REU Site: Nanomaterials for the Energy and Water Nexus

The three-year renewal REU Site project, "REU Site: Nanomaterials for the Energy and Water Nexus", at Rice University provides ten community college students in the Greater Houston area with summer research internships each year pertaining to the topics of improving water and energy resilience. Through laboratory research experiences and interactions with faculty, post-docs, and graduate student mentors at Rice University, REU participants gain exposure to STEM research and its real-world implications. In addition to research experience, community college students receive support as they transition from two-year to four-year colleges and pursue graduate school and research careers. Furthermore, REU participants receive substantial mentorship from the participating Rice faculty, staff, and students, as well as through Rice's strong infrastructure designed to enhance student success. One of the program's primary goals is to strengthen the STEM workforce by providing transformative research experiences to community college students who would not have otherwise considered STEM research or careers and who do not receive such experiences at their institutions. The three-year renewal REU Site project, "REU Site: Nanomaterials for the Energy and Water Nexus" at Rice University, introduces 10 Houston-area community college students each year to energy and water purification research, its applications, and careers through 10-week internships and follow-up support. This Site REU aims to 1) promote the academic and professional growth of engineering students from community colleges; 2) increase awareness of engineering research and career pathways among community college students through 10-week research internship and industry mentorship 3) clarify STEM career pathways; and 4) establish and maintain mentoring relationships with participants that support academic development and connections to industry professionals; and 5) strengthen inter-institutional partnerships between Rice University and community colleges in the Texas Gulf Coast Region. Through the research experience, students gain a deeper understanding of property-structure relationships through two interdisciplinary research themes: 1) Water purification and mineral extraction, and 2) Energy storage and management. REU participant research and program findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at regional and national conferences. Moreover, project outcomes will be disseminated to Rice University, community college faculty, students, and the Houston region through an annual poster colloquium and the REU website. 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.