Discipline:
Subcategory: STEM Research
Maria Tamargo - City College of New York and the Graduate Center of CUNY, New York, NY
Co-Author(s): Swapan K. Gayen, Ilona Kretzschmar, and Lia Krusin-Elbaum, City College of New York and the Graduate Center of CUNY, New York, NY Gustavo Lopez, Lehman College and the Graduate Center of CUNY, New York, NY
The CREST Center for Interface Design and Engineered Assembly of Low Dimensional Systems (IDEALS) at the City College of New York (CCNY) began its operation on April 1, 2016. The multi-disciplinary center involves participation of 21 faculty researchers mostly from Chemistry, Physics, Chemical Engineering and Electrical Engineering departments of CCNY. Included among the researchers are participants from four other institutions: Lehman College-CUNY, the CUNY Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC), the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez (UPRM) and Virginia Tech University. The Center partners with the CREST Center at UPRM, the University of Maryland Baltimore County and Texas State University for assistance with its educational and outreach programs. The IDEALS research program is organized into three Subprojects dealing with various aspects of materials design and development: 1) Low dimensional hetero-nanostructures, 2) Bio-inspired reconfigurable materials and 3) Materials probes and design formalisms. During the first six months of operation, we have made progress in implementing the research thrusts outlined in the proposal. Six Ph. D. students have been recruited to work in research clusters of the three Subprojects. Advances achieved during this period, including semiconductor intersubband devices based on II-VI/III-V heterostructures, molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) growth and physics of novel materials composed of hybrid topological insulator/semiconductor structures, surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensors on semiconductor substrates, theoretical modeling of peptide self-assembly, and others will be reported. Several programs designed to enhance the students’ experience have been implemented. Among them, a CUNY/Strathclyde International Collaboration, co-funded by IDEALS and the CUNY ASRC has been established with Strathclyde University (UK). Three IDEALS students have been awarded travel grants to enable them to make one or two extended visits to pursue newly established collaborations. Also, two IDEALS students have been named NanoFab Fellows at the ASRC fabrication facility. IDEALS is also closely associated with the Columbia University-CCNY MRSEC for the Precision Assembly of Superstratic and Superatomic Systems (PAS3). A pilot Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program was run in 2016 in close collaboration with these two centers. Several student recruitment activities are also being actively pursued.
Funder Acknowledgement(s): CREST Program at the National Science Foundation
Faculty Advisor: None Listed,