N.C. A&T Receives $4.2M NSF Grant to Enhance Diversity in Materials Research

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (Aug. 12, 2024) – North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University has received $4.2 million for six years from the Division of Materials Research (DMR) of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to fund an interdisciplinary program aimed to enhance diversity in materials research.

The Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) program at N.C. A&T will be led by Dhananjay Kumar, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the College of Engineering (COE). Kumar also serves as the director of NSF-PREM Center on Collaborative Research and Education in Energy Materials (CREEM) and director of the Department of Energy-EFRC on the Center for Electrochemical Dynamic and Reactions on Surfaces (CEDARS). The co-principal investigators are J. David Schall, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Jenora Waterman, Ph.D., a professor and chair of the Department of Biology in the College of Science and Technology (CoST).

“Dr. Kumar and the PREM team have built a strong foundation of students interested in materials science,” said Stephanie Luster-Teasley Pass, Ph.D., COE dean. “The research and talent already accomplished has demonstrated that diversity of thought is critically important to innovation and development of not only the next generation of viable materials, but also the next generation of researchers who develop them. We are proud as a college and university of this interdisciplinary funding, our faculty and students.”

The A&T PREM, called Collaborative Research and Education in Advanced Materials (CREAM), will partner with the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC). The UCSD MRSEC team is led by Michael Sailor, Ph.D., university distinguished professor at UCSD and MRSEC director along with a host of faculty members.

Researchers will focus on three thrusts: innovating unique 2D materials that will enable the development and design of flexible electronic devices, like a screen that can be rolled up and put in a poster case to carry for presentations or entertainment; plasmonic materials that will expand the horizon and lessen the cost of conventional optics (such as sensors and flat panel displays) which are produced using gold and silver; and, help develop biodegradable metals that can be used in biomedical field such as surgical implants that would not need a second surgery to be removed. CREAM will also support education and training for more than 80 undergraduate and graduate students interested in materials research by developing new courses and strategies.

“Research is the glue,” said Kumar. “With PREM, we’re developing a pathway for students from high school to undergraduate to graduate to keep them involved in materials research. The partnerships are designed for underrepresented students and post-doctoral students to engage in materials research, who then become leaders with terminal degrees in the field and in their communities.”

CREEM, A&T’s previous PREM, was awarded $840,000 in 2021, which allowed Kumar and his team to hire 13 graduate students, 15 undergraduate students and publish more than 10 research articles. This PREM was a collaboration with Cornell University to develop ways to split water into oxygen and hydrogen for use in fuel cells and to use solar light in the full spectrum range to convert the sun’s energy into usable electrical energy.

“That seed funding prepared us to get the full funding,” said Kumar. “The research partnership across A&T and UCSD will lead to new methods for theory-assisted materials design, functional and precisely tunable materials, and detailed insights into fundamental materials behavior that will open up new avenues in technology, environmental sustainability, human health and civil infrastructure.”