REU Site: Materials for Society

Non-Technical Summary Materials science is the enabling technology behind modern electronics, recycling, faster and fuel-efficient vehicles, novel energy generation and storage, aerospace propulsion systems, medical engineering, sensors, nanotechnology, and micromachines. The objective of this Research Experience for Undergraduates Site will be to promote the progress of materials science by providing an intensive research-team experience with state-of-the-art facilities while exploring activities within the theme "materials for society," with an emphasis on energy conservation, storage, or production. The activities will expose a group of individuals, including those with limited access to research opportunities at their home institutions, to the research environment and help them develop as professionals. Inclusion of mentors from various disciplines will enable students to develop skills needed to excel in both academic and industrial research environments, where interdisciplinary teams are standard. Students will ultimately present their results at the annual state-wide Idaho Conference on Undergraduate Research Technical Summary The objective of this 9-week REU activity will be to provide undergraduates an intensive research-team experience with state-of-the-art facilities while exploring activities within the theme "materials for society." The projects used to deliver this experience will be highly interdisciplinary, allowing students to be exposed to the forefront of science and engineering across disciplines. The activities can be broadly categorized as: energy generation (e.g., nuclear materials, magnetic shape-memory alloys, thermoelectrics), energy storage (e.g., sodium-ion batteries, building systems), energy conservation (e.g., carbon nanoelectronics), or other societal challenges associated with materials processing/modeling/characterization. Participants will have their own individualized projects but will also be integrated within an interdisciplinary summer research community, training them to both communicate effectively across disciplines and more clearly understand the concepts central to their own work. Students will also participate in a number of supplemental workshops on library resources, intellectual property, ethics, collaboration, and graduate school, and ultimately present their results at the annual state-wide Idaho Conference on Undergraduate Research. A comprehensive assessment program will gauge the learning and growth of participants as well as their confidence in the lab, satisfaction with the REU experience, and the factors which influence their perceptions of the research environment generally. 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.