FABRICATION, CHARACTERIZATION, AND TESTING CORE (FaCT CORE)

PROJECT SUMMARY – FABRICATION, CHARACTERIZATION, AND TESTING CORE (FACT CORE) The FaCT core will provide the biomedical engineering support needed for RPLs and others to fully engage in the development, synthesis, and validation of devices, sensors, and systems to be used in foundational or applied biomedical research and/or clinical-translational work in the COBRE in Convergent Engineering and Biomolecular Science (CEBS). This innovative engineering-focused core will be a consolidation of four existing research cores in the College of Engineering, three of which are already recharge centers. The FaCT core will merge the Idaho Microfabrication Lab IML), the Boise State Center for Materials Characterization (BSCMC), the Engineering Research Support ERS) center, and the Biomedical Engineering Center (BEC). To meet CEBS COBRE goals, researchers must be able to fabricate a wide range of devices and structures from simple mechanical devices to more sophisticated sensors through machining, printing, or microfabrication. After fabrication, researchers will also need to be able to characterize physical, optical, and electrical properties of the devices/sensors to assess their performance for the required research. Hence, each research effort will require use of a variety of tools, instruments, processes, and expertise supplied by FaCT core facilities and personnel. The FaCT core will be overseen by a new Core Director who will consolidate the four facilities administratively, enhance the focus to increase biomedical engineering usage, and manage personnel, equipment, and facilities. The Core Director will establish the recharge rates for the BEC as it becomes a recharge center, and oversee annual assessments of recharge rates across the entire facility. To incentivize CEBs responsive research in the FaCT core, a voucher program will be established to pay recharge service costs. Finally, the FaCT core will join the ranks of core facilities at BSU, the state of Idaho, and the Mountain West that are promoted by the INBRE and RAIN programs for use by biomedical researchers in academia, government, and private industry.