Acknowledgements: We thank NSF-PREM grant # DMR-0611539 for their generous funding.

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Department of Chemistry, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS, USA

Acknowledgements: Dr. Ray thanks NSF-PREM grant # DMR-0611539 and NIH-SCORE grant # S06GM 008047 and DOD grant # W 912HZ-06-C-0057 for their generous funding

We have demonstrated that real time evolution of intermediates of colloidal nanocrystals can be fully accessed during the synthesis of anisotropic shaped gold nanoparticles.  Our experimental data provide unique and convincing information for understanding the growth mechanisms of how the shape control works for gold anisotropic nanocrystals

(Published in Chem. Phys. Lett., 2010, 487, 88-91 )

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Jhansi Rani Kalluri, Tahir Arbneshi, Sadia Afrin Khan, Adria Neely, Perry Candice, Birsen Varisli, Marla Washington, Shardae McAfee, Britinia Robinson, Santanu Banerjee, Anant Kumar Singh, Dulal Senapati, and Paresh Chandra Ray
Department of Chemistry, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS, USA

The contamination of drinking water with arsenic poses a threat to global health. As many as 140 million people worldwide may have been exposed to drinking water with arsenic contamination levels higher than the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline of 10 ppb. Driven by need, we have demonstrated a label-free, selective colorimetric assay and highly sensitive DLS assay for 3 ppt arsenic recognition in aqueous solution. The experimental results show that arsenic can be detected at the ppt level quickly and accurately without any tagging, and with excellent discrimination against other heavy metals.

(Published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2009, 48, 9668-9671)
Acknowledgements: Dr. Ray thanks NSF-PREM (grant no. DMR-0611539), CREST (grant no. HRD-0833178), HBCU-UP (grant no. 0811638), and DOD HPCDNM (grant no. W912HZ-07-C-0073) for their generous support of this research

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NSF announces eight Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials awards on materials for renewable energy, materials for advanced electronics, biomaterials, organic and polymeric materials.

August 31, 2009
The National Science Foundation (NSF) announces eight Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials (PREMs) awarded as a result of the 2009 PREM competition.

The objective of the PREM program is to broaden participation of under-represented groups and enhance diversity in materials research and education. The objective is achieved by encouraging formal, long-term, multi-investigator, collaborative research and education partnerships between women- and minority-serving colleges and universities, colleges and universities dedicated to educating a majority of students with disabilities, and NSF Division of Materials Research (DMR)-supported centers and facilities. This is the third PREM competition since the program was launched in 2004.

The eight PREMs and their partners are listed below in alphabetical order by institution:

The new partnerships will impact a wide range of materials research and education, including nanomaterials and nanotechnology, biomaterials and biotechnology, electronics, spintronics, soft materials, polymers and materials for renewable energy.

Each PREM has made a substantial commitment to effectively integrating its educational and outreach activities with its scientific research program towards the PREM goal of broadening participation for under-represented groups in materials research and education, and enhancing diversity at all academic levels.  The educational outreach activities cover the entire range from elementary school to the postgraduate level.

Each award is for five years.  These awards, including the 6 PREMs awarded in 2006, bring the total to 14 PREMs with annual NSF support of $7.81 million.

Three of the awards were made with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds that DMR received in FY 2009.

“I am delighted with the results of the PREM competition and, the diversity in the materials science and education that it will offer to our future workforce,” said Zakya H. Kafafi, the Division Director for DMR.  “Thanks to the generous support of science by the new administration, DMR was able to expand this program considerably in its ongoing effort to broaden participation of under-represented groups in materials science and education, and bring true diversity in our academic institutions.”

For more information see: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5439&org=DMR

-NSF-

Daniel Paez, “Nanofabrication of Metal-Polymer Composites for Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Based Biosensing” in the Electronic, Magnetic, and Photonic Materials Division.	Ninoshka Cantres, “New Application of Recycled Metallic Matrix Composites” in the Light Metals Division.
Nayomi Plaza, “Effects of Magnesium Levels in Aluminum Matrix Compositesc Subject to Mechanical Wear and Abrasion” in the Structural Materials Division.	Alexandra Cintrón-Aponte, “On the Statistical Analysis of the Effect of Chemical Composition in Al-V and Al-Zr Composites Under Directional Solidification” in the Extraction and Processing Division.

Daniel Páez is a UPRM Mechanical Engineering MS student working under the guidance of Prof. Rubén Díaz; his work is supported by the Puerto Rico Institute of Functional Nanomaterials. Ninoshka Cantres (UPRM Chemical Engineering undergraduate), Nayomi Plaza (UPRM Mechanical undergraduate), and Alexandra Cintrón and Víctor Martínez (both UPRM Industrial Engineering undergraduates) have been directly supported by PREM. Nayomi Plaza and Víctor Martínez are also recipients of the Puerto Rico Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation. This is the second year in a row in which Alexandra won the First Prize in the EPD division of this competition. Other PREM students co-authoring the winning posters were: Ruth G. I. Hidalgo (2006 TMS LMD Scholar and Bridge-to-Doctorate fellowship holder), José Vázquez and Carlos Báez (both 2007 TMS Poster Contest winners). Of all the 12 awards available, UPRM students received 4, i.e. 33%. In 2007, PREM students won two, while in 2008 UPRM PREM students received three.

The UPRM team waggle the four ribbons in celebration and are joined by Dr. Robert Shull and his wife. Dr. Shull (NIST Magnetic Materials Group Leader) was the 2007 TMS President and served in the TMS Board of Directors.

The large UPRM delegation shown below was joined by Andrew Fairbrother (third from left in the back row), from New Mexico Tech, and 2008 UPRM REU participant and Z. Humberto Melgarejo, UW PREM doctoral student (far right). The travel of the group was made possible not only by UPRM PREM support but also by grants and donations from TMS, the PR LSAMP, the PRSGC, BP, Raytheon, and the NASA/MUST program. Important travel funds were provided by UPRM Dean of Engineering, Dr. Ramón E. Vásquez Espinoza, a prime supporter of PREM and the Chapter.

These achievements crown a fruitful 2008-2009 Academic Year for the Mayagüez Material Advantage Chapter. Founded in 2004 under the auspice of UPRM PREM the group received the 2008 Chapter of Excellence by the national organization. The award was officially conferred during the Materials Science & Technology meeting held in October in Pittsburgh.

After returning to campus, the successful delegation presented the ribbons to UPRM Engineering Dean Dr. Ramón Vásquez (left), Daniel Páez, Ruth Hidalgo, Nayomi Plaza (Chapter President), Alexandra Cintrón, Ninoshka Cantres, José Vázquez, Víctor Martínez, and Prof. O. Marcelo Suárez (Chapter Faculty Mentor).

The Chapter outstanding performance was praised by the 2008 TMS President Dr. Diran Apelian (on the left photograph). He visited the Mayagüez campus in early February 2009 to meet with the Material Advantage students and UPRM faculty. Other individual achievements of Material Advantage/PREM students were:

1. Nayomi Plaza, who joined PREM as a junior high school student and became 2007 Puerto Rico Math Honorific Mention top high school graduate, received the Robert C. Byrd scholarship, the Lockheed Martin HENAAC scholarship, the NASA/MUST scholarship and a Boeing scholarship.

2. Maxuel Cruz, a Puerto Rico Space Grant Consortium undergraduate fellow, received the Northrop Grumman HENAAC scholarship.
3. Ronald Carrasquillo, former UPRM PREM and now UPRM CREST undergraduate Chemical Engineering student, received one of the three Engineering awards in the 2008 Sigma Xi poster competition.

For this research project, Ronald Carrasquillo (in the photograph below with the winning poster) and his mentor, Dr. O. Marcelo Suárez (UPRM PREM PI), had received a competitive Grants-in-Aid of Research award from the Sigma Xi Honor Research Society in May 2008.

In this project, Al-Sn-based composites reinforced with AlB₂ dispersoids are proposed as substitutes for commonly used Al-Sn-Si bearing alloys because of the superior wear strength observed in the new composite. The study is expected to be submitted for publication in March 2009.

Yarymar Martínez (left), Ronald Carrasquillo (center) and Roberto Rivera (right) working in the UPRM characterization laboratory where most of this work was carried out.

Ronald joined PREM in 2007, while Yarymar participated as volunteer during the Fall 2008 semester in Dr. Suárez’s research group. Roberto is supported with a scholarship from the Puerto Rico Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Program to work under the guidance of Dr. Suárez.

The PREM program has been broadened to include Women’s Colleges and Institutions that primarily serve persons with disabilities in addition to Minority Serving Institutions. The eligible partners include MRSECs, and DMR supported NSECs STCs and major facilities. Only materials related research activities will be supported.

The objectives of the workshop are:

1. To inform Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) about PREM program goals and objectives, progresses made, needs and challenges

2. To invite experts to speak on how to build research and education programs at MSIs.

3. To invite panelists who are experienced on building research and education programs at MSIs to guide discussions among PREM institution administrators, program directors, collaborative MRSEC partners, and faculty participants leading to solutions dealing with challenges involved with PREM

4. To publish a report on discussion materials of the workshop that will help MSIs to implement programs such as PREM.

National Science Foundation (NSF)- Partnership for Research and Education in Materials Science (PREM), competition is planned for Fiscal Year 2009, solicitation will appear in the Fall, 2008. The objective of PREM is to enhance diversity in materials research and education by stimulating the development of formal, long-term, collaborative research and education partnerships between minority-serving colleges and universities and the NSF Division of Materials Research (DMR)-supported centers and facilities.

If you want to join this workshop please contact with Dr. Paresh Chandra Ray by e-mail: paresh.c.ray@jsums.edu and filled the registration form and send by fax to Dr. Paresh Chandra Ray at 601-979-3674.

Registration Form for NSF-PREM workshop

We hope you will be able to join this workshop to share your valuable experiences with us on “Challenges and Best Practices to Establish a Research and Education Program at MSIs/HBCUs”

Agenda [Download PREM 2008 Workshop Agenda]

8:00 – 8:50 Registration and Breakfast

1^st Session

Session Chair: Prof. Idalia Ramos, UPR-Humacao PREM Program Director

This Nanotechnology Center for Biomedical and Energy-Driven Systems and Applications (NCBEDSA) seeks to secure national competitiveness of our institution in the area of materials engineering research and nanotechnology. To achieve this goal, the NCBEDSA was structured, following the successful MRSEC’s model, in four interdisciplinary research groups (IRGs) and an interdisciplinary education group (IEG):

IRG1: Multifunctional nanoparticles for magnetically actuated siRNA delivery
IRG2: Quantum dot systems for cancer therapy
IRG3: Nanoporous materials for separations and catalysis
IRG4 nanoengineered composite materials for energy efficient devices and applications

The IEG’s activities will not only impact society segments (encompassing middle and high schools as well as teachers and public school counselors) but also the whole scholar echelon from undergraduates and graduate students to participating faculty

From left to right: Drs. Arturo Hernández, O. Marcelo Suárez, Jeannette Santos, Oscar Perales and Carlos Rinaldi.

The entire list of the principal investigators and senior personnel involved in this major project are provided in the table.

Top row: Luis Rivera, Surindar Singh, Madeline Torres, Jeannette Santos, Jaquelina Alvarez, Sandra Dika, and Oscar Perales. Bottom row: Eduardo Juan, Arturo Hernández, Agnes Padovani and Marcelo Suárez. Not shown: Carlos Rinaldi, Nelson Sepúlveda, Guillermo Serrano, Maharaj Tomar, and Paul Kohl.

IRG1	Carlos Rinaldi (leader)	Chemical Engineering
	Madeline Torres	Chemical Engineering
	Eduardo Juan	Electrical and Computer Engineering
IRG2	Arturo Hernández (leader)	Chemical Engineering
	Nelson Cardona	Chemical Engineering
	Raphael G. Raptis	Chemistry, Univ. Puerto Rico – Río Piedras
IRG3	Oscar Perales (leader)	Engineering Science & Materials
	Luis A. Rivera	Chemistry
	Maharaj S. Tomar	Physics
	Surinder P. Singh	Engineering Science & Materials
IRG4	O. Marcelo Suárez (leader)	Engineering Science & Materials
	Nelson Sepúlveda	Electrical and Computer Engineering
	Agnes Padovani	Engineering Science & Materials
	Guillermo Serrano	Electrical and Computer Engineering
	David Suleiman	Chemical Engineering
	Paul Kohl	Chem. & Biomol. Engineering, Georgia Tech
IEG	Jeannette Santos (leader)	Engineering Science & Materials
	Sandra Dika	Office of Institutional Research & Planification
	Jaquelina E. Alvarez	General Library