This Partnership for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) creates a partnership between the University of Texas Pan American (UTPA) and the University of Minnesota (UMN) Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) focused on the development of polymeric and nanoparticle based materials and devices. While this collaboration builds upon the growing research activity at UTPA, this PREM embodies the first science and engineering collaboration of this magnitude at UTPA. Research conducted in this partnership are in five thrusts: (1) the exploration of nanoparticle-based materials, such as laser-induced aggregation of nanocrystallites as well as nanoparticles-in-photonic crystal material systems, for applications to photovoltaic solar cells, (2) the development of soluble conjugated polymers for spin-processable, low cost, plastic light emitters as well as conjugated-polymer-in-photonic crystal system low-threshold lasers, (3) the functionalization of nanoporous materials for the application of mechanical-to-interfacial energy conversion, (4) the development of self-healing polymeric materials with block copolymers for smart flexible materials applications, and (5) the study of nanoreinforced polymeric composite-thin film and metal-thin film interfaces to improve the mechanical properties of these systems.
Materials science educational outreach is performed utilizing existing UTPA programs such as Upward Bound, GearUp and Tex-Prep programs. In addition to these outreach activities, this PREM also presents materials science sessions to K-12 students and participates in the Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program for science teachers hosted at the partner UMN MRSEC. Besides the education and outreach to the community in general, this PREM increases the participation of women STEM faculty members and promotes their retention in materials research as more than 57% of the UTPA participating faculty are women.
