Diversity in Training.
The participants from CCNY include faculty from Physics, Chemical Engineering (ChE) and Mechanical Engineering (ME). The team at CCNY has an established record of internal collaborations in soft materials arising from support under CREST and IGERT funding. Three of the CCNY PREM team are members of the Levich Institute for Physico-Chemical Hydrodynamics, which is devoted to interdisciplinary study of the mechanics of complex fluids and heterogeneous media. The team at Chicago's MRSEC focuses on the development of design principles for the next generation of materials. The program, with a focus on experimental studies, involves a number of established international leaders in soft material physics and has made many valuable contributions to material physics in recent years. This partnership has developed an unusual intellectual synergy, which supports several productive collaborations. The focal topic of research is the dynamics of material synthesis, an area of expertise at CCNY. Through our recruitment events, seminar series, and outreach programs, we seek to expand the scope of research area specializations to include other STEM fields where minorities are also under-represented.
Training Scientists:
The CCNY PREM vision is to provide highest quality research and education opportunities in materials science through a student-centered program. The excitement of the discovery process is used to encourage participation, while extensive mentoring and education in the culture of the scientific enterprise is provided to maximize participants' potential. Students of all levels ranging from high school to post doctorate benefit from the 360° professional development initiatives designed and implemented by CCNY PREM faculty. Experienced CCNY faculty design advanced course work and curricula, novel recruitment programs, leading edge research and mentoring programs all with the focus of providing students well rounded experiences in academia and industry so that they may move forward equipped with the intellectual and professional resources to advance to the next level in their careers.
PREM funding is currently supporting six Doctoral Fellows working on a range of problems. *Kai Gu is working with Profs. Watkins and Koplik on a hybrid simulation method for condensation processes at nanometer scale; Lorraine Leon is working with Prof. Tu on assembly of biomolecules at interfaces; *Luz Amaya is working with Prof. Lee on lattice-Boltzmann simulation of bubble and drop formation in microchannel flows; Ehssan Nazockdast is working with PI Morris on theory and simulation of the microstructure in dense colloidal suspensions in shear flow; Samaneh Farokhirad is working with Prof. Lee on LBM simulaion of droplets under sheer flow; Nneoma Ezeude is working with PREM Affliate Prof. George John on new biobased amphiphiles as molecular gelators. Three Post-doctoral Fellows have been brought on-board since the PREM commenced, Dr. Ashwin Selvaragan who did his PhD at the Indian Institute of Science (Bangalore), Dr. Kevin Connington who received his PhD from Johns Hopkins University, and Dr. Parisa Mirbod who completed her PhD at The City College of New York. Ashwin is working primarily with Prof. Shattuck on jammed packing structures, Kevin is working with Profs. Lee, Koplik, and Morris on a novel Lattice-Boltzmann solver for three-phase systems (gas-liquid-solid), while Parisa is working with PI Morris on addressing the issue of wear induced by flow of slurries and suspensions on solid boundary materials. PREM also supports four Undergraduate Research Fellows. Aleksey Ruditskiy and Jessica Lenis who participated in the Chicago summer REU program, are continuing their work under the guidance of Prof. Kretzschmar at CCNY and continue to visit UChicago during the summers. Neslihan Saylik is working with Dr. Morris on rheology and jetting experiments. Kyon St. Clair is working with Dr. Morris on designing a flow apparatus for particle-ladden fluids and designing experiments on particle ladden fluids.
(*These students recently completed their final examinations and have earned their PhD.)
Industrial Partnerships:
CCNY PREM is dedicated to developing new partnerships with local, regional, national, and international diversity focused STEM programs. Through these partnerships we seek to braoden opportunities in research and academia for participants of all levels. Our network of scientists in academia and industry provide comprehensive professional development, mentoring, and educational opportunities for high school, undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral students. While our main focus is to train our students to become research scientist and future academicians, we also provide industrial opportunities for our students through connections with various sites:
