REU Site: Integrated Nanomanufacturing

Trustees Of Boston University, Boston

Investigators

Abstract

This three-year renewal REU Site: Integrated Nanomanufacturing is hosted by Boston University. Ten students each summer will engage in research in interdisciplinary labs pursuing advances in nanotechnology: the science and engineering of structures with important features measuring much smaller than a micrometer. The project will target students who come from institutions with limited research or technology translation opportunities. The goal of this project is to increase participants’ access to valuable learning opportunities and to build a foundation for career pathways in the field of integrated nanomanufacturing. REU participants will be mentored and coached through an immersive research experience with a focus on developing research independence. Participants will share in mentored research and discovery, exploring nanoscale systems, fabricating novel devices, and engineering new materials. Students will receive training and access to state-of-the-art equipment (photolithography, 3D printing, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and nanofabrication). The project will feature how integrated nanotechnology systems can drive rapid innovation in societally and economically important application areas of electronics, computing, and medicine. The REU Site will educate members of the next generation of engineers and motivate them to pursue STEM graduate degrees and careers. Each summer, ten students will join a vibrant research community to conduct mentored research and be paired with BU faculty and graduate student mentors, with some students placed at labs of startup companies at the Business Innovation Center. This project focuses on recruiting underrepresented minorities and women from 2- and 4-year colleges with limited research opportunities. Four thematic interdisciplinary and interconnected research areas represented are nanobiosystems, nanofabrication, nanomaterials, and nanophotonics. In addition, the Site will engage innovative nanotech companies in the Photonics Center’s Business Innovation Center to serve as mentor hosts for a select group of REU participants who express a preference for work involving nanotechnology translation. Participants will engage in technical training, professional development workshops, and community building activities. 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.