Tissue engineering is a transformative branch of regenerative medicine —a cutting-edge field that has the potential to revolutionize the future of healthcare.
See enitre article at the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research web site.
PER the NSF website: The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) will host a Research Experiences
for Undergraduates (REU)-site in experimental and computational materials research. This REU-site project plans to recruit students from underrepresented groups and academic institutions where research opportunities are limited. This project offers a broad range of interdisciplinary materials research experiences to undergraduate students with a diversity of backgrounds in physics, chemistry, applied mathematics, and engineering. The undergraduate students will gain experience in materials synthesis, materials characterization and computer modeling and simulations during their ten-week research stay at UAB campus. The scientific research projects have been specifically developed for undergraduate students by an interdisciplinary team consisting of science and engineering faculty at UAB. This project will continue to provide lecture series and workshops in materials growth and characterization, research ethics, and professionalism, innovation and entrepreneurship, and preparation for graduate school to all participants. Our REU participants will publish their findings in peer-reviewed journals and/or present at professional meetings leading to a broad dissemination of new knowledge created in the undergraduate research projects.
REU research projects are organized in four research clusters: (1) materials under extreme conditions (2) materials for energy applications, (3) materials for sensors and laser applications, and (4) biomaterials for implants, tissue engineering, and drug delivery applications. The undergraduate research projects contribute to fundamental understanding of phase transformations and degradation of materials under extreme conditions, novel materials for fuel cells, materials for nanoscale sensors and mid-IR lasers, and 3-D printed biomaterials and stimuli-responsive polymers. Some research projects will also involve the use of national x-ray synchrotron facilities and neutron diffraction facilities in materials research. The undergraduate student projects have short-term achievable milestones, while simultaneously contributing to longer-term scientific goals and technological applications. Our teaming arrangement of REU participants with faculty and graduate students, giving poster and oral presentations, writing a research-style paper, and attending training seminars in scientific communications and ethics will help REU students see the “big picture” of what it takes to develop into a “research scientist” with the critical skills needed for analyzing, interpreting and presenting scientific data.
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.
The Alabama Space Grant Consortium is now accepting undergraduate scholarship and graduate fellowship applications. The following is a brief summary of the undergraduate (Table 1) and graduate (Table 2) program details extracted from program application packages (attached). Please read the package in its entirely for complete details and requirements.
UAB is among the largest site in the Consortium and as such, expectations are high with regard to the number of applications received. We are asking faculty to personally reach out to both undergraduate and graduate students and encourage them to apply.
Please share with anyone who you think would be interested in this program (scholarships are for Jr./Sr. in STEM fields and Fellowships are for graduate students in STEM fields). Must be a U.S. citizen.
| 2018 – 2019 Alabama Space Grant Consortium Scholarship | ||
| Award Amount | Brief Summary | |
| ASGC Scholarship | $1,000
(possible renewal) |
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| Application Deadline | February 28, 2018 | |
| Award Announcement | Mid May 2018 | |
| Award Criteria | Scholarship awards will be based on academic excellence, the student’s accomplishments and description of their career intentions towards an aerospace career. | |
| Fields of Study | Space related fields include any academic discipline or field of study (including the physical, natural,and biological sciences; engineering; education; economics; business; sociology; behavioral sciences; computer science; communications; law; international affairs; and public administration) that is concerned with or likely to improve the understanding, assessment, development and utilization of space. | |
| Eligibility
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| Apply Online only | ||
| Required documents
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| Awardee Requirements
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Final report
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FELLOWSHIP INFORMATION
| 2018 – 2019 Alabama Space Grant Consortium Fellowship | ||
| Award Amount | Brief Summary | |
| ASGC Fellowship | Not to exceed $37,000/12 mos
(possible renewal) |
$24,000 for stipend
$12,000 for tuition/insurance $1,000 Student Travel allowance |
| Application Deadline | February 28, 2018 | |
| Award Announcement | Mid May 2018 | |
| Award Criteria | Fellowship awards will be based on academic excellence, the quality of the proposed research program or plan of study, the quality of the interdisciplinary approach to achieving the objectives of the proposed program, the merit of the utilization of a NASA field center in carrying out their objectives, the prospects for completion of the project within the allotted time, and an assessment of the applicant’s motivation towards an aerospace career. | |
| Fields of Study | Space related fields include any academic discipline or field of study (including the physical, natural, and biological sciences; engineering; education; economics; business; sociology; behavioral sciences; computer science; communications; law; international affairs; and public administration) that is concerned with or likely to improve the understanding, assessment, development and utilization of space. | |
| Eligibility
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| Apply Online only | ASGC Fellowship Graduate Information Booklet 2018
Apply online: https://spacegrant.net/apps/?pk=alf |
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| Required documents
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Awardee Requirements
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| Of utmost importance: Applicants should identify source of cost sharing prior to submitting an application. Please discuss with faculty mentor and have mentor faculty mentor discuss with department chair regarding providing the funds for cost sharing in the amount of $18,500 | ||
A partnership comprising nine universities in Alabama, including The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) as the lead institution (Dr. Gary Zank, PI), has been awarded a $20 million, five-year grant by the National Science Foundation’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR
Along with UAH, the partnership includes the University of Alabama (lead: Dr. R. Branam), the University of Alabama at Birmingham (lead: Dr. Y. Vohra), Auburn University (lead: Dr. E. Thomas), Tuskegee University (lead: Dr. V. Rangari), the University of South Alabama (lead: Dr. E. Spencer), Alabama A&M University (leads: Dr. R. Mentreddy and Dr. E. Cebert), Alabama State University (lead: Dr. K. Vig), and Oakwood University (lead: Dr. A. Volkov), with additional assistance from CFD Research Corporation (lead: Dr. V. Kolobov), a computational fluid dynamics software company located in Cummings Research Park. These members bring “a range of expertise in space science, laboratory plasma physics, materials, biosciences, and manufacturing to this endeavor,” says Dr. Zank )….(more).
Dr. Yogesh K. Vohra is proud to announce the receipt of MRI: Acquisition of a Multipurpose X-ray Diffractometer for Interdisciplinary Materials Research and Education. Drs. Eugenia Kharlampieva (Chemistry), Renato Camata (Physics), Andrei Stanishevsky (Physics) and Vinoy Thomas (Material Sciences and Engineering) serve as Co-PI’s.
Continue reading “Dr. Yogesh K. Vohra Receives NSF MRI Instrumentation Grant”
Dr. Joel Dobbs, Instructor at UAB School of Business (Management, Information Systems and Quantitative Methods) was kind enough to give the REUs a tour of Birmingham’s Innovation Depot. Dr. Dobbs also presented at one of our seminars this year. His topic: Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Both the seminar and the tour were a delight and helped to shed new light on how students should approach their careers. One of the big take aways from the seminar and the tour, per Dr. Dobbs, is that students should approach their careers with the mindset of an entrepreneur. What a great way plan for an exceptional career path.
Below are photos from the tour featuring participants as well as a sample of some of the features and businesses housed in the Depot.
