The new program enables select REU participants from small colleges to follow their summer experience with an academic quarter at Northwestern as domestic exchange students.

 

The new NU-MRSEC REU+ Program enables select REU participants from small colleges to follow their summer experience with an academic quarter at Northwestern University as domestic exchange students, thereby allowing them to experience the rigor of an R1 university in a nurturing environment. REU+ students take classes and also continue their research for an additional ten weeks. This program creates a bridge to graduate study at Northwestern University or other research universities. In Fall 2018, the NU-MRSEC REU+ program was piloted with undergraduate student Monica Inouye from California State Fullerton, who successfully completed the Fall Academic Quarter at Northwestern University and was subsequently offered admission to the Materials Science and Engineering PhD program with financial support from the Northwestern University Graduate School.

In collaboration with the Field Museum Chicago, an atom probe once used at Northwestern University is currently on display at the Searle Family Lounge in the north balcony of the Field Museum.       

The atom probe field-ion microscope is the type of equipment used by Field Museum scientists to examine the tiniest building blocks of materials that make up matter. Field Museum cosmochemist Philipp Heck and his colleague, Jennika Greer, use such a microscope to examine and analyze materials that were formed since before the creation of our solar system. The exhibit explains how an atom probe is used and also features actual meteorites containing nanodiamonds. The atom probe was previously in use at Northwestern University, and is currently part of the collection of the Museum of Science and Industry, on loan to the Field Museum. You can visit the atom probe in the Searle Family Lounge and learn more about its role in studying meteorites through April 10, 2022.

The NU-MRSEC has supported JUAMI, which is largely aimed at fostering connections in the US and those in Eastern Africa.

Both developed and developing nations share the consequences of energy and resource utilization in a technologically advancing world. This shared fate creates opportunities for mutually beneficial collaborations, especially in the area of materials science, which underpins a broad spectrum of new technologies. With this understanding, the NU-MRSEC has supported Joint Undertaking for an African Materials Institute (JUAMI), which is the largely NSF-funded program aimed at fostering connections between young researchers in the US and those in Eastern Africa. JUAMI held its third advanced studies institute in Kampala, Uganda on December 9-20, 2018, in partnership with Makerere University. JUAMI brought together 24 US students from 18 US universities and 35 African students, primarily from the Sub-Saharan countries of Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia. Supplies provided by the NU-MRSEC were used in hands-on activities. These mini-labs were identified in post-program assessments as the most valuable component of the two-week program. The interactive environment resulted in 81% of the participants successfully identifying an international research collaborator.

The NSF-MRSEC booth was featured at the XXVII International Materials Research Congress (IMRC) in Cancun, Mexico on August 19-24, 2018 to increase awareness, promote international collaboration, and broaden participation from traditionally underrepresented groups in the National Science Foundation Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (NSF-MRSEC) program. The annual IMRC is a joint effort of the Materials Research Society and the Socieda Mexicana de Materiales that helps promote leading-edge materials research globally. The NU-MRSEC led the effort and was joined by the UChicago-MRSEC, UCSB-MRSEC, and NYU-MRSEC. The NSF-MRSEC booth attracted 246 IMRC attendees, primarily from Latin America.

 

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