Rose-Hulman Institute Of Technology

CARES ACT INSTITUTIONAL AID

CARES ACT - STUDENT AID

NOVEL BIOCONJUGATES AS PROBES OF ESTROGEN RECEPTORS

ROSE BUILDING UNDERGRADUATE DIVERSITY (ROSE-BUD): IMPROVING ENROLLMENT AND RETENTION OF WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING

FREE SPACE OPTICAL COMMUNICATION REQUIRES LASER TRANSMITTERS WITH HIGH OUTPUT POWER GOOD BEAM QUALITY AND HIGH MODULATION EXTINCTION RATIOS. CURRENT STATE-OF-THE-ART TRANSMITTERS UTILIZE A SINGLE MODE LASER SOURCE WHICH IS MODULATED USING SEVERAL PASSIVE (ABSORPTION) MODULATORS CASCADED IN SERIES BEFORE AMPLIFICATION. VARIOUS LEVELS OF INTEGRATION OF THESE COMPONENTS HAVE BEEN DEMONSTRATED. WHILE EFFECTIVE THIS APPROACH HAS TWO SIGNIFICANT DRAWBACKS: 1) COMPLEX DRIVE ELECTRONICS ARE REQUIRED TO GENERATE AND DISTRIBUTE SYNCHRONIZED SIGNALS TO THE MODULATOR CHAIN AND 2) THE OVERALL EFFICIENCY OF THE TRANSMITTER IS EXTREMELY POOR (SINCE THE LASER SOURCE AND AMPLIFIER ARE ALWAYS ON AND ADDITIONAL POWER IS EXPENDED IN THE ABSORPTION OF LIGHT IN THE MODULATOR). AS A RESULT THIS APPROACH IS NOT IDEALLY SUITED TO SATELLITE-BASED FREE SPACE COMMUNICATION WHERE SYSTEM SIZE WEIGHT AND POWER (SWAP) MUST BE MINIMIZED. THIS PROPOSAL SEEKS TO DEVELOP A LASER TRANSMITTER WITH HIGH EXTINCTION RATIO (>30 DB) THAT IS CAPABLE OF OPERATING WITH BOTH HIGH EFFICIENCY AND SIMPLE DRIVE ELECTRONICS. THE APPROACH LEVERAGES TWO TECHNOLOGIES WHICH TO DATE HAVE NOT BEEN INCORPORATED INTO PHOTONIC INTEGRATED CIRCUIT TECHNOLOGY: 1) HIGH POWER HIGH EFFICIENCY INGAASP-BASED EPITAXIAL DESIGNS AND 2) ACTIVE MODULATORS BASED ON TAPERED SEMICONDUCTOR AMPLIFIERS. STATE-OF-THE-ART 1550 NM HIGH POWER LASERS CAN DELIVER>40% POWER CONVERSION EFFICIENCY WHEN OPERATED AT ROOM TEMPERATURE; BY ADOPTING A SIMILAR APPROACH TO THE EPITAXIAL DESIGN OF THE PIC A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN THE OVERALL WALLPLUG EFFICIENCY OF THE LASER TRANSMITTER EXPECTED. THE INTEGRATION OF TAPERED AMPLIFIERS TO SERVE AS ACTIVE MODULATORS WILL DRIVE FURTHER IMPROVEMENT IN EFFICIENCY WHILE MAINTAINING HIGH SPEED OPERATION WITH HIGH EXTINCTION RATIO. PROTOTYPE DEVICES WILL BE FABRICATED AND TESTED TO>1 GBPS IN A FREE SPACE COMMUNICATION LINK UTILIZING PULSE POSITION MODULATION (PPM). THE DESIGN (INCLUDING DRIVE ELECTRONICS) IS EXPECTED TO BE COMPACT AND HIGHLY RESISTANT TO RADIATION MAKING IT WELL-SUITED FOR SPACEFLIGHT. ADDITIONAL BENEFITS OFFERED BY THE APPROACH INCLUDE COMPATIBILITY WITH: 1) ON-CHIP INTEGRATION OF MULTIPLE CHANNELS FOR HIGH SPEED WAVELENGTH DIVISION MULTIPLEXING 2) OTHER MODULATION SCHEMES AND 3) HIGH-GAIN TAPERED AMPLIFIERS FOR MULTI-WATT CHIP OUTPUT.

CAREER: FROM CONNECTOME TO BEHAVIOR: COMPUTATIONAL MODELS OF MULTIFUNCTIONAL NEURAL CIRCUITS IN C. ELEGANS -HOW AN ANIMAL FLEXIBLY COORDINATES MULTIPLE BEHAVIORS AS A COHESIVE UNIT IS ONE OF THE CENTRAL PROBLEMS OF NEUROSCIENCE; MULTIFUNCTIONALITY HAS ALSO BEEN RECOGNIZED AS ONE OF THE FUNDAMENTAL CHALLENGES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A GENERAL ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. ALTHOUGH THE ABILITY OF NEURAL CIRCUITS TO FLEXIBLY RECONFIGURE IS WIDESPREAD AMONG ORGANISMS, MOST STUDIES OF THE NEURAL BASIS OF BEHAVIORS FOCUS ON ISOLATED CIRCUITS AND INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORS. STUDIES THAT CONSIDER MULTIFUNCTIONAL CIRCUITRY TEND TO FOCUS ON THE SWITCHING BETWEEN DISTINCT PATTERNS OF ACTIVITY, WITH LITTLE INSIGHT INTO MULTIFUNCTIONAL SENSORIMOTOR INTEGRATION. WITH THE INCREASING AMOUNT OF ANATOMICAL, PHYSIOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIORAL DATA BEING GENERATED, A COMPUTATIONAL MODELING FRAMEWORK TO UNDERSTAND THE NEURAL BASIS OF BEHAVIOR IS ESSENTIAL. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO MODEL MULTIPLE NEURAL CIRCUITS THAT HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED IN ISOLATION AND TO INTEGRATE THEM INTO A SINGLE MODEL TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW MULTIFUNCTIONALITY ARISES IN SENSORY-DRIVEN BEHAVIORAL CIRCUITS. THIS PROJECT IS AN IMPORTANT STEP TOWARD THE LONG-TERM GOAL OF DEVELOPING A BEHAVIORALLY-FUNCTIONAL BRAIN-BODY-ENVIRONMENT MODEL OF A LIVING ORGANISM AT THE LEVEL OF INDIVIDUAL NEURONS. THE CROSS-DISCIPLINARY METHODOLOGIES DEVELOPED FROM THIS PROJECT WILL SERVE AS A SPRINGBOARD FOR UNDERSTANDING MULTIFUNCTIONAL CIRCUITS IN LIVING ORGANISMS AS WELL AS FOR GENERATING ARTIFICIAL SYSTEMS CAPABLE OF ROBUSTLY AND EFFICIENTLY PERFORMING MULTIPLE FUNCTIONS. THE PROJECT FOCUSES SPECIFICALLY ON MODELING AND ANALYZING THE CIRCUITS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WIDE RANGE OF SPATIAL ORIENTATION BEHAVIORS IN THE NEMATODE CAENORHABDITIS ELEGANS. THIS MODEL ORGANISM IS A UNIQUELY QUALIFIED TARGET FOR INTEGRATED COMPUTATIONAL MODELING OF A COMPLETE ANIMAL BECAUSE OF THE BREADTH OF INFORMATION KNOWN ABOUT ITS GENETICS, DEVELOPMENT, ANATOMY, AND BEHAVIOR. DESPITE THIS SUBSTANTIAL KNOWLEDGE, INFORMATION ABOUT THE ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF ITS NERVOUS SYSTEM IS LESS COMPLETE. THE PROJECT AIMS TO CONSTRAIN THE MODEL BY WHAT IS KNOWN FROM THE ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE ORGANISM WITH REASONED SIMPLIFICATIONS ABOUT ITS BODY AND ENVIRONMENT. THEN, STOCHASTIC OPTIMIZATION WILL BE USED TO FILL IN ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL UNKNOWNS SUCH THAT THE MODEL PRODUCES BEHAVIOR THAT MATCHES WHAT HAS BEEN OBSERVED, INCLUDING THE EFFECT OF NEURAL MANIPULATIONS ON BEHAVIOR. THE RESULT OF OPTIMIZATION WILL NOT BE A UNIQUE MODEL, BUT RATHER AN ENSEMBLE OF MODELS THAT ARE CONSISTENT WITH CURRENT KNOWLEDGE OF THE SYSTEM. EACH OF THESE POSSIBILITIES REPRESENTS A TESTABLE HYPOTHESIS FOR C. ELEGANS. THE NEXT STEP IN THE PROJECT WILL BE TO ANALYZE THE STRUCTURE OF THIS ENSEMBLE TO FORMULATE THE KEY EXPERIMENTS THAT CAN DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE VARIOUS CLASSES OF POSSIBILITIES IN THE WORM. THE RESULTS OF SUCH EXPERIMENTS CAN THEN BE USED AS ADDITIONAL CONSTRAINTS FOR SUBSEQUENT OPTIMIZATIONS IN AN ITERATIVE CYCLE OF MODEL REFINEMENT. BESIDES THE GENERATION OF EXPERIMENTALLY-TESTABLE PREDICTIONS THAT ARE SPECIFIC TO C. ELEGANS, THROUGH THE ANALYSIS OF THE ENSEMBLE OF MODELS, THE PROJECT AIMS TO DISCOVER GENERAL PRINCIPLES FOR HOW MULTIFUNCTIONAL CIRCUITS OPERATE IN LIVING ORGANISMS MORE BROADLY. 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.

RUI: AN INVERSE PROBLEM APPROACH TO STIFFNESS MAPPING FOR EARLY DETECTION OF BREAST CANCER

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A BIOMECHANICS BIAXIAL MATERIALS TESTING AND MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

REU SITE: ROSE-HULMAN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE IN MATHEMATICS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ACADEMIC CHANGE AND THE RED COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE: SUSTAINING A REVOLUTION THROUGH CHANGE LEADERSHIP AND RESEARCH -THE SLOW PROGRESS FOR CHANGE DESPITE REPEATED CALLS FOR IMPROVING THE WAY UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) ARE EDUCATED IS THE BASIS FOR THIS PROJECT?S IMPORTANCE. ALTHOUGH MANY YEARS OF FUNDING AND DEVELOPMENT HAVE BEEN PROVIDED TO HELP MAKE IMPROVEMENTS, CHANGE IN STEM EDUCATION IS NOT PERVASIVE. TRADITION, CULTURE, STRUCTURE, AND DECISION-MAKING PATTERNS SET HIGHER EDUCATION APART FROM OTHER ORGANIZATIONAL SETTINGS AND INTRODUCE UNIQUE CHALLENGES FOR CREATING SYSTEMIC AND SUSTAINABLE CHANGES. THIS PROJECT WILL ENABLE THE CREATION OF RESEARCH-BASED PRACTICAL SUPPORT FOR TEAMS OF CHANGE LEADERS TRYING TO MAKE CHANGE THROUGH THE REVOLUTIONIZING ENGINEERING DEPARTMENTS (RED) GRANT MECHANISM. THE PROJECT WILL INTRODUCE FACULTY, GRADUATE STUDENTS, AND STAFF SERVING ON RED PROJECTS TO KNOWLEDGE AND RESEARCH-BASED SKILLS THAT ARE NECESSARY TO INITIATE, IMPLEMENT, AND SUSTAIN ACADEMIC CHANGE ON THEIR CAMPUSES, BUILD AND SUPPORT A CONSORTIUM OF RED TEAMS, AND STUDY THE PROCESS OF ACADEMIC CHANGE. THE GOALS OF THE PROJECT ARE TO HELP CHANGE LEADERS GROW IN KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND RESOURCES BY PROVIDING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, A COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE AND RESEARCH-BASED INFORMATION, SO THAT ACADEMIC CHANGE CAN BE SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENTED AND SUSTAINED. THE PROJECT TEAM, REVOLUTIONIZING ENGINEERING DEPARTMENTS PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH (REDPAR), REPRESENTS A UNIQUE PRACTICE-RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE MAKING ACADEMIC CHANGE HAPPEN TEAM AT ROSE-HULMAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND THE CENTER FOR EVALUATION AND RESEARCH FOR STEM EQUITY (CERSE) AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON. THIS PARTNERSHIP WILL ENABLE REDPAR TO LINK PRACTICAL, APPLIED FACULTY DEVELOPMENT FOCUSED ON MAKING ACADEMIC CHANGE WITH RESEARCH THAT IDENTIFIES IMPORTANT CHANGE PRACTICES THAT EMERGE IN RED PROJECTS. THE OUTCOMES OF THE PROJECT WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH SUMMER FACULTY DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS AND DURING THE RED CONSORTIUM ANNUAL MEETING. THE FACULTY WILL BE FURTHER SUPPORTED THROUGH BI-MONTHLY RED CONSORTIUM CALLS WHICH SERVE AS OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE RED COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE TO SHARE EXPERIENCES AND ADVICE, AND IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITIES FOR COLLABORATION. REDPAR WILL MATCH NEW RED TEAMS WITH MENTORS (FROM MORE EXPERIENCED RED COHORTS) WHO CAN PROVIDE PRACTICAL ADVICE. THE RESEARCH TEAM WILL USE RED GRANTEE FOCUS GROUPS AND INTERVIEW DATA TO QUALITATIVELY EXAMINE 1) HOW ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT MATTERS FOR TEAMS AND WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN ABLE TO ACHIEVE, AND 2) THE ASPECTS OF PROJECTS THAT HAVE BEEN SUSTAINED, AND THE ROLE THAT INSTITUTIONAL LEARNING MECHANISMS, ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE MODELS/THEORIES, AND CONTEXT PLAY IN PROJECT INSTITUTIONALIZATION. THIS PROJECT WILL PARTNER WITH CURRENT AND FORMER RED GRANTEES TO ENSURE THAT THE WORK IS USEFUL TO THE STEM EDUCATION CHANGEMAKING COMMUNITY. WITH THE ADDITION OF THE COMMUNITY COLLEGES IN RED, THE PROJECT AND THEREFORE THE FIELD WILL GAIN INSIGHTS INTO THE ROLE OF CONTEXT IN THE WIDER ECOSYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION. THE FINDINGS FROM THIS PROJECT WILL IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF INSTITUTIONALIZING SYSTEMIC CHANGES IN HIGHER EDUCATION, AND HOW ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXTS IMPACT THE SUCCESS AND SUSTAINABILITY OF ACADEMIC CHANGE INITIATIVES. 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.

REU SITE: ROSE-HULMAN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE IN MATHEMATICS

DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT: UNDERSTANDING THE CONTEXTUAL FACTORS THAT IMPACT ACADEMIC CHANGE THROUGH A PRACTICE-RESEARCH COLLABORATION SUPPORTING THE NSF RED PROJECTS

MRI: ACQUISITION OF CLOSED-LOOP HYDRAULIC TEST SYSTEM

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CREATING NATIONAL LEADERSHIP COHORTS FOR MAKING ACADEMIC CHANGE HAPPEN

TUES: MOTIVATING STUDENTS IN AN INTRODUCTORY CONTINUOUS-TIME SIGNALS AND SYSTEMS COURSE USING A NOVEL SIGNALS EXPLORATION PLATFORM

TUES: THE DEVELOPMENT AND ASSESSMENT OF A NEW TEST AND PRODUCT ENGINEERING CERTIFICATE PROGRAM

REU SITE: ROSE-HULMAN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE IN MATHEMATICS

LEAPS-MPS: LIMITS, LEVELNESS, AND LATTICE POINTS -AN INTERESTING AND RELATIVELY ELEMENTARY RESULT IN MATHEMATICS IS PICK?S THEOREM: IF YOU TAKE ANY POLYGON IN THE TWO DIMENSIONAL PLANE WHERE THE VERTICES ALL HAVE INTEGER COORDINATES, COMPUTING THE AREA OF THIS POLYGON CAN BE DONE BY WAY OF A FORMULA WHICH SIMPLY TAKES IN THE NUMBER OF INTEGER COORDINATE POINTS ON THE BOUNDARY OF THE POLYGON AND THE NUMBER OF INTEGER COORDINATE POINTS IN THE INTERIOR OF THE POLYGON. THIS REDUCES THE PROCESS OF COMPUTING AREA TO A BASIC COUNTING PROBLEM, WHICH CAN BE MORE EFFICIENT WHEN COMPUTING AREAS EXPLICITLY OR APPROXIMATING THEM. THIS IS OF USE NOT ONLY IN A VARIETY OF MATHEMATICAL AND COMPUTING APPLICATIONS, BUT ALSO IN MORE GENERAL APPLICATIONS SUCH AS FORESTRY SURVEYING. IF ONE MOVES BEYOND TWO DIMENSIONS, THE SAME CORRESPONDENCE NO LONGER HOLDS, BUT THERE ARE MANY INTERESTING CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE INTEGER POINTS AND VOLUMES. THIS MATHEMATICAL DISCIPLINE IS CALLED EHRHART THEORY, WHICH HAS BEEN A PARTICULARLY FRUITFUL FIELD OVER THE PAST SEVERAL DECADES. THE PI WILL FOCUS ON EXTENDING THE BODY OF KNOWLEDGE IN EHRHART THEORY, SPECIFICALLY BY CONSIDERING THE IMPLICATIONS OF ALGEBRAIC PROPERTY CALLED LEVELNESS AND ANALYZING A NEW CONCEPT CALLED AN EHRHART LIMIT. THE PI WILL INTEGRATE THE RESEARCH PROGRAM WITH RESEARCH AND TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS. THIS AWARD ALSO SUPPORTS AN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS CONFERENCE, UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT TRAVEL TO MATHEMATICS CONFERENCES AND DIVERSITY-FOCUSED CONFERENCES, A SEMINAR SERIES FEATURING GRADUATE STUDENT SPEAKERS, AND K-12 OUTREACH ACTIVITIES. THESE ACTIVITIES WILL HAVE AN EMPHASIS ON INCREASING PARTICIPATION BY INDIVIDUALS IN GROUPS HISTORICALLY UNDERREPRESENTED IN MATHEMATICS. THIS PROJECT WILL INVESTIGATE ALGEBRAIC AND ENUMERATIVE PROPERTIES OF LATTICE POLYTOPES AND RATIONAL POLYHEDRAL CONES THROUGH THREE AVENUES. FIRST, THE PI WILL INVESTIGATE THE CONNECTION BETWEEN LEVEL POLYTOPES AND H-STAR UNIMODALITY. LEVEL POLYTOPES ARE A GENERALIZATION OF GORENSTEIN POLYTOPES OF WHICH MUCH MORE IS KNOWN REGARDING CONNECTIONS WITH UNIMODALITY, INCLUDING A VERY RECENT RESULT PROVING A LONGSTANDING CONJECTURE. SECOND, THE PI WILL INVESTIGATE FAMILIES OF POLYTOPES WHOSE H-STAR POLYNOMIALS CONVERGE TO SOME FORMAL POWER SERIES. SUCH INSTANCES ARE KNOWN AS EHRHART LIMITS, A RELATIVELY NEW NOTION IN THE LITERATURE, AND THE PI WILL FOCUS ON PRODUCING ADDITIONAL FAMILIES WHICH EXHIBIT INTERESTING EHRHART LIMITS. LASTLY, THE PI WILL STUDY COMMUTATIVE ALGEBRAIC PROPERTIES OF A FAMILY OF RATIONAL POLYHEDRAL CONES, CALLED S-LECTURE HALL CONES. SPECIFICALLY, THE PROJECT WILL INVESTIGATE RESOLUTIONS OF THESE CONES, AS WELL AS ASSOCIATED COINVARIANT RINGS. 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.

FIE EARMARK GRANT AWARDS

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING SENIOR DESIGN PROJECTS: DESIGN & IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ADVANCING MENTORSHIP PROGRAMS FOR UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH IN ENGINEERING -THIS PROJECT AIMS TO SERVE THE NATIONAL INTEREST BY ESTABLISHING PRACTICES TO IMPROVE MENTORSHIP, LEARNING, AND ENGAGEMENT IN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXPERIENCES (URES) IN ENGINEERING. URES PLAY A CRUCIAL ROLE IN ENHANCING ENGINEERING STUDENTS' ACADEMIC EXPERIENCES BY PROVIDING HANDS-ON, AUTHENTIC EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES. THIS LEVEL 2 PROJECT IN THE ENGAGED STUDENT LEARNING TRACK OF THE IUSE PROGRAM WILL BUILD ON AN EXISTING TOOLKIT OF INTERVENTIONS AND BEST PRACTICES THAT CREATE STRUCTURED REFLECTION AND MENTORING ACTIVITIES WITHIN ENGINEERING URES. THE IMPLEMENTATION, ADAPTATION, AND OUTCOMES OF THIS TOOLKIT IN URES WILL BE STUDIED ACROSS FIVE INSTITUTIONS. THIS WORK HAS THE POTENTIAL TO EXPAND ACCESS AND IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF MENTORSHIP IN ENGINEERING URES. IT WILL ALSO STRENGTHEN THE EXISTING PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN A DIVERSE GROUP OF PARTICIPATING INSTITUTIONS, AND THE KNOWLEDGE GAINED WILL RESULT IN THE EXPANSION OF HIGH-QUALITY, FREELY AVAILABLE RESOURCES FOR ENGINEERING URES. DURING THE PROJECT, THE INVESTIGATORS WILL FORM AN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXCELLENCE NETWORK (UREN) WITH URE MENTORS, INCLUDING FACULTY, POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS, AND GRADUATE STUDENTS, TO IMPLEMENT THE EXISTING TOOLKIT. THE TOOLKIT INCLUDES STUDENT AND MENTOR TRAINING VIDEOS, ACTIVITIES, INSTRUCTOR GUIDES, AND WORKSHOPS THAT MAKE THE LEARNING AND BENEFITS OF URES MORE VISIBLE TO AND ACCESSIBLE FOR STUDENTS AND FACULTY. THE UREN WILL PROVIDE STRUCTURED TRAINING AND COACHING TO HELP MENTORS FORM AN ACTION PLAN FOR ADOPTING THESE TOOLS IN THEIR RESEARCH MENTORSHIP. THE IMPLEMENTATIONS WILL BE EVALUATED THROUGH AN EMERGENT DESIGN STUDIES APPROACH, FOCUSING ON MEDIATING PROCESSES INVOLVING STUDENT SELF-ASSESSMENT, REFLECTIVE THINKING, AND MINDSET. THESE FINDINGS WILL BE LINKED WITH EVALUATED OUTCOMES RELATED TO STUDENTS' AUTONOMY AND SELF-CONFIDENCE IN RESEARCH AND THEIR ABILITY TO CONNECT THEIR RESEARCH EXPERIENCE WITH THEIR LEARNING THROUGH COURSEWORK. THIS PROJECT WILL INCREASE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT IMPROVING LEARNING AND ENGAGEMENT IN ENGINEERING URES. EVALUATING WHETHER THE LEARNING GAINS OBSERVED IN PREVIOUS WORK CAN BE GENERALIZED ACROSS FIVE INSTITUTIONS WILL ESTABLISH THIS TOOLKIT AS AN IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION TO ENHANCING ENGINEERING STUDENTS' LEARNING. FURTHERMORE, IT WILL PROVIDE CRITICAL INSIGHT TO INFORM THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW PEDAGOGICAL APPROACHES THAT LEVERAGE STUDENT MINDSET TO SUPPORT EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING IN STEM FIELDS. THE NSF IUSE: EDU PROGRAM SUPPORTS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS TO IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF STEM EDUCATION FOR ALL STUDENTS. THROUGH THE ENGAGED STUDENT LEARNING TRACK, THE PROGRAM SUPPORTS THE CREATION, EXPLORATION, AND IMPLEMENTATION OF PROMISING PRACTICES AND 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.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: PREPARING ENGINEERING FACULTY TO MAKE ACADEMIC CHANGE HAPPEN

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: TEACHING METACOGNITION: HELPING ENGINEERING STUDENTS TAKE OWNERSHIP OF THEIR OWN LEARNING

RESEARCH INITIATION: COLLABORATIVE PROPOSAL: DIVERSIFYING PATHS THROUGH ENGINEERING WITH EXTRA-/CO-CURRICULAR PARTICIPATION

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CI-TEAM IMPLEMENTATION PROJECT: THE SIGNAL PROCESSING EDUCATION NETWORK

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: IMPROVING ENGINEERING COMMUNICATION WITH ENHANCED CALIBRATED PEER REVIEW

USING MOBILE GAME DEVELOPMENT TO IMPROVE STUDENT LEARNING & SATISFACTION IN INTRODUCTORY COMPUTER SCIENCE COURSES

RUI: BIOSYNTHETIC DIVERSIFICATION OF DIKETOPIPERAZINE NATURAL PRODUCTS -WITH SUPPORT FROM THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE PROCESSES PROGRAM IN THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY, AMY LANE FROM UNIVERSITY OF NORTH FLORIDA (UNF) AIMS TO DECIPHER NATURE?S METHODS FOR CREATING A GROUP OF MOLECULES KNOWN AS 2,5-DIKETOPIPERAZINES (DKPS). THESE NATURALLY OCCURRING COMPOUNDS OFFER A VARIETY OF APPLICATIONS IN AGRICULTURE AND OTHER COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISES. MICROORGANISMS ASSEMBLE DKPS THROUGH ENZYME-CATALYZED REACTIONS, IN WHICH UBIQUITOUS CHEMICAL BUILDING BLOCKS ARE TRANSFORMED INTO UNIQUE DKPS. DR. LANE AND HER TEAM SEEK TO DEVELOP A MOLECULAR-LEVEL UNDERSTANDING OF THESE ENZYMES TO UNLEASH THE POTENTIAL FOR BIOCATALYTIC SYNTHESIS OF THE NEXT GENERATION OF DKPS. THIS PROJECT WILL BE INTEGRATED INTO UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION, WITH THE PROJECT ACTING AS A VEHICLE FOR PROVIDING HANDS-ON RESEARCH TRAINING TO UNDERGRADUATES. IMPACT ON THE FUTURE STEM (SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICS) WORKFORCE WILL BE MAGNIFIED BEYOND DIRECT RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS VIA THE CREATING LEADERS IN MULTIDISCIPLINARY BASIC SCIENCE (CLIMBS) PROGRAM. THE CLIMBS PROGRAM IMPLEMENTS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS AS ?LADDERS? TO PREPARE UNF?S DIVERSE STUDENT POPULATION FOR THE PURSUIT OF CAREERS IN SCIENCE AND TO FACILITATE THEIR ENTRANCE INTO GRADUATE PROGRAMS AS A FIRST STEP ON THAT JOURNEY. CYCLODIPEPTIDE SYNTHASES (CDPSS) CATALYZE THE FORMATION OF DKP SCAFFOLDS FROM TWO AMINOACYL-TRNA SUBSTRATES. THESE DKP SCAFFOLDS ARE STRUCTURALLY DIVERSIFIED AND EQUIPPED FOR BIOLOGICAL FUNCTION VIA TAILORING REACTIONS. NEARLY ALL OF THE >800 EXPERIMENTALLY-CHARACTERIZED OR BIOINFORMATICS-PREDICTED CDPSS ORIGINATE FROM BACTERIAL GENE CLUSTERS THAT ALSO ENCODE PREDICTED DKP TAILORING ENZYMES WITH DIVERSE AND UNKNOWN FUNCTIONS. THESE CRYPTIC BIOSYNTHETIC PATHWAYS ARE PREDICTED TO YIELD A PLETHORA OF UNIQUELY FUNCTIONALIZED DKPS, BUT REMAIN POORLY EXPLORED RELATIVE TO PATHWAYS YIELDING OTHER COMMON NATURAL PRODUCT CLASSES. THE GOALS OF THIS PROJECT ARE TO ESTABLISH MOLECULAR-LEVEL UNDERSTANDING OF SELECTED BIOSYNTHETIC PATHWAYS THAT CONTAIN CDPSS AND TO DIVERSIFY DKP NATURAL PRODUCTS OBTAINED FROM THESE PATHWAYS. TO ACCOMPLISH THESE GOALS, THE LANE RESEARCH GROUP WILL APPLY AN IN SILICO-IN VITRO APPROACH TO CHARACTERIZE MOLECULAR DETAILS OF DKP ISOMERIZATION, DEVELOP AN IN VIVO BIOSYNTHETIC PLATFORM FOR THE ASSEMBLY OF DKP ANALOGS FROM UNNATURAL AMINO ACIDS, AND ESTABLISH ISOTOPE-LABELED METABOLOMICS APPROACHES TO IDENTIFY NEW DKPS. THIS WORK IS EXPECTED BOTH ADVANCE FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF DIKETOPIPERAZINE BIOSYNTHESIS AND YIELD STRATEGIES TO MORE FULLY UNLEASH THE POWER OF MECHANISTICALLY-GUIDED SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY IN NATURAL PRODUCT CHEMISTRY. 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.

OVERCOMING IMPEDIMENTS TO COMPUTER SCIENCE STUDENTS' UNDERSTANDING OF CODE: SCALING UP AUTOMATED METHODS AND BROADENING PARTICIPATION

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CRI: CRD: A JML COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE -- REVITALIZING TOOLS AND DOCUMENTATION TO AID FORMAL METHODS RESEARCH

DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT: WORKSHOP PROPOSAL FOR EMERGING ENGINEERING EDUCATORS MAKING ACADEMIC CHANGE HAPPEN (E3 MACH)

MAKING ACADEMIC CHANGE HAPPEN FOR EMERGING ENGINEERING EDUCATORS (WORKSHOP PROPOSAL)

MAKING ACADEMIC CHANGE HAPPEN WORKSHOP

MAKING ACADEMIC CHANGE WORKSHOP

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CENTER FOR MOBILE HANDS-ON STEM

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT: THE SKILLFUL LEARNING INSTITUTE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: EXPERIENTIAL PROCESS SAFETY TRAINING FOR CHEMICAL ENGINEERS

HIGHER EDUCATION DISASTER RELIEF PROGRAM

TRAVEL GRANT SUPPORT FOR IEEE ICCCN 2013 CONFERENCE

EIGHTH ALGORITHMIC NUMBER THEORY SYMPOSIUM ANTS-VIII

FY 2016 SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP MML/NCNR-MATSCI

FY 2015 SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP - MML-CHEMBIO

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: IUSE: EHR: ENGAGED STUDENT LEARNING EXPLORATION AND DESIGN TIER: ENGAGING AND ENABLING LEARNERS TO REASON LOGICALLY ABOUT CODE

THE DEVELOPMENT OF A HEXACOPTER WITH A DEXTEROUS MANIPULATOR