With support from the National Science Foundation, NNCI Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) at the NCI-SW is a stimulating nine-week summer research program for undergraduates from accredited community colleges and universities. Aimed to expand diverse student participation in research, NCI-Southwest remains committed to attracting and retaining a diverse participant pool for its programs. The REU group represented various ethnicities, including Black/African American, Latino/Hispanic, and White/Caucasian. Selected participants were interested in learning more about solid-state physics and chemistry, materials science, electronic devices and materials, or biology/biomedical engineering. Both Arizona State University and ¡MIRA! at Northern Arizona University (NAU) hosted NCI-SW REU in 2023. Participating students partnered with individual investigators, groups, centers, and national facilities to study within the broad umbrella of “nanotechnology” and “quantum” while also meeting with NCI-SW PI and co-PIs to refine their research techniques and communication. A unique opportunity for our cohort of students is the ability to work collectively across the two universities to explore their topics and refine their research projects. Students met weekly and worked as a team through weekly team meetings via Zoom. Faculty, staff, PIs, and graduate student mentors build the REU participants’ capacity to present their research summaries at the program-ending NNCI REU Convocation.The 2023 cohort included three female students and four male students coming from the following community colleges: Estrella Mountain Community College, Mesa Community College, Glendale Community College, Chandler-Gilbert Community College, and Moraine Valley Community College. Three of the REU participants studied at NAU under Dr. Miguel José Yacamán, Dr. Inès Montaño, Dr. Gabriel Montaño at the Materials Interfaces in Research and Applications (MIRA) facilities. At ASU, four REU students studied in various engineering and science labs under Dr. Trevor Thornton, Dr. Timothy Long, Dr. Nicholas Rolston, and Dr. Nidhin Kurian Kalarickal.Throughout the 9-week program, REU students engaged in projects including:
- Synthesis of Linear Carbon Chains Using Catalytic Methods
- Measurement of Thin Film Stress for 2D and 3D Metal Halide Perovskites
- Simulation of Polymer Chlorosome Nanocomposites using Quantum Computing
- ‘In-Situ’ Gallium Etching of Bulk Gallium Oxide Substrates
- Polymer membrane composites for intercompartment cell-Like communication
- Boron Nitride and Diamond Electronics
- Synthesizing Novel Polysulfones for Mediated Catalyst Delivery To Polybutadiene