REU Site: Engineering and the Underlying Science at the Nanoscale

University Of Arkansas, Fayetteville AR

Investigators

Abstract

This three-year renewal REU Site program at the University of Arkansas will be hosted by the interdisciplinary Microelectronics-Photonics (microEP) graduate program, a program started through a partnership between the College of Engineering and the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences in 1998. This 10-week program is designed to: 1) provide undergraduate participants with an understanding and training of basic concepts in micro to nanoscale materials and processing, with emphasis on enabling new devices technologies; 2) develop the ability to design, analyze, and simulate nanostructures and devices; 3) prepare students with the tools they need to carry out effective research, including personnel skills such as team work, communication and organization skills; and 4) deliver the experience needed to encourage participants' future interest in developing economically feasible and innovative applications of nanoscale engineering. During the 10-week period, a one credit-hour Ethics course will be conducted. The course will be available for credit to REU students, and will also be attended by microEP graduate students for graduate credit. In order to enhance the research experience, the students will be engaged in a series of enrichment activities that will help them become more confident as researchers, including extensive weekly tours of available instrumentation labs containing X-ray crystallography, Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoluminescence instruments, a special workshop to introduce them to the process of writing an NSF Graduate Fellowship proposal, a workshop on taking the Graduate Research Exam, and a proctored practice exam. Social activities will be an integral part of the students' experience with goal of building friendships and collegiality between the participants. In addition to the ten REU undergraduates this program will include two K-12 science teachers. Teachers will spend each of the three summers of the REU program working directly with research teams in their chosen area of study. During an eight-week period, teachers will have an opportunity to study their field in depth, improving depth of knowledge in a target subject. They will be offered 6 credit hours to complete a graduate study course in inquiry based pedagogy and lab instruction. Over the following school year, the teachers will return to the campus to continue their research and attend seminars focused on teaching the concepts, learning what to teach, and providing for a network of teachers and university faculty. The RET teachers will disseminate the results of their experience to other teachers. They will develop web accessible inquiry based teaching modules describing their research. After having experienced research, the teachers will have a deeper understanding of how scientists use inquiry to develop research concepts. In order to capture this understanding and develop it into a teaching tool, the teachers will be offered an opportunity to join the on-going GK-12 program which includes a four-week teacher-fellow training period. What are the broader impacts of the proposed activity? Recruitment efforts will be targeted to underrepresented students and first generation college students whose career ambitions are well matched to the educational and research focus of microEP program. The PI will utilize these partnership organizations: 1) UA Carver Program (HBCU institutions), 2) the Arkansas and Texas LSAMP programs, and 3) two-year technical colleges as Pulaski Technical College in his recruitment efforts. This REU Site program will have a broad impact by giving the next generation of innovators the opportunity to develop their creativity at the nanoscale.