Nanotechnology Research REU-Site Program

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

0244118 Buhrman This award funds a three-year Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Site at Cornell University at the Center for Nanoscale Systems in Information Technologies, an NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC) established in 2001. The program will support twelve students per year for research opportunities in nanotechnology. The central emphasis of this program is on providing each participant with a stimulating research experience and an effective introduction to nanotechnology research. The program is also designed to provide participants with new skills and resources to advance their research capabilities through short courses on topics that are not addressed in the standard undergraduate engineering and science curriculum. These will include short workshops on technical writing and public speaking; and short course lectures and hands-on experience with scanned probe instrumentation, metal machining, electronics, lithography, and pattern-transfer. Students will be recruited from throughout the United States for an opportunity to (1) experience independent research; (2) develop practical skills for research activities; (3) gain in-depth perspective on opportunities in nanotechnology and in interdisciplinary science and engineering; (4) become a part of the nanotechnology research community; and (5) recognize that effective reporting and dissemination of results is an integral part of research. The targeted undergraduate participants will be non-Cornell university students with a particular focus on students from institutions that are not major research institutions and students from population groups underrepresented in research fields in engineering in the United States.