REU Site: Advanced Materials Synthesis at the University of Virginia

非技术描述：这个REU网站为大西洋中部地区的本科生提供了独特的机会，从事先进材料合成的研究。REU的学生主要来自传统的黑人学院和大学以及两年制社区学院，包括所有在科学和工程领域未被充分代表的人群；因此，学生在性别、种族、民族、第一代、社会经济地位、残疾、年龄和性取向等方面都是多样化的。他们在跨学科的研究团队中工作，并在为期十周的暑期项目中接受材料科学与工程、最先进的研究方法、科学传播、负责任的行为和职业发展方面的培训。整个REU整合了指导活动，讲习班和研讨会，为学生在工业，国家实验室和学术界的成功职业生涯做好准备，并建立科学家和工程师的管道，以应对21世纪的重大挑战。该REU推进基础研究，以支持增材制造和打印、纳米材料合成、材料开发和发现以及电化学过程的应用。因此，REU的学生为支持与先进制造、运输、水过滤、能源储存、催化和药物输送相关的社会重要材料和技术的发展做出了有意义的贡献。技术细节：参与者在一个研究小组中度过夏天，与12名参与的教师导师之一一起工作。实习生参与沉浸式体验，主题分为四个重点：(1)增材制造和打印；(2)纳米材料合成；(3)材料开发与发现；(4)电化学过程。这些单独的研究支持与先进制造、运输、水过滤、能源储存、催化和药物输送相关的材料和技术的发展，这些都是当前社会关注的问题，这些进步将产生真正和持久的影响。学生将学习先进的合成和表征技术，并培养获取高质量数据的技能，提供有意义的数据分析，并与同龄人交流他们的工作。先进材料合成REU的经验通过包括广泛的指导培训，评估和反馈，对学生的职业准备更具变革性。REU的影响是通过嵌入式数据收集来评估和支持的，这些数据收集表明，参与研究如何影响实习生的学习和整体专业发展，而不仅仅是在科学和工程领域坚持不懈的简单衡量标准。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。

NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: This REU site offers unique opportunities for undergraduate students in the mid-Atlantic region to engage in research in advanced materials synthesis. The REU students, recruited heavily from historically black colleges and universities and two-year community colleges, include all populations that are underrepresented in science and engineering fields; thus, the students are diverse in gender, race, ethnicity, first-generation, socioeconomic status, disability, age, and sexual orientation. They work in interdisciplinary research teams and receive training in materials science and engineering, state-of-the-art research methods, science communication, responsible conduct, and career development during the ten-week summer program. Integrated throughout the REU are mentorship activities, workshops, and seminars that prepare students for successful careers in industry, national laboratories, and academia, and build a pipeline of scientist and engineers to address grand challenges of the 21st century. This REU advances fundamental research to support applications in additive manufacturing and printing, nanomaterial synthesis, materials development and discovery, and electrochemical processes. Hence, the REU students meaningfully contribute to studies supporting the development of societally-important materials and technologies relevant to advanced manufacturing, transportation, water filtration, energy storage, catalysis, and drug delivery.TECHNICAL DETAILS: The participants spend the summer embedded in a research group working with one of 12 participating faculty mentors. Interns participate in immersive experiences, with topics falling into one of four foci: (1) Additive Manufacturing and Printing ; (2) Nanomaterials Synthesis; (3) Materials Development and Discovery; (4) Electrochemical Processes. The individual studies support the development of materials and technologies relevant to advanced manufacturing, transportation, water filtration, energy storage, catalysis, and drug delivery, which are current concern to society and where advances will have real and lasting impacts. The students learn advanced synthesis and characterization techniques and develop skills for obtaining quality data, providing meaningful analysis of the data, and communicating their work to their peers. The Advanced Materials Synthesis REU experience becomes even more transformational for students’ career preparation by including extensive mentorship training, evaluation and feedback. The REU impact is assessed and supported by embedded data collection on how participation in research affects interns’ learning and overall professional development, beyond simple measures of persistence in science and engineering.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.