NSF Award
1833221
Supporting Student Research at the NanoFlorida 2018 Conference<br/><br/>Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech) will host the 11th annual NanoFlorida Research Conference on October 5-7, 2018. NanoFlorida is a unique event with a long, successful tradition of student researchers sharing their discoveries in nanotechnology. The NanoFlorida conference series is the only state-wide nanotechnology conference in which graduate and undergraduate students can present their research to their peers and other faculty at neighboring schools, and to industry scientists and engineers. Students with an interest in nanotechnology from all colleges and universities in Florida attend in order to learn more about this important topic, meet students at other schools, and network with representatives from graduate schools and industry employers. The NanoFlorida 2018 Research Conference organizers will attract more students to attend the conference in the following ways: (1) lower registration costs, (2) add symposia that highlight important new areas of nanotechnology research, and (3) provide more ways for students to disseminate their research. Perhaps the most important benefit to NanoFlorida student attendees is that they can meet researchers from other schools and from industry, forming professional relationships that provide long-term benefits to their STEM careers. The participation goal for NanoFlorida 2018 is to increase attendance at NanoFlorida 2018 to 200 students. Funding for this conference proposal will allow organizers to reimburse to students the cost of their registration fees. <br/><br/>Florida?s research universities are always well-represented at NanoFlorida conferences. In order to increase the diversity of attendees, the conference organizers will advertise the conference to faculty at institutions that do not grant PhDs in STEM disciplines. Among these schools are Florida A&M and Bethune Cookman University, both HBCUs, and schools in the Florida state college system that have an enrollment of 60% women. The nanotechnology education symposium will draw an audience that includes faculty teaching nanotechnology, thereby imparting knowledge about effective teaching practices to those who can immediately use that knowledge in their own classrooms to benefit students. Program tracks include nanomedicine, nanomaterials and devices, and applications of nanotechnology in energy and the environment, as well as new symposia for research in nanotechnology education, nanotechnology applications in agriculture, and nanotechnology applications in space exploration. NanoFlorida conferences allow for graduate and undergraduate students to present their research in a low-stress, supportive environment and, for the first time, NanoFlorida 2018 organizers will publish students? extended abstracts of their presentations in conference proceedings. In addition, the organizers are arranging special issues of peer-reviewed science and engineering journals to publish nanotechnology research papers authored by students and their faculty mentors. Post-conference surveys and the publication of presenters? research will serve as a measure of the success of the NanoFlorida 2018 Research Conference.<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.
