In September 2015 the National Science Foundation (NSF) selected Georgia Tech’s Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology (IEN) a member site of the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI) program. Comprised of 16 sites, located in 15 states and involving 27 universities, NNCI provides researchers from academia, government and companies with access to university user facilities.

As a member of the NNCI program, the Georgia Institute of Technology formed a collaboration with the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, an academic collaboration between North Carolina A&T State University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, to  form the Southeastern Nanotechnology Infrastructure Corridor (SENIC) and provide SE region users with leading-edge fabrication and characterization tools, instrumentation and expertise within all disciplines of nanoscale science, engineering and technology.

SUIN (SENIC Undergraduate Internship in Nanotechnology) is a major component of the SENIC program and focuses on providing undergraduates in engineering the chance to spend a summer conducting research in a world-class collaborative lab with prominent Georgia Tech researchers. GT-IEN hosted 6 undergraduates from various U.S. colleges over the summer that engaged in hands-on research in a number of fields of nanotechnology. At the conclusion of the program, the students had the opportunity to present their findings at the SURE Research Symposium on July the 28th, 2016.  

Over the months of the Fall Semester we will be highlighting each of the six REU participants, their research topics and experience in the labs, as well as what they gained from the program and their time at Georgia Tech, and in Atlanta.

• Undergraduate: Michael VanderZwaag PI: Kim Kurtis, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Mentors: Bill Jin & Behnaz Zaribaf, Topic: Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles in Concrete
• Undergraduate: Elizabeth Tom, PI: Michael Filler, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Mentor: Dmitriy Boyuk, Topic: Hybrid Nanowire Coating
• Undergraduate: John Nance, PI: Peter Hesketh, School of Mechanical Engineering, Mentor: Srinivas Gowranga Hanasoge, Topic: Fabrication of Artificial Cilia
• Undergraduate: Cooper Thome: PI: Elsa Reichmanis, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Mentor: Bailey Risteen, Topic: Cellulose Nanocrystals & Conductivity
• Undergraduate: Yaneira Gonzalez, PI: Yuanzhi Tang, School of Earth and Environmental Science, Mentors: Rixiang Huang & Shiliang Zhao, Topic: Effects of zinc metal on magnesium oxides               
• Undergraduate: Thomas Metke, PI: Todd Sulchek, School of Mechanical Engineering, Mentor: Muhynmin Islam, Topic: Micofluidics for Cell Stiffness

Look for our monthly news releases online at ien.gatech.edu, or subscribe to our mailing list at this web address.

For more information on the SENIC REU Program, contact Program Manager Leslie O’Neill [leslie.oneill@ien.gatech.edu] for more information on SENIC Education and Outreach, contact Program Director Dr. Nancy [nancy.healy@ien.gatech.edu].