Leadership in Engineering Education: ECSEL (Profs. Bordia & Kalonji)

This was a 10-year multi-institute (seven schools) program, funded by NSF, which had the twin goals of increasing the design component in engineering education and increasing the diversity of the student body. Department faculty members have been part of the leadership team and active participants in the ECSEL Coalition. Prof. Gretchen Kalonji was the Co-Director for the entire coalition from 1990 to 2001. Prof. Rajendra Bordia was the Institutional Co-PI from 1995 to 1996 and 1997-1998; and the PI from 1998 to 2001. Prof. Brian Flinn was the UW focal point for the K-14 interactions from 1997 to 2001. In addition to the leadership roles, with support from ECSEL, six departmental courses were modified to enhance the design component in them. The UW’s final report for this program which highlights the main activities and accomplishments of ECSEL is presented in Appendix H.

Leadership in Photonics: (Prof. Jen)

Since Professor Jen joined the University of Washington in 1999, he has focused on establishing an internationally respected group for performing research on synthesis and characterization of well-defined, highly functionalized materials for photonics, organic and molecular electronics, and biosensing. His group has grown within this period of time to 24 people (14 postdocs and 10 Ph. D. students). Because his research is highly interdisciplinary, the group members are coming from very diversified background, such as chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, physics, and electrical engineering. In addition to the excellent team that he has assembled, he has also established a self-sustaining, state-of-the-art facility for performing chemical synthesis, optical and electrical characterization, processing, nano-manipulation and imaging, and device fabrication all within the same place.

He has also played a major role in establishing several high-profile Research Centers and raised more than $50 millions dollars for the University of Washington. Through the collaboration with Professor Larry Dalton (Chemistry), an AFOSR-funded MURI Center (Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative) on "Polymeric Smart Skins", a NSF-funded NIRT program "Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research Team" on "Nanoscale Tailoring of Electro-Optic Materials for Devices", a DARPA-funded Center on "Molecular Photonics", and a NSF-STC (Science and Technology Center) on "Materials and Devices for Information Technology Research" have been established. The STC has more than 30 faculty participants from seven universities including UW (leading institution), UC-Berkeley, CalTech, U. of Arizona, Georgia Tech, UCSB, and USC. He is currently serving as Thrust Leader, Executive Committee Member, and Director of the Shared Instrumentation Facility in this Center.

The research activities of the STC are integrated across the participating institutions and across four research thrusts. Most research objectives within the Center will require close interaction between researchers with expertise in: (i) theory and modeling; (ii) new material synthesis; (iii) characterization of the optical and electrical properties in bulk, thin films, and nanostructured forms of the new materials; and (iv) device fabrication, performance testing, and optimization of processing techniques. These multidisciplinary interactions across the fields of chemistry, physics, optics, electrical engineering, and materials science provide unique opportunities for the education of a new generation of students. Through the regular exchange of students and postdoctoral fellows from different institutions, the research within each thrust will be integrated. Cross-fertilization among thrust areas will be facilitated through regular video-conference group meetings that focus on specific research projects that overlap with the four research thrust areas. Participants in the research thrusts will be actively involved in the educational mission of the Center through the development of teaching modules related to the central research themes of each thrust.

In addition to these developments, Professor Jen is also serving as Director of the ATI (Advanced Technology Initiative) program that he had initiated and was recently funded by the State of Washington to hire several new faculty (MSE, EE, and Chemistry) in the Photonics areas for UW. He is also a co-PI in the ARO-funded DURINT Center (Defense University Research Initiative in Nanotechnology) on "Genetically-Engineered Proteins for Functional Inorganics"

Leadership in Internationalization of Research and Education: (Prof. Kalonji)

One of our faculty members, Prof. Gretchen Kalonji, has played key leadership roles in internationalizing education and research in recent years. In Fall 1998, she was asked by ex-President Richard McCormick to chair a campus-wide body called the International Faculty Council (IFC). The IFC was charged with investigating new models for the more effective internationalization of research, education and service. Through the IFC, which existed from 1998 – 2000, more than 70 faculty members and staff were mobilized to work on a variety of projects, including working with the Seattle School District on the internationalization of K-12 curriculum, working with the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) on programs for the career development of junior faculty and graduate students, and creating new models for integrating international research into undergraduate curriculum. A new initiative, called UW Worldwide, was catalyzed through this work and funded initially through a grant from UW’s Tools for Transformation Fund. Since Summer 2000, Prof. Kalonji has been working as the Director of UW Worldwide, which has launched a variety of experiments in multinational project-based education across the disciplines, and which has been successful in garnering significant levels of external support and recognition.

The primary strategy of UW Worldwide is to work with selected partner universities to transform education through collaboration in faculty-student teams on concrete multi-disciplinary research challenges. These collaborations can take place within a single jointly taught course, as is the case with the highly successful UW-Tohoku University Joint Program on Engineering Design, or they can span a full four-year, jointly offered curriculum, as is the case with the UW-Sichuan University Joint Program on Challenges to the Environment in the US Pacific Northwest and southwest China. A wide variety of project-based collaborations have been launched through UW Worldwide, primarily focusing on undergraduate education. More recently, the program has expanded its efforts to develop new models for internationalizing graduate education, and is in the final stages of discussion with the NSF on the budget for a new IGERT which will provide support for the graduate extension of UW Worldwide’s focus. The title of the IGERT is "Multinational Collaborations on Challenges to the Environment". Through the various UW Worldwide efforts we have brought together faculty from a wide variety of colleges and departments, including Engineering, Arts and Sciences, Education, Law, Social Work, Ocean and Fisheries Sciences and Forest Resources. Because of the heavy research focus of our model we have been successful in garnering about 6 grants to support our work, as well as in receiving support through the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) of the US Department of Education and from the Hewlett Foundation, through the Global Classrooms Project. The current focus of UW Worldwide is on developing mechanisms through which we can scale up our basic multinational project-based approaches and offer these experiences to a greater number of students in a wider variety of disciplines. Our ultimate goal is that all students in all majors have the opportunity at least once in their undergraduate career to engage in a deep, multi-disciplinary project with colleagues in another part of the world.

Leadership in Spinelectronics and Magnetism at Nanoscale: (Prof. Krishnan)

The broad scope of this research is the systematic exploration and design of fundamental magnetic properties/phenomena and spin-dependent transport of materials as a function of size and dimensionality. New materials structures, the correlation of materials behavior with the microstructure (as a function of processing) and their applications in emerging technologies are emphasized. All the projects are vertically integrated from the underlying science to their engineering applications. Collaborative research is being pursued in the following areas:

Spin Electronics Materials And Spin-Dependent Transport:

Our goal is to develop a comprehensive program to synthesize new dilute magnetic semiconducting materials for spin electronics, develop fundamental understanding of their magnetic behavior and electronic structure and to explore various synthesis strategies for integrating them with existing silicon device technology.

Principal Funding: "Varied synthetic approaches to the development of a room temperature ferromagnetic & semiconducting oxide nanostructures for silicon based spintronics", NSF/ECS, September 15, 2002 – September 14, 2005, $450,000; PI: Kannan Krishnan; Co-PIs: Prof. D. Gamelin (Chemistry/UW), Prof. M. Olmstead (Physics/UW) and Dr. S. Chambers (PNNL). A Senior Scientist (Dr. A. Pakhomov) and five graduate students (Ms. K. Griffin (MSE), Mr. B. Roberts (MSE), Mr. J. Kamencik (MSE), Mr. D. Schmidt (Physics), Mr. D. Schwartz (Chemistry)) are working on this project.

Characterization And Manipulation At The Nanometer Length Scale:

We are developing instrumentation and methods to characterize materials by imaging, scattering/diffraction and spectroscopy at the nanometer length scale. A number of avenues are being developed to acquire the required instrumentation through federal grants as well as donations from various companies. In addition, the students/research members take advantage of various national resources for electron microscopy (NCEM), synchrotron radiation measurements (ALS/APS) and neutron scattering (IPNS). They have also been successfully nominated to participate in various national workshops at Argonne, Los Alamos etc.

Principal Funding: "Acquisition of a scanning probe microscope systems for research and education in nano-magnetism and spinelectronics" NSF, Instruments for materials Research, September 1, 2003, $238,000; PI: Kannan Krishnan; Co-PIs : Prof. M. Olmstead (Physics) and Prof. D. Gamelin (Chemistry)

Leadership in Curriculum Development for Nano-science and Technology: (Prof Ohuchi)

Development of UW-PNNL Collaborative Curriculums in Nano-Science and Technology.

NSF Total Amount Awarded : $370,718; Award Period, 07/01/02-06/30/05

F. S. Ohuchi (PI), T. G. Stoebe, S. Danhum, and C. Campbell

Summary of the Project

The overall goal of this project is to develop a prototype for a new type of collaborative education that meets broad and expanding needs in the areas of nanoscience and nanotechnology. An objective is to speed undergraduate and graduate entry into the nanotechnology field and enhance education and research by developing a new series of interdisciplinary nanotechnology courses. We have developed four nano-courses in collaboration with Pacific Northwest National Laboratories in Richland, WA:

These courses are built on our activities in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology related research and education at the University of Washington (UW) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). The courses are being offered as a part of the program under "UW-PNNL Joint Institute for Nanoscience" established in April-2001. The Environmental Molecular Science Laboratory (EMSL), a US Department of Energy user facility at PNNL, provides the state-of-the-art facilities associated with nanomaterials synthesis and characterization which allow students direct exposure to high quality research equipment. A User Housing Facility for EMSL is used for students to stay in PNNL during the course.

Progress To Date

The original proposal was primarily targeted to students from UW and local universities/colleges in the State of Washington. Soon after receiving this grant, and announcing the program in the State of Washington, we realized that the impact of this proposal was much larger than we anticipated. In collaboration with PNNL’s Fellowship Program Office, we looked into the impact of this program nationwide, and a letter requesting an indication of interest was sent to a variety of schools. We received very positive responses from approximately 25 schools nationwide. We have therefore formulated a Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Course Steering Committee, consisting of 6 universities (Colorado State of Mines, Creighton University, Florida A & M University, New Mexico State University, University of Alaska-Fairbanks, and Whitman College), to review the information and provide us with suggestions that might better meet the needs of these individual institutions. Based on the recommendation from the Steering Committee, we have worked out several specific issues related to credit, tuition, schedule, creating useful information, course content planning, and housing. We then created and printed a course brochure. A brochure mailing has gone out to some 27 colleges and universities that expressed interest in the courses. Course information was provided at a nanoscience symposium at the AAAS meeting Colorado in February, 2003. A website is up and operating. Engineering Professional Programs (EPP) of the University of Washington has agreed to be in charge of all administrative roles for registration, and participant contact.

The first and second courses, "Nanoclusters, Nanomaterials, and Nanotechnology" and "Theory of Nanomaterials" were offered during May 19-30, 2003, at PNNL in Richland, and September 15-20, 2003, in UW-Seattle campus respectively. In the course offered in May, more than half of participants (total 20 students) were non-UW students, including students from Oregon, Idaho, Iowa, North Carolina, Florida and Alaska. Eight scientists from PNNL and one professor from WSU participated in teaching. In the September course, students from Oregon, Idaho, Lousiana, and Florida, joined this course. Three instructors (1-UW, 1-PNNL and 1-Stanford) taught this course. We are planning to offer a course on Nano-Characterization and Nano-Synthesis in PNNL in January 2004.

Leadership in Molecular Biomimetics: (Prof. Sarikaya)

Research Theme and Brief Description:

In biological hard tissues, proteins control inorganic materials assembly, morphogenesis and formation through molecular recognition and specific binding. Based on lessons from biology, MOLECULAR BIOMIMETICS offers a novel approach in which engineered polypeptides are selected through display protocols and modified utilizing molecular biology techniques and used as molecular building blocks in controlled assembly and formation of functional inorganic and hybrid materials and systems in nano-and nanobio-technology. These polypeptides are usually 7-15 amino acid long, and obtained via combinatorial biology using, for example, cell surface or phage display libraries. Once selected, the inorganic binding polypeptides could be further engineered by genetic engineering (e.g., using site directed mutagenesis) to tailor their properties for specific applications. The potential of using engineered polypeptides is enormous due to the premise offered by molecular biology, namely due proteins’ chemical and physical molecular recognition characteristics of inorganics, their self-and co-assembly in higher order and predictable structures, and the ability to manipulate their molecular composition and structure and, therefore, properties by genetic engineering protocols (DNA-based technologies). Over the last several years, we adapted protocols for selection of inorganic-binding polypeptides using both cell-surface and phage display technologies, developed rules of binding characteristics to inorganics (metals, oxides, and semiconductors), achieved through spectroscopic (e.g., surface plasmon resonance), imaging (e.g., atomic force microscopy) and molecular dynamic studies, made great leaps in their conjugation and hybridization with designer proteins, DNA, and functional molecules (for molecular electronics and photonics), their long-range ordered assembly and, finally, their utility as molecular substrates for nanoengineering applications in bio- and nanotechnology.

Key Participants:

Based on the realization early on that any real progress in the new field of molecular biomimetics can only be accomplished at the cutting edge of materials and biological sciences, we formed a polydisciplinary collaboration of researchers from diverse field, as exemplified in research team listed below.

University of Washington: Mehmet Sarikaya (PI) - MSE : Molecular biomimetics and nanotechnology; Alex Jen – MSE/Chemistry: Design, synthesis and assembly of functional (electronic, photonic) molecules Daniel Schwartz - Chem. Eng.: Electrochemical processes of nanostructures; Francois Baneyx - Chem. Eng.: Bacterial genetics & cell surface display; Beth Traxler – Microbiology: Permissive site analysis in DNA-binding proteins; Fumio Ohuchi – MSE/Physic: Small particles, semiconducting surfaces, quantum properties; Samuel Jenekhe – Chem. Eng. & Chemistry: Functional nanostructured molecular films;

Other Universities and Overseas Team Members: Candan Tamerler –Molecular Biology & Genetics, Istanbul Technical University, Turkey: Phage display and genetic engineering protocols in protein design; Malcolm Snead – Craniofacial Molecular Biology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles: Enamel proteins and dental genetics; Stanley Brown, Molecular Cell Biology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark: Cell surface display and protein engineering; John Evans, Chemistry, New York University, NY: Protein structure and NMR; Klaus Schulten, Biophysics, Beckman Center, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL: Molecular dynamics of protein structure and interactions; John Smit, Molecular Biology, University of British Colombia, Vancouver, Canada: Genetics and bacterial S-layers

Funding Sources:

PI in Army Research Office – Defense University Research Initiative in Nanotechnology (ARO-DURINT) program, Molecular Biomimetics, $5,000,000; 01-06; Co-PI, on Bioinspired Technologies, Air Force Office of Scientific Research (w/Jen), $450,000+ $400,000; 01-06. Co-PI with K. Katti (North Dakota State Univ.) Predictive Models for Mechanical properties of Nanostructured Hard Tissues, $240,000, 01-04. Co-PI with M. Snead (University of Southern California), Enamel Biomimetics, $1,500,000, 99-05. Several Equipment and Facility projects in developing molecular biology, Imaging and Analysis (including scanning probe microscopy and molecular spectroscopy), NSF, ARO, Murdock, ‘95-‘04, $1,000,000.

Size of the Program and Investigators

In addition to the 12 co-principal investigators and collaborators listed above, in the DURINT and Enamel Biomimetics programs, there are 12 graduate students, 8 UG research students, 7 post-doctoral researchers, plus 5 visiting graduate students, and three visiting scientists at the University of Washington working in the area of biomimetics in multidisciplinary facilities from genetics to material synthesis that span on 20 different laboratories covering 20,000 sqft floor space.