University Of Dayton

CONDUCT RESEARCH IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE STATEMENT OF WORK, ENTITLED "FUELS AND COMBUSTION TECHNOLOGIES FOR AEROSPACE PROPULSION II" DATED 20 OCT 2015

TAS::57 3600::TAS FUELS AND COMBUSTION TECHNOLOGIES FOR AEROSPACE PROPULSOIN

TAS: : 21 2093: :TAS LAYERED SENSING RESEARCH AND COMMERCIALIZATION

TAS::57 3600::TAS DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ADVANCED ENERGETIC MATERIALS

VERSATILE AFFORDABLE ADVANCED FUELS AND COMBUSTION TECHNOLOGIES

CARES ACT HEEF - INSTITUTIONAL PORTION

ALTERNATIVE JET FUELS TEST AND EVALUATION

CARES ACT FUNDS

REASERCH AREA 12: MUNITIONS ENERGETIC MATERIALS PROGRAM, "ADVANCED PROCESSING, DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ADVANCED ENERGETIC MATERIALS"

TAS::57 3600::TAS "(MURI 12) WAVE OPTICS OF DEEP ATMOSPHERIC TURBULENCE: FROM UNDERLYING PHYSICS TOWARDS PREDICTIVE MODELING, MITIGATION, AND

DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ADVANCED MUNITIONS

THIS COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT SHALL BE PERFORMED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE STATEMENT OF WORK ENTITLED, "APPLICATION OF NEXT GENERATION LEARNING, EDUCATION, AND RESEARCH FOR SENSORS (ANGLERS)

THE RECIPIENT SHALL DEVELOP THE LADAR AND OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS INSTITUTE (LOCI) EDUCATION CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR LADAR AND LASER COMMUNICATIONS R

UNATTENDED GROUND SENSORS TECHNOLOGY?

SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MATERIALS FOR LITHIUM-ION BATTERY APPLICATIONS

TRANSITION TO TEACHING PROGRAM -- STATEWIDE

GENETIC BASIS OF DORSO-VENTRAL PATTERNING IN THE DROSOPHILA EYE - IN MULTI-CELLULAR ORGANISMS, AXIAL PATTERNING IS REQUIRED FOR TRANSITION OF A MONO-LAYERED EPITHELIUM OF AN ORGAN PRIMORDIUM TO A THREE-DIMENSIONAL ORGAN BY DELINEATION OF ANTERO-POSTERIOR (AP), DORSO-VENTRAL (DV), AND PROXIMO-DISTAL (PD) AXIS. WE USE DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER (FRUIT FLY) EYE MODEL TO STUDY THE HIGHLY CONSERVED FUNDAMENTAL PROCESS OF (AXIAL) DV PATTERNING AND GROWTH. DURING EYE DEVELOPMENT, DV PATTERNING PRECEDES AP AND PD AXIS PATTERNING, AND FORMS DORSAL AND VENTRAL COMPARTMENTS. DISCERNING THE MECHANISM OF AXES DETERMINATION (DV) IS CRUCIAL FOR OUR UNDERSTANDING OF ORGANOGENESIS AS THE PROBLEMS WITH DV DELINEATION RESULTS IN DEVELOPMENTAL/ BIRTH DEFECTS IN FLIES TO HUMANS. OUR LONG TERM GOAL IS TO UNDERSTAND THE GENETIC BASIS OF DV PATTERNING WHICH IS ESTABLISHED BY INTERACTIONS OF THE DORSAL SELECTOR GENES AND THE VENTRAL GENES. THE DROSOPHILA EYE BEGINS FROM A VENTRAL EQUIVALENT STATE ON WHICH THE DORSAL FATE IS ESTABLISHED BY ONSET OF EXPRESSION OF GATA-FAMILY TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR PANNIER (PNR), THE SECRETED MORPHOGEN WINGLESS (WG), AND IROQUOIS (IRO-C) FAMILY PROTEINS. IN THE DORSAL EYE, PNR IS NOT THE SOLE REGULATOR OF WG EXPRESSION. IT STRONGLY SUGGESTS THAT THERE MAY BE OTHER DORSAL EYE GENES THAT ARE YET TO BE IDENTIFIED. WE HAVE IDENTIFIED A NEW DORSAL EYE SELECTOR DEFECTIVE PROVENTRICULUS (DVE), A TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR, WHICH ACTS UPSTREAM OF WG. TO UNDERSTAND THE MOLECULAR GENETIC BASIS OF DV PATTERNING, WE WILL ANALYZE THE (1) INVESTIGATE WG REGULATION IN THE DORSAL EYE. (2) HOW WG GRADIENT FROM DORSAL EYE IS INTERPRETED FOR EYE VERSUS HEAD FATE? (3) TEST IF HIPPO SIGNALING CO- REGULATE WG SIGNALING WITH DV PATTERNING GENES IN THE EYE. GIVEN THAT THE GENETIC MACHINERY IS CONSERVED, WE WILL ALSO TEST THE ROLE OF SATB1, A HUMAN ORTHOLOG OF DVE IN THE EYE. OUR STUDY WILL HAVE SIGNIFICANT BEARING ON (I) DEVELOPMENTAL MECHANISMS OF LINEAGE RESTRICTION AND PATTERNING THAT FOLLOW DV PATTERNING DURING ORGANOGENESIS, (II) ROLE OF GROWTH REGULATORY GENE IN PATTERNING AND (III) THE UNDERSTANDING OF ETIOLOGY OF EARLY CHILDHOOD RETINAL DISEASES. (IV) HOW DO INDEPENDENT PATHWAYS INTERACT TO REGULATE GROWTH AND PATTERNING IN THE DEVELOPING EYE? THE PROPOSED STUDIES WILL GENERATE INSIGHTS INTO (1) HOW DORSAL EYE GENES INTERACT TO DETERMINE EYE VERSUS HEAD FATE BY REGULATING WG SIGNALING, (2) HOW TWO INDEPENDENT PATHWAYS LIKE HIPPO SIGNALING AND DV PATTERNING COREGULATE WG SIGNALING TO PROMOTE GROWTH AND PATTERNING IN THE DEVELOPING EYE? (3) SATB1 IS MAINLY KNOWN TO REGULATE GROWTH AND OUR STUDIES IN EYE WILL PROVIDE INSIGHT INTO GROWTH REGULATION AND PATTERNING FUNCTION OF SATB1. THESE STUDIES WILL HAVE SIGNIFICANT BEARINGS ON UNDERSTANDING THE GENETIC MECHANISM OF EARLY DEVELOPMENTAL EVENTS DURING ORGANOGENESIS IN HIGHER VERTEBRATES. THE KNOWLEDGE GENERATED FROM THESE STUDIES IS EXPECTED TO ELUCIDATE FUNDAMENTAL MECHANISMS IN PATTERNING AND GROWTH OF NORMAL VISUAL FUNCTION AND WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF RETINAL DISEASE AND BIRTH DEFECTS IN THE EYE.

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS GRANT IS TO PROCURE UPDATED EQUIPMENT TO BE INSTALLED INTO AN EXPANDED AND UPGRADED NANOFABRICATION AND MATERIALS CHARACTERIZATION FACILITY WITHIN THE SOUTHWEST OHIO INTEGRATED MICROSYSTEMS WORKFORCE AND RESEARCH CENTER. THE NEW FACILITY WILL ENHANCE EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AND AUGMENT FACULTY-LED RESEARCH.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON IS EXPANDING THE CURRENT CLEAN ROOM FACILITY IN THE CENTER TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE HANDS-ON TRAINING FOR 3 TO 4 TIMES MORE STUDENTS THAN TODAY FOR ACTIVITIES SUCH AS CUSTOMIZED TRAINING FOR FUTURE SEMICONDUCTOR WORKERS AND INTERNS, JOINT CLASSES WITH SINCLAIR COMMUNITY COLLEGE, USE BY LOCAL COMPANIES, AND ADDITIONAL TRAINING AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES.EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE ENHANCED FACILITIES WILL ENABLE THE UNIVERSITY TO PROVIDE RELEVANT TRAINING EXPERIENCES FOR STUDENTS, AS WELL AS DRAWING INDUSTRY PARTICIPATION IN BOTH CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT AND USAGE OF THE CLEAN ROOM FACILITIES. UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS AND THEIR COLLABORATORS WILL BE ABLE TO PUSH THEIR RESEARCH FORWARD INCLUDING FOR PROJECTS ON MEMS DEVICE DEVELOPMENT, BIOSENSOR DEVELOPMENT AND DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: STUDENTS WILL BENEFIT FROM STATE-OF-THE-ART TRAINING FOR OPPORTUNITIES IN THE EMERGING SEMICONDUCTOR AND MICROELECTRONICS INDUSTRY. RESEARCHERS WILL BE ABLE TO EXPAND THEIR RESEARCH WITH NEW EQUIPMENT AND CAPABILITIES. THE INDUSTRY WILL BENEFIT FROM THE INCREASE IN TRAINED INDIVIDUALS FOR SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING.SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES:THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

GENE REGULATION IN LENS REGENERATION

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH WORKFORCE EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAM- AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN

UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON INDUSTRIAL ASSESSMENT CENTER (UD-IAC)

DEVELOPMENT OF CONFORMAL (SPARSE) ADAPTIVE OPTICAL SYSTEMS FOR ARMY LASER COMMUNICATION, IMAGING, DIRECT

UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON - FY23 CONGRESSIONAL COMMUNITY PROJECT FUNDING

GENE DISCOVERY IN MOUSE MODELS FOR SECONDARY CATARACTS

UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON UPWARD BOUND PROGRAM

TRANSITION TO TEACHING PROGRAM - TRANSITION TO TEACHING PROGRAM -- STATEWIDE

THREE-DIMENSIONAL (3D) ACOUSTOFLUIDIC SCANNING NANOSCOPE WITH SUPER RESOLUTION AND LARGE FIELD OF VIEW - PROJECT SUMMARY OVER THE PAST TWO DECADES, A NUMBER OF “SUPER-RESOLUTION” 3D IMAGING TECHNOLOGIES HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED, ENABLING RESEARCHERS TO OBSERVE NANOSCALE BIOLOGICAL STRUCTURES THAT WERE PREVIOUSLY INVISIBLE TO TRADITIONAL, DIFFRACTION-LIMITED IMAGING TECHNIQUES. THE ABILITY TO VISUALIZE CELLULAR AND SUBCELLULAR STRUCTURES AT THE NANOSCALE HAS REVEALED KEY INSIGHTS INTO A VARIETY OF BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES. ALTHOUGH IMPRESSIVE PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF 3D SUPER-RESOLUTION IMAGING TECHNIQUES, RESEARCHERS ARE OFTEN FORCED TO ACCEPT A TRADEOFF IN TERMS OF THE RESOLUTION, FIELD-OF-VIEW, SPEED, AND EASE OF USE OF THEIR 3D IMAGING TECHNIQUE. RECENTLY, WE HAVE DEVELOPED AN ACOUSTOFLUIDIC SCANNING NANOSCOPE THAT CAN SIMULTANEOUSLY ACHIEVE BOTH SUPER-RESOLUTION AND LARGE FIELD-OF-VIEW IMAGING IN 2D. IN THIS R01 PROJECT, WE WILL DEVELOP AND VALIDATE A 3D ACOUSTOFLUIDIC SCANNING NANOSCOPE WITH THE FOLLOWING FEATURES: (1) SUPER-RESOLUTION IMAGING WITH LATERAL AND AXIAL RESOLUTIONS OF ~50 NM AND ~120 NM, RESPECTIVELY: THE PROPOSED 3D IMAGING METHOD WILL ACHIEVE A RESOLUTION THAT IS FOUR TIMES BETTER THAN THAT FROM A CONFOCAL MICROSCOPE, WHICH MAKES THE OPTICAL IMAGING OF MORE DETAILED INNER ARCHITECTURE OF MANY SUBCELLULAR STRUCTURES POSSIBLE; (2) LARGE FIELD-OF-VIEW (~1,100×1,100 ΜM2): CONVENTIONAL OPTICAL IMAGING METHODS ACHIEVE HIGH-THROUGHPUT IMAGING AT THE COST OF REDUCED RESOLUTION AND VICE VERSA. BY UTILIZING ACOUSTICS TO SIMULTANEOUSLY MANIPULATE MULTIPLE MICROSPHERE LENSES, THE PROPOSED IMAGING METHOD WILL SOLVE THIS LONG-STANDING TECHNICAL BARRIER FOR LARGE FIELD-OF-VIEW IMAGING WHILE MAINTAINING SUPERIOR LATERAL AND AXIAL RESOLUTION; (3) IMAGING SPEED 10 TIMES FASTER THAN THAT FROM A CONFOCAL MICROSCOPE: RAPID Z-STACKING AT A SPEED 10 TIMES FASTER THAN THAT OF A CONFOCAL MICROSCOPE CAN BE ACHIEVED BY USING SURFACE ACOUSTIC WAVES TO SCAN AN ARRAY OF MICROSPHERES ACROSS THE SAMPLE VOLUME IN A PRECISE, CONTROLLABLE MANNER; (4) SEAMLESS CONNECTION TO A CONVENTIONAL OPTICAL MICROSCOPE FOR EASE OF USE: OUR DEVICE CAN BE SEAMLESSLY CONNECTED TO A CONVENTIONAL OPTICAL MICROSCOPE WITHOUT MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL SETUP, WHICH CAN SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE THE COST AND THE COMPLEXITY OF OPERATION. WITH THE AFOREMENTIONED ADVANTAGES, THE PROPOSED 3D ACOUSTOFLUIDIC SCANNING NANOSCOPE TECHNOLOGY HAS THE POTENTIAL TO SIGNIFICANTLY EXCEED CURRENT STANDARDS IN THE FIELD AND ADDRESS MANY UNMET NEEDS. WE WILL VALIDATE ITS PERFORMANCE BY IMAGING 3D NANOROD SAMPLES AND THE ORGANELLES OF LIVE HELA CELLS. IN THIS REGARD, WE AIM TO DEMONSTRATE THE FAR-REACHING POTENTIAL OF OUR 3D ACOUSTOFLUIDIC SCANNING NANOSCOPE TECHNOLOGY TO ENABLE IMPROVED RESEARCH IN AREAS RANGING FROM SUBCELLULAR IMAGING TO THE VISUALIZATION OF 3D NEURAL ACTIVITY.

PROJECTS FOR CHILDREN & YOUNG ADULTS WHO ARE DEAF-BLIND

NEW COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT FOR UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON INDUSTRIAL ASSESSMENT CENTER

THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE IS TO DEVELOP NEW DEVELOPMENT AND STUDY OF STATISTICAL FLI

UPWARD BOUND

(DURIP) X-RAY CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY FOR NONDESTRUCTIVE CHARACTERIZATION OF AEROSPACE MATERIALS

UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON UPWARD BOUND PROGRAM

UPWARD BOUND PROGRAM

THE UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON INDUSTRIAL ASSESSMENT CENTER

TRACING THE ORIGIN AND DIVERSIFICATION OF A MORPHOLOGICAL TRAIT THROUGH TRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATORS AND THEIR TARGET GENES -TWO GOALS OF SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY ARE TO UNDERSTAND HOW TRAITS DEVELOP AND EVOLVE. THESE GOALS HAVE PROVEN DIFFICULT TO REACH FOR ANIMAL SPECIES WITH VAST GENOMES AND ONES THAT UNDERGO COMPLEX DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESSES. THIS PROJECT WILL USE THE PATTERN OF MALE MELANIC ABDOMEN PIGMENTATION THAT DEVELOPS FOR THE FRUIT FLY SPECIES D. MELANOGASTER AS A MODEL FOR A TRAIT?S DEVELOPMENT, AND RELATED SPECIES WITH DIFFERING PIGMENTATION AS MODELS TO UNDERSTAND HOW MALE PIGMENTATION ORIGINATED AND DIVERSIFIED. IN ORDER TO DETERMINE WHICH GENE?S USE OR GENES? USES HAVE CHANGED IN ROUTE TO THIS PIGMENTATION DIVERSITY, THE NETWORK OF GENES RESPONSIBLE FOR MELANOGASTER PIGMENTATION WILL BE STUDIED IN SPECIES WITH THE ANCESTRAL (D. WILLISTONI) AND MODIFIED (D. AURARIA) PATTERN OF MALE PIGMENTATION. FOR GENES WITH DIFFERING USES, APPROACHES WILL BE UTILIZED TO FIND AND CHARACTERIZE THE PARTS OF GENES RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR VARIATION. THE IMPORTANCE OF THESE MODIFIED GENE PARTS WILL BE TESTED BY ENGINEERING MELANOGASTER SEQUENCES INTO THE GENOMES OF THESE TWO LESS WELL-STUDIED SPECIES. COLLECTIVELY, THIS PROJECT WILL PUSH THE LIMITS OF GENETIC INVESTIGATION IN MODEL AND EMERGING-MODEL SPECIES, RESULTING IN ONE OF THE MOST INSIGHTFUL GENETIC CHARACTERIZATIONS OF AN EVOLVING ANIMAL TRAIT. THIS PROJECT WILL RESULT IN NUMEROUS BROADER IMPACTS, SUCH AS THE REFINEMENT OF BIOINFORMATIC AND ONLINE RESOURCES FOR GENETICS RESEARCH, TRAINING OF DIVERSE PERSONNEL IN GENETICS AND RELATED DISCIPLINES, AND HASTENING SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS BY THE CREATION, ORGANIZATION, AND HOSTING OF A VIRTUAL MEETING FOR SCIENTISTS WITH A SHARED INTEREST ON THE GENETICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND EVOLUTION. ANIMAL MORPHOLOGY DEVELOPS THROUGH THE OPERATION OF GENE REGULATORY NETWORKS (GRNS) THAT INVOLVE A PLETHORA OF TRANS-REGULATORS, TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS AND SIGNALING PATHWAYS, WHICH CONTROL THE SPATIAL, TEMPORAL, AND EVEN SEX-SPECIFIC PATTERNS OF TRAIT-BUILDING REALIZATOR GENE EXPRESSION. THESE PATTERNS OF GENE EXPRESSION EMERGE FROM GRN TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS INTERACTING WITH BINDING SITES IN THE CIS-REGULATORY ELEMENTS (CRES) OF THEIR DIRECT TARGET GENES. SINCE MANY TRANS-REGULATORS AND REALIZATOR GENES ARE OLDER THAN THE TRAITS THEY REGULATE, TRAIT EVOLUTION OCCURS THROUGH CHANGES IN THE USES OF THESE ANCESTRAL GENES. THIS PROJECT?S OVERARCHING GOAL IS TO UNDERSTAND HOW A TRAIT EMERGED AND WAS MODIFIED BY CHANGES TO A GRN?S TRANS-REGULATORS AND REALIZATOR GENES. THE EVOLUTION OF A GRN FOR A RAPIDLY EVOLVING TRAIT PRESENT IN AN EXPERIMENTALLY TRACTABLE ANIMAL MODEL SPECIES, AND CLOSELY-RELATED EMERGING MODEL SPECIES WILL BE EXAMINED. THE PROPOSED STUDIES WILL FOCUS ON HOW THE MALE-SPECIFIC PATTERN OF ABDOMINAL PIGMENTATION EMERGED IN THE FRUIT FLY LINEAGE OF D. MELANOGASTER AND HOW IT WAS MODIFIED IN THE MONTIUM LINEAGE. IN THE FIRST AIM, THE BREADTH OF TRANS-REGULATORS IN THE D. MELANOGASTER GRN WILL BE MAPPED, AND DETERMINE WHICH OF THESE GENES HAVE CONSERVED OR EVOLVED EXPRESSIONS IN SPECIES WITH THE ANCESTRAL AND MODIFIED TRAIT PHENOTYPES. THE SECOND AIM WILL DETERMINE HOW TRANS-REGULATOR AND REALIZATOR GENE EXPRESSIONS EVOLVED THROUGH CRE EVOLUTION. THE THIRD AIM WILL DIRECTLY TEST THE PHENOTYPIC CONSEQUENCES OF GRN MODIFICATIONS THROUGH GENETIC ENGINEERING PERFORMED IN EMERGING MODEL SPECIES. 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.

COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS ARE AWARDED TO NONPROFIT INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION UNDER THE COMPETITIVE ACADEMIC AGREEMENT PROGRAM (CAAP). GRANT FUNDING IS USED TO RESEARCH INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS IN VARIOUS PIPELINE SAFETY TOPIC AREAS, THAT ARE EXPECTED TO BENEFIT THE ENTIRE NATION BY ENHANCING PIPELINE SAFETY. TEXAS A&M ENGINEERING EXPERIMENT STATION, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI, AND THE CENTER FOR RELIABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED AS SUBRECIPIENTS. ''RISK-INFORMED AND UNCERTAINTY-AWARE STRAIN CAPACITY PREDICTION MODEL DEVELOPMENT AND VERIFICATION FOR VINTAGE PIPELINES.''

TAS::89 0222::TAS; ER64978; CLEAN ENERGY EDUCATION INFRASTRUCTURE INITIATIVE (OH); KEVIN HALLINAN, PI

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RESOLVING THE GENE REGULATORY NETWORK ALTERATIONS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE REPEATED EVOLUTION OF A HOX-REGULATED TRAIT

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO STATE DEAF BLIND PROJECTS

TAS::57 3600::TAS '(DURIP) - COGNITIVE SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIO (COGS) LABORATORY'

CAPABILITY BASED VISUALIZATION AND DECISION AIDE ENVIRONMENT

OPEN STANDARD FOR UNATTENDED SE SORS OSUS

COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS ARE AWARDED TO NONPROFIT INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION UNDER THE COMPETITIVE ACADEMIC AGREEMENT PROGRAM (CAAP). GRANT FUNDING IS USED TO RESEARCH INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS IN VARIOUS PIPELINE SAFETY TOPIC AREAS, THAT ARE EXPECTED TO BENEFIT THE ENTIRE NATION BY ENHANCING PIPELINE SAFETY. UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY, AND TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED AS SUBRECIPIENTS. ''A FRAMEWORK AND INTEGRATED SOLUTION OF A DYNAMIC PIPELINE HAZARD AND RISK DATA REPOSITORY.''

** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** THE UNITED STATES HAS A COMPLEX FOOD SYSTEM WHERE OUR FOODS COME FROM MULTIPLE PRODUCTION, PROCESSING, AND PACKAGING FACILITIES. THESE CREATE NUMEROUS POTENTIAL ENTRY POINTS FOR FOODBORNE PATHOGENS AND REQUIRE STRINGENT SURVEILLANCE AND DISINFECTION PROTOCOLS. HOWEVER, SOME PATHOGENS, SUCH AS LISTERIA MONOCYTOGENES (LISTERIA), SURVIVE EVEN UNDER EXTREME ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING LOW PH AND TEMPERATURES. ONCE ENTERING HIGH-RISK INDIVIDUALS, LISTERIA CAN CAUSE INFECTIONS WITH HIGH MORTALITY RATES AND HOSPITALIZATION COSTS. DESPITE OUR BEST DISINFECTION EFFORTS, LISTERIA OUTBREAKS CONTINUE TO TAKE PLACE. COSTLY FOOD RECALLS AS A RESULT OF POTENTIAL LISTERIA CONTAMINATION ARE ALSO FREQUENT. THESE URGENT ISSUES CAN ALL BE ATTRIBUTED TO THE ABILITY OF LISTERIA TO PERSIST IN THE FOOD PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING FACILITIES. IN FACT, LISTERIA CAN ADHERE TO SURFACES AND GROW INTO A BIOFILM STRUCTURE RESISTANT TO MANY DISINFECTANTS AND SANITIZERS. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO TARGET AND DESTROY LISTERIA BIOFILM STRUCTURES THROUGH NANOTECHNOLOGY BY GENERATING COMPOSITE STRUCTURES AT THE NANOSCALE RESPONSIVE TO EXTERNAL STIMULI SUCH AS MAGNETIC FIELDS. MORE SPECIFICALLY, WE PLAN TO CREATE AND CHARACTERIZE INNOVATIVE NANOBIOCONJUGATES THAT CONTAIN CELLULOSE-DERIVED MATERIALS WITH MAGNETIC NANOPARTICLES LINKED TO SYNTHETIC OR NATURAL DISINFECTANTS. WE PLAN TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THESE NANOBIOCONJUGATES AGAINST LISTERIA BIOFILM UNDER MAGNETIC FIELDS. THIS COLLABORATIVE AND INTERDISCIPLINARY EFFORT WILL OCCUR IN TWO DIFFERENT INSTITUTIONS, ONE MID-SIZE UNIVERSITY AND ONE MINORITY- AND HISPANIC-SERVING UNIVERSITY. THE PROJECT WILL INVOLVE UNDERGRADUATE AS WELL AS GRADUATE STUDENTS. ULTIMATELY, OUR FINDINGS WILL BRING ADVANCED NANOTECHNOLOGY TO COMBAT THE PRESENCE AND PERSISTENCE OF FOODBORNE PATHOGENS TO PROMOTE FOOD SAFETY.

DEVELOPMENT OF NON-DESTRUCTIVE INSPECTION TECHNIQUES FOR COLD-WORKED REPAIRS OF CORRODED METAL HOLES

IMPROVING FLEXIBLE ATTENTION TO NUMERICAL AND SPATIAL MAGNITUDES IN YOUNG CHILDREN -MATHEMATICAL SKILLS ARE ESSENTIAL FOR STEM CAREERS, AS WELL AS CRUCIAL TOOLS IN EVERYDAY LIFE, FROM FINANCIAL PLANNING TO MEDICAL DECISION-MAKING. UNFORTUNATELY, MANY STUDENTS FAIL TO REACH THEIR POTENTIAL IN THESE SKILLS. ONE OF THE CHALLENGES THAT PRESCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN FACE WHEN ACQUIRING AN UNDERSTANDING OF NUMBERS IS DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN NUMERICAL MAGNITUDES (LIKE THREE ELEPHANTS) AND SPATIAL MAGNITUDES (LIKE THE SIZE OF AN ELEPHANT). PRIOR RESEARCH SUGGESTS THAT CHILDREN OFTEN FOCUS ON THE SIZE OF THE OBJECTS INSTEAD OF THE EXACT NUMBER OF OBJECTS (FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN COMPARING 3 ELEPHANTS TO 6 MICE, CHILDREN OFTEN MISTAKENLY SAY THAT THERE IS A GREATER NUMBER OF ELEPHANTS THAN MICE). THE ABILITY TO FLEXIBLY PAY ATTENTION TO BOTH NUMERICAL AND SPATIAL MAGNITUDES AND THEN DETERMINE WHICH MAGNITUDES ARE RELEVANT FOR A GIVEN SITUATION IS REFERRED TO AS ?FLEXIBLE ATTENTION TO MAGNITUDES? (FAM). THIS PROJECT AIMS TO UNDERSTAND THE DEVELOPMENT OF YOUNG CHILDREN?S FLEXIBLE ATTENTION TO MAGNITUDES SKILL AND HOW IT CAN BEST BE SUPPORTED BY SPECIFIC EXPERIENCES IN EARLY CHILDHOOD. IT IS HYPOTHESIZED THAT THIS SKILL IS ESSENTIAL TO LATER MATHEMATICAL THINKING AND IS AN IMPORTANT SKILL FOR MANY MATHEMATICAL ACTIVITIES, SUCH AS NUMBER LINE ESTIMATION AND PROPORTIONAL REASONING. THE PROPOSED STUDIES ARE DESIGNED TO IDENTIFY SPECIFIC MECHANISMS THAT LEAD TO IMPROVEMENTS IN FLEXIBLE ATTENTION TO MAGNITUDES (FAM) SKILLS. THE FIRST AIM OF THESE STUDIES IS TO EXAMINE THE ROLES OF MATHEMATICAL LANGUAGE AND VISUAL EXPERIENCE AS POTENTIAL CAUSAL MECHANISMS THAT DRIVE IMPROVEMENT IN THIS SKILL IN YOUNG CHILDREN. THE SECOND AIM IS TO DETERMINE WHETHER IMPROVING FLEXIBLE ATTENTION TO MAGNITUDES SKILL HAS A CAUSAL EFFECT ON MATHEMATICS ACHIEVEMENT. THE THIRD AIM IS TO TEST WHETHER AN INTERVENTION LEADS TO DURABLE IMPROVEMENTS IN FLEXIBLE ATTENTION TO MAGNITUDES SKILL AND MATHEMATICS ACHIEVEMENT, AND FAR TRANSFER TO EXECUTIVE FUNCTION SKILLS. THE FOURTH AIM IS TO EXPLORE WHETHER THE IMPACT OF FLEXIBLE ATTENTION TO MAGNITUDES INSTRUCTION DEPENDS ON STUDENTS? SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS (SES) AND INITIAL NUMBER WORD KNOWLEDGE. THESE AIMS WILL BE TESTED WITH YOUNG CHILDREN AGES 3 - 5 YEARS VIA THREE EXPERIMENTER-LED STUDIES USING PRETEST-INTERVENTION-POSTTEST DESIGNS. EACH STUDY WILL COMPARE READING BOOKS WITH SPECIFIC TYPES OF FAM CONTENT TO EACH OTHER AND TO AN ACTIVE CONTROL. STUDY 1 WILL TEST THE EFFECTS OF MATHEMATICAL LANGUAGE AND STUDY 2 WILL EXAMINE THE ROLE OF VISUAL EXPERIENCE ON FAM SKILL AND MATHEMATICS ACHIEVEMENT. STUDY 3 WILL EXAMINE GAINS IN FAM SKILL AND MATHEMATICS ACHIEVEMENT AT A DELAYED POST-TEST, AND FAR TRANSFER TO EXECUTIVE FUNCTION SKILLS. STUDY 4 WILL POOL DATA FROM STUDIES 2 AND 3 TO PROVIDE A WELL-POWERED TEST OF SES AND NUMBER KNOWLEDGE AS MODERATORS OF THE EFFECTS OF FAM INTERVENTION. THESE STUDIES WILL BUILD A THEORETICAL MODEL OF HOW FAM SKILL DEVELOPS AND IMPACTS OTHER SKILLS, WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR LARGER-SCALE INTERVENTIONS AIMED AT IMPROVING CHILDREN?S MATHEMATICS SKILLS. THIS PROJECT IS SUPPORTED BY NSF'S EDU CORE RESEARCH (ECR) PROGRAM. THE ECR PROGRAM EMPHASIZES FUNDAMENTAL STEM EDUCATION RESEARCH THAT GENERATES FOUNDATIONAL KNOWLEDGE IN THE FIELD. INVESTMENTS ARE MADE IN CRITICAL AREAS THAT ARE ESSENTIAL, BROAD AND ENDURING: STEM LEARNING AND STEM LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS, BROADENING PARTICIPATION IN STEM, AND STEM WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT. 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.

MRI: DEVELOPMENT OF A HIGH-POWER ADAPTIVE PHASED FIBER-ARRAY LASER SYSTEM

"HIGHLY EFFICIENT ORGANIC PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS BASED ON POLYMER ALIGNED CARBON NANOTUBE BULK HETEROJUNCTIONS"

METHODS FOR MODELING NETWORKS OF MATRIX CRACKING AND DELAMINATIONS IN LAMINATED COMPOSITE STRUCTURES

TAS::57 3600::TAS 'MICROTEXTURE DEVELOPMENT IN ADDITIVE-MANUFACTURED HYBRID MATERIALS' (THE GRANTEE'S TECHNICAL PROPOSAL DATED 09 MAR 2018).

UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON INDUSTRIAL ASSESSMENT CENTER

MOST SPACE MISSIONS UTILIZE SOME FORM OF ENERGY STORAGE SUCH AS A BATTERY ON THEIR SPACECRAFT. THE NEED FOR LONG CYCLE LIFE HIGH ENERGY DENSITY BATTERIES WITH MINIMAL SELF-DISCHARGE AND ENHANCED SAFETY ARE THE MOST CRITICAL REQUIREMENTS OF ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS USED IN EXTENDED DURATION SPACE MISSIONS. VENUS PRESENTS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGE TO ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS DUE TO A COMBINATION OF HIGH TEMPERATURE (452 C) AND PRESENCE OF CORROSIVE GASES (CO2 CO SO2 AND N2). WHILE THE RECHARGEABLE HIGH TEMPERATURE SODIUM SULFUR BATTERIES HAVE BEEN PREVIOUSLY OPERATED ON SPACE-SHUTTLE FLIGHTS CONCERNS WITH THEIR SAFETY DUE TO THE HIGHLY REACTIVE SODIUM METAL LIMITED ENERGY DENSITY (THEORETICAL = 760 WH KG-1) CORROSIVE DISCHARGE PRODUCTS AT 100% DEPTH OF DISCHARGE AND USE OF SOLID ELECTROLYTE WITH POOR MECHANICAL STRENGTHS AND IONIC CONDUCTIVITIES (E.G. BETA-ALUMINA) POSE LIMITATIONS FOR THEIR USE IN EXTENDED DURATION SPACE MISSIONS SUCH AS TO VENUS. IN CONTRAST THE LITHIUM SULFUR BATTERY HAS HIGHER ENERGY DENSITY (THEORETICAL = 2735 WH KG-1) IS SAFER DUE TO THE HIGHER IONIZATION ENERGY OF LITHIUM VS. SODIUM AND ITS DISCHARGE PRODUCT LI2S IS NOT CORROSIVE. THIS PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL EXPLORE THE COMBINED CAPABILITIES OF HIGH ENERGY DENSITY LITHIUM SULFUR BATTERIES INCORPORATING SOLID-STATE HIGHTEMPERATURE STABLE SUPERIONIC (LI+ ONLY) ELECTROLYTES INCLUDING PHOSPHATES GARNET-TYPE METAL-OXIDE CERAMICS AND SULFIDES THAT CAN ENABLE OPERATION OF HIGH ENERGY AND POWER DENSITIES HIGH CYCLE-LIFE LOW SELF-DISCHARGE AND HIGH SAFETY RECHARGEABLE MOLTEN LITHIUM SULFUR BATTERIES IN VENUS-LIKE CONDITIONS.

ETHOS SUSTAINABLE ENGINEERING SCHOLARS: ENGAGING UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS IN SOCIALLY RELEVANT SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION LEARNING COMMUNITIES

CORRODED BOLT HOLE REPAIR GUIDELINES

TAS::57 3600::TAS '(DURIP) ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING QUALITY INSPECTION SYSTEM', DATED 25 SEP 2015; REVISED BUDGET DATED 20 JAN 2017

PARAPROFESSIONAL PRESERVICE PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT GRANTS

CAREER: BRIDGING THE IN VITRO - IN VIVO GAP THROUGH GENERATION OF AN ENHANCED MICROENVIRONMENT MODEL FOR BIOLOGICALLY ACCURATE NANOMATERIAL EVALUATION

R&D, SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, IN THE AREA OF PHYSICS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: WORKSITE-SPECIFIC SAFETY TRAINING ENVIRONMENTS WITH AUGMENTED REALITY -IN HIGH-RISK WORKPLACES SUCH AS CONSTRUCTION SITES, INATTENTION TO WORKPLACE HAZARDS IS A COMMON FACTOR IN SERIOUS INJURIES AND FATALITIES. EVIDENCE STRONGLY SUGGESTS THAT CONVENTIONAL, LECTURE-BASED SAFETY TRAINING METHODS IN CLASSROOM SETTINGS RARELY CAPTURE WORKERS? INTEREST AND DO NOT DECREASE ACCIDENTS. FURTHER, ADULTS OFTEN LEARN BEST IN THE CONTEXT OF THEIR OWN WORK ENVIRONMENTS AND REAL-LIFE SITUATIONS. AS A RESULT, MAKING SAFETY TRAINING MORE CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH TRAINEES? WORK ENVIRONMENTS MAY BE MORE EFFECTIVE THAN CURRENT METHODS. TO THIS END, THIS PROJECT WILL CONSTRUCT A PERSONALIZED AUGMENTED REALITY (AR) TRAINING SYSTEM THAT USES PICTURES TAKEN BY TRAINEES ON THEIR OWN WORKSITES TO RECOGNIZE SITE-SPECIFIC HAZARDS AND CREATE REPLICAS OF THEIR WORKSITES THAT SHOW SIMULATED ACCIDENTS CAUSED BY THOSE HAZARDS. THIS WORK WILL REQUIRE ADVANCES IN AR ENVIRONMENT DESIGN, COMPUTER VISION ALGORITHMS, AND WORKPLACE TRAINING PEDAGOGY, AND WILL LEAD TO BETTER OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY TRAINING PRACTICES IN HIGH-RISK INDUSTRIES AND NEW EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS FOR HIGH SCHOOLS, UNIVERSITIES, AND INDUSTRY AROUND OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY. IT WILL ALSO SERVE AS A CASE STUDY OF OPERATIONALIZING ANDRAGOGY (ADULT-TARGETED TEACHING) IN A LEARNING TECHNOLOGY SETTING. THE PROJECT WILL BE ORGANIZED INTO TWO PHASES. FIRST, THE PROJECT WILL CREATE LEARNER-CENTERED AR SAFETY TRAINING ENVIRONMENTS WHEREIN TRAINEES ORGANIZE SAFETY TRAINING CONTENT BY THEMSELVES AND EXPERIENCE POTENTIAL ACCIDENTS IN THE AR ENVIRONMENT. THIS FIRST PHASE WILL INCLUDE (1) DEVELOPING AI ALGORITHMS THAT DETECT WORKPLACE HAZARDS FROM THE TRAINEES? WORKSITES; (2) CREATING AN ACCIDENT SCENARIO POOL, WHICH CAN BE ADAPTED TO VARIOUS TYPES, SHAPES, AND SCALES OF REAL-WORLD HAZARDS; AND (3) SIMULATING POTENTIAL ACCIDENTS BY ACCURATELY AND SEAMLESSLY OVERLAYING AR AVATARS ON DETECTED REAL-WORLD HAZARDS. IN COLLABORATION WITH INDUSTRY PARTNERS, DURING THE SECOND PHASE THE TEAM WILL EXAMINE THE EFFECT OF THE DEVELOPED TRAINING ON WORKERS? ATTENTION TO REAL-WORLD HAZARDS BY (1) ASSESSING INDIVIDUAL TRAINEES? HAZARD RECOGNITION ABILITIES, (2) MONITORING WORKERS? PHYSICAL BEHAVIORS NEAR WORKPLACE HAZARDS, AND (3) COMPARING THE PERFORMANCE OF INDIVIDUALS TRAINED USING THE PROPOSED METHODS TO THOSE TRAINED USING CONVENTIONAL METHODS AS WELL AS NON-PERSONALIZED AND VIRTUAL REALITY ENVIRONMENTS. 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.

PIC: CHARGE TRAPPED PHOTONIC DEVICES FOR COMPUTING, SENSING AND SEQUENCING APPLICATIONS -THE PROPOSAL SEEKS TO DEVELOP NOVEL HYBRID SILICON CHARGE TRAPPED PHOTONIC WAVEGUIDE DEVICES FOR LOW (PRACTICALLY ZERO POWER) ON-CHIP OPTICAL MEMORY, COMPUTATION, LABEL-FREE SENSING AND GENETIC SEQUENCING APPLICATIONS. THE PROGRAM WILL EXPOSE STUDENTS TO INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH IN PHOTONICS, ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, BIOCHEMISTRY AND MICROBIOLOGY. TOGETHER WITH NOVEL FERROELECTRIC INTEGRATION IN SILICON PHOTONICS, DEMONSTRATION OF LABEL-FREE GENE SEQUENCING USING INTEGRATED PHOTONICS WILL TRAIN UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS UNDER A MULTIDISCIPLINARY UMBRELLA INTEGRATING SILICON PHOTONICS WITH MICROBIOLOGY. DEVICES FABRICATED IN A MULTI-PROJECT WAFER (MPW) RUN AT A COMMERCIAL CMOS FOUNDRY WILL EXPOSE STUDENTS TO CRITICAL TASKS OF FABLESS COMPANIES IN SUBMITTING LAYOUTS FOR FINISHED DESIGNS TO COMMERCIAL FOUNDRIES FOR FABRICATION. THE PROJECT WILL CULMINATE WITH THE FEASIBILITY DEMONSTRATION OF CHARGE TRAPPED SILICON PHOTONIC DEVICES IN DIVERSE APPLICATIONS FOR NEXT GENERATION ON-CHIP COMPUTING AS WELL AS ENABLING THE POTENTIAL FOR PHOTONIC BASED READOUT OF BIOLOGICALLY STORED DATA IN DNA. PROJECT MEMBERS WILL ENGAGE IN STEM OUTREACH TARGETING MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN GREATER DAYTON, OH AND BROADEN PARTICIPATION OF MINORITY STUDENTS IN STEM EDUCATION AND TRAINING. SPECIFIC PROJECT ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED BY INTEL OASIS HAVE BEEN DESIGNED FOR UNDERGRADS FOR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IN SEMICONDUCTORS. THE ACTIVITIES PLANNED HERE WILL EXPOSE A LARGER POOL OF STUDENTS IN THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING THAT WILL BUILD INDUSTRIAL MANPOWER TO ADDRESS THE SIGNIFICANT FUTURE US NEED IN THE SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY NOT ONLY FOR CHIP FABRICATION BUT ALSO ITS APPLICATIONS IN NEXT GENERATION COMPUTING AND BIOLOGICAL STORED DATA READOUT USING PHOTONIC INTEGRATED CIRCUITS. CARRIER CHARGE MODULATION IN SILICON PHOTONICS HAS BEEN USED FOR MODULATION OF OPTICAL SIGNALS IN INTEGRATED PHOTONIC P-N DOPED WAVEGUIDES AND RESONATORS. DURING THE PAST DECADE, STORAGE OF NON-VOLATILE, ADJUSTABLE, MULTI-LEVEL WEIGHTS IN UNDOPED LOW-LOSS PHOTONIC DEVICES HAS ATTRACTED SIGNIFICANT INTEREST FOR COMPUTING APPLICATIONS. THE DISCOVERY OF FERROELECTRIC PROPERTIES IN THIN FILM OXIDES PROMISES THE POTENTIAL FOR TRAPPING CHARGES IN UNDOPED SILICON IN HYBRID FERROELECTRIC SILICON WAVEGUIDES FOR INTEGRATED PHOTONIC NON-VOLATILE MEMORY APPLICATIONS. SUCH DEVICES CAN ALSO BE USED FOR LABEL-FREE DNA SENSING/SEQUENCING WITH ION SELECTIVE MEMBRANES. THE INTELLECTUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROPOSED ACTIVITIES INCLUDES: (A) DEMONSTRATING HYBRID FERROELECTRIC SILICON PHOTONIC WAVEGUIDES AND NANOSTRUCTURED RESONATORS AS ENERGY-EFFICIENT NON-VOLATILE OPTICAL MEMORY FOR COMPUTING; (B) DEMONSTRATING MULTI-LEVEL OPTICAL MEMORY; (C) DEMONSTRATION OF HIGH SENSITIVITY PROTON SENSING IN ION-SENSITIVE-PHOTONIC-FIELD-EFFECT-WAVEGUIDE (ISPFEW) DEVICES WITH ION SELECTIVE MEMBRANES INTEGRATED WITH PHOTONIC WAVEGUIDES, AND D) DEMONSTRATION OF POTENTIAL FOR LABEL-FREE GENE SEQUENCING ON A PHOTONIC CHIP, IN CONTRAST TO LABELED METHODS ELSEWHERE. 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.

POLYMER MATRIX NANO-COMPOSITES BY SOLID FREEFORM FABRICATION

A MECHANISTIC FRAMEWORK FOR BOTTOM-UP BIODIVERSITY EFFECTS: RIPARIAN FOREST INVASION IMPACTS ON HEADWATER STREAM MICROBIAL AND MACROINVERTEBRATE COMM

ENGINEERING INNOVATION AND DESIGN FOR STEM TEACHERS

BRC-BIO: DISENTANGLING DRIVERS OF COLOR MORPH RESPONSES TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN A MODEL SALAMANDER SPECIES -ANIMAL COLORATION REPRESENTS AN EASILY IDENTIFIABLE BIOLOGICAL TRAIT THAT CAN BE TRACED OVER SPACE AND TIME, MAKING IT AN IDEAL CHARACTERISTIC TO MONITOR WITH CLIMATE CHANGE PRESSURES. WITHIN A SINGLE SPECIES, MULTIPLE COLOR VARIANTS (MORPHS) CAN EXIST, AND THESE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISTINCT COLORS TYPICALLY DIFFER IN OTHER ASPECTS OF THEIR ECOLOGY OR BEHAVIOR, INCLUDING THERMAL BIOLOGY. THE EASTERN RED-BACKED SALAMANDER IS ONE OF THE MOST ABUNDANT TERRESTRIAL VERTEBRATES IN THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES AND POSSESSES TWO COMMON COLOR MORPHS (STRIPED AND UNSTRIPED). POPULATIONS OF THIS SPECIES VARY GREATLY IN THE FREQUENCY OF THESE TWO COLOR MORPHS ACROSS ITS WIDESPREAD RANGE. THE MORPHS ARE KNOWN TO VARY IN MULTIPLE TRAITS, SUCH AS DIET AND BODY SIZE, BUT WE CURRENTLY LACK AN UNDERSTANDING OF HOW CLIMATE CHANGE IS INFLUENCING TRAIT VARIATION AND COLOR MORPH FREQUENCY ACROSS THE SPECIES RANGE. THE AIM OF THIS WORK IS TO EXAMINE WHETHER THE TWO MORPHS OF THE EASTERN RED-BACKED SALAMANDER DIFFER IN TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENT TRAITS, INCLUDING THERMAL PHYSIOLOGY, BODY SIZE, AND BEHAVIOR, UNDER DIFFERENT CLIMATE CONDITIONS. THIS RESEARCH WILL PROVIDE PERTINENT INFORMATION ON NOT ONLY HOW COLOR MORPHS ARE MAINTAINED, BUT ALSO HOW THE EXISTENCE OF MULTIPLE MORPHS MAY SUPPORT SPECIES RESILIENCE IN THE FACE OF RAPID ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE. TO ACCOMPLISH THE GOALS OF THIS RESEARCH, UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WILL PLAY A KEY ROLE IN COLLECTING DATA AND WILL GAIN SKILLS IN BIOINFORMATICS, ANIMAL COLLECTION IN THE FIELD, WORKING WITH SPECIMENS IN NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS, AND LAB-BASED BEHAVIORAL AND PHYSIOLOGY STUDIES. AMPHIBIAN COLORATION WILL BE A CENTRALIZED FEATURE IN COMMUNITY OUTREACH WITH LOCAL CITY LIBRARIES AND METROPARKS. ANIMALS WITH COLOR POLYMORPHISMS PROVIDE A UNIQUE SYSTEM FOR STUDYING SPECIES RESPONSES TO CLIMATE CHANGE. INTRASPECIFIC COLOR MORPHS CONTAIN DISCRETE COLOR PATTERN VARIATIONS THAT CAN BE TRACED OVER SPACE AND TIME. FURTHER, MORPHS ARE COMPRISED OF CO-ADAPTED SETS OF TRAITS, AND DIFFER IN SEVERAL ELEMENTS OF THEIR BIOLOGY, INCLUDING ASPECTS OF THEIR THERMAL ECOLOGY. THE AIM OF THIS PROJECT IS TO EXAMINE THERMALLY-RELATED CORRELATED TRAITS OF A COLOR POLYMORPHIC SPECIES ACROSS ENVIRONMENTAL GRADIENTS TO ASSESS HOW DISTINCT MORPHS RESPOND TO RAPID CLIMATE CHANGE PRESSURES. THE FOCAL SPECIES FOR THIS PROJECT IS THE EASTERN RED-BACKED SALAMANDER, PLETHODON CINEREUS, WHICH HAS A WIDESPREAD GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION ACROSS NORTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA AND IS COLOR POLYMORPHIC THROUGHOUT ITS RANGE. PAST RESEARCH ON THE POLYMORPHISM IN P. CINEREUS DEMONSTRATES THAT TWO COLOR MORPHS (STRIPED AND UNSTRIPED) OCCUPY DISTINCT ECOLOGICAL NICHES, BUT THEIR CO-ADAPTED TRAIT SETS ARE VARIABLE SPATIALLY AND TEMPORALLY. MISSING IS A MECHANISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE ADAPTIVE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MORPHS AND HOW CHANGING CLIMATIC CONDITIONS CONTRIBUTE TO COLOR MORPH FREQUENCY VARIATION. THE SPECIFIC AIMS FOR THIS WORK ARE TO: 1) EXAMINE DIFFERENCES IN CO-ADAPTED MORPHOLOGICAL TRAIT CHANGE OVER SPACE AND TIME IN RELATION TO CLIMATE FLUCTUATIONS; 2) INVESTIGATE THE LINKS BETWEEN COLOR MORPH AND PHYSIOLOGY UNDER VARIOUS TEMPERATURE TREATMENTS; AND 3) TEST FOR VARIATION IN COLOR MORPH BEHAVIORAL RESPONSES TO RAPIDLY INCREASING TEMPERATURES. THIS WORK NOT ONLY EXPANDS UPON PREVIOUS RESEARCH ON THE COLOR POLYMORPHISM IN P. CINEREUS BUT ALSO INTEGRATES NOVEL PHYSIOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIORAL STUDIES WITH SUPPORT FROM ESTABLISHED COLLABORATORS AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

THIS COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT SHALL BE PERFORMED IN ACCORDANCE WITH STATEMENT OF WORK, ENTITLED 'APPLICATION SPECIFIC INTEGRATED CIRCUIT (ASIC)

IMPROVING SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES IN RURAL APPALACHIAN OHIO

TAS::57 3600::TAS (YIP) 'DEVELOPMENT OF GESN WAVEGUIDE LASERS FOR SWIR AND MWIR APPLICATIONS'

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: THE STRUCTURE, FUNCTION, AND EVOLUTION OF A REGULATORY NETWORK CONTROLLING SEXUALLY DIMORPHIC FRUIT FLY DEVELOPMENT

PASSIVELY DEPLOYED RADIAL RADIATOR FOR TRANSFER AND REJECTION OF CUBESAT WASTE HEAT

EXPLOITING A NEW ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM TARGETING BODIPY-SCAFFOLD FOR DETECTION OF ORGANELLE STRESS AND EXPLORATION OF CHEMOTHERAPEUTIC TRANSPORT - EXPLOITING A NEW ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM TARGETING BODIPY-SCAFFOLD FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE ROLE ER-STRESS PLAYS IN NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER NSCLC SHAWN SWAVEY (DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY, UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON) KRISTEN KRUPA (DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL AND MATERIALS ENGINEERING, UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON) PROJECT SUMMARY & ABSTRACT THE AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY ESTIMATES THAT IN 2022 MORE THAN 230,000 NEW CASES OF LUNG CANCER WERE DIAGNOSED WITH OVER 130,000 DEATHS FROM LUNG CANCER IN THE UNITED STATES ALONE; MAKING IT THE LEADING CAUSE OF CANCER-RELATED DEATHS. NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER (NSCLC) IS THE MOST PREDOMINANT FORM OF LUNG CANCER, CONSTITUTING 85-90% OF ALL CASES. DEVELOPING IMPROVED THERAPEUTIC AND DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS FOR VARIOUS MALIGNANCIES HAS RECENTLY REVOLVED AROUND A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE CELLULAR ORGANELLES. THE ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM (ER), HAS RECENTLY GARNERED PARTICULAR INTEREST DUE TO ITS MAJOR ROLE PLAYED WITHIN TUMOR CELLS. THE ER MANAGES THE AUGMENTED CELLULAR STRESS ASSOCIATED WITH THE RAPID PROLIFERATION OF CANCER CELLS BY INITIATING MECHANISMS THAT RETURN THE CELL TO HOMEOSTASIS. HOWEVER, SUSTAINED OR UNCONTROLLED ER STRESS (ERS) WILL ULTIMATELY LEAD TO CELL DEATH AND TUMOR DESTRUCTION, MAKING ERS LEVELS A VIABLE THERAPEUTIC TARGET. MOREOVER, IT HAS BEEN SUGGESTED THAT FOLLOWING ACTUATION BY AN EXTERNAL TRIGGER, AUGMENTED ERS CAN INITIATE THE SELF- DESTRUCTIVE IMMUNOGENIC CELL DEATH (ICD) RESPONSE; THEREBY CREATING A SECONDARY ERS-DEPENDENT CYTOTOXIC MECHANISM. THE OVERARCHING GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO GENERATE ER-TARGETING FLUORESCENT IMAGING AGENTS TO CHARACTERIZE THE ROLE OF ERS IN NSCLC AND DEVELOP DIRECTED CANCER THERAPEUTICS BASED ON OBSERVED RESPONSES. THE SWAVEY LABORATORY HAS RECENTLY DEVELOPED A TWO-STEP SYNTHETIC ROUTE TO GENERATE A FAMILY OF ER-TARGETING BORON DIPYRRIN (BODIPY) FLUORESCENT PROBES. THE SYNTHETIC SIMPLICITY AND VERSATILITY OF THIS PROCESS ALLOW FOR THE EASY CONFIGURATION OF THESE PROBES WITH SPECIFIC CONSTITUENTS WITHOUT AFFECTING THEIR ABILITY TO LOCALIZE WITHIN THE ER; THEREBY ALLOWING FOR THE SYNTHESIS OF A MYRIAD OF COMPOUNDS. FOLLOWING SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF THE BODIPY PROBES, THEIR EFFICACY AS NSCLC THERAPEUTICS WILL BE EXPLORED THROUGH THREE MECHANISMS; AIM 1) AS REAL-TIME MONITORS OF ER STRESS AND CANCER BY SENSING MICROVISCOSITY CHANGES, AIM 2) VIA TARGETED DELIVERY OF CISPLATIN, A RENOWNED ANTICANCER THERAPEUTIC, TO THE ER AND AIM 3) AS PHOTODYNAMIC THERAPY (PDT) AGENT VIA LIGHT-ACTIVATED REACTIVE OXYGEN SPECIES PRODUCTION WITHIN THE ER TO TRIGGER ICD. AS OUR PRELIMINARY DATA HAS DEMONSTRATED THE VERSATILE BODIPY CORE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ER-TARGETING CAPABILITIES AND ALLOWS FOR EASY FUNCTIONALIZATION, WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT A SERIES OF BODIPY DYES WILL SUCCESSFULLY BE SYNTHESIZED CAPABLE OF CARRYING OUT THEIR DESIRED FUNCTIONS IN THE ER, WHETHER IT IS SERVING AS A REAL-TIME, MOLECULAR PROBE FOR VISCOSITY CHANGES OR DELIVERING CANCER THERAPEUTICS. HOWEVER, THE EFFICACY OF THESE APPLICATIONS WILL DEPEND ON THE CONSTITUENT CHEMICAL FORMULATION. MOREOVER, DUE TO ITS DISTINCTIVE ATTRIBUTES, IT IS BELIEVED THAT THE BDP-1I BODIPY DYE WILL BE ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY DESTROY NSCLC CELLS THROUGH ICD INDUCTION FOLLOWING PHOTO-STIMULATION. OUR THREE-PRONGED APPROACH WILL HELP US DEVELOP FUTURE STRATEGIES FOR THE DETECTION AND POTENTIAL TREATMENT OF NSCLC, WITH OUR ULTIMATE GOAL OF CREATING A COLLABORATIVE CENTER IN THE AREA OF FLUOROPROBES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON, DRIVEN BY OUR DIVERSE FACULTY AND STUDENTS.

CHARACTERIZATION OF CORROSION INHIBITION OF HY80 BY A NATURAL BIOPOLYMER AND ITS SYNTHETIC ANALOG

THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO COLLECT IMPORTANT DATA DESCRIBING THE EFFECTS OF CRITICAL THERMAL TREATMENT VARIABLES, INCLUDING TEMPERATURES AND RESIDENCE TIMES, ON THE DESTRUCTION OF ONE TO FIVE CARBONS LONG PERFLUOROCARBONS (PFCS) AND FOUR TO EIGHT CARBONS LONG PER- AND POLYFLUORINATED ALKYL SUBSTANCES (PFAS). THE WORK WILL BE CONDUCTED AT THE BENCH SCALE USING EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES ON THE THERMAL TREATMENT OF POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS ORGANIC COMPOUNDS. THIS BENCH SCALE APPROACH IS A VERY COST-EFFECTIVE APPROACH FOR COLLECTING THIS INFORMATION AND CAN MORE CLEARLY SEPARATE AND UNDERSTAND THE EFFECTS OF THERMAL TREATMENT VARIABLES UNDER MORE CONTROLLED CONDITIONS THAN CAN BE COST EFFECTIVELY ACCOMPLISHED AT THE PILOT- OR FULL-SCALE. PFAS WILL BE PASSED THROUGH THE BENCHTOP FURNACES AND THE EMISSIONS WILL BE ANALYZED FOR THE INITIAL PFAS AND FLUORINATED BYPRODUCTS. THESE ANALYSES WILL BE USED TO DETERMINE THE DESTRUCTION AND MINERALIZATION OF THE PFAS AT VARIOUS TEMPERATURES AND WITH

SHF:SMALL:NEUROMORPHIC ARCHITECTURES FOR ON-LINE LEARNING

EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN'S FLEXIBLE ATTENTION TO NUMERICAL AND SPATIAL MAGNITUDES

CHARACTERIZATION, MITIGATION, AND EXPLOITATION OF VOLUME TURBULENCE EFFECTS IN ARMY TACTICAL AND LONG-RANGE OPTICAL SYSTEMS

DECIPHERING THE THALAMIC RETICULAR FUNCTIONS OF PHOSPHOLAMBAN - PROJECT SUMMARY THE THALAMIC RETICULAR NUCLEUS (TRN) IS A POORLY UNDERSTOOD STRUCTURE OF THE MAMMALIAN FOREBRAIN THAT IS DEEPLY INVOLVED IN REGULATING COMPLEX BEHAVIORS SUCH AS SENSORY PROCESSING, ATTENTION, AND SLEEP. TRN DYSFUNCTION HAS BEEN RECENTLY PROPOSED TO COMPRISE A CIRCUIT ENDOPHENOTYPE IN NEURODEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS, INCLUDING AUTISM, SCHIZOPHRENIA AND ATTENTION-DEFICIT/HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER (ADHD). NOTABLY, A SPECIALIZED SARCO-ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM CALCIUM (CA2+) ATPASE 2 (SERCA2)-DEPENDENT CA2+-CYCLING NETWORK OPERATES IN THE DENDRITES OF THALAMIC RETICULAR NEURONS TO REGULATE THEIR BURST-FIRING ACTIVITY. PHOSPHOLAMBAN (PLN) IS A CRITICAL REGULATOR OF THE SERCA2, AND WELL-KNOWN FOR PRESERVING CA2+ HOMEOSTASIS IN THE HEART. FINDINGS FROM OUR LAB INDICATE THAT THE ROLE OF PLN EXTENDS BEYOND THE CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM TO INFLUENCE THE BRAIN’S THALAMIC RETICULAR NEUROCIRCUITRY. SPECIFICALLY, WE HAVE FOUND PLN PROTEIN TO BE SELECTIVELY EXPRESSED IN THE INHIBITORY TRN NEURONS OF THE MOUSE BRAIN, WHILE CONDITIONAL LOSS OF PLN FUNCTION IN THE TRN (I.E., PLNCKO) RESULTS IN ABERRANT BEHAVIORS THAT MAP ONTO THALAMIC RETICULAR CIRCUITS, INCLUDING LOCOMOTOR HYPERACTIVITY AND MOTOR IMPULSIVITY. THE STUDIES OUTLINED IN THE CURRENT 3-YEAR AREA (R15) PROJECT WILL TEST THE SPECIFIC HYPOTHESES THAT: I) PLN IS A PROMINENT CA2+-HANDLING PLAYER IN THE TRN WITH AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN REGULATING THE SIGNALING PROPERTIES OF TRN NEURONS, AND II) THAT DYSFUNCTIONAL NEURONAL RESPONSES IN THE TRN UNDERLIE THE HYPERACTIVE AND IMPULSIVE BEHAVIORAL PHENOTYPES OBSERVED IN PLNCKO MICE. IN ORDER TO ADDRESS THESE HYPOTHESES, THIS PROJECT WILL USE A COMBINATION OF NOVEL TRN-SPECIFIC PLNCKO TRANSGENIC MOUSE MODELS, AND HIGH-THROUGHPUT RNA-SEQUENCING (RNA-SEQ) TRANSCRIPTOMICS, NEUROCHEMICAL AND IN VIVO CA2+ FIBER PHOTOMETRY IMAGING APPROACHES TO UNVEIL THE INTRICATE CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR MECHANISMS ORCHESTRATED BY THE PLN/SERCA2 PATHWAY IN THE TRN NEUROCIRCUIT. THE STUDIES OUTLINED IN THIS PROPOSAL HAVE HIGH POTENTIAL TO DECIPHER THE CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR DYNAMICS OF A NOVEL THALAMIC RETICULAR CA2+-HANDLING REGULATOR INVOLVED IN FINE-TUNING LOCOMOTOR ACTIVITY AND MOTOR IMPULSIVITY AT THE ORGANISMAL LEVEL. IMPORTANTLY, THIS AREA (R15) AWARD WILL SUPPORT A NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH TEAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON COMPOSED PRIMARILY OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCHERS AND WILL PROVIDE AN OUTSTANDING OPPORTUNITY FOR STUDENTS TO GAIN A SOLID UNDERSTANDING OF A WIDE SPECTRUM OF CUTTING-EDGE NEUROSCIENCE METHODOLOGIES. OVER THE PROJECT PERIOD, OVER TEN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AND ONE GRADUATE STUDENT WILL BE INVOLVED IN THE PROPOSED RESEARCH. SPECIALIZED UPPER-LEVEL UNDERGRADUATE NEUROBIOLOGY LABORATORY COURSES (I.E., 20-24 STUDENTS PER YEAR), AS WELL AS INTRODUCTORY BIOLOGY CORE LABORATORY COURSES REQUIRED BY ALL SCIENCE MAJORS (I.E., 450 STUDENTS PER YEAR) WILL UTILIZE ANTIBODIES, REAGENTS, MOUSE MODELS AND EXPERIMENTAL PROTOCOLS DEVELOPED IN THIS PROJECT. THIS PROJECT WILL THEREFORE MEET AREA (R15) GOALS BY INCREASING SCIENTIFIC LITERACY OF MORE THAN 1,400 STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON THROUGH EXPOSURE TO MERITORIOUS RESEARCH.

NONLINEAR OPTICAL SIGNATURES OF ELECTRONIC QUANTUM TUNNELING EFFECTS IN NANOPLASMONIC SYSTEMS

(DURIP) A TUNABLE MID WAVE IR AND LONG WAVE IR LASER FOR RESEARCH IN MWIR AND LWIR MATERIALS, AND APPLICATIONS

"SITE DIRECTED NUCLEATION AND GROWTH OF CERAMIC FILMS ON METALLIC SURFACES: A STUDY OF SURFACE AND INTERFACIAL CHEMISTRIES FOR THE PREVENTION AND INH

IN THIS PROJECT, THE UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON WILL PRODUCE SCALABLE PERFORMANCE AND OPTIMIZATION TOOLS FOR NARROW-CHANNEL DESIGNS IN PARTICLE-TO-SCO2 HEAT EXCHANGERS AND FOR COMMERCIAL-SCALE TROUGH DESIGNS IN MULTI-STAGE FALLING PARTICLE RECEIVERS. UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON WILL LEVERAGE COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH FACILITIES AND PRIOR EXPERIENCE IN DISCRETE ELEMENT METHOD+ (DEM+, [DEM WITH PARTICULATE RADIATIVE EXCHANGE]) MODELING TO ISOLATE HIGH-TEMPERATURE GRANULAR FLOW PERFORMANCE IN THESE CSP INFRASTRUCTURES. THESE STUDIES WILL PRODUCE THE REQUIRED DATA FOR MACHINE LEARNING (ML) AIDED DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS TO IDENTIFY DIMENSIONLESS SCALING ARGUMENTS FOR TROUGHS AND CHANNELS IN CSP ENVIRONMENTS; FACILITATING OPTIMIZED AND MORE COST-EFFECTIVE CSP INFRASTRUCTURES. THE DEVELOPMENT AND DEMONSTRATION OF SCALABLE CSP INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGN TOOLS WOULD SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT TIMES, SUPPORTING RAPID INNOVATION FROM LABORATORY TO COMMERCIAL-SCALE DEPLOYMENT. OPTIMIZED CSP COMPONENTS WILL ALSO LEAD TO IMMEDIATE COMPONENT EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTS AND COST-REDUCTIONS FOR COMMERCIAL SYSTEMS FALLING PARTICLE TROUGH RECEIVERS.

DETERMINATION OF MANUFACTURED NANOPARTICLE TOXICITY USING NOVEL RAPID SCREENING METHODS

MULTI-FUNCTIONAL BIOLOGICALLY INSPIRED CORROSION INHIBITORS

GENETIC BASIS OF PATTERNING AND GROWTH IN DROSOPHILA EYE

EQUIPMENT: ACQUISITION OF A LASER DIRECT-WRITE PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY SYSTEM -LITHOGRAPHY IS THE MOST EXPENSIVE AND MOST CRITICAL STEP IN THE FABRICATION OF SEMICONDUCTOR ELECTRONIC AND OPTICAL INTEGRATED CIRCUITS. THE ABILITY TO REPRODUCE MILLIONS OF IDENTICAL COPIES HAS ADVANTAGES IN MANUFACTURING BUT IN AN R&D/EDUCATIONAL SETTING WE TYPICALLY ONLY NEED A HANDFUL OF PROTOTYPE COPIES. THE CURRENT METHOD OF CHIP PROTOTYPING REQUIRES OUTSOURCED MANUFACTURING OF PHOTOMASKS FOR EACH LITHOGRAPHY STEP. THE PROPOSED LASER LITHOGRAPHY CAPABILITY WILL ELIMINATE THE PHOTOMASK STEP AND ENABLE RESEARCHERS TO DIRECTLY PRINT LITHOGRAPHY PATTERNS ON A CHIP OR WAFER, THEREBY SIGNIFICANTLY ACCELERATING RESEARCH PROGRESS AND REDUCING DEVELOPMENT COST. THE DIFFERENCE IN TECHNIQUE AND CORRESPONDING ADVANTAGES IS ANALOGOUS TO MOLD REPLICATION VS 3D PRINTING. JUST LIKE ADVANCES IN ELECTRONICS, MECHANICS AND SOFTWARE HAVE ENABLED HIGH-QUALITY 3D PRINTING, RECENT ADVANCES IN UV LASERS, FOCUSING OPTICS AND MECHANICAL POSITIONING ACCURACY HAVE ENABLED DIRECT-WRITE PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY. THIS PROJECT BRINGS TOGETHER A DIVERSE GROUP OF RESEARCHERS FROM ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE TO MAKE ADVANCES IN SEVERAL AREAS SUCH AS SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS, PHOTONIC AND BIOTECHNOLOGY CHIPS, IMAGING SCIENCE AND ADVANCED LITHOGRAPHY PROCESS DEVELOPMENT. THIS TOOL IS ALSO IDEAL FOR INCORPORATING HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE FOR GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS STUDYING SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING. THIS CAPABILITY WILL BECOME AN INTEGRAL TRAINING MODULE FOR OUR SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES AND WILL AUGMENT OUR SUCCESSFUL AND ON-GOING RELATIONSHIPS WITH COMMUNITY COLLEGES AND MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTIONS IN THE REGION. THE RAITH PICOMASTER 150 DIRECT-WRITE LASER BEAM LITHOGRAPHY (LBL) SYSTEM WILL ENABLE RAPID PROTOTYPING OF COMPLEX DEVICES IN HOURS INSTEAD OF WEEKS WITH SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER COST BY CIRCUMVENTING THE NEED FOR THE INTERMEDIATE PHOTOMASK STEP. WITH THE ABILITY TO ACHIEVE FEATURE SIZES DOWN TO 300 NM, THIS EQUIPMENT WILL HELP ADVANCE OUR CURRENT EDUCATION, RESEARCH, AND INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIPS IN INTEGRATED PHOTONICS AND ELECTRONICS. THIS PROJECT BRINGS TOGETHER A DIVERSE GROUP OF RESEARCHERS FROM THE DEPARTMENTS OF ELECTRO-OPTICS & PHOTONICS, ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY, PHYSICS AND BIOLOGY. SPECIFIC RESEARCH ACTIVITIES THAT WILL IMMEDIATELY BENEFIT FROM THIS TOOL INCLUDE NANO-PATTERNED PHASE CHANGE MATERIALS (PCM), PHOTONIC INTEGRATED CIRCUITS (PIC), WIDE BANDGAP ELECTRONICS, SOFT/WEARABLE ELECTRONICS, NOVEL SPECTROSCOPIC IMAGING, AND LAB-ON-A-CHIP BIOMEDICAL DEVICES. ADDITIONALLY, WE WILL COLLABORATE WITH RAITH TO EXPLORE RESOLUTION ENHANCEMENT TECHNIQUES SUCH AS SELF-ALIGNED DOUBLE PATTERNING (SADP), WHICH COULD ENHANCE THE OPTICAL RESOLUTION OF THE TOOL DOWN TO 100 NM. THE PROPOSED LITHOGRAPHY CAPABILITY WILL ENABLE FAST TURNAROUND OF DESIGNS MADE BY STUDENTS FOR IMMEDIATE FABRICATION IN OUR CLEANROOM. IT WILL ALLOW DEVICES SUCH AS MOSFETS AND PHOTODETECTORS TO BE DESIGNED AND FABRICATED DURING A SINGLE SEMESTER COURSE. THIS WILL ENHANCE THE EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING OF OUR GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS, WHICH WAS NOT PREVIOUSLY POSSIBLE DUE TO THE LENGTHY LEAD-TIMES AND COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PHOTOMASK-BASED LITHOGRAPHY PROCESS. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

DEVELOP A NOVEL MODELING TOOLBOX TO EXPAND CURRENT DISCRETE ELEMENT METHOD (DEM+) MODELING CAPABILITIES TO INFORM DECISION MAKING ON THE DESIGN OF PARTICLE-BASED CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER (CSP) SYSTEMS.

NON-DESTRUCTIVE LASER-INDUCED TRANSFER OF NANOSTRUCTURES TO FLEXIBLE SUBSTRATES WITH SUB-5 NANOMETER RESOLUTION

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: PIC: SLOW WAVE ENHANCED ELECTROOPTICALLY TUNED MICHELSON INTERFEROMETER BIOSENSOR FOR ON-CHIP DUAL POLARIZATION INTERFEROMETRY -THE COVID PANDEMIC OF 2020 DEMONSTRATED THE WORLDWIDE NEED FOR LOW-COST, HIGHLY SENSITIVE, RAPID DIAGNOSTIC TESTING OF DIVERSE PATHOGENS. WHILE SILICON PHOTONICS ENABLES SUCH A HIGHLY MULTIPLEXED LABELFREE SENSING CAPABILITY WITH EXTREMELY HIGH SENSITIVITIES, A HANDHELD LOW-COST SILICON NANOPHOTONIC SENSOR IS STILL MISSING. FABRICATION IMPERFECTIONS HAVE MADE PHOTONIC SENSOR IMPLEMENTATIONS DIFFICULT WITH A FIXED WAVELENGTH LASER AND A SINGLE DETECTOR. PHOTONIC MEASUREMENT VARIABILITIES ALSO ARISE FROM BINDING UNCERTAINTIES IN NANOPHOTONIC PILLARS AND TRENCHES. THE FUNDAMENTAL WORK IN THIS PROPOSAL EMPLOYS A NOVEL ON-CHIP DUAL POLARIZATION INTERFEROMETRY TECHNIQUE THAT WILL REDUCE PHOTONIC MEASUREMENT VARIABILITY, AND NOVEL CIRCUIT IMPLEMENTATIONS TO ENABLE ELECTRICALLY DRIVEN AND ELECTRICALLY READOUT LOW-COST ON-CHIP NANOPHOTONIC SENSORS. THE WORKING PRINCIPLE OF THE DEVICE, AND CIRCUIT IMPLEMENTATIONS OF THE DEVICE TO OVERCOME FABRICATION AND MEASUREMENT LIMITATIONS HAVE NOT BEEN PREVIOUSLY DEMONSTRATED. THE STATE-OFTHE- ART PHOTONIC DEVICE FABRICATION CAPABILITIES AT A 300 MM CMOS FOUNDRY, NAMELY AIM PHOTONICS, WITH MONOLITHICALLY INTEGRATED PASSIVE AND ACTIVE ELECTRICALLY BIASED PHOTONIC COMPONENTS WILL BE EMPLOYED IN THIS PROJECT. THE PROJECT WILL INVOLVE STUDENTS IN OPTICS, ENGINEERING, MATERIALS SCIENCE, AND PHYSICS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON AND THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS WHO WILL NOT ONLY LEARN ABOUT CUTTING-EDGE STEM (SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS) RESEARCH BUT ALSO IN COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN LAYOUTS FOR FOUNDRY FABRICATION OF NEXT-GENERATION CO-INTEGRATED ELECTRONIC-PHOTONIC DEVICES. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO WORK WITH STUDENTS AND FACULTY IN MICROBIOLOGY FROM THE DAYTON EARLY COLLEGE ACADEMY, AND OTHER MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN THE GREATER DAYTON, OH AND DENTON, TX AREAS. THE HANDHELD SENSORS WILL FIND APPLICATIONS IN VARIOUS DOMAINS OF BIOLOGICAL SENSING FOR CANCER DIAGNOSTICS, INFECTIOUS DISEASE AND OPIOID DIAGNOSTICS, AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION MONITORING AS ALSO IN NEW DRUG DISCOVERY. THE TECHNICAL GOALS OF THIS PROJECT WILL (A) DEMONSTRATE THE PRINCIPLE OF SLOW LIGHT ENHANCED INTERFEROMETRY ON-CHIP; (B) INVESTIGATE NOVEL THIN-FILM ELECTRO-OPTIC PHASE SHIFTERS ON SILICON CHIP; (C) DEMONSTRATE ON-CHIP REAL TIME DUAL POLARIZATION INTERFEROMETRY; AND (D) DEMONSTRATE AN UNPRECEDENTED FABRICATION TOLERANT SILICON NANOPHOTONIC SENSOR OPERATING IN A COMPACT PACKAGE WITH ELECTRICAL DRIVE AND ELECTRICAL READOUT. THE PROGRAM WILL EXPOSE STUDENTS TO INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH ENCOMPASSING LITHOGRAPHY, PHOTONICS, ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, PHYSICS, BIOCHEMISTRY, AND MATERIALS SCIENCE. THE PROJECT WILL CULMINATE WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF A USB-POWERED HANDHELD OPTICAL BIOSENSOR KIT. PROJECT MEMBERS WILL ENGAGE IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OUTREACH TARGETING MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN GREATER DAYTON, OH AND GREATER DENTON, TX COUNTIES. PROJECT ACTIVITIES WILL OUTREACH TO BROADEN THE PARTICIPATION OF MINORITY STUDENTS IN STEM EDUCATION AND TRAINING. STUDENTS WILL BE EXPOSED TO AN INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM WITH HANDS-ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY EXPERIENCE. FINALLY, THE PROJECT WILL HELP TO ADDRESS THE SIGNIFICANT CURRENT NEED TO BUILD US-BASED MANPOWER IN THE DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING OF SEMICONDUCTOR CHIPS. 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.

REU SITE: SEMICONDUCTOR ELECTRONICS AND PHOTONICS AT UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON -NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY THE UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON (UD) WILL HOST A RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR UNDERGRADUATES (REU) SITE THAT PROVIDES A FULLY IMMERSIVE 10-WEEK EXPERIENCE FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS TO PERFORM RESEARCH AND RECEIVE TRAINING IN SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS, ELECTRONIC AND PHOTONIC DEVICES, AND MANUFACTURING. EACH REU PARTICIPANT RECEIVES A STIPEND, HOUSING, A PARTIAL MEAL ALLOWANCE, TRAVEL FUNDS, AND AN ALLOWANCE FOR MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES. THE REU INCLUDES A WORKSHOP ON SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING, WHICH INCORPORATES HANDS-ON TRAINING AT AND USE OF THE UD NANOFAB LAB FACILITY, AND PARTICIPANTS PRESENT THE RESULTS OF THEIR RESEARCH AT THE ANNUAL UD SUMMER STEM RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM. FACULTY MENTORS RECEIVE FORMALIZED MENTORING TRAINING, AND PARTICIPANTS RECEIVE A FOCUSED MENTORING EXPERIENCE. THIS REU IS CENTERED ON DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION, WITH RECRUITING EFFORTS DEDICATED TO RECRUITMENT OF STUDENTS FROM MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTIONS. THIS PROGRAM HELPS TO PROMOTE SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS IN BASIC AND APPLIED SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN THE FIELD OF SEMICONDUCTORS BY PROVIDING ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR THE HOST INSTITUTION AND RESEARCH MENTORS, AND IT HELPS TO DEVELOP A DIVERSE WORKFORCE WITH THE NECESSARY SKILLS TO SUCCEED IN THE QUICKLY GROWING SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY, WHICH IS CRITICAL FOR THE NATION?S TECHNOLOGY ADVANCEMENT AND NATIONAL SECURITY. ADDITIONALLY, MUCH OF THE RESEARCH AT UD IS PERFORMED IN COLLABORATION WITH THE AIR FORCE RESEARCH LABORATORY, WHICH IS LOCATED A FEW MILES FROM CAMPUS, AND THE REU WILL HELP INDIRECTLY SUPPORT DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE-RELATED RESEARCH. TECHNICAL SUMMARY THE REU PROGRAM IS FOCUSED ON RESEARCH IN THE FIELD OF SEMICONDUCTORS. PARTICIPANTS WILL SPEND 10 WEEKS AT UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON (UD) PERFORMING RESEARCH UNDER UD FACULTY MEMBERS. THE DEPARTMENTS OF PHYSICS, ELECTRO-OPTICS AND PHOTONICS (EOP), AND CHEMICAL AND MATERIALS ENGINEERING (CME) AT UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON HAVE A LONG TRACK RECORD IN SEMICONDUCTOR-RELATED RESEARCH, PARTICULARLY FOR APPLICATIONS USING OPTICS AND PHOTONICS. RESEARCH AREAS PURSUED BY FACULTY AT UD SPAN THE ENTIRE SPECTRUM OF SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING, FROM STUDYING NEW SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS TO LAYOUT AND DESIGN TO DEVICE FABRICATION AND TESTING TO INTEGRATED CIRCUIT DESIGN. RECENT GRANTS AND CONTRACTS AWARDED TO UD HAVE INCLUDED RESEARCH TOPICS SUCH AS DEVELOPMENT OF SI-BASED LASERS AND INFRARED DETECTORS, PHASE CHANGE MATERIALS FOR RECONFIGURABLE DEVICES, DEVELOPMENT OF OPTICAL TECHNIQUES FOR NANOFABRICATION AND NANOMACHINING, DESIGN AND TESTING OF PHOTONIC INTEGRATED CIRCUITS, AND LASER DIRECT WRITING OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES. REU PARTICIPANTS PERFORM RESEARCH UNDER FACULTY MEMBERS IN THESE SUBJECT AREAS, OFTEN IN COOPERATION WITH GRADUATE STUDENTS FROM EOP OR CME AND OTHER UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN PHYSICS OR ENGINEERING, WHICH CAN RESULT IN CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS AND/OR PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS. THIS SITE IS SUPPORTED IN PART BY FUNDS PROVIDED TO THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION BY THE SEMICONDUCTOR RESEARCH CORPORATION. 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.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR COUNTERING VIOLENT EXTREMISM

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A MULTIFUNCTIONAL RHEOMETER WITH HIGH TEMPERATURE, DYNAMIC MECHANICAL ANALYSIS AND TRIBOLOGICAL TESTING CAPABILITIES FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATION -THIS MAJOR RESEARCH INSTRUMENTATION (MRI) AWARD SUPPORTS THE ACQUISITION OF A MULTI-DRIVE RHEOMETER EQUIPPED WITH CUSTOM, EXTREME-ENVIRONMENT MEASUREMENT SUITES. THE INSTRUMENT WILL BE ONE OF THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE RHEOMETER SYSTEMS IN THE WORLD, WITH A PREVIOUSLY UNATTAINABLE RANGE OF TESTING CAPABILITIES. IT WILL ENABLE RESEARCH ON FUNDAMENTAL MATERIAL PROPERTIES FOR A WIDE RANGE OF MATERIALS USED IN ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, THERMOCHEMICAL ENERGY STORAGE, DRUG DELIVERY, SOFT ROBOTICS, AND QUIET DRONE PROPULSION SYSTEMS. THE STATE-OF-THE-ART RHEOMETRY SYSTEM WILL SUPPORT THE RESEARCH, TEACHING, AND OUTREACH ACTIVITIES OF NUMEROUS FACULTY AND UNDERGRADUATE/GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCHERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON AND CENTRAL STATE UNIVERSITY, A LOCAL HISTORICALLY BLACK UNIVERSITY. THE INSTRUMENT WILL BE ACCESSIBLE AS A SHARED FACILITY, EXPANDING THE MATERIAL CHARACTERIZATION CAPABILITIES OF THE GREATER DAYTON REGION AND SUPPORTING EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS. HANDS-ON AND VIRTUAL INSTRUCTIONAL MODULES WILL BE DEVELOPED TO EXPLAIN RHEOMETRY/RHEOLOGY CONCEPTS AND APPLICATIONS TO UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN ENGINEERING COURSES, UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITY SUMMER CAMPS, HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, AND SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS. PUBLIC OUTREACH VIDEOS AND PODCASTS WILL ALSO BE MADE AVAILABLE TO THE BOONSHOFT MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY YOUTUBE CHANNEL, DIRECTLY EDUCATING K-12 CHILDREN ABOUT THE ROLE OF RHEOLOGY IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING. THE RHEOMETER SYSTEM WITH CUSTOM MEASUREMENT SUITES WILL PROVIDE ACCESS TO STATE-OF-THE-ART MEASUREMENT RESOLUTION, EXTREME ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL, AND AN UNPRECEDENTED DIVERSITY OF MEASUREMENT CAPABILITIES. THE INSTRUMENT WILL BE USED TO ADVANCE RESEARCH IN THREE CORE AREAS. 1) DENSE AND DISPERSED PARTICLE SYSTEMS: THE HIGH-TEMPERATURE SHEAR CELL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHAMBER WILL LEAD TO EXPERIMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE RELATIVE IMPACT OF INTER-PARTICLE FRICTIONAL, COLLISIONAL, AND AGGLOMERATION OF CERAMIC AND METALLIC POWDERS FOR TEMPERATURES UP TO 1000 ?C, OPERATING CONDITIONS OF INTEREST FOR BOTH ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING FEEDSTOCKS AND THERMOCHEMICAL ENERGY STORAGE MEDIA. 2A) COMPLEX FLUIDS: MAGNETORHEOLOGY, MICROSCOPY, INTERFACIAL RHEOLOGY, AND RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY MODULES WILL ALLOW IN-SITU EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES AND CHARACTERIZATION OF RHEO-STRUCTURAL COMPLEX FLUID PROPERTIES SUCH AS POLYMER GELS OR EMULSIONS. 2B) SOFT MATERIALS: THE CUSTOM DYNAMIC MECHANICAL ANALYSIS MODULE WILL ENABLE A FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF SELF-HEALING, PHOTO-CURABLE ELASTOMERS FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING OVER A PREVIOUSLY UNATTAINABLE RANGE OF LOADING CONDITIONS, STRAIN RATES, TEMPERATURES, AND HUMIDITIES. 3) TRIBOLOGY MEASUREMENT AND ANALYSIS: THE TRIBOLOGY AND RAMAN SUITES WILL SUPPORT THE IN-SITU OBSERVATION OF MATERIAL TRANSFER AND TRIBO-CHEMICAL CONVERSIONS, LEADING TO THE DISCOVERY OF NEW INTERFACIAL SLIDING MECHANISMS USED TO DESIGN NOVEL QUIET DRONES AND HYPERSONIC SYSTEMS. 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.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: VARIABLE GEOMETRY DIES FOR POLYMER EXTRUSION

ARE MICRONUTRIENTS IMPORTANT IN STRUCTURING PLANT AND HERBIVORE COMMUNITIES? A TEST IN COASTAL TALLGRASS PRAIRIES.

ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING EQUIPMENT FOR ENHANCED RESEARCH OF NOVEL CARBON NANOTUBE - METAL MATRIX COMPOSITE STRUCTURES

MATERIAL MICROSTRUCTURE CHARACTERIZATION INSTRUMENTATION FOR MULTI-BEAM ADAPTIVE METALLIC ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

METALLIC LASER ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING USING 2D ARRAYS OF SCANNING LASER POWER SOURCES FOR ADVANCED STRUCTURAL MATERIAL PROCESSING

EAGER: CROWD-AI SENSING BASED TRAFFIC ANALYSIS FOR HO CHI MINH CITY PLANNING SIMULATION

COLLABORATIVE RET SITE - GLOBAL STEM - APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPING COMMUNITIES

GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM (GRFP)

CCSS: SPECTRAL FILTER ARRAY FOR MULTISPECTRAL IMAGING

GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM (GRFP)

ALTERNATIVE JET FUELS TEST AND EVALUATION

CAS-CLIMATE: UNDERSTANDING THE LINK BETWEEN REGIONAL CLIMATE PATTERNS AND WATER SUPPLY IN THE HORN OF AFRICA

DEVELOPMENT OF VISIBLE ULTRAFAST MODE-LOCKED FIBER LASERS

A ULTRA EFFICIENT COMPOSITE MODULARIZED POWER DELIVERY ARCHITECTURE FOR SOLAR FARM AND DATA CENTER

"ALIGNED CARBON NANOTUBES FOR EFFICIENT ENERGY GENERATION AND STORAGE DEVICES"

THE PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH IS TO CONTIN

THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO SOLICIT FUNDS TO PROVIDE ULTRA-HYPERVELOCITY IMPACT TEST DATA ON SPACECRAFT MATERIALS AND SHIELDS WITH CONTROLLED

TAS::57 3600::TAS "(DURIP 10) COMPASS FOR DEEP TURBULENCE UNDERSTANDING CHARACTERIZATION AND MITIGATION"

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ON NEW FLAME RETARDANT CHEMISTRIES FOR POLYURETHANES

CIF: SMALL: INTEGRATING IMAGING DETECTORS

NOVEL CARBON MULTIFUNCTIONAL MATERIALS FOR ENHANCED MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

$0 F&A (DURIP) BENCHMARKING STEREO EVENT-BASED VELOCIMETRY FOR 3D FLOWFIELDS USING LAGRANGIAN REFERENCE MEASUREMENTS

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A CAPLEX SYSTEM FOR HUMAN MOVEMENT RESEARCH AND RESEARCH TRAINING

MRI: ACQUISITION OF AN ULTRA SMALL-ANGLE X-RAY SCATTERING INSTRUMENT FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY MATERIALS RESEARCH

TAS::57 3600::TAS (DURIP 15) "HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTATIONAL CLUSTER FOR EXTENDED-RANGE ATMOSPHERIC OPTICS RESEARCH"

CAREER: SCALABLE COMPUTER ARCHITECTURES OF HIERARCHICAL NOEOCTEX MODELS AND K-12 EDUCATION ENHANCEMENT

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: GRAPTOLITE BIOGEOGRAPHY PALEO-GIS AND EVOLUTIONARY DYNAMICS OF EARLY PALEOZOIC ZOOPLANKTON

MATERIALS TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT FOR RADIOISOTOPE POWER SYSTEMS PROGRAM

NATIONAL JET FUELS COMBUSTION PROGRAM * AREA #7 (YEAR 2)

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: UNDERSTANDING STOCHASTIC SPATIOTEMPORAL DYNAMICS OF EPIDEMIC SPREAD TO IMPROVE CONTROL INTERVENTIONS - FROM COVID-19 TO FUTURE PANDEMICS -THIS GRANT WILL SUPPORT RESEARCH THAT WILL CONTRIBUTE NEW SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE RELATED TO HOW UNCERTAINTIES IN BOTH HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND TRANSMISSION CHARACTERISTICS OF A CAUSATIVE PATHOGEN (SUCH AS THE NOVEL CORONAVIRUS IN THE CASE OF COVID-19) INFLUENCE THE SPREAD OF AN EPIDEMIC, AND HOW THE NEW KNOWLEDGE THUS OBTAINED ABOUT EPIDEMIC SPREAD CAN CONTRIBUTE TO INTERVENTIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY MEASURES TO EFFECTIVELY MITIGATE AND CONTROL AN EPIDEMIC. THE RESEARCH WILL ADVANCE BOTH THE SCIENCE OF PREDICTING EPIDEMIC SPREAD AS WELL AS NATIONAL PROSPERITY BY ENHANCING NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS FOR EARLY AND EFFECTIVE MITIGATION OF POTENTIAL FUTURE EPIDEMIC OUTBREAKS. MATHEMATICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL MODELS THAT CAN ACCURATELY PREDICT AN EPIDEMIC SPREAD ACROSS GEOGRAPHICAL REGIONS OVER SPECIFIED PERIODS OF TIME ARE CRITICAL PRECURSORS TO DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE INTERVENTIONS FOR MITIGATION SUCH AS SOCIAL-DISTANCING MEASURES AND VACCINATION CAMPAIGNS (WHEN VACCINES BECOME AVAILABLE). HOWEVER, THE LIMITATIONS OF EXISTING PREDICTIVE MODELS, AS EVIDENT DURING THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK IN THE US, UNDERSCORE THE NEED FOR NEW KNOWLEDGE IN THIS AREA. THIS AWARD SUPPORTS FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH TO DEVELOP NOVEL PREDICTIVE MODELS OF EPIDEMIC SPREAD AND ALSO TO VALIDATE MODEL PREDICTIONS AGAINST THE EXTENSIVE COVID-19 SPREAD DATA ONLY NOW AVAILABLE. THIS RESEARCH INVOLVES MULTIPLE DISCIPLINES INCLUDING THE MATHEMATICAL THEORY OF PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS, STOCHASTIC ANALYSIS, CONTROL THEORY, AND EPIDEMIOLOGY AND THE RESULTS WILL LIKELY HAVE BROADER SIGNIFICANCE IN THE STUDY OF RARE-EVENT DYNAMICS IN AREAS SUCH AS ECOLOGY, CLIMATE SCIENCE AND WILDFIRE PROPAGATION. MOREOVER, THIS CROSS-DISCIPLINARY PROJECT, A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT INVOLVING MULTIPLE INSTITUTIONS, WILL BROADEN THE PARTICIPATION OF UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS IN RESEARCH AND TRAINING, AND ALSO ADVANCE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING EDUCATION. THE RESEARCH WILL ADVANCE THE FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE OF HOW UNCERTAINTIES, BOTH IN HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND PATHOGEN CHARACTERISTICS, INFLUENCE SPATIOTEMPORAL, STOCHASTIC EPIDEMIC DYNAMICS AND ALSO YIELD A CONTROL-THEORETIC FRAMEWORK TO ANALYZE INTERVENTIONS FOR MITIGATION. SPECIFICALLY, THE PROJECT WILL: (1) DEVELOP NOVEL PREDICTIVE DYNAMIC MODELS BASED ON PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS, (2) UNCOVER EFFECTS OF THE INTERACTION BETWEEN NONLINEARITY AND UNCERTAINTY SUCH AS NOISE-INDUCED BIFURCATIONS, (3) STUDY INFECTION SPIKES USING A STOCHASTIC APPROACH, (4) VALIDATE THE MODELS USING COVID-19 DATA, (5) ESTABLISH A CONTROL-THEORETIC FRAMEWORK TO ANALYZE MITIGATIVE INTERVENTIONS, USING A COMBINATION OF AVERAGING METHODS FROM STOCHASTIC ANALYSIS AND FEEDBACK CONTROL THEORY, (6) OBTAIN IMPROVED CHARACTERIZATION OF EPIDEMIOLOGIC PARAMETERS SUCH AS BASIC AND EFFECTIVE REPRODUCTION NUMBERS, AND (7) IDENTIFY PRINCIPLES AND STRATEGIES THAT CAN INFORM INTERVENTIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY. 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.

ROTC-WORKFORCE CYBER SECURITY TRAINING PROGRAM

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A HIGH-FIELD NMR SPECTROMETER

HYBRID NANOGRAIN R-FE-B/R-CO MAGNETS WITH IMPROVED THERMAL STABILITY

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ENABLING DESIGN OF POLYMER NANOCOMPOSITES GUIDED BY MESOSCALE SIMULATIONS AND SCATTERING EXPERIMENTS

CC-NIE NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE: NETWORK 10GB UPGRADE AND SCIENCE DMZ IMPLEMENTATION TO SUPPORT SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING RESEARCH AND ENHANCE OUTREACH F

CM/COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CLOUDMEMS: CYBERMANUFACTURING OF MICRO-ELECTRO-MECHANICAL SYSTEMS

UNCERTAINTY-BASED VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION OF DYNAMIC THERMAL MODELS USING EXERGY-BASED ANALYSIS

3D HOLOGRAPHIC INTERROGATION OF ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH:ENGAGED STUDENT LEARNING: RE-CONCEPTUALIZING AND EVALUATING A CORE COMPUTER SCIENCE COURSE FOR ACTIVE LEARNING AND STEM STUDENT SUCCESS

GENETIC CONTROL OF AXIAL PATTERNING IN DROSOPHILA EYE

REFEREE SWIRL-STABILIZED COMBUSTER EVALUATION / SUPPORT FOR NATIONAL JET FUEL COMBUSTION PROGRAM

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DOCUMENTING THE TRANSITION FROM CONTRACTION TO EXTENSION IN THE RUBY-EAST HUMBOLDT-WOOD HILLS METAMORPHIC CORE COMPLEX, SOUTHWESTERN U.S. CORDILLERA

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: COLLABORATIVE RET SITE: TEACHER POWER (PREPARING OUR WORKFORCE THROUGH ELECTRONICS AND RESEARCH) -THIS THREE-YEAR RET SITE: TEACHER POWER: PREPARING OUR WORKFORCE THROUGH ELECTRONICS AND RESEARCH SUPPORTS THE CURRENT NATIONAL FOCUS ON ADVANCED ELECTRONICS MATERIALS, PACKAGING AND SEMICONDUCTOR (EMPS) ACTIVITIES AND RESEARCH. HOSTED BY WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY (WSU), THE UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON (UD), AND CENTRAL STATE UNIVERSITY (CSU), THIS PROJECT ENGAGES K-12 IN-SERVICE AND PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS IN THE SOUTHWESTERN OHIO REGION, WORKING WITH THEM TO DEVELOP THE SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE, AND RESOURCES NEEDED TO PREPARE A STEM WORKFORCE TO ADVANCE EMPS INDUSTRIES. THE THREE INSTITUTIONS (CSU IS A LAND GRANT HBCU, UD IS A MID-SIZE PRIVATE UNIVERSITY AND WSU IS A MID-SIZE PUBLIC UNIVERSITY) WILL PROVIDE RESOURCES AND STRUCTURED OPPORTUNITIES TO DEVELOP AS A COHORT AND SHARE THEIR RESEARCH EXPERIENCES WITH ONE ANOTHER. PARTICIPANTS WILL BE GUIDED THROUGH A STRUCTURED STEM CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCE BUILT ON THE TEACHENGINEERING FRAMEWORK. THIS PROCESS, FACILITATED BY A CURRICULUM COACH, WILL ENABLE THE TEAMS TO WRITE INQUIRY-BASED CURRICULUM THAT INCLUDES ENGINEERING CONCEPTS AND PRACTICES, IS ALIGNED WITH NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED STANDARDS, AND EMPLOY RESEARCH-BASED BEST PRACTICES FOR INCLUSIVE PEDAGOGY. SINCE STEM EDUCATION BEGINS AT K-12, A GREAT DEAL OF THE PREPARATION WILL FALL ON K-12 TEACHERS. PARTICIPANTS WILL PRESENT THEIR CURRICULUM AND DESIGN PROJECTS DURING AN RET CONFERENCE AND SYMPOSIUM. FOLLOW-ON ACTIVITIES AND MEETINGS BY THE PROJECT TEAM WILL FACILITATE PROJECT GOALS IN STEM EDUCATION BY TEACHERS AS THEY WORK TO INCORPORATE THEIR EXPERIENCES INTO THE CLASSROOMS. THIS THREE-YEAR RET SITE: TEACHER POWER: PREPARING OUR WORKFORCE THROUGH ELECTRONICS AND RESEARCH SUPPORTS THE CURRENT NATIONAL FOCUS ON ADVANCED ELECTRONICS MATERIALS, PACKAGING AND SEMICONDUCTOR (EMPS) ACTIVITIES AND RESEARCH. INITIALLY, PARTICIPANTS WILL ENGAGE IN THE OHIO SOUTHWEST ALLIANCE ON SEMICONDUCTORS AND INTEGRATED SCALABLE-MANUFACTURING (OASIS) RAPID CERTIFICATION PROGRAM, A MICROCREDENTIAL CERTIFICATE FOR COMPLETING A SERIES OF HANDS-ON LEARNING AND ONLINE EDUCATIONAL MODULES FOCUSED ON SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGY. PARTICIPANTS WILL WORK UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF A TRAINED FACULTY RESEARCH MENTOR AND IN COLLABORATION WITH THE UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE FACULTY MENTOR?S LABORATORY. A SIGNIFICANT EFFORT WILL BE MADE TO ALIGN THE RESEARCH PROJECTS WITH THE BACKGROUND AND INTERESTS OF THE PARTICIPANTS. CSU IS A LAND GRANT HBCU, UD IS A MID-SIZE PRIVATE UNIVERSITY AND WSU IS A MID-SIZE PUBLIC UNIVERSITY. PARTICIPANTS WILL HAVE STRUCTURED OPPORTUNITIES TO DEVELOP AS A COHORT AND SHARE THEIR RESEARCH EXPERIENCES WITH ONE ANOTHER. PARTICIPANTS WILL BE GUIDED THROUGH A STRUCTURED STEM CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCE BUILT ON THE TEACHENGINEERING FRAMEWORK. A CURRICULUM COACH WILL FACILITATE THE TEAMS IN WRITING INQUIRY-BASED CURRICULUM THAT INCLUDES ENGINEERING CONCEPTS AND PRACTICES, IS ALIGNED WITH NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED STANDARDS, AND EMPLOYS RESEARCH-BASED BEST PRACTICES FOR INCLUSIVE PEDAGOGY. RET PARTICIPANTS WILL PRESENT THEIR CURRICULUM AND DESIGN PROJECTS DURING AN RET CONFERENCE AND SYMPOSIUM. FOLLOW-ON ACTIVITIES AND MEETINGS BY THE PROJECT TEAM WILL FACILITATE PROJECT GOALS IN STEM EDUCATION BY TEACHERS AS THEY WORK TO INCORPORATE THEIR EXPERIENCES INTO THE CLASSROOMS. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: NANOPATTERNING AND TEMPORAL CONTROL OF PHASE-CHANGE MATERIALS FOR RECONFIGURABLE PHOTONICS

STATISTICAL MECHANICS MODELING OF CRITICAL PHENOMENA IN PHYTOPLANKTON LIVING IN A COLD ENVIRONMENT

NSF/FDA SIR: VALIDATION AND STANDARDIZATION OF MELANOMETRY AS A QUANTITATIVE TOOL FOR CLINICAL EVALUATION OF RACIAL DISPARITIES IN BIOPHOTONIC DEVICES -RECENT STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT MEDICAL DEVICES CAN BE LESS ACCURATE FOR PATIENTS WITH DARKER VERSUS LIGHTER SKIN. THIS PROBLEM CAN NEGATIVELY AFFECT THE ABILITY OF DOCTORS TO MAKE CORRECT DECISIONS ABOUT HOW TO TREAT THESE PATIENTS, LEADING TO WORSE HEALTH OUTCOMES FOR PATIENTS WITH DARKER SKIN. MOST EXPERTS BELIEVE THAT THE PRIMARY CAUSE OF THIS EFFECT IS THE ABSORPTION OF LIGHT BY MELANIN IN THE TOP LAYER OF THE SKIN. THERE ARE WIDE VARIATIONS IN THE AMOUNT OF MELANIN IN THE SKIN AMONG THE POPULATION. INSTRUMENTS CALLED MELANOMETERS CAN MEASURE VARIABLES RELATED TO THE AMOUNT OF MELANIN IN THE SKIN. USING DATA FROM MELANOMETERS MAY HELP TO PROPERLY ACCOUNT FOR THE EFFECT OF MELANIN ON THE ACCURACY OF MEDICAL DEVICES IN DIVERSE POPULATIONS. THIS PROPOSAL WILL DEVELOP MATERIALS THAT MIMIC SKIN WITH DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OF MELANIN AND BLOOD AND MEASURE THESE MATERIALS WITH MELANOMETERS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE EFFECTS OF MELANIN AND BLOOD ON THE DATA OBTAINED WITH MELANOMETERS. THIS PROJECT MAY LEAD TO IMPROVED METHODS FOR MAKING SURE THAT MEDICAL DEVICES ARE SAFE AND EFFECTIVE FOR PATIENTS OF ALL RACES AND SKIN TYPES. RESULTS OF THIS PROJECT WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO COURSES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE ON IDENTIFYING DISPARITIES IN HEALTH OUTCOMES TO ILLUSTRATE HOW TECHNOLOGIES CAN BE DEVELOPED AND VALIDATED IN A WAY THAT IS EQUALLY ACCURATE ACROSS DIVERSE GROUPS OF PATIENTS. ENSURING ROBUSTNESS OF BIOPHOTONIC TECHNOLOGIES ACROSS THE FULL RANGE OF SKIN COLORS IS CRUCIAL FOR HEALTHCARE EQUITY IN CLINICAL ENVIRONMENTS AND PERSONAL HEALTH MONITORING SETTINGS. OVER THE PAST TWO DECADES, NUMEROUS STUDIES HAVE IDENTIFIED RACIAL DISPARITIES IN BIOPHOTONIC DEVICES, FROM CEREBRAL OXIMETERS TO PHOTOACOUSTIC IMAGERS. THESE DISCREPANCIES CAN ADVERSELY IMPACT CLINICAL DECISION MAKING, LEADING TO WORSE HEALTH OUTCOMES FOR PATIENTS WITH DARKER SKIN. MOST EXPERTS BELIEVE THAT THE PRIMARY CAUSE OF THIS EFFECT IS THE INTENSE, SPECTRALLY VARYING ABSORPTION OF EPIDERMAL MELANIN; THE CONCENTRATION OF WHICH VARIES CONSIDERABLY ACROSS THE POPULATION. TO DETERMINE THE MAGNITUDE OF IMPACT ON A DEVICE, ONE MUST ACCURATELY DETERMINE THE CORRELATION BETWEEN MELANIN CONTENT AND DEVICE OUTPUTS/ACCURACY. PRIOR STUDIES HAVE USED SUBJECTIVE METHODS, INCLUDING SELF-IDENTIFICATION OF RACE AND THE FITZPATRICK PHOTOTYPE SCALE TO ASSESS SUBJECT PIGMENTATION. HOWEVER, OBJECTIVE, QUANTITATIVE, AND WELL-STANDARDIZED METHODS BASED ON OPTICAL MEASUREMENTS MAY PROVIDE A MORE PRECISE AND EFFECTIVE WAY TO ISOLATE THE IMPACT OF EPIDERMAL MELANIN. THE PI AND COLLABORATORS WILL PURSUE THIS GOAL VIA CONSTRUCTING A RIGOROUS SET OF SYNTHETIC TISSUE-SIMULATING PHANTOMS AND USING THESE PHANTOMS AS CALIBRATION STANDARDS TO SYSTEMATICALLY CHARACTERIZE COMMERCIAL (NON-FDA-APPROVED/CLEARED) MELANOMETERS FOR MEASURING SKIN PIGMENTATION. VALIDATING THE OUTPUTS OF THESE COMMERCIAL DEVICES AGAINST A WELL-CHARACTERIZED SET OF TISSUE MODELS THAT SIMULATE BOTH MELANIN CONTENT AND CONFOUNDING TISSUE FACTORS (E.G., HEMOGLOBIN, TISSUE SCATTERING) WILL PROVIDE A CRITICAL FUNDAMENTAL STEP FORWARD IN ESTABLISHING THE CREDIBILITY OF MELANOMETERS AS REGULATORY SCIENCE TOOLS. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

SCANNING TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT SYSTEM (STEMS) FOR REAL-TIME PROCESS MONITORING DURING LASER ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING OF METALLIC STRUCTURAL MATERIALS

MOZART'S WORLDS: THE GERMAN OPERAS

MOZART'S WORLDS: BRIDGING WEST AND EAST

MATERIALS TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT FOR RADIOSOTOPE POWER SYSTEMS

FLY ASH CATALYZED MERCURY OXIDATION/CHLORINATION REACTIONS

ERI: EVALUATING SINGLE-WALLED ZEOLITIC NANOTUBES FOR SEPARATION APPLICATIONS: ADSORPTION AND TRANSPORT VIA MOLECULAR SIMULATIONS -CHEMICAL SEPARATIONS ARE CRITICAL INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES USED IN APPLICATIONS SUCH AS REMOVING CARBON DIOXIDE FROM GAS STREAMS AND PURIFYING DRINKING WATER. MANY CURRENT SEPARATION APPROACHES REQUIRE MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF ENERGY AND STILL SUFFER FROM EFFICIENCY AND YIELD ISSUES. MEMBRANES CONSISTING OF A CRYSTALLINE MATERIAL CALLED ZEOLITES HAVE SUCCESSFULLY OVERCOME SOME OF THESE LIMITATIONS. ZEOLITES HAVE REGULAR, NANOSCALE PORES THAT ACT AS MOLECULAR FILTERS. THE CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS TECHNIQUE DETERMINES THE EXACT PORE SIZE, WHICH CAN BE TUNED TO SPECIFIC MOLECULAR SEPARATION NEEDS. WHILE ZEOLITES TYPICALLY TAKE THE FORM OF MEMBRANES, THEY HAVE RECENTLY BEEN CREATED IN A NANOTUBE FORM, YIELDING A STRUCTURE WITH A CENTRAL CHANNEL ENCLOSED BY WALLS CONTAINING SMALLER PORES. THIS RESEARCH PROJECT WILL USE MOLECULAR SIMULATION TECHNIQUES TO MODEL THIS NOVEL ZEOLITE NANOTUBE STRUCTURE IN A RANGE OF DIFFERENT CHEMICAL ENVIRONMENTS, ASSESSING ITS POTENTIAL TO ENHANCE ZEOLITE-BASED SEPARATION TECHNOLOGIES. THE SIMULATION RESULTS WILL PRODUCE FOUNDATIONAL KNOWLEDGE TO UNDERSTAND THE CAPABILITIES OF THESE MULTISCALE STRUCTURES AND TO ENABLE THE DESIGN OF SEPARATION TECHNIQUES THAT EXPLOIT THEIR UNIQUE GEOMETRY. RESEARCH RESULTS WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO UNDERGRADUATE THERMODYNAMICS COURSES AND HIGH SCHOOL-STUDENT SUMMER CAMPS HOSTED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON. THE PROJECT?S EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES WILL ALSO PROMOTE THE IMPORTANCE OF STATISTICAL DATA ANALYSIS AMONG THE NEXT GENERATION OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERS. THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THIS RESEARCH PROJECT IS TO COMPREHENSIVELY CHARACTERIZE THE ADSORPTION AND TRANSPORT BEHAVIOR OF THE NEWLY SYNTHESIZED ZEOLITE NANOTUBES (ZNTS) VIA MOLECULAR SIMULATION. ZEOLITES ARE PROMISING ADSORBENT MATERIALS FOR SEPARATING GASEOUS MIXTURES, VARIOUS ORGANIC SOLUTIONS, AND USE AS DESALINATION MEMBRANES. THE RESEARCH TASKS ARE DESIGNED TO EVALUATE THE ABILITY OF ZNTS TO REPLICATE PLANAR ZEOLITE BEHAVIORS AND HOW THEY PERFORM IN HIGHER DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURES SUCH AS ZNT ARRAYS AND AS ADDITIVES TO POLYMERIC MEMBRANES. THE ZNTS? MULTISCALE FEATURES ARE EXPECTED TO ALLOW FOR PRESSURE-DRIVEN FLOW, WHILE FILTRATION OCCURS RADIALLY THROUGH THE ZEOLITIC WALLS. THE PROJECT?S RESULTS WILL INFORM THE DESIGN OF POTENTIALLY TRANSFORMATIVE SEPARATION TECHNOLOGIES USING THESE HIERARCHICALLY-STRUCTURED MATERIALS. THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR IS HEAVILY INVOLVED IN OPERATING HIGH SCHOOL-LEVEL ENGINEERING SUMMER CAMPS HOSTED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON. THIS PROJECT?S RESULTS AND COMPUTATIONAL METHODS WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO THE SUMMER CAMP CURRICULUM TO BUILD INTEREST IN SEPARATION SCIENCES AND PROMOTE THE IMPORTANCE OF STATISTICAL DATA ANALYSIS IN ENGINEERING. SIMILAR INSTRUCTION MATERIALS WILL ALSO BE USED TO DEVELOP A NEW UNDERGRADUATE/GRADUATE COURSE ON DESIGNING EFFECTIVE EXPERIMENTS USING STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES, THUS, PREPARING STUDENTS TO APPROACH REAL-WORLD ENGINEERING PROBLEMS. 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.

ULTRA-HYPERVELOCITY IMPACT TESTING OF SPACECRAFT MATERIALS AND STRUCTURESTHE PURPOSE OF THIS PROPOSA

INDUSTRIAL ASSESSMENT CENTER FOR CONDUCTING ENERGY, WASTE, PRODUCTIVITY ASSESSMENTS FOR MANUFACTURER

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: FIRE INFLUENCES ON FOREST RECOVERY AND ASSOCIATED ECOSYSTEM FEEDBACKS IN ARCTIC LARCH FORESTS.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: COLLABORATIVE RET SITE - INSPIRING NEXT GENERATION HIGH-SKILLED WORKFORCE IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING AND MATERIALS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RESEARCH INITIATION: ASSESSING GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT INTERVENTIONS TO ADVANCE GLOBAL ENGINEERING COMPETENCE FOR ENGINEERING FORMATION -ENGINEERING STUDENTS LIVE AND WORK IN AN INCREASING GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT. GRADUATES WITH EXPERIENCE IN UNDERSTANDING, INTERACTING WITH AND VALUING DIFFERING CULTURES HAVE ADVANTAGES IN THE WORKPLACE COMPARED WITH THOSE WHO WILL NEED TO LEARN THOSE SKILLS POST-GRADUATION. THIS UNDERLYING GLOBAL LEARNER MINDSET IS A KEY INGREDIENT IN CULTIVATING A GLOBAL ENGINEERING COMPETENCY. MOST INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE RESEARCH AND ASSOCIATED GLOBAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION IS FOCUSED ON DEVELOPING THE GLOBAL ENGINEERING SKILLSET OF STUDENTS THROUGH LONG-TERM TRAVEL EXPERIENCES SUCH AS STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMS. THESE PROGRAMS CAN BE EXPENSIVE, REQUIRING A SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT OF TIME AND MONEY, LIMITING THE PARTICIPATION TO MORE PRIVILEGED MEMBERS OF A COMMUNITY, AND ARE NOT SCALABLE TO SUPPORT PARTICIPATION FROM LARGE NUMBERS OF ENGINEERING STUDENTS. THE PROPOSED WORK WILL FILL A GAP IN THE RESEARCH BY FOCUSING ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE STUDENTS? GLOBAL LEARNER MINDSET WITHOUT REQUIRING EXTENSIVE INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL. SPECIFICALLY, THE PROJECT WILL INVESTIGATE HOW FOUR DIFFERENT GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT INTERVENTIONS (THE USE OF ENGINEERING CASE STUDIES, THE INTENTIONAL FORMATION OF MULTI-NATIONAL STUDENT TEAMS, A COLLABORATIVE ONLINE INTERNATIONAL LEARNING (COIL) RESEARCH PROJECT, AND A COMMUNITY ENGAGED PROJECT WITHIN A SHORT COURSE) CAN DEVELOP A GLOBAL LEARNER MINDSET. FOUR ENGINEERING EDUCATORS WHO ARE NEW TO THE FIELD OF ENGINEERING FORMATION RESEARCH WILL BE TRAINED BY SOCIAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING EDUCATION RESEARCHERS IN RESEARCH METHODS IN ORDER TO ASSESS THE GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT INTERVENTIONS THAT WILL BE DEVELOPED AND IMPLEMENTED IN THIS STUDY. THIS PROCESS ALIGNS WITH THE PROGRAM?S GOALS OF INITIATING NEW RESEARCHERS INTO ENGINEERING FORMATION RESEARCH, AND IS INSTRUMENTAL IN DEVELOPING A HOLISTIC GLOBAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION APPROACH. THIS WORK WILL FOSTER GLOBAL COMPETENCE IN UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING STUDENTS IN ORDER TO MEET THE CURRENT AND FUTURE NEEDS OF THE ENGINEERING PROFESSION. IN THIS PROJECT, FOUR GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT INTERVENTIONS WILL BE GROUNDED IN THE GLOBAL ENGINEERING COMPETENCY (GEC) THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND ASSESSED FOR THEIR ABILITY TO FOSTER A GLOBAL LEARNER MINDSET IN ENGINEERING STUDENTS. A MIXED-METHODS APPROACH WILL BE USED TO MEASURE STUDENTS? CULTURAL HUMILITY, GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP, AND CRITICAL REFLECTION AS THE KEY ELEMENTS OF THE GLOBAL LEARNER MINDSET. THE SPECIFIC RESEARCH QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED ARE: 1) TO WHAT EXTENT CAN GLOBAL COMPETENCE BE DEVELOPED IN ENGINEERING STUDENTS THROUGH THE USE OF THE PROPOSED GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT INTERVENTIONS; AND 2) WHAT ARE THE RELATIVE STRENGTHS OF EACH OF THE PROPOSED GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT INTERVENTIONS IN DEVELOPING GLOBAL ENGINEERING COMPETENCE? THE SPECIFIC ASSESSMENT TOOLS USED TO ANSWER THESE RESEARCH QUESTIONS INCLUDE THE GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT SURVEY (GES) AND SPECIFIC QUESTIONS DEVELOPED BY THE RESEARCHERS TO EVALUATE IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PARTICIPATING STUDENTS? GLOBAL ENGINEERING SKILLSET. COMBINED, THESE RESEARCH MEASURES WILL PROVIDE NOT ONLY AN ACCURATE PICTURE OF HOW EACH GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT INTERVENTION IMPACTS THE FORMATION OF A GLOBAL LEARNER MINDSET IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION, BUT ALSO ITS ASSOCIATED ABILITY TO DEVELOP AND/OR IMPROVE GLOBAL ENGINEERING SKILLS. THE OUTCOMES OF THIS STUDY WILL GENERATE VALUABLE KNOWLEDGE TO UNDERSTAND HOW EACH GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT INTERVENTION IMPACTS THE FORMATION OF GLOBAL ENGINEERING COMPETENCE. 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.

CRII: SATC: SECURING CARDIAC-BASED CONTINUOUS AUTHENTICATION ON MOBILE AND WEARABLE DEVICES FROM PRESENTATION ATTACKS -SMARTPHONES AND WEARABLE DEVICES SUCH AS SMARTWATCHES HAVE BECOME PART OF EVERYDAY LIFE, OFFERING PEOPLE CONVENIENT ACCESS TO PERSONAL, HEALTH, AND DIGITAL SERVICES. SOME EMERGING SYSTEMS USE HEART-BASED BIOMETRIC SIGNALS, CAPTURED THROUGH PHOTOPLETHYSMOGRAPHY (PPG) SENSORS IN THESE DEVICES, TO AUTHENTICATE USERS CONTINUOUSLY WITHOUT REQUIRING PASSWORDS OR ACTIVE INTERACTION. THIS SEAMLESS, UNOBTRUSIVE FORM OF AUTHENTICATION CAN ENHANCE BOTH SECURITY AND USER EXPERIENCE. HOWEVER, PPG-BASED CONTINUOUS AUTHENTICATION ALSO INTRODUCES NEW PRIVACY AND CYBERSECURITY RISKS IF ATTACKERS CAN FOOL THE SYSTEM. IN PARTICULAR, BIOMETRIC SYSTEMS CAN BE SUBJECT TO IMPERSONATION ATTACKS, WHERE AN ATTACKER TRIES TO PRESENT SIGNALS THAT MIMIC A TARGET USER. THIS PROJECT EXPLORES THE RISKS OF PRESENTATION ATTACKS IN PPG-BASED BIOMETRIC SYSTEMS, IN WHICH AN ADVERSARY CAPTURES A PERSON'S HEART SIGNALS VIA VIDEO AND REPLAYS A SYNTHETIC VERSION TAILORED FOR A TARGET DEVICE TO IMPERSONATE THE USER. THE PROJECT TEAM ALSO EXPLORES DEFENSE MECHANISMS THAT IDENTIFY UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS OF SIGNALS FROM REAL HUMAN USERS THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO REPRODUCE SYNTHETICALLY. BY EXAMINING THIS PRACTICAL ATTACK AND DEVELOPING A TARGETED DEFENSE, THE RESEARCH AIMS TO REDUCE IMPERSONATION RISKS, BUILD TRUST IN BIOMETRIC AUTHENTICATION, AND SUPPORT THE BROADER ADOPTION OF PPG-BASED AUTHENTICATION SYSTEMS IN SECURITY-SENSITIVE APPLICATIONS. THE PROJECT ALSO CONTRIBUTES TO NATIONAL PRIORITIES IN CYBERSECURITY, STEM EDUCATION, AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH STUDENT MENTORING, CURRICULUM INTEGRATION, AND OUTREACH TO LOCAL SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES. THIS PROJECT EXAMINES THE FEASIBILITY OF PRESENTATION ATTACKS ON PPG-BASED CONTINUOUS AUTHENTICATION SYSTEMS USED IN MOBILE AND WEARABLE DEVICES AND DEVELOPS PRACTICAL METHODS FOR DEFENDING AGAINST IT. THE RESEARCH INCLUDES FOUR COORDINATED COMPONENTS. FIRST, THE INVESTIGATORS WILL STUDY HOW CARDIAC SIGNALS CAN BE ACQUIRED REMOTELY USING VIDEO-BASED REMOTE PPG SENSING UNDER REALISTIC, COVERT RECORDING CONDITIONS. THIS COMPONENT APPLIES DATA-DRIVEN ENHANCEMENT TECHNIQUES TO REDUCE THE IMPACTS OF MOTION AND LIGHTING VARIATION, IMPROVING SIGNAL QUALITY FOR ADVERSARIAL USE. SECOND, THE PROJECT WILL DEVELOP A DEEP LEARNING FRAMEWORK TO TRANSFORM REMOTELY CAPTURED SIGNALS INTO SYNTHETIC WAVEFORMS THAT CLOSELY RESEMBLE THOSE GENERATED BY CONTACT PPG SENSORS IN THE WEARABLE AND MOBILE DEVICES. DOMAIN ADAPTATION TECHNIQUES WILL BE INVESTIGATED TO ENSURE THE MODEL GENERALIZES ACROSS DIFFERENT DEVICE CONFIGURATIONS WHILE REDUCING RETRAINING EFFORTS. THIRD, THE TEAM WILL DESIGN A PHYSICAL SIGNAL INJECTION METHOD THAT USES A CONTROLLABLE EXTERNAL LIGHT SOURCE, GUIDED BY A LEARNED MODEL OF SENSOR RESPONSE, TO DELIVER SPOOFED SIGNALS TO THE TARGET DEVICE'S PPG SENSOR. THIS METHOD IS INTENDED TO OPERATE WITHOUT MODIFYING THE DEVICE'S HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE, ENABLING A LOW-EFFORT AND COVERT ATTACK PATHWAY. FINALLY, THE RESEARCHERS WILL DEVELOP A HYBRID LIVENESS DETECTION SYSTEM THAT DISTINGUISHES GENUINE CARDIAC SIGNALS FROM SYNTHETIC ONES BY IDENTIFYING SUBTLE PHYSIOLOGICAL FEATURES THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO REPRODUCE. ADAPTIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES WILL BE INCORPORATED TO ADDRESS NATURAL VARIABILITY IN HEART SIGNALS, ENHANCING DETECTION RELIABILITY OVER TIME. PROJECT OUTCOMES WILL INCLUDE CURATED DATASETS, HARDWARE PROTOTYPE DESIGNS, AND EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES TO EXTEND THE PROJECT'S IMPACT TO BOTH ACADEMIC AND PUBLIC AUDIENCES WHILE SUPPORTING WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IN CYBERSECURITY AND INTELLIGENT SENSING TECHNOLOGIES. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

CRII: SHF: MODEL-BASED REPAIR OF CYBER-PHYSICAL SYSTEMS FOR IMPROVING RESILIENCY -MODEL-BASED DESIGN OFFERS A PROMISING APPROACH FOR ASSISTING DEVELOPERS TO BUILD RELIABLE AND SECURE CYBER-PHYSICAL SYSTEMS (CPS) IN A SYSTEMATIC MANNER. HOWEVER, CONSTRUCTING A BEHAVIORAL MODEL AT DESIGN TIME THAT OFFERS RESILIENCY FOR ALL KINDS OF ATTACKS AND FAILURES IS NOTORIOUSLY DIFFICULT. THERE IS CURRENTLY A SHORTAGE OF INEXPENSIVE, AUTOMATED SOFTWARE THAT CAN EFFECTIVELY REPAIR AN INITIAL DESIGN, AND A MODEL-BASED SYSTEM DEVELOPER REGULARLY NEEDS TO REDESIGN AND REIMPLEMENT A SYSTEM FROM SCRATCH. THE PROJECT IS DEVELOPING A METHODOLOGY, ALONG WITH AN ASSOCIATED FRAMEWORK, TO ASSIST A DESIGNER IN REPAIRING AN ORIGINAL CPS MODEL SO THAT IT CONTINUES TO SATISFY THE CORRECTNESS REQUIREMENTS UNDER MODIFIED ASSUMPTIONS. THE PROJECT?S NOVELTIES ARE AS FOLLOWS. (1) IT PROVIDES A FRESH APPROACH WITH AN END-TO-END DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A SOFTWARE TO FACILITATE MODEL-BASED REPAIR FOR IMPROVING THE RESILIENCY OF CPS AGAINST UNANTICIPATED ATTACKS AND FAILURES. (2) IT ENABLES A DESIGNER TO SPECIFY RESILIENCY PATTERNS; THE INVESTIGATOR IS DESIGNING AN EXTENSIBLE MODEL TRANSFORMATION LANGUAGE FOR CPS MODELS. (3) THE METHODOLOGY UTILIZES FORMAL ANALYSIS WITH RESPECT TO CORRECTNESS REQUIREMENTS FORMALIZED IN SIGNAL TEMPORAL LOGIC HYPER-PROPERTIES (HYPERSTL) AT MULTIPLE STAGES. (4) SOFTWARE TOOLS ARE BEING APPLIED ON PROOF-OF-CONCEPT CASE STUDIES WHERE THE CPS MODELS CAN BE REPAIRED TO MITIGATE PRACTICAL ATTACKS. THE PROJECT?S IMPACTS ARE IN (1) DEVELOPING NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND STATE-OF-THE-ART SOFTWARE TOOLS TO ENFORCE THE SAFETY, RELIABILITY, SECURITY, AND RESILIENCY OF CPS AND (2) STRENGTHENING MENTORSHIP, SKILL-BUILDING, AND WORKFORCE READINESS FOR CPS ENGINEERING IN THE SOUTHWEST OHIO REGION AND NATIONALLY. THE PROPOSED FRAMEWORK INVOLVES THE DESIGN, IMPLEMENTATION, EVALUATION, AND INTEGRATION OF TWO MAIN TOOLS: A MODEL TRANSFORMATION AND A MODEL ANALYZER. A MODEL TRANSFORMATION TOOL CONSISTENTLY INCORPORATES AN ORIGINAL STATE-MACHINE-BASED MODEL, A COLLECTION OF RESILIENCY PATTERNS (OR POTENTIAL EDITS), AND FEEDBACK FROM ANALYZERS TO PRODUCE AN UPDATED RESILIENT BEHAVIORAL MODEL. THE TOOL AUTOMATICALLY SEARCHES THROUGH THE EXTENSIBLE LIBRARY OF RESILIENCY PATTERNS, WRITTEN AS MODEL TRANSFORMATION SCRIPTS, TO SOLVE THE MODEL REPAIR PROBLEM. A MODEL ANALYZER TOOL ANALYZES THE SYSTEM CORRECTNESS REQUIREMENTS AT MULTIPLE STAGES, BOTH AT DESIGN TIME AND DURING RUNTIME OPERATION. THE COMPLETE MODEL GENERATED BY THE MODEL TRANSFORMATION IS FALSIFIED USING A STATIC FALSIFIER, WHILE THE CORRESPONDING IMPLEMENTATION IS MONITORED FOR VIOLATIONS USING A RUNTIME MONITOR TOOL. TO ENSURE A RICH SET OF SPECIFICATIONS, THE INVESTIGATOR IS UTILIZING OBJECTIVES AND SAFETY CONSTRAINTS SPECIFIED VIA HYPERSTL. AN ADDITIONAL FEATURE IS A COUNTER-EXAMPLE ANALYZER THAT PRODUCES FEEDBACK TO A DESIGNER FOR DEVELOPING NEW RESILIENCY PATTERNS. DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TOOL-CHAIN REQUIRES THEORETICAL ADVANCES IN TERMS OF RIGOROUS FORMALIZATION, COMPUTATIONAL ENGINES, AND HEURISTICS FOR SCALABILITY. THE ALGORITHMS FOR MODEL REPAIR, RESILIENCY PATTERNS, AND FORMAL ANALYSIS DEVELOPED IN THIS PROJECT ARE CONTRIBUTIONS OF SIGNIFICANT INTEREST TO THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY IN DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF CPS. 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.

CRII: HCC: AI-POWERED EDUCATIONAL GAME PLATFORM FOR COLLABORATIVE DECISION-MAKING WITH ADAPTIVE FEEDBACK USING COGNITIVE MODELS AND LLMS -GAME-BASED LEARNING HAS EMERGED AS A PROMISING APPROACH FOR TRAINING DECISION-MAKING SKILLS ACROSS INDUSTRIES, SUCH AS BUSINESS NEGOTIATIONS, LAW ENFORCEMENT, AND CYBERSECURITY. HOWEVER, MOST EDUCATIONAL GAMES PRIMARILY FOCUS ON INDIVIDUAL PROBLEM-SOLVING RATHER THAN TEACHING COLLABORATIVE DECISION-MAKING IN DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENTS. MANY REAL-WORLD DECISIONS REQUIRE COLLABORATION, WHERE PEOPLE MUST WORK TOGETHER, CONSIDER DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES, AND BALANCE PERSONAL GOALS AND COLLECTIVE SUCCESS. YET, EXISTING PLATFORMS DESIGNED TO SUPPORT TEAMWORK ARE OFTEN TOO RIGID, COMPLEX, OR TIME-CONSUMING TO CUSTOMIZE, LIMITING BROADER ADOPTION IN EDUCATION. THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES THESE CHALLENGES BY DEVELOPING AN AI-POWERED EDUCATIONAL GAME PLATFORM THAT SUPPORTS COLLABORATIVE DECISION-MAKING THROUGH REAL-TIME AND ADAPTIVE FEEDBACK. THROUGH GAMIFICATION, LEARNERS ENGAGE IN DYNAMIC GROUP SCENARIOS WHERE THEY EXPLORE THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR CHOICES, REFINE STRATEGIC THINKING, AND IMPROVE TEAMWORK. BY MAKING COLLABORATIVE DECISION-MAKING EDUCATION MORE INTERACTIVE, PERSONALIZED, AND ACCESSIBLE THROUGH CUSTOMIZABLE FEATURES, THIS PROJECT BENEFITS EDUCATORS, STUDENTS, AND PROFESSIONALS, EXPANDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR DECISION MAKING TRAINING ACROSS EDUCATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL SETTINGS. TO MEET THESE GOALS, THIS PROJECT HAS THREE KEY OBJECTIVES. FIRST, THE PROJECT WILL DEVELOP A COGNITIVE TUTOR ENHANCED BY LARGE LANGUAGE MODELS (LLMS). THIS TUTOR WILL INFER HUMAN INTENTIONS AND PREDICT DECISION-MAKING STRATEGIES, PROVIDING PERSONALIZED FEEDBACK WHILE ADAPTING ITS RESPONSES TO ENHANCE TEAMWORK AND GROUP COORDINATION. SECOND, THE PROJECT WILL LEVERAGE GAMIFICATION IN TEAM-BASED SETTINGS TO DESIGN A CUSTOMIZABLE PLATFORM THAT INTEGRATES STRATEGY SIMULATORS WITH REINFORCEMENT LEARNING AGENTS AND A REAL-TIME LEARNING ANALYTICS DASHBOARD. EDUCATORS AND RESEARCHERS CAN ADJUST GAME PARAMETERS TO CREATE A FLEXIBLE AND SCALABLE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT. LEARNERS CAN ALSO EXPLORE AND REFINE DECISION-MAKING STRATEGIES USING STRATEGY SIMULATORS AND LEARNING ANALYTICS. FINALLY, THE PROJECT WILL EVALUATE THE PLATFORM?S EFFECTIVENESS IN IMPROVING COLLABORATIVE DECISION-MAKING. A COMBINATION OF QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE METHODS WILL ASSESS TASK PERFORMANCE, COLLABORATION EFFECTIVENESS, AND USER TRUST AND ENGAGEMENT. THIS RESEARCH WILL PROVIDE AN INTERACTIVE FRAMEWORK FOR STUDYING HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN DYNAMIC GROUP SETTINGS. IT WILL ALSO DEEPEN UNDERSTANDING OF SOCIAL DECISION-MAKING AND LAY THE GROUNDWORK. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

MATERIAL COMPATABILITY OF ALTERNATIVE JP-5 AND F-76 FUELS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: REU SITE: STEM RESEARCH FOR SOCIAL CHANGE -THIS THREE-YEAR COLLABORATIVE PROJECT ENTITLED ?REU SITE: STEM RESEARCH FOR SOCIAL CHANGE? IS HOSTED THROUGH A SPECIAL PARTNERSHIP AMONG THE UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON (UD), CENTRAL STATE UNIVERSITY (CSU), AND ST. MARY?S UNIVERSITY. THE PURPOSE OF THIS COLLABORATIVE REU IS TO SUPPORT INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATH (STEM) RESEARCH FOR POSITIVE SOCIAL CHANGE, IN SUPPORT OF THE UNITED NATIONS? SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGS). THIS REU TARGETS UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITY AND MARGINALIZED UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING FIELDS THROUGH FACULTY-MENTORED RESEARCH ACROSS THREE INSTITUTIONS WITH SOCIAL JUSTICE AT THE CORE OF THEIR MISSIONS. TWO OF THESE INSTITUTIONS ARE MINORITY SERVING, A HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY AND A HISPANIC SERVING INSTITUTION AND OFFER OPPORTUNITIES FOR NETWORKING AND RESEARCH COLLABORATION FOR FACULTY MEMBERS AT UNIVERSITIES WITH LIMITED FINANCIAL SUPPORT. THE PROJECT WILL UNITE STEM FACULTY AND STUDENT RESEARCHERS WITH SOCIAL CHANGE ORGANIZATIONS TO ADVANCE SOCIETAL TRANSFORMATION THROUGH ADDRESSING ISSUES SUCH AS CLEAN WATER AND CLEAN ENERGY, SUSTAINABILITY, AND GENERATING NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND NETWORKS. IN ADDITION TO DIRECT BENEFITS TO SOCIETY, THIS COLLABORATIVE REU PROJECT WILL INCREASE UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITY STEM STUDENTS' SENSE OF BELONGING IN STEM FIELDS, SUPPORT SELF-EFFICACY IN RESEARCH, AND INCREASE THEIR PERSISTENCE AND RETENTION THROUGH GRADUATION. THIS THREE-YEAR COLLABORATIVE PROJECT ENTITLED ?REU SITE: STEM RESEARCH FOR SOCIAL CHANGE? IS HOSTED THROUGH A SPECIAL PARTNERSHIP AMONG THE UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON (UD), CENTRAL STATE UNIVERSITY (CSU), AND ST. MARY?S UNIVERSITY. THE PURPOSE OF THIS COLLABORATIVE REU IS TO SUPPORT INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATH (STEM) RESEARCH FOR POSITIVE SOCIAL CHANGE, IN SUPPORT OF THE UNITED NATIONS? SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGS). THIS REU TARGETS UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITY AND MARGINALIZED UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING FIELDS THROUGH FACULTY-MENTORED RESEARCH ACROSS THREE INSTITUTIONS WITH SOCIAL JUSTICE AT THE CORE OF THEIR MISSIONS. TWO OF THESE INSTITUTIONS ARE MINORITY SERVING, A HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY AND A HISPANIC SERVING INSTITUTION AND OFFER OPPORTUNITIES FOR NETWORKING AND RESEARCH COLLABORATION FOR FACULTY MEMBERS AT UNIVERSITIES WITH LIMITED FINANCIAL SUPPORT. THE REU IS DESIGNED TO ENHANCE THE STUDENTS? SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING RESEARCH INTERESTS AND SKILLS, PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY FORMATION AND NETWORKS, AND SENSE OF BELONGING IN STEM. THIS PROJECT WILL DEMONSTRATE AND ASSESS AN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PROGRAM MODEL FOR EFFECTIVELY INCREASING THE RETENTION OF MARGINALIZED STUDENTS IN STEM, AND THE RATE AT WHICH THEY PURSUE GRADUATE STUDIES AND FACULTY CAREERS. THE REU WILL SUSTAIN EXISTING AND DEVELOP NEW INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH COLLABORATIONS BETWEEN FACULTY AT UD, CSU, STMU, AND SOCIAL CHANGE ORGANIZATIONS, WHICH WILL INSPIRE STUDENTS TO PURSUE GRADUATE SCHOOL WHILE GENERATING NEW STEM KNOWLEDGE, DISCOVERY, AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR SOCIAL CHANGE. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

NANOMATERIALS SYNTHESIS: INSTRUMENTATION FOR REAL TIME PROCESS DIAGNOSTICS AND CONTROL

MOZART'S WORLDS: "THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO" AND "DON GIOVANNI"

EAGER: BIO-INSPIRED NANOSTRUCTURED MICROSENSOR ARRAYS FOR SELECTIVE CHEMICAL SENSING

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: QUANTIFYING EAST AFRICAN HYDROCLIMATE SEASONAL VARIABILITY FOR HUMID INTERVALS DURING THE LAST 200 KYRS, OMO-TURKANA BASIN

SIMULATION-AIDED DESIGN OF NOVEL DUCTILE FRACTURE EXPERIMENTS FOR AEROSPACE METALS

PEDIATRIC-SPECIFIC COMPUTER AIDED DETECTION OF PULMONARY NODULES IN COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY SCANS - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT CANCER IS THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH FROM DISEASE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES. ALTHOUGH PRIMARY LUNG CANCER IS RARE IN THIS POPULATION, THE LUNG IS A COMMON SITE FOR MANY CANCERS TO METASTASIZE FORMING PULMONARY NODULES. SUCH LUNG NODULES MAY BE IDENTIFIED IN THORACIC COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY (CT) SCANS. EARLY AND ACCURATE DETECTION OF LUNG NODULES IN PEDIATRIC CT IS CRITICAL FOR THERAPY PLANNING AND OPTIMIZATION, CORRECT CANCER STAGING, AND DISEASE MONITORING. HOWEVER, IDENTIFYING PULMONARY NODULES IN CT IS AN ARDUOUS AND TIME- CONSUMING TASK FOR RADIOLOGISTS, FRAUGHT WITH CONSIDERABLE INTER-READER DISAGREEMENT. BECAUSE OF THE DIFFICULTY OF THE TASK, EVEN EXPERIENCED RADIOLOGISTS MAY FAIL TO IDENTIFY POTENTIALLY SIGNIFICANT PULMONARY NODULES. THESE CHALLENGES ARE EXACERBATED IN PEDIATRIC CASES WHERE SMALLER AND MORE SUBTLE METASTATIC NODULES ARE LIKELY TO BE CLINICALLY SIGNIFICANT. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A PEDIATRIC-SPECIFIC COMPUTER AIDED DETECTION (CAD) SYSTEM OPTIMIZED FOR THE DETECTION OF CLINICALLY MEANINGFUL NODULES IN CHILDREN. THE SYSTEM WILL SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE THE ABILITY OF RADIOLOGISTS TO DETECT LUNG NODULES, AND ULTIMATELY IMPROVE OUTCOMES FOR CHILDREN WITH CANCER. DESPITE THE NEED, TO THE BEST OF OUR KNOWLEDGE THERE ARE CURRENTLY NO PEDIATRIC-SPECIFIC PULMONARY NODULE CAD ALGORITHMS. OUR CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS IS THAT THE PEDIATRIC-SPECIFIC CAD SYSTEM WILL OUTPERFORM THOSE DESIGNED FOR ADULTS WHEN APPLIED TO PEDIATRIC PATIENTS. WE WILL EVALUATE OUR HYPOTHESIS VIA THE FOLLOWING TWO SPECIFIC AIMS. AIM 1 WILL FOCUS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PEDIATRIC-SPECIFIC PULMONARY NODULE CT CAD SYSTEM USING STATE-OF-THE-ART DEEP LEARNING MODELS AND PEDIATRIC TRAINING DATA. UNDER AIM 2, WE WILL EVALUATE THE DIAGNOSTIC PERFORMANCE OF OUR PEDIATRIC-SPECIFIC CAD SYSTEM COMPARED TO THAT OF EXISTING ADULT-TRAINED SYSTEMS IN A PEDIATRIC SAMPLE, BENCHMARKING AGAINST MULTI-RADIOLOGIST REVIEW. THIS PROJECT WILL PRODUCE WHAT WE BELIEVE WILL BE THE FIRST PEDIATRIC-SPECIFIC CAD SYSTEM FOR PULMONARY NODULE DETECTION, WITH THE ULTIMATE LONG-TERM GOAL OF CLINICAL TRANSLATION TO IMPROVE OUTCOMES FOR CHILDREN WITH CANCER. THE PROPOSED EFFORT IS IN DIRECT SUPPORT OF THE IMAGE INTELLIGENTLY INITIATIVE OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF RADIOLOGY, WHICH ENDORSES THE PRINCIPLE THAT “AI USED IN PEDIATRIC PATIENTS SHOULD BE DESIGNED FOR AND SHOWN TO WORK IN PEDIATRIC PATIENTS.”

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: SUPERPARAMAGNETIC CELLULOSE AND LIGNIN NANOPARTICLES AS RECYCLABLE ADDITIVES TO ENHANCE THE LIQUID/LIQUID EXTRACTION OF ETHANOL FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS

A NOVEL ROLE FOR PHOSPHOLAMBAN IN THE THALAMIC RETICULAR NUCLEUS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: HIGH PERFORMANCE CELLULAR SIMULTANEOUS RECURRENT NETWORK BASED PATTERN RECOGNITION

A NEURAL NETWORK-BASED PARALLEL TWO-STAGE QUASI-STATIC INTERROGATION-FUSION STRATEGY FOR LASER POWDER BED FUSION TECHNIQUE (ONR TRACKING NUMBER FOA1NF000200008)

TAS::89 0331::TAS RECOVERY REQUISITION REQUIRED TO ISSUE DE-EE0002678

NATIONAL JET FUELS COMUBUSTIONS PROGRAM - AREA #7 (YEAR 2)

GEOMETRIC SCATTERING THEORY, RESOLVENT ESTIMATES, AND WAVE ASYMPTOTICS -THIS RESEARCH PROJECT STUDIES THE PROPAGATION OF WAVES IN NON-SMOOTH MEDIA. WAVE AND SCHR?DINGER EQUATIONS ARE IMPORTANT PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS THAT DESCRIBE HOW WAVES, INCLUDING SOUND, LIGHT, AND GRAVITATIONAL WAVES, PROPAGATE IN THE NATURAL WORLD. MUCH IS KNOWN ABOUT THE BEHAVIOR OF SOLUTIONS TO THESE EQUATIONS WHEN THE UNDERLYING MEDIA ARE SMOOTH. HOWEVER, MOST PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS INVOLVE WAVES PROPAGATING IN MEDIA THAT CONTAIN OBSTRUCTIONS OR DISCONTINUITIES. THE AIM OF THIS PROJECT IS TO RESOLVE OPEN QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW WAVES SCATTER AND DECAY WHEN THE UNDERLYING MEDIUM IS NOT SMOOTH. THE RESULTS OF THE PROJECT ARE EXPECTED TO INFORM PREDICTIONS IN SEVERAL APPLICATIONS INVOLVING WAVE BEHAVIOR IN NON-SMOOTH MEDIA, INCLUDING THE PROPAGATION OF SEISMIC WAVES, THE BEHAVIOR OF PLASMA, AND LIGHT PROPAGATION IN OPTICAL FIBERS. THE PROJECT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE TRAINING OF UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS IN A CENTRAL, ACTIVE AREA OF MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS. THIS PROJECT CONCERNS RESEARCH IN GEOMETRIC SCATTERING THEORY. THE PROJECT HAS TWO OBJECTIVES. THE FIRST IS TO PROVE UPPER BOUNDS ON THE RESOLVENT OF THE SEMICLASSICAL SCHR?DINGER OPERATOR IN LIMITED REGULARITY. SUCH RESOLVENT BOUNDS ARE A PRECURSOR TO LOCAL ENERGY DECAY RATES FOR ROUGH WAVE EQUATIONS. THE SECOND OBJECTIVE IS TO USE THE RECENTLY DEVELOPED FREDHOLM METHOD TO ESTABLISH THE EXISTENCE OF SCATTERING-TYPE EIGENFUNCTIONS FOR A WIDE CLASS OF NONLINEAR HELMHOLTZ EQUATIONS. THE MAIN TOOLS FOR THIS PROJECT COME FROM SEMICLASSICAL AND MICROLOCAL ANALYSIS. IN PARTICULAR, THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR AIMS TO EXTEND POSITIVE COMMUTATOR AND CARLEMAN ESTIMATES, SEPARATION OF VARIABLES, AND B-VECTOR FIELD ANALYSIS TO SCHR?DINGER OPERATORS WITH LOW REGULARITY COEFFICIENTS. THIS WILL YIELD HIGH FREQUENCY RESOLVENT ESTIMATES, AND IN TURN PRECISE ENERGY DECAY RATES FOR WAVES TRAVELING IN HETEROGENEOUS MEDIA. 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.

ERI: HOT CRACKING AND POROSITY DETECTION IN METAL ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING USING EDDY CURRENT SENSOR -METAL PARTS MADE THROUGH ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING CAN SUFFER FROM HIDDEN FLAWS SUCH AS CRACKS AND PORES THAT COMPROMISE THEIR PERFORMANCE AND SAFETY. THESE DEFECTS INCREASE THE PRODUCTION COST AND LIMIT THE USE OF ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING IN CRITICAL APPLICATIONS, SUCH AS AEROSPACE, BIOMEDICAL, AND AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS. THIS ENGINEERING RESEARCH INITIATION (ERI) PROJECT AIMS TO DEVELOP A REAL-TIME, NON-DESTRUCTIVE METHOD FOR DETECTING INTERNAL DEFECTS USING ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES DURING THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS ITSELF. BY DOING SO, THE RESEARCH ENABLES INSTANT QUALITY ASSURANCE WITHOUT INTERRUPTING PRODUCTION OR DAMAGING PARTS. THIS WILL MAKE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING MORE RELIABLE, COST-EFFECTIVE, AND SUITABLE FOR WIDESPREAD USE. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO BUILDING A SKILLED WORKFORCE THROUGH EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH, CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT, AND RESEARCH TRAINING FOR STUDENTS. THESE EFFORTS ARE ALIGNED WITH THE NATIONAL GOALS OF ADVANCING SCIENCE, STRENGTHENING DOMESTIC MANUFACTURING, AND MAINTAINING THE NATION'S GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS. ULTIMATELY, THIS RESEARCH AIMS TO TRANSFORM THE WAY ADVANCED MATERIALS AND COMPONENTS ARE INSPECTED, THEREBY IMPROVING SAFETY, REDUCING WASTE, ENHANCING THE SUPPLY CHAIN, AND SUPPORTING INNOVATION. THE PRIMARY GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP A PHYSICAL FRAMEWORK THAT LINKS THE BEHAVIOR OF ELECTROMAGNETIC SIGNALS TO THE SHAPE, SIZE, AND LOCATION OF DEFECTS IN METAL PARTS FABRICATED USING LASER POWDER BED FUSION. THE PROJECT WILL FOCUS SPECIFICALLY ON THE RESPONSE OF EDDY CURRENT SENSORS TO SUBSURFACE ANOMALIES SUCH AS HOT CRACKS, LACK OF FUSION ZONES, AND GAS-INDUCED POROSITIES UNDER THE ELEVATED TEMPERATURE AND VARIABLE CONDUCTIVITY CONDITIONS UNIQUE TO ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING. THE STUDY BEGINS WITH COMPUTATIONAL MODELING TO OPTIMIZE SENSOR COIL GEOMETRY FOR ENHANCED DEFECT SENSITIVITY. THESE SIMULATIONS WILL INCORPORATE TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENT MATERIAL PROPERTIES AND REALISTIC GEOMETRICAL CONFIGURATIONS ENCOUNTERED IN METAL PRINTING. FOLLOWING THE MODELING PHASE, A LABORATORY-SCALE TESTBED WILL BE CONSTRUCTED TO REPLICATE KEY DEFECT FEATURES OF THE LASER POWDER BED FUSION PROCESS AND TO VALIDATE THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SIGNAL PREDICTIONS. THE TESTBED WILL ENABLE CONTROLLED DETECTION OF REPRESENTATIVE DEFECTS, ALLOWING FOR PRECISE CORRELATION BETWEEN DEFECT CHARACTERISTICS AND SENSOR RESPONSES. THE PROJECT WILL DELIVER THREE KEY OUTCOMES: (1) VALIDATED SENSOR DESIGN GUIDELINES TAILORED TO ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, (2) AN ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT FOR HIGH-RESOLUTION EDDY CURRENT SIGNAL ACQUISITION, AND (3) ROBUST ALGORITHMS FOR REAL-TIME DEFECT CLASSIFICATION AND DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS. THESE CONTRIBUTIONS WILL ENABLE PRACTICAL, SCALABLE IN-SITU MONITORING SYSTEMS THAT IMPROVE PART QUALITY AND ACCELERATE CERTIFICATION, THEREBY FACILITATING BROADER ADOPTION OF METAL ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING IN THE INDUSTRY. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

IN COLLABORATION WITH SCIENTISTS FROM SAC AND RADAR EXPERTS FROM NASA GODDARD AND OSU AND MULTISPECTRAL AND FIELD EXPERTS FROM PSI AND UOFA/UOFL WE HOPE TO GAIN KNOWLEDGE AND PRODUCE NEW APPROACHES ABOUT USES OF ISRO ASAR AND BY EXTENSION NISAR..

CHARACTERIZATION OF THE MAGNETIC DISTORTIONS IN CLOSED-CIRCUIT MAGNETIC MEASUREMENTS

EMB: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: A MATHEMATICAL THEORY FOR THE BIOLOGICAL CONCEPT OF MODULARITY -BIOLOGICAL PHENOMENA ARE OFTEN DRIVEN BY COMPLEX DYNAMIC REGULATORY NETWORKS. IN NATURAL OR ENGINEERED SYSTEMS, COMPLICATED STRUCTURES CAN BE GENERATED FROM SIMPLER BUILDING BLOCKS, OR MODULES. THIS NOTION OF COMPLEX SYSTEMS BUILT FROM MODULES IS ALSO PREVALENT IN MODERN SYSTEMS BIOLOGY. HOWEVER, A CLEAR THEORETICAL FOUNDATION OF MODULARITY, INCLUDING USEFUL DEFINITIONS OF BASIC CONCEPTS AND MECHANISMS, IS STILL MISSING. THIS RESEARCH PROJECT WILL FILL THIS GAP BY DEFINING MODULAR STRUCTURES IN BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS IN A MATHEMATICALLY RIGOROUS WAY. THE RESEARCH WILL DETERMINE WHY MODULARITY CAN BE ADVANTAGEOUS TO AN ORGANISM AND ELUCIDATE HOW MODULARITY CAN BE LEVERAGED TO ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF MOLECULAR SYSTEMS. STUDYING THE MODULARITY OF SPECIFIC GENE REGULATORY NETWORKS UNDERLYING SALAMANDER LIMB REGENERATION AS WELL AS HORMONE REGULATION IN PLANTS HARBORS THE POTENTIAL TO REVEAL NOVEL BIOLOGICAL INSIGHTS. THROUGH INVOLVEMENT OF STUDENTS IN ALL ASPECTS OF THE RESEARCH, THIS PROJECT CONTRIBUTES TO THE INTERDISCIPLINARY TRAINING OF STEM WORKFORCE. THE DISSEMINATION OF RESULTS THROUGH A DEDICATED PROJECT WEBSITE AND WEBINARS ENABLES ANYONE TO ANALYZE BIOLOGICAL NETWORK MODELS. THE FOUNDATION OF THIS PROJECT IS A RIGOROUS, STRUCTURE-BASED DEFINITION OF MODULARITY IN THE CONTEXT OF BOOLEAN NETWORKS, A COMMON MODELING FRAMEWORK IN SYSTEMS BIOLOGY. THROUGH COMPUTATIONAL, EXPERIMENTAL, AND THEORETICAL STUDIES, IT WILL BE SHOWN THAT THIS DEFINITION OF MODULARITY (I) IS BIOLOGICALLY MEANINGFUL, (II) IMPLIES A DECOMPOSITION OF THE DYNAMICS OF BOOLEAN NETWORKS, WHICH CAN BE EMPLOYED TO EFFICIENTLY COMPUTE THEIR DYNAMICS, AND (III) THAT MODULAR NETWORKS CAN BE CONTROLLED EFFECTIVELY. THE THEORETICAL RESULTS, INCLUDING THEOREMS AND IMPLEMENTED ALGORITHMS FOR PRACTICAL COMPUTATION, WILL ADVANCE THE BODY OF KNOWLEDGE IN THE FIELDS OF NETWORK ANALYSIS, SYSTEMS BIOLOGY, AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY. THE VALIDITY OF THE PROJECT WILL BE DEMONSTRATED THROUGH (1) IN VIVO ANALYSES IN THE MODEL PLANT ARABIDOPSIS, (2) IN SILICO ANALYSES IN AN EMERGING ANIMAL MODEL, AXOLOTL. THIS WILL YIELD NOVEL BIOLOGICAL INSIGHTS REGARDING (1) THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN PHYTOHORMONES DURING ARABIDOPSIS ORGANOGENESIS, AND (2) GENE REGULATORY NETWORKS DIRECTING FIBROBLAST REPROGRAMMING IN AXOLOTLS. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

FLAME RETARDANT TECHNOLOGY DISCOVERY AND FLAMMABILITY METHOD DEVELOPMENT

THE INFLUENCE OF BOUNDARY EFFECTS AND TYPE OF ENVIRONMENT ON TURBULENCE PROFILES

INSPIRING BIOMECHANICAL ENGINEERS THROUGH COLLABORATIVE CLINICALLY-IMMERSIVE DESIGN

MULTISCALE FRACTURE MECHANICS OF 3D REINFORCED COMPOSITES

INVESTIGATION OF HYPERDOPED SI FOR SHORT WAVELENGTH INFRARED FOCAL PLANE ARRAY DETECTORS

TO IMPOREVE THER ELIABILITY AND INTELLIG

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CROSS-INSTITUTIONAL NANO-TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE TRAINING PROJECT

ALTERNATIVE JET FUELS TEST AND EVALUATION

ADVANCED ROTOR BLADE MATERIALS EVALUATION

NATIONAL JET FUELS COMBUSTION PROGRAM-OVERAL PROGRAM INTEGRATION AND ANALYSIS-AREA 7

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: NEUROCOGNITIVE EXPERIMENTATION TO ENHANCE STEM EDUCATION: STUDIES ON DIVERGENT THINKING IN FEMALE AND MALE ENGINEERING STUDENTS -ENGINEERS PROVIDE CREATIVE AND NOVEL SOLUTIONS FOR A RAPIDLY-CHANGING TECHNOLOGY-ORIENTED WORLD. CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING, OR DIVERGENT THINKING, IS KEY TO THE SUCCESS OF THESE STEM PROFESSIONALS. INDUSTRIAL AND ACADEMIC LEADERS HAVE LONG EXPRESSED CONCERNS THAT TRADITIONAL ENGINEERING PROGRAMS TEACH STUDENTS TO SOLVE WELL-DEFINED ANALYTICAL PROBLEMS, BUT DO NOT ADEQUATELY DEVELOP CREATIVE OR DIVERGENT THINKING SKILLS. HOWEVER, LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT THE FACTORS THAT SUPPORT DIVERGENT THINKING. IN THIS PROJECT, RESEARCHERS FROM ENGINEERING AND PSYCHOLOGY WILL WORK TOGETHER TO UNDERSTAND AND NURTURE DIVERGENT THINKING SKILLS IN UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING STUDENTS. THE PROJECT WILL INVOLVE TWO PHASES: AN EXAMINATION OF THE BRAIN ACTIVITY THAT OCCURS DURING CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING, AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS TO ENCOURAGE DIVERGENT THINKING IN STUDENTS. THIS PROJECT WILL INCREASE UNDERSTANDING OF THE NEUROCOGNITIVE BASIS OF DIVERGENT THINKING IN A STEM SETTING. IT WILL ALSO PROVIDE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES THAT ENHANCE DIVERGENT THINKING IN FUTURE ENGINEERS AND OTHER STEM PROFESSIONALS, WHICH IS ESSENTIAL FOR THE INNOVATION ECONOMY OF THE 21ST CENTURY. THIS INTERDISCIPLINARY PROJECT WILL INTEGRATE STRATEGIES AND TECHNIQUES FROM ENGINEERING, NEUROSCIENCE, AND PSYCHOLOGY TO EXAMINE THE NEURAL AND COGNITIVE MECHANISMS UNDERLYING DIVERGENT THINKING AND IDEATION IN ENGINEERING STUDENTS. IN THE FIRST PHASE OF THE PROJECT, ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY (EEG) TECHNIQUES THAT MEASURE CHANGES IN BRAIN ACTIVITY PATTERNS WILL BE USED TO STUDY ENGINEERING STUDENTS AS THEY PERFORM DESIGN TASKS. SPECIFICALLY, PARTICIPANTS WILL PERFORM DIVERGENT-THINKING TASKS WHILE FINE-GRAINED TEMPORAL RESOLUTION EEG IS RECORDED TO ASSESS TASK-RELATED CHANGES IN SPECTRAL POWER IN THE ALPHA FREQUENCY BAND. BECAUSE ENGINEERS OFTEN WORK IN TEAMS, THE RESEARCHERS WILL SPECIFICALLY EXAMINE HOW DIVERGENT THINKING PERFORMANCE IN FEMALE AND MALE ENGINEERING STUDENTS IS AFFECTED BY GROUP DYNAMICS. PARTICULARLY EXPLORED WILL BE TEAM MEMBERS' FEEDBACK THAT IMPINGES ON STUDENTS' GENDER, WITH A SPECIFIC FOCUS ON THE IMPACT OF GENDER STEREOTYPE THREAT OR BOOST AND THE GENDER OF A HIGH-AUTHORITY INDIVIDUAL GIVING FEEDBACK ON STUDENTS' DIVERGENT THINKING PERFORMANCE. IN THE SECOND PHASE OF THE PROJECT, RESULTS OF THE EEG STUDIES WILL BE TRANSLATED INTO EDUCATIONAL PRINCIPLES THAT FOSTER DIVERGENT THINKING. BASED ON THESE PRINCIPLES, INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES WILL BE IMPLEMENTED AND TESTED AT TWO DIFFERENT UNIVERSITIES IN UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING COURSES THAT INCORPORATE DIVERGENT THINKING AND DESIGN IDEATION SKILLS IN SOPHOMORE- AND SENIOR-LEVEL STUDENTS. THE FOCUS ON GENDER DIVERSITY WILL ALSO CONTRIBUTE ESSENTIAL INFORMATION FOR ENHANCING THE EDUCATION OF DIVERSE ENGINEERING STUDENT POPULATIONS. THE PROJECT WILL DISSEMINATE OUTCOMES AND MATERIALS THROUGH THE PROJECT WEBSITE, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS FOR BROAD AUDIENCES, AND PUBLICATIONS.

PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR: LIFE, WORKS, AND LEGACY

GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

EVALUATION OF EVENT CAMERAS FOR 2D3C VELOCIMETRY

UNS: ENHANCING UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING EDUCATION THROUGH MEANINGFUL ASSISTIVE DEVICE DESIGN

THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO SOLICIT FUNDS TO PROVIDE ULTRA HYPERVELOCITY IMPACT TEST DATA ON SPACECRAFTSTRUCTURES AND THERMAL PROTECTION SYST

IN PHASE I THE PROJECT USED ANHYDROUS ETHANOL AND ACTIVATED CARBON TO BUILD A BENCH-SCALE SOLAR THERMAL ABSORPTIVE REFRIGERATOR THAT ACHIEVED COOLING AT TEMPERATURES OF 2 ' 8 DEGREES CENTIGRADE. A LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS SHOWED SIGNIFICANT ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS COMPARED WITH A CONVENTIONAL REFRIGERATOR. IN PHASE II THE PROJECT WILL SCALE UP THE REFRIGERATOR, TEST AZEOTROPIC ETHANOL AS A REFRIGERANT, EVALUATE ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF ACTIVATED CARBON, AND PERFORM LIFE CYCLE ANALYSES COMPARING THE EFFECTS OF USING THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF ETHANOL AND ACTIVATED CARBON.

THE PURPOSE OF THIES GRANT IS TO INVESTI

CRACKING AND DELAMINATION NETWORKS MODELING IN LAMINATED COMPOSITES (GRADUATE STUDENT MICHAEL SWIN

TAS::57 3600::TAS "AFRL UNIVERSITY ENGINEERING DESIGN CHALLENGE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON" (THE GRANTEE'S TECHNICAL PROPOSAL DATED 25 APR 11, R

THE PURPOSE OF THIES GRANT IS TO INVESTI

GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM (GRFP) -THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (NSF) GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM (GRFP) IS A HIGHLY COMPETITIVE FEDERAL FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM. GRFP HELPS ENSURE THE QUALITY, VITALITY, AND STRENGTH OF THE SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING WORKFORCE OF THE UNITED STATES. THE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES AND SUPPORTS OUTSTANDING GRADUATE STUDENTS WHO ARE PURSUING RESEARCH-BASED MASTER'S AND DOCTORAL DEGREES IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM), INCLUDING STEM EDUCATION. GRFP PROVIDES THREE YEARS OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR THE GRADUATE EDUCATION OF INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE DEMONSTRATED THEIR POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENTS IN STEM. THIS AWARD SUPPORTS THE NSF GRADUATE FELLOWS PURSUING GRADUATE EDUCATION AT THIS AWARDEE INSTITUTION. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

EVALUATION OF EVENT-BASED CAMERAS FOR VELOCIMETRY

HIGH THROUGHPUT SUPERSPEED CENTRIFUGATION SYSTEM FOR THE ISOLATION, PURIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MULTI-FUNCTIONAL BIOLOGICALLY INSPIRED CORRO

I-CORPS: TRAFFIC ANALYZER FOR VISUALIZATION AND SIMULATION -THE BROADER IMPACT/COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL OF THIS I-CORPS PROJECT FOCUSES ON ASSESSING STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGIES IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND COMPUTER VISION FOR TRAFFIC VISUALIZATION AND SIMULATION. THIS IS IMPORTANT SINCE THE CONSTRUCTION DEMANDS KEEP INCREASING IN THE POST-PANDEMIC ERA. AT THE MOMENT, MANY SIMULATORS USED THE MOCK-UP DATA OR RANDOM DATA. MEANWHILE, CONSULTING FIRMS STILL DEPLOY HUMANS USING MANUAL CLICKERS TO COUNT VEHICLES IN A PERIOD OF SEVERAL DAYS OR WEEKS. THIS PROCESS IS TIME AND LABOR CONSUMING. THIS PROJECT WILL EXPLORE IMPLEMENTATION AND COMMERCIALIZATION OPPORTUNITIES WITH A TRAFFIC ANALYSIS TOOL TO VISUALIZE AND SIMULATE THE TRAFFIC FROM THE ANALYZED DATA. THIS I-CORPS PROJECT DEVELOPS A SYSTEM TO ANALYZE THE TRAFFIC CAMERAS. IT APPLIES STATE-OF-THE-ART COMPUTER VISION ALGORITHMS FROM OBJECT DETECTION TO TRAJECTORY-BASED TRACKING IN ORDER TO IMPROVE THE PERFORMANCE OF TRAFFIC FLOW ESTIMATION. THE TECHNOLOGY ANALYZES THE CAMERA DATA IN THE CONTEXT OF A GRAPH; THE TRAFFIC OF ONE NODE CAN AFFECT ANOTHER NODE IN THE TRAFFIC GRAPH. SIGNIFICANTLY, THE VISUAL DATA TAKEN FROM ONE CITY CAMERA GRID CAN BE USED FOR OTHER CITIES WHERE THE TRAFFIC SITUATION REMAINS THE SAME. THE TECHNOLOGY ALSO INCLUDES A CITY TRAFFIC PLANNING SIMULATOR USING THE ANALYZED TRAFFIC DATA. THE SIMULATOR IS USED TO SUPPORT METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION PLANNING. THE ADDITION OR REMOVAL OF ANY TRAFFIC INFRASTRUCTURE CAN BE OBSERVED FROM THE SIMULATOR. THEREFORE, THE SIMULATOR RESULTS CAN GUIDE ENGINEERS AND CITY AUTHORITIES IN URBAN DEVELOPMENT PLANNING. 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.

34TH SUMMER CONFERENCE ON TOPOLOGY AND ITS APPLICATIONS

PROBLEMS ON STRUCTURED FAMILIES AND GRAPHS

EDUCATING THE WHOLE SCIENTIST [TO COUNTER DEFICIENCIES IN HUMANITIES EDUCATION OF SCIENCE MAJORS, WE PROPOSE TO: 1) OUTLINE AN INTEGRATED AND HUMANITIES-GROUNDED CURRICULUM THROUGH AN EQUAL PARTNERSHIP OF EDUCATORS FROM BOTH THE HUMANITIES AND THE SCIENCES, AIMED AT EDUCATING WELL-ROUNDED SCIENTISTS AND TO HELP SCIENCE MAJORS BECOME BETTER SCIENTISTS; AND 2) DEVELOP A PLAN FOR AN INTERDISCIPLINARY MINOR TO IMPLEMENT AND SUPPORT THE CURRICULUM LONG-TERM. TO ACCOMPLISH THESE AIMS, WE WILL CONVENE A COLLABORATIVE GROUP OF COLLEAGUES FROM THE HUMANITIES, SCIENCES, AND EDUCATION SCIENCES TO ARTICULATE THE GOALS OF THE INTEGRATED CURRICULUM AND DESIGN IT. WE WILL EXPLORE STUDENT MOTIVATIONS AND INTERESTS USING SURVEYS AND FOCUS GROUPS. ADDITIONALLY, WE WILL ALSO INVESTIGATE THE FEASIBILITY AND BARRIERS TO IMPLEMENTATION IN CONSULTATION WITH HUMANITIES AND SCIENCE FACULTY, UNIVERSITY LEADERSHIP, AND FACULTY SENATE. FINALLY, WE WILL ALSO SEEK ADVICE FROM EXTERNAL CONSULTANTS TO DEVELOP AND EVALUATE THE CURRICULUM AND MINOR.]

ALTERNATIVE FUELS TEST DATABASE LIBRARY