REU Site: Creative Approaches to Materials Design and Processing

该奖项的全部或部分资金来自《2021年美国救援计划法案》(公法117-2)。非技术概述密苏里大学哥伦比亚分校的这个专注于材料设计和加工的REU网站的独特之处在于，它包括经过验证的、基于剧院的创造力培训，这些培训交织在更传统的研究和专业开发活动的框架中。该计划旨在解决美国在材料研究方面迫切需要创新的问题。创造力培训是培养科学家和工程师创新能力的必要和基本组成部分，但很少是传统课程的一部分。这个REU网站填补了材料设计和制造中劳动力发展的一个关键空白，并满足了全国对能够解决复杂、相互关联的问题的研究人员的需求。该网站有目的地通过招收全国学生来促进包容性，重点是非授予博士学位的机构、支持代表性不足的少数族裔学生的机构以及支持聋人/重听学生的机构。学生们以小组形式工作，并由他们选择的研究领域的附属教师共同指导。该计划利用现有的校园资源，包括专业发展培训以及社会和学术支持。这个REU网站将材料设计/加工的跨学科研究和创造力培训结合在一起，使本科生能够探索21世纪材料创新的新途径。技术总结材料设计和加工的创新需要对结构、成分、加工和性能之间的相互关系有基本的了解。这对于先进的功能材料尤其关键，因为它们独特而复杂的结构-功能关系，以及它们在对人类健康和安全至关重要的应用中的潜在用途，通常是微米或纳米结构，并通过自组装或复杂的制造工艺构建。密苏里大学哥伦比亚分校的这个REU网站专注于了解和预测微结构和纳米结构材料在包括传感器、电池、反应堆和可植入设备在内的广泛应用中的这些关系。这些方法包括原子模拟、粗晶建模和材料设计/制造/表征技术。这项研究不仅旨在推动每个独特领域的科学发展，而且在计算建模、材料科学设计、加工、表征和创造性思维方面为学生提供独特的、可测量的技能。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 award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).Non-Technical SummaryThis REU Site at the University of Missouri-Columbia that focuses on materials design and processing is unique in that it includes proven, theatre-based creativity training interwoven into the framework of the more traditional research and professional development activities. This program is deliberately designed to address the urgent need for innovation in materials research in the United States. Creativity training is a necessary and fundamental component to building innovative capabilities in scientists and engineers but is rarely part of traditional curricula. This REU Site fills a critical gap in workforce development in materials design and manufacturing and addresses a national need for researchers who can solve complex, interconnected problems. The site purposefully promotes inclusivity through national recruitment of students, with an emphasis on non-Ph.D.-granting institutions, institutions that support under-represented minority students, and institutions that support deaf/hard-of-hearing students. Students work in teams and are co-mentored by affiliated faculty in the research area of their choice. The program leverages existing campus resources that include professional development training, and both social and academic support. Combining this wrap-around programming with interdisciplinary research in materials design/processing and creativity training, this REU Site enables undergraduate students to explore new avenues to materials innovation in the 21st century.Technical SummaryInnovation in materials design and processing requires a fundamental understanding of the interrelationships among structure, composition, processing, and properties. This is particularly critical for advanced functional materials, which are often micro- or nano-structured, and built through either self-assembly or complex fabrication processes, due to their unique and complex structure-function relationships, and their potential use in applications critical to human health and security. This REU Site at the University of Missouri-Columbia focuses on understanding and predicting these relationships for micro- and nano-structured materials across a wide spectrum of applications, including sensors, batteries, reactors, and implantable devices. The approaches include atomistic simulation, coarse-grain modeling, and materials design/fabrication/characterization techniques. This research intends to not only advance the science in each unique area, but provide students with unique, measurable skills in computational modeling, materials science design, processing, characterization, and creative thinking.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.