UTRGV-UMN PARTNERSHIP to Strengthen the PREM Pathway

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) located in the southernmost region of Texas serves over 31,000 students, of whom 89% are Hispanic. UTRGV is 2nd in the nation in total Hispanic enrollment and 3rd in graduating Hispanics. The proposed Partnership for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) between UTRGV and the University of Minnesota (UMN) Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) will focus particularly on retention and degree attainment of underrepresented minority undergraduates, as well as on building the graduate school pipeline where Hispanic students are even more underrepresented. The PREM pathway goals are to achieve a 5-year graduation rate of at least 85% for PREM undergraduate students and a graduate school enrollment rate of at least 30% for PREM alumni. This PREM aims to provide intensive research opportunities to at least 100 undergraduate students during the course of the award. Students will develop expertise in the broad areas of energy and smart materials while acquiring a strong set of multi-disciplinary skills in fundamental research. The participating students will carry out research at both academic institutions and will be mentored by faculty from several disciplines. Mentoring of junior and mid-career faculty will also be fostered. This PREM program will allow UTRGV to significantly accelerate its emergence as a focal center for materials research and develop a long-lasting collaborative partnership with UMN. The research results under the UTRGV-UMN PREM partnership will be disseminated in peer-reviewed journals and conferences, and to the public at large via a dedicated web portal and frequent presentations at local K-12 schools.

The UTRGV-UMN PREM will engage in compelling scientific materials research through a synergistic approach towards development of next-generation nanofiber (NF) systems that could impact a large number of important practical applications, including in the biomedical fields, filtration, electronics and energy related sectors. The team proposes to develop a suite of strategies to prescribe, tailor, design and control the mesostructures of fine fibers. UTRGV's world leadership in force-spinning leverages its platform in NF process-structure-characterization, while design and characterization of nanoscale structures match a distinguishing strength of the UMN MRSEC. The team will produce tunable hierarchical structures with powerful property combinations. The proposed research is organized around two interdisciplinary research groups (IRG); the first will explore processing routes to control both fiber geometry and internal structure, and the second will adapt internally structured NFs for specific applications. The world-class instrument facilities at UMN will enable and catalyze the research efforts and will provide unique opportunities for cross-fertilization of ideas, mentoring, and multidisciplinary training. The collaborative teams will hold research-focus group meetings via real-time video teleconferencing and hold an annual symposium hosted by each institution, rotating yearly. This will foster a high-level of research activity and a well-orchestrated student-centered organizational environment. Ultimately, this research partnership will increase understanding of hierarchically designed NFs and will pave the way for novel systems with potential to facilitate decentralized energy production in the world.

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.