Goals: North Dakota RII proposal will bring together people, tools, and ideas to lay the foundation for a durable, competitive and cutting edge research infrastructure with the primary focus on competitive research in renewable energy and flexible electronics and materials ? two areas of critical importance to North Dakota (ND).
Intellectual Merit: New knowledge generated by this work will lead to greater understanding of issues at the core of problems in energy and microelectronics. The Flexible Electronic Materials (FlexEM) program has three major thrusts: 1) Barriers for Flexible Electronics; 2) Conjugated Organic Polymers for Flexible Electronics; and 3) Electronic Materials from Liquid Silanes. The proposed research aims at design, preparation, characterization, modeling, (and ultimately, prediction of behavior) of thin films and layered structures, which will enable flexible electronic technologies such as e-paper, photovoltaics, and health monitoring devices.
SUstainable eNergy Research Infrastructure and Supporting Education (SUNRISE) program will elucidate fundamental aspects of heterogeneous catalysis, especially at the nanoscale, that are relevant to developing alternative transportation fuels and chemical feedstocks. Heterogeneous catalysts will be studied to gain knowledge about the electronic structure, surface morphology and defects, effects of doping and functionalization, redox properties, and finite size effects. Catalysts that show potential for the synthesis of preferred organic compounds that can be exploited to produce fuels, chemicals, and polymer monomeric feedstocks will be of particular interest. Emphasis will be placed on studies of transition metal (e.g., Co, Pd, Pt) catalysts.
Broader Impacts: The major underrepresented groups in North Dakota are Native Americans and women. Nurturing American Tribal Undergraduate Research and Education (NATURE) is a multifaceted program that greatly increases the involvement of our five Tribal Colleges in STEM education and research. The ND EPSCoR program also administers Women In Science and Engineering (WISE) to provide supplemental funding to women faculty for lab upgrades and additional research staff. ND EPSCoR also appropriates funding for Women in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology (WISMET) a networking group that provides mentoring for women undergraduate/graduate students and women faculty. The involvement on the research university campus continues in the proposed program with commitments to four new tenure track faculty slots for the Flexem and SUNRISE initiatives. At least 50 new faculty will be hired in the broader STEM areas at University of North Dakota and NDSU.
, this six year $16.5M award targeted: 1) Strategically investing in research infrastructure to impact areas critical to North Dakota’s economic future; 2) Providing competitive enhancements to increase faculty capacity and competitiveness; 3)Expanding cyber-enabled communication, discovery and innovation; 4) Diversifying and strengthening the jurisdiction's research and education enterprise through targeted programs to broaden the STEM pipeline; and 5) Forming university-private sector partnerships to translate new knowledge into economic opportunities. Among economic drivers in North Dakota are energy and agriculture. The RII research efforts focused on these areas. In the research theme of Sustainable Energy Research Infrastructure and Supporting Education (SUNRISE), researchers directed efforts to develop alternative transportation fuels and chemical feedstocks. Using sugars from left over plant parts, the SUNRISE group developed processes for producing products as diverse as fuel additives, pesticides, solvents, jet fuels and polymers. SUNRISE averaged 12 private partnerships annually, had 14 new product investigations, and produced one new startup. Moreover, the SUNRISE group developed basic understanding of e.g. catalysts for biologically derived feedstock that is generally applicable. The Sustainable Materials Science (SMS) program began in 2011 to address the application of materials science to sustainability. Currently most of the chemicals used in the synthesis of materials such as polymers and composites are obtained from fossil fuel resources. The development of alternate pathways to these materials from biomass is significant. The interdisciplinary SMS group worked on the synthesis of novel materials and composites based on renewable resources. These two research initiatives have garnered more than $40 million in additional funding; have provided research opportunities for more than 200 students; and have promoted industry partnerships with at least 26 commercial organizations. EXTENDING OPPORTUNITIES Students from many diverse areas are being provided opportunities to build a brighter future. ND EPSCoR expanded participation through education, outreach and diversity efforts. Collaborations include partnering with five tribal colleges in the Nurturing American Tribal Undergraduate Research and Education (NATURE) program. This program provides an educational pathway for Native American students in North Dakota to pursue STEM degrees. Through summer camps at the colleges and research universities, a Sunday Academy initiative for middle and high school students, and research mentoring projects, more than 200 participants are involved annually in this program. In 2011, a former NATURE participant received an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to pursue graduate studies in Zoology at North Dakota State University. Cyberconnectivity was improved for research and education, through investments in network infrastructure and high performance computing. The STEM pipeline was enhanced through Graduate Student Assistantships awarded to students from the state's 4-year institutions and tribal colleges to pursue STEM graduate degrees at one of North Dakota's research universities. Through the Students in Technology Transfer and Research (STTAR) program, upper division STEM students worked with North Dakota companies to address challenging science and technology-based programs, contributing to the state's workforce development needs in science and engineering. To this date, 130 STTAR awards have been made to students and the program received statewide media coverage. Important to research infrastructure development and competitiveness is the recruitment and hiring of STEM faculty. ND EPSCoR has impacted more than 70 new faculty positions, with a retention rate averaging 90 percent. RESULTS During the award period, North Dakota realized results in increasing competitiveness. Efforts translated into increases in academic R&D rankings, Federal R&D Obligations to North Dakota Universities and Colleges, Undergraduate STEM enrollment, and increases in underrepresented groups enrolled in STEM majors.
