NSF Award
2424811
A strong partnership between Fort Lewis College (FLC), Norfolk State University (NSU), and IMOD (Science and Technology Center for Integration of Modern Optoelectronic Materials on Demand) creates PEAQS (Partnership for the Education and Advancement of Quantum and nano-Sciences). This collaboration expands the partnership between STROBE, a sunsetting Science and Technology Center, FLC (a non-tribal Native American Serving Institution), NSU (a member of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities), to include IMOD. IMOD is teaming with two diverse institutions to synergize research and education efforts to impact the materials science community and will contribute to American technological competitiveness. The collaboration enables advances in cutting edge materials science, attracts and exposes students from diverse groups to exciting applications in STEM, utilizes novel and effective curricula, networks, and pathways that recruit and retain students in STEM. This PREM will directly fund over 70 undergraduate and over 12 high school researchers at FLC and NSU and provide pathways for students to careers in science and engineering. This PREM leverages existing infrastructures within all partners, providing student access to world-class research mentors, facilities and projects at the cutting edge of materials science. The student experience in this PREM is immersive through not only year-long, hands on research but also mentoring, professional development, leadership opportunities, and network building; all with the goal of improving recruitment, retention, and graduation of students from population historically underrepresented in STEM. This PREM develops the next generation of scientists and engineers with emphasis and experience in materials and related disciplines.<br/><br/>Applications relating to nanotherapeutics, nanoelectronics and thermoelectrics all continue to push the limits of the nanoscale regime, with characteristic dimensions already on the order of 10 nm. Such applications require a comprehensive understanding of nanoscale chemistry and physics, where deviations from bulk behavior dominate, resulting in new benefits and challenges. Increased control over atomic- and meso-scale structure has revolutionized materials science, creating novel opportunities for the control of light-matter interactions, and the engineering of material properties. However, a fundamental ability to control structure at the nanoscale and understanding of the relationship between multi-scale and nanostructure material properties is still elusive. PEAQS will utilize newly built research infrastructure at FLC and NSU along with IMOD materials synthesis, characterization, and integration expertise and capabilities to tackle these challenges through two thrusts, providing a diverse set of opportunities for student involvement in different stages and facets of materials science research. Thrust 1 focuses on designing and controlling the synthesis of nanostructured and quantum materials for improved materials fabrication. Thrust 2 aims at understanding and utilizing nanoscale structure for device integration.<br/><br/>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.
