将有80-100名代表学术机构、行业和国家实验室的参与者。研讨会参与者将包括来自材料科学与工程、显微镜、仪器、数据科学和研究项目管理等领域的专家。材料已经发展到在科学和工程中发挥着关键和无处不在的作用。材料相关技术中界面效应的许多方面，如催化、分离、能量存储/转换、环境技术、光电器件、通信和量子系统，仍然未知或知之甚少。极端条件、弱相互作用或快速动力学对当前仪器的界面结构表征提出了巨大的挑战——不仅在分辨率和灵敏度方面，而且在数据采集和分析方面。这些限制为解决基础知识缺口提供了障碍，这些缺口可能通过先进的纳米尺度和原子分辨率探测材料来解决。电子显微镜（EM）成像、光谱学和衍射-当有效集成时-提供了在纳米和原子水平上探测材料结构和性能的主要工具。在过去的十年里发生了巨大的进步，增强了我们在亚埃水平上探测材料结构、化学和功能的能力。然而，需要不断改进EM仪器，数据采集和分析以及支持设施，以解决目前限制材料工程进一步发展的知识差距。为此，研讨会将1)构思显微镜基础设施的新方法；2)为显微镜学家、探测器/数据科学专家、工程和材料科学研究界之间的持续互动建立框架，以制定和促进EM基础设施的长期战略目标；3)组建能够开发和利用先进EM基础设施的协作团队，以满足关键材料工程需求。4)为资助机构提供指导，以支持电子显微镜基础设施的卓越和领导；5)培养一个电子显微镜社区，促进女性和其他未被充分代表的群体更广泛地参与材料科学和工程研究社区。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The project supports a workshop bringing together experts from the engineering, materials science, and data science communities to identify electron microscopy (EM) infrastructure needs for advancing materials engineering across a broad range of technological applications including construction, manufacturing, catalysis, structures, communication, energy conversion/storage, and biomedical devices. The workshop will 1) summarize the state of the art in current and near-future instrumentation for electron microscope imaging, spectroscopy, and diffraction characterization of materials, 2) elucidate key science drivers in the areas of catalysis and separations, quantum technology, data science, and the human/machine interface, and 3) identify optimal project management practices facilitating instrumentation and related infrastructure enabling transformative discoveries of engineered materials. The workshop will be held virtually in August of 2020 and will include 80-100 participants representing academic institutions, industry, and national laboratories. The workshop participants will include a diverse group of attendees representing expertise in materials science and engineering, microscopy, instrumentation, data science, and research project management. Materials have evolved to play a critical and ubiquitous role in science and engineering. Many aspects of interfacial effects in materials-related technologies such as catalysis, separations, energy storage/conversion, environmental technologies, optoelectronic devices, communication, and quantum systems remain unknown or poorly understood. Extreme conditions, weak interactions or rapid dynamics present overwhelming challenges to interfacial structure characterization with current instrumentation – not only in resolution and sensitivity, but also in data acquisition and analysis. Such limitations present roadblocks to addressing fundamental knowledge gaps that may be addressed through advanced nanoscale and atomic resolution probing of materials. Electron microscopy (EM) imaging, spectroscopy and diffraction – when effectively integrated - provide a primary tool for probing materials structures and properties at the nanometer and atomic level. Tremendous advances have taken place over the last ten years that have strengthened our ability to probe materials structure, chemistry, and function at the sub-Angstrom level. Nevertheless, continuous improvements in EM instruments, data acquisition and analysis, and supporting facilities are needed to address the knowledge gaps that currently limit further advances in materials engineering. To this end, the workshop will 1) conceive novel approaches to microscopy infrastructure, 2) establish a framework for on-going interactions between microscopists, detector/data science experts, and the engineering and materials science research communities to develop and promote strategic long-term EM infrastructure goals, 3) nucleate collaborative teams capable of developing and exploiting advanced EM infrastructure towards critical materials engineering needs, 4) provide guidance to funding agencies for supporting excellence and leadership in electron microscopy infrastructure, and 5) cultivate an EM community that promotes broader participation of females and other underrepresented groups in the materials science and engineering research communities.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.