Advanced Interdisciplinary Materials Research for Maritime Applications

Innovative materials and their broader use are vital to improve the structural reliability and life cycle performance of ships and maritime structures, to lower their environmental footprint, to make the industry more viable at a global scale and thus to generate and sustain employment. Many young scientists in STEM disciplines are naturally fascinated to these outstanding challenges as they search for a greater drive for their education and meaningful ways to serve the society.

This REU program at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (UMassD) is aimed to provide an exciting residential setting for summer cohorts of 10 community college students (who plans to pursue industry career or 4-year college degree) to involve in independent and the state-of-the-art research in advanced materials relevant to our region’s marine economy. This multi-disciplinary site integrates the faculty from four departments (Bioengineering, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering) with strong track records in mentoring undergraduate and graduate students.

The research projects will draw from wide range of studies on advanced materials at UMassD, including: nonaqueous redox flow batteries, multi-functional sandwich composites, functional composite materials for structural energy storage, underwater super-hydrophobic surfaces, tactile sensors, bioinspired photonic materials, meta-materials, granular materials, and nanostructured surfaces for antifouling.

In addition to their research, students will participate in weekly research seminars, research meetings, and professional development seminars. The seminars will include topics such as literature review, writing a scientific paper, improving research communication skills, technical presentations, career paths, and ethics in science and engineering. The 10-week program will also include outreach activities.

The students selected for the REU Program will receive a stipend of $600/week for the 10-week period including free on-campus housing and meal allowance. The students also receive funds for travel and research supplies.

This REU site is awarded by National Science Foundation through award #2149893.