This action funds an NSF Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY 2004. The goal of the fellowship is to increase the participation of minority scientists at the postdoctoral level and to prepare them for positions of scientific leadership in academia and industry. To attain this goal, the fellowship provides opportunities for postdoctoral training and research of the highest quality to recent doctoral recipients. It is expected that Fellows supported through these fellowships will play important roles in training of the future workforce.
The research and training plan is entitled "Design and self-assembly of novel materials and devices using biomolecules." This research seeks to harness the biological and chemical properties of molecular recognition, symmetry, and self-assembly to create novel methods for efficiently and safely engineering inorganic nanoparticles into materials and devices. The design approach involves both computational and experimental methods for protein engineering. The resulting biomolecular assemblies will have general applications in nanotechnology and biotechnology, specifically applications to electronics, photonics, sensors, bioremediation, and drug delivery.
The primary scientific goal is to understand the principles of molecular recognition and self-assembly in order to design novel biomaterials for use in biotechnology and nanotechnology. This goal requires an interdisciplinary approach spanning biology, computer science, and engineering. The Fellow will develop additional skills in molecular modeling and simulations as well as learning techniques for characterizing molecular structures using electron microscopy and X-ray crystallography.
