The Institute for Matter and Systems (IMS) at Georgia Tech has announced the Spring 2025 Core Facility Seed Grant recipients. The primary purpose of this program is to give graduate students in diverse disciplines working on original and unfunded research in micro- and nanoscale science and engineering the opportunity to access the most advanced academic cleanroom space in the Southeast. In addition to using the labs' state-of-the-art fabrication, lithography, and characterization tools, the awardees will have the opportunity to gain proficiency in cleanroom and tool methodology and access the consultation services provided by research staff members in IMS. Seed Grant awardees are also provided travel support to present their research at a scientific conference.

In addition to student research skill development, this biannual grant program gives faculty with novel research topics the ability to develop preliminary data to pursue follow-up funding sources. The Core Facility Seed Grant program is supported in part by the Southeastern Nanotechnology Infrastructure Corridor (SENIC), a member of the National Science Foundation’s National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI).

The five winning projects in this round were awarded IMS cleanroom and lab access time to be used over the next year. 

The Spring 2025 IMS Core Facility Seed Grant recipients are:

Stretchable Power Sources for Vertically Integrated Bioelectronics
PI: Antonio Facchetti
Student: Sakshi Sharma
School of Materials Science and Engineering

Next-generation 3D Solid-state Neutron Detectors for Nuclear Nonproliferation
PI: Anna Erickson
Student: David Straub
George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering

Programmable Microchip-based Cytotoxicity Assay for Real-Time Immune Cell Profiling
PI: Fatih Sarioglu
Student: Ahmadreza Rostamzadeh
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Experimental Study of Neutron-induced Radiation Damage in Lunar Materials with Key Implications for the Future of Lunar Geochronology
PI: Karl Lang
Student: Shreya Mukherjee
School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

Enhanced Dielectrophoretic Enrichment and Removal of Microplastics from Drinking Water via Engineered Nonuniform Electric Fields on Microfluidic Chips
PI: Xing Xie
Student: Shuai Wang
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering