After a hiatus in 2020 due to the onset of the COVID pandemic, the NCI-SW again hosted in-person REU activities in 2021 in addition to virtual participation. The NCI-SW selected five students from a group of well qualified applicants for its 2021 REU program that was carried out concurrently at ASU and NAU. The participants included three female students, with two of them coming from regional community colleges. The cohort was comprised of an African American, an Asian, and a Hispanic, as well as two Caucasians. This continues the NCI-SW’s tradition to recruit and retain a diverse population for its programs.
The students’ research projects were equally diverse. They included: (1) Characterizing Airborne Nanoparticles to Study Neurotoxic Risk; (2) Development of Photoactive Silk Films for Laser Activated Tissue Sealing; (3) Tuning Energy Transfer in Polymer-Alginate Composites; (4) Using Silver Nanowires to Differentiate E. Coli and Klebsiella Bacteria for Biotesting; and (5) Quantum Simulation for Modeling of Bio-Photonic Quantum Materials. And at the conclusion of the program, all the students showcased their work at the NNCI REU Convocation, in the form of both oral and poster presentations.