The materials research program at the LRSM has long recognized the need for materials education and outreach to the wider scientific community and local schools, colleges and universities To that end, over the last few years, we have established an integrated program that embraces high school, undergraduate and graduate students as well as the industrial scientist and engineer. The following programs are either in operation or being established and additional methods of outreach are detailed below.

NSF-REU 2008 Summer Research Fellowship

Past REU Programs

REU Students, 2007

NSF-REU Site and MRSEC Fellows 2007

In summer 2007 the Penn MRSEC hosted 23 REU students under two programs. An NSF-DMR REU Site grant supported eight undergraduate student and MRSEC funds supported fifteen students, five of whom were supported through additional funding from individual investigators. These students were drawn from an applicant pool of 157 and for administrative, educational, and social purposes, students from both grants were combined. Students were matched with faculty advisors before starting the program and projects were assigned thus allowing students to undertake preliminary reading. The program ran for ten weeks from June 4 through August 10, 2007.

On the first day of the program, all students were required to attend a safety lecture given both by Penn’s Environmental Health and Radiation Safety Office and Public Safety division. Also, during the program, all students attend a series of three lectures on Ethics in Science and Engineering given by Prof. Kenneth Foster, Bioengineering. In addition, a weekly series of nine lectures were given by faculty affiliated with the MRSEC on a topic in materials in their research area. During the final week of the program, all students were required to give an oral report on their research project to the group and also to submit an extended abstract and final written report prior to leaving the program.

The students in this program and their advisors are shown below.

In terms of diversity, the REU program had 66% of the students from underrepresented groups with 42% women and 42% minority participants, consisting of 1 non-graduating senior, 12 juniors, six sophomores and four freshmen, and 21% of the advisors were women.

Titles of the oral presentations given by the students are as follows:

REU Oral Presentations 2007

 Joseph Goodell, Penn (Drndic, Physics)
‘Synthesis, Characterization, and Assembly of CdSe based Nanorods’

Grace Andoh, Xavier (Janmey, Physiology)
‘Killing assays using antibacterial peptids’

 Jorge Martinez, UPR Cayey (Janmey, Physiology)
 ‘Interaction of antibacterial LL37 peptide with eukaryotic cell membranes’

 Chris McKettrick, Swarthmore (Collings, Physics)
‘Aggregation Properties of Benzopurpurin 4B Dye’

Yeseida Garay Cotto, UPR, Cayey (Feng Gai, Chemistry)
‘A study of the Villin Headpiece Subdomain’

Elizabeth Rapoport, Cornell (Vohs, CBE)
‘The effects of Pd loading on ZnO in the production of H2 from alcohol dehydrogenation’

Carilyn Torruellas, UPR, Humacao ( Kozlowski, Chemistry)
‘Rational Design of New Methods And Catalysts For Use in Organic Synthesis’

Breanne Gjurich, Albright (Nicoll, CBE)
‘Photocrosslinked Carboxymethylcellulose Hydrogels for Encapsulating Temporomandibular Joint Chondrocytes’

Elizabeth Hirst, George Washington (Burdick, CBE)
‘Alteration of Standard PCL-PEG Diblock Synthesis for Customizable Polymersome Construction’

Ryan Jones, Penn (Johnson, Physics)
‘A Study of Photolithography as a Method for Large-Scale Fabrication of Carbon Nanotube Field Effect Transistors’

Kelly Nelson, Howard (Santiago, EE)
‘Self-Assembled Monolayers of 1-Decanethiol on Gold Surfaces’

Jason Reed, Cornel (Shu Yang, MSE)
‘Solution Phase Synthesis and Patterning via Distortion Assisted Soft Lithography of Nanoparticles’

 Daniel Sanchez, Penn (Gorte, CBE)
‘An Investigation of Yttria-doped Ceria as an Anode in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells’

 Elizabeth Wayne, Penn (Yodh, Physics)
‘A New Technique for Breast Cancer Imaging using Diffuse Optical Tomography’

 Zachary Combs, Clemson (Winey, MSE)
‘Preparation and Density Measurements of SWNT/PS Composites and Conductivity Measurements of SWNT/PMMA Composites’

Molly Glenn, Rochester (Agarwal, MSE)
‘Efforts to control the properties CdS nanowire growth in the development of nanophotonic devices’

Mark McClendon, Oklahoma (Crocker, CBE)
‘Optimizing Biodegradable Polymer Microsphere Production for Pharmaceutical Purposes’

Elliot Nelson, Wheaton (Durian, Physics)
‘The Effects of Container Boundaries in Granular Impact Cratering’

Daniel Schwartz, Yale (Liu, Physics)
‘Spring-Mass Systems as a Model of Glass’

Nicholas Tapia, UC, Berkeley (Chen, MSE)
‘Investigation into Efficient Methods for Synthesis of Iron Oxide
Nanoparticles with Enhanced Magnetic Properties’

Brian Weeks, Penn ( Santiago, EE)
‘Fabrication of Oriented Polyethylene Oxide Microfibers Through Electrospinning’

All students received certificates of participation on completion of the program and the E. W. Plummer awards for best papers among all REU students, ie 23 REU Site and REU-MRSEC students, were given in four areas, Chemistry, Physics, Engineering, and Biomaterials as follows:

Chemistry-Elizabeth Rapoport, Cornell University
‘The Effect of Pd Loading on ZnO in the Production of H2 from Alcohol Dehydrogenation’

Physics-Jason Reed, Cornell University
‘Solution Phase Synthesis and Patterning via Distortion Assisted Soft Lithography of Nanoparticles’

Engineering-Nicholas Tapia, UC Berkeley
‘Investigation into Efficient Methods for Synthesis of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles’

Biomaterials- Breanne Gjurich, Albright College
‘Photocrosslinked Carboxymethylcellulose Hydrogels for Encapsulating Termporomandibular Joint Chondrocytes’

Certificates of Merit were awarded to the following students for their papers, which were also highly regarded by the committee.

Joseph Goodell, University of Pennsylvania
‘Synthesis, Characterization, and Assembly of CdSe –based Nanorods’

Chris McKitterick, Swarthmore College
‘Aggregation Properties of Benzopurpurin 4B dye’’

Daniel Sanchez, University of Pennsylvania
‘An Investigation of Yttria-doped Ceria as an Anode in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells’

Mark McClendon, University of Oklahoma
‘Optimizing Biodegradable Polymer Microsphere Production’

The selection committee consisted of a faculty member from Chemistry, Physics, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering.

Social Activities

Penn Fraternity House

Some official activities were arranged through the program such as shared meals and invitations to departmental picnics but most of the social activities of the group  were arranged through the university-owned fraternity house rented by the program which had 29 bedrooms. This house was almost completely filled by our REU students and those of another REU program on campus (SUNFEST.) The students organized weekend trips to New York City and Washington, Six Flags Park, local museums, Phillies ball games, and other local attractions of interest to young people.

NSF Research Experience for Teachers, 2007

Four high school science teachers from the Delaware Valley spent six weeks working in the research groups of MRSEC-affiliated faculty working on a specific research project. The teachers were assimilated into the research groups and undertook all the duties of a graduate student. During the final week of the program each teacher presented his/her research results both orally and in a research paper. The oral presentations were videotaped and copies given to all teachers for use in their high school class. The teachers were educated in materials science through attendance at a short, four lecture, course on x-ray diffraction and by attending REU and PSSI lectures given by LRSM faculty. Teachers also toured the shared experimental facilities of the LRSM.

The teachers, faculty, and research topics for 2007 were;

Seth Baron, Lower Moreland HS, a chemistry and physics teacher, working with Prof. Arjun Yodh, Physics, on ‘Characteristics of the Synthesis of NIPA.’

Rosalind Echols, University City HS, a physical science teacher working with Prof. Shu Yang, MSE, on ‘Whiteness and Collapse Patterns in Hydrogel Nanopillars.’

Hannah Gelman, Germantown HS, a physical sciences teacher, working with Prof. Tobias Baumgart, Chemistry, on ‘Characterizing Shape Instabilities in a Lipid Monolayer System.’

Naomi Mureria, Lamberton HS, a Chemistry teacher, working with Prof. Ritesh Agarwal, MSE, on ‘ Synthesis of GeTe Nanowires’.

 

NSF-RET 2008 Information

On-Line Application Form

Summer Course in Materials Science for High School Students

Penn Summer Science Initiative 2009

The Penn Summer Science Initiative, PSSI, is sponsored by the Penn Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, MRSEC, which is funded by the National Science Foundation. It will accept up to 24 high school juniors from the Delaware Valley for a four-week lecture/lab. course in materials science from July 6 - July 31, 2009. The course will run from 10:00 am to 3:30pm daily in the Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter, LRSM, building. The course will consist of a formal lecture on materials science every morning followed either by a computer instruction laboratory or a discussion group on issues in science. Monday afternoons will be spent visiting local industrial laboratories. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons will be devoted to experimental laboratory work in which the student will be exposed to a variety of materials characterization techniques e.g. scanning electron, atomic force and optical microscopies, thermal analysis techniques, mechanical testing, and x-ray diffraction. Friday mornings will be spent visiting some of Penn's major facilities e.g. Regional Laser Lab., Robotics Center, Ion Scattering Laboratory, Museum Applied Science Center for Archeology, etc. and Friday afternoons will be spent writing group lab reports. This program will be taught by Penn faculty and staff who are associated with the LRSM and by teaching fellows in the Penn NSF-Access program.

Further information or questions should be sent to mcghie@lrsm.upenn.edu or (215) 898-6461

The deadline for applications is April 15, 2009

Penn Summer Science Initiative 2007

The Penn Summer Science Initiative, PSSI, program for 2007 enrolled 26 high school students from the Delaware Valley of whom 18 completed the course. The class consisted of 80% public and 20% private and parochial school students. 16% of the students were minorities and 54% were females.

A series of 15 lectures covering the major classes of materials were given by six faculty members and two guest lecturers and was highlighted by a lecture on Synthetic Metals by Prof. Alan MacDiarmid, the 2000 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry. A series of four experimental labs, each requiring three afternoon sessions, were organized, and each was supervised by graduate students supported by the Penn MRSEC. The services of five staff members of the LRSM were also used. Each student was require to write up a lab report after every lab for the first three weeks and these were evaluated and returned to the student. After the lab on the fourth and last week, the students in the three lab groups made joint oral presentations of their labs prior to the conclusion of the program and the awarding of certificates of participation. The program was enriched by field trips to the Laran Foundry, Chester, PA, Rohm & Haas, Springhouse, PA, and Dupont, Marshal lab, in addition to many Penn research facilities.

This program differed from previous PSSA programs run in conjunction with the College of General Studies, which started in 1996, in that it was restricted to commuters and was free to all students with emphasis being placed on attracting local public school students.

Evaluation of the program by the students gave an overall rating of 4.0/5. The experimental labs were well received with a score of 4.3/5 as were the lectures at 4.1/5. Strengths and weakness of the program were evaluated and adjustments will be made for the program in 2008.

Collaborative with Southern Africa

A collaboration was established during summer 2003 when four faculty members, three from the National University of Lesotho and one from the University of North West, South Africa, visited the MRSEC for a month. In summer 2004 three faculty members from the NUL spent two months at the LRSM undertaking collaborative research. The researchers and their projects were; Prof. Ben Maliehe, Physics, NUL who worked with Prof. Charles Kane, Physics on 'The effect of electron interactions on the magnetic susceptibility of carbon nanotubes,' Prof. Ncholu Manyala, Physics, NUL, who worked with Prof. Charlie Johnson, Physics on 'Electron transport and phonon spectrum in hybrid nanoscopic "peapods", and Prof. Mantoa Sekota, Chemistry, NUL who worked with Prof. Donald Berry, Chemistry, on 'New polymerization catalysts for control of helical domains in opto-electronic polymers.' Another faculty member, Prof. Simeon Taole, Physics, Univ. of North West, SA, visited early in 2005 to collaborate with Prof. Johnson. In 2006, Prof. Martin Ntwaeaborwa, University of the Free State, SA, spent three months working with Charlie Johnson, Prof. Max Mpholo, NUL, spent two months with Prof. Haim Bau, MEAM, on Femlab and Prof. Spirit Tlali, NUL, worked with Prof. Ritesh Agarwal, MSE, on growth of nanowires. In 2007, Max. Mpholo returned to work with Prof. Bau for a month, Mantoa Sekota worked with Prof. Michael Therien on porphyrin synthesis, and Ncholu Manayala returned to work with Charlie Johnson on characterization of magnetic thin films, work which continues here through remote use of the MPMS system in Prof. Jay Kikkawa's lab.

This ongoing program, established in 1994, provides a combined lecture/demonstration course for high school science teachers and was expanded in 1994/95 to cover the full school year. The course, entitled ' Advanced Materials: Synthesis, Characterization and Properties', is composed of a monthly lecture, given by an LRSM-affiliated faculty member, and may be followed by a visit to one of the Shared Experimental Facilities of the LRSM which is pertinent to the lecture topic. Approximately 20 teachers from the Philadelphia School District attended this non-credit course annually.
Program for 2007/2008
Program for 2006/2007
Program for 2005/2006
Program for 2004/2005
Program for 2003/2004
Program for 2002/2003
Program for 2001/2002

http://www.uprh.edu/~prem/

Partnership for Research and Education in Materials, PREM
with the University of Puerto Rico

The MRSEC has undertaken a five-year NSF - Partnership for Research and Education in Materials, PREM, with the University of Puerto Rico. This grant supercedes the CIRE grant that had been in force since 1998. Ten faculty from the UPR campuses of Humacao, Cayey, and Rio Piedras undertake collaborative work in research and education with 8 Penn faculty in chemistry, physics, and engineering in three research areas: Polymers; Sensors and Actuators Materials; Mathematical Modeling and Simulation in Materials. The purpose of the award is to increase the number of minority students entering graduate school at major universities and to enhance minority faculty scholarship through long-term collaboration and use of MRSEC facilities. Assistance is given to upgrade teaching and research laboratories and to improve the curriculum. A new masters course in materials physics will be introduced soon at Humacao. Lectures are also transmitted to UPR students via videoconferencing from Penn and this vehicle is also used to enhance research interaction between groups.

Since the programs inception in March 2004, the following interactions have been established:

On-going Collaborative Research Efforts

• Miniaturized 3D Cylindrical Combustor Implemented with LTCC
  
  Rogerio Furlan (UPRH, faculty), Jose Sotero-Esteva (UPRH, faculty), Jose Manuel Castillo Colon (UPRH, undergraduate student) and  J. Santiago, Penn
   
• Charge transport in conducting polymer nanofibers
  
  N. Zimbovskya, N. Pinto, UPRH, and A.T. Johnson, Penn
   
• Magnetoresistance measurements in Electrospun undoped and Sb-dobed tin oxide nanoribbons
  
  Anamaris Meléndez, Idalia Ramos, UPRH, Maria Taku, Christopher Rodd, Daniel Milkie, Jorge J. Santiago, Jay Kikkawa, Penn
   
• Gas Sensors developed using undoped and doped Tin Oxide Fiber
  
  Ramos, N. Pinto, and Yu Wang, UPRH,  and J. Santiago, Penn
   
• Electrical Characterization of Electrospun Porous Tin Oxide Nanofibers.
  
  I.Ramos, Yu Wang, UPRH and J. Santiago, Penn
   
• Fabrication of SnO and ZnO nanofibers by by Electrospining and surface heterogeneous of ZnO nanofibers on different metal substrates using scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive spectroscopy
  
  W. Otaño, C. Rivera , P. McGinty, A. Rivera, UPRH, and J. Santiago, Penn
   
• Molecular Dynamics Simulations of ss-DNA conformation about the Carbon Nanotubes
  
  M. Merced Serrano, J. O. Sotero Esteva, UPRH, and R. Johnson, A.T. Johnson, and M. Klein, Penn
   
• AB Initio Vibrational Analysis of Hydrogen-bound H20 on Pt(111)
  
  Domingo Perez, Lesser Blum, PPRH, and Sara Mason and Andrew Rappe, Penn
   
• Development of Electrochemical Biosensors for Salmonella and Escherichia coli Detection
  
  E. Vega, A. Guadaloupe and  J. Santiago ,Penn
   
• Organic semiconductor field effect transistor and their applications
  
  Rut Rivera, Raúl Pérez , Nicholas Pinto, UPRH, and A. Johnson, Penn
   
• Synthesis of Metallic Polyaniline
  
  Angel Ayala, Margarita Ortíz,  Nicholas Pinto and Alan MacDiarmid, Penn
  

Discussion during PREM sympossium.

Summer Program at PENN, 2007

• 7 faculty (I. Ramos, R. Furlan, N. Pinto, J. Sotero, C. Rivera, L. Blum, & N. Zimbovskya)
   
• 6 UPR students visited PENN for collaborative research activities in periods from 2 to 4 weeks. (4 female and 2 male)

Infrastructure Development at UPR

• Acquisition of new equipment for research: FTIR Spectrometer, High R Electrometer and 3U XN-6000NAS Server.

At present a total of 34 students are engaged in research activities: 6 graduate, 21 undergraduate and 7 high School students of whom 47% are female.

Telepresence in High Schools

Video conference to Philadelphia classrooms via cable TV. This presentation given by Professor Dennis Discher - "Blood Cells, Biological and Artificial".

In conjunction with the Philadelphia School District, we can now link the SEFs with school classrooms in real time using a recently purchased V-Tel teleconferencing unit and the School District's cable TV network. By analyzing the products of classroom experiments using our sophisticated instrumentation, and allowing students to have partial control of these instruments, an increased awareness will be generated of the advanced technologies that can be brought to bear on scientific problems. In addition, this interaction will enable the students to appreciate the research being carried out by scientists and engineers. This program is open to grades 7-12 and covers experiments in chemistry, physics, earth sciences, biological sciences, and environmental science. The first program, demonstrating the use of scanning electron microscopy was broadcast on November 5, 1998. Multiple broadcasts have since been made to Pennsylvania schools and to Philadelphia schools through the cable network. Discussions are underway to establish a regular series of cable broadcasts that will cover materials-related topics in a variety of fields.

• Dr. Rollin Lakis, LRSM 'Electron Microscopy of Biological Materials'
• Dr. Mark Hermanson, Earth and Environmental Science, 'Environmental Electron Microscopy'
• Prof. Dennis Discher, MEAM, 'Artificial Blood'
• Prof. Jorge Santiago, EE, 'Micro-chips'
• Profs. Randall Kamien and Mark Goulian, Physics & Astronomy, 'Science with an Egg'
• Profs. Randall Kamien and Mark Goulian, Physics & Astronomy, 'Microbes in the Kitchen'
• Prof. Russ Composto, MSE, 'Sneaky Polymers'
• Prof. Charles McMahon, MSE, 'Bicycles and their Construction'
• Drs Douglas Yates and James Ferris, SEAS, 'Microscopic Analysis of a Computer Disk'
• Prof. John Crocker, ChE, 'Crystallization and Gellation in the Chamber of Secrets'
• Prof. Karen Winey, MSE, ‘Polymers and Recycling’
• Dr. Mark Hermanson, Earth and Environmental Science, ‘Environmental History from Ice Cores’
• Prof. Shu Yang, MSE, ‘Gelable, swellable polymers’ (June 2004)
• Bill Berner, Physics, ‘Convection in nature’ (Dec. 2004)
• Bill Berner, Physics, ’Franklin’s kite and beyond’ (May 2005)
• Ritesh Agarwal, MSE, 'Introduction to Nanotechnology' (Sept. 2007)

CIRE Program with the University of Puerto Rico

An NSF funded Collaborative to Integrate Research and Education, CIRE, between the PENN MRSEC and the University of Puerto Rico at Humacao, Rio Piedras, and Bayamon began officially on Jan 1, 1999. Steps have already been taken to initiate this program with exchange visits of faculty. The program is designed to improve minority education in materials science by utilizing both the human and practical resources of the MRSEC to establish joint research programs between faculty that will involve undergraduates in research and sponsor summer exchange programs for both faculty and students at UPR. Videoconferencing will also be used to augment undergraduate education and research.

Hands-on chemistry, Summer '99

Faculty interaction, Summer '99

* the CIRE program at Humacao has set up their own web site: "PUMP" (PENN-UPR Materials Program)

UPR students and faculty in the SPM lab at PENN, Summer '99

The 14 students participating in CIRE research. Taken during the NSF site visit to Humacao, PR, December, 1999.
(photo credit - U. Strom)

Annual PENN-UPR CIRE Scientific Meeting 2000

The annual CIRE meeting between PENN faculty and UPR faculty and students was held at the Humacao University College, UPR on Oct.30/31, 2000. Participants from UPR included Profs. Gabriel Barletta and Margarita Ortiz, Chemistry, Profs. Idalia Ramos, Nicholas Pinto and Claudio Guerra, Physics, and Prof. Lesser Blum, Physics, Rio Piedras, and their students. PENN participants included Profs. Charlie Johnson, Physics, Jorge Santiago, EE, Alan MacDiarmid and Andrew Rappe, Chemistry and Andrew McGhie, LRSM.

Prof. MacDiarmid talking to high school students after his lecture.

This was the first meeting attended by Alan MacDiarmid since winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry earlier in the month and was marked by a banquet in his honor given by the University Chancellor, Prof. Roberto Marrero. The meeting concluded with a special lecture given by Prof. MacDiarmid to 300-400 undergraduates and high school students who crowded the University’s recently renovated UPRH Theater. Prof. MacDiarmid, who is keenly interested in educating the young, met and was photographed with a large number of high school students and their teachers (see photos) after giving an inspirational talk. Several members of the fourth estate attended and interviewed Prof. MacDiarmid resulting in many articles in the Puerto Rican press (see right.)

An average of 16 students had attended this course since its inception. For information, contact:
motoole@sas.upenn.edu