Vincent B. Pizziconi - US grants

9409121 Pizziconi The research proposed in this application is concerned with the feasibility of an immunobiosensor design based upon sensitized mast cells immobilized over the sensing junction of a thin-film thermopile. Antibody on the sensitized mast cells will activate the cell in the presence of antigen, causing a exothermic reaction that will result in very small temperature increases. These temperature increases are detected by the thermopile as the output measure. The project involves microcalometric characterization of cell activation, studies of methods of mast cell immobilization and development of prototype sensors. This research further amplifies a technique using living biological cells as the component in a sensor system by understanding mast cell activation processes. It will also extend bioanalytical sensor research into devices based upon reticuloendothelial cells. ***

9451497 Glaunsinger The first multidisciplinary scanning probe microscopy (SPM) laboratory course for undergraduate students using research-grade instrumentation will be created in this project. The primary goal of this initiative is to create a unique SPM undergraduate laboratory course using affordable, state-of-the-art instrumentation for scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). This ILI-LLD project is a significant first step in bringing this very important new technique to the undergraduate curriculum by chemists who are doing cutting edge research in the area. The course is designed to serve as a magnet to bring together students from different disciplines and ethnic backgrounds and to help prepare them for the imminent revolution in nano-science engineering and technology. The course will incorporate the following key features: (i) Fundamental Principles to provide students with a working knowledge of STM and AFM, (ii) Core Laboratory Experiments to illustrate important applications of STM and AFM, (iii) Laboratory Projects to give students the opportunity to perform short-term research investigations of their choice, and (iv) Cooperative Learning Activities to allow students to learn from each other. The primary products of this project will be a model multidisciplinary laboratory as well as a laboratory manual documenting all of the tested and refined experiments. The laboratory experiments will also be available as separate units to maximize the impact on existing laboratory courses in the undergraduate science and engineering curriculum. This project will involve expert faculty from the Departments of Chemistry/Biochemistry, Physics/Astronomy, Geology, Biology Chemical/Bio/Materials Engineering and Electrical Engineering. The course will complement many of the existing undergraduate courses and laboratories in the above disciplines, provide highly qualified students for undergra duate research projects, and strengthen special programs such as the federally-sponsored Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Program in Materials Synthesis and Processing and the Coalition to Increase Minority Degrees. The multidisciplinary SPM laboratory course will have a positive impact on the quality of science and engineering education at the university, local, regional and national levels.

The first multidisciplinary Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) laboratory for undergraduate students using research-grade instrumentation is being created in this project using state-of-the-art instrumentation for Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) and Atom Force Microscopy (AFM). The laboratory is designed to bring together students from different disciplines of science and engineering and different ethnic backgrounds and to help prepare them for the imminent revolution in nano-science, engineering, and technology. The laboratory is equipped with research-grade instruments capable of operating in the STM and AFM modes at nanoscale resolution under ambient, in vitro, and in situ electrochemical conditions. The multidisciplinary laboratory includes (1) sample and probe preparation equipment, (2) six SPM workstations, (3) post-acquisition data-processing centers, and (4) testing equipment. The project involves expert faculty and researchers from the departments of chemistry/biochemistry, physics/astronomy, geology, botany, zoology, microbiology, chemical/bio/materials engineering, and electrical engineering. The laboratory complements many undergraduate courses and laboratories in the above disciplines, and provides highly qualified students for undergraduate research projects.

9414061 Guilbeau This proposal from Arizona State University requests partial support for the 1994 Annual Fall Meeting of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) to be held on October 14-16, 1994 on the Arizona State University Campus in Tempe, Arizona. Funding from the NSF will be used for travel support for invited speakers to the special sessions on Cost Effective Health Care Delivery Through Engineering and Rehabilitation Engineering. The symposium focuses on cardiopulmonary engineering, cardiovascular science and engineering, cellular and tissue engineering, medical imaging, neural engineering, orthopedic engineering, and rehabilitation engineering. The aim of the conference is to bring together biomedical engineers to promote the increase of biomedical engineering knowledge and its utilization. Presenter participants in the symposium are world leaders in biomedical engineering. Funding requested from the NSF would provide partial support for invited participants in Cost Effective Health Care Delivery Through Engineering and the Rehabilitation Engineering sessions. The results of the conference will be recorded in a Proceedings, which will be sent to all conference participants and to related organizations and agencies, thereby making symposium results available to a large audience. ***

Interdisciplinary (99)
Undergraduate students in the physical and life sciences and engineering are participating in courses that have been modified to take advantage of INVSEE (Interactive Nano-Visualization in Science and Engineering Education), developed at Arizona State University. INVSEE allows users to have remote access to research-grade scanning probe microscopes in a cost-effective way. This technology is being used as the basis for a novel project in which faculty in 5 other institutions are adapting and implementing web-based modules to incorporate INVSEE over the web into their courses. Participating institutions are Cornell University, the University of Wisconsin, and 3 community colleges: Arizona Western College, Glendale College, and Mesa College. ARRIVE is helping faculty and students to realize the full potential of INVSEE through adaptations that had not been envisioned earlier, in settings different from those proposed during the INVSEE project. INVSEE created an interactive web site and a consortium of university and industry scientists, community college and high school science faculty, and museum educators to develop a new dimension in science and engineering education that allows the remote operation of advanced microscopes and nanofabrication tools coupled to powerful surface characterization methods. This educational product can be accessed by any classroom that is linked the web. ARRIVE is assisting teachers and faculty to adapt and implement this technology in local courses through the development of interactive educational modules. ARRIVE is also assisting faculty and students to incorporate INVSEE into undergraduate research projects. ARRIVE is intended to serve as a national model that demonstrates how the integration of technology and research instrumentation can be coupled asynchronously to undergraduate education to support student participation and thereby improved knowledge of research grade equipment.

The objective of this proposal is to assess the feasibility of exploiting the unique optical properties of sub-microscopic photosynthetic structures known as chlorosomes for potential use in novel light-converting
and light-detecting device applications. In natural form, chlorosomes serve as light-collecting antennas in some photosynthetic microorganisms which efficiently convert this energy into a form useful for the microorganism. In applied form, we will attempt to marry engineering and biology to take advantage of their unique molecular architecture and their efficient energy transfer processes for use in novel 'biohybrid' device applications where enhanced light-detection, and energy conversion and storage is desired.
In this project, the photosynthesis team proposes to isolate and characterize chlorosome sub-units, in particular their ability to self-assemble, a property that may serve as the basis of novel enabling
nanotechnologies that allow the design and fabrication of molecular-based optical materials, devices and systems. The bioengineering group proposes to assess the feasibility of designing an optical biomolecular hybrid device that incorporates chlorosome assemblies interfaced in programmed ways to selected light detectors and transducers to demonstrate the potential for enhanced device performance from using biohybrid approaches. The potential impact of the project is threefold. It can (a) contribute to the fundamental knowledge of the complex process of photosynthesis, (b) potentially lead to novel devices and systems that have a number of practical applications in areas such as microelectronics, biotechnology, medicine, and (c) further the NSF goal of integrating research and education, particularly across science and engineering
disciplinary boundaries.

This IGERT brings together Arizona State University's well known basic research program in photosynthesis and photobiology with two other major research thrusts on campus: the Nanostructures Research Group in the Center for Solid State Electronics Research and the Bioengineering thrust within the Engineering College led by the newly formed Bioengineering Department. The research theme is the design and fabrication of molecular-scale devices based on the principles learned from photobiology. This effort represents a major expansion of the current NSF funded RTG training program in this area, shifting the educational and research focus towards the applied realm by including new faculty from four Engineering Departments and Physics as well as several industrial and international partners at Motorola, Lockheed/Martin, Kodak, QTL, CEA-Saclay, Max Planck-Muelheim, and the University of Glasgow. In order to form an integrated graduate education program between these different disciplines, the IGERT includes the creation of a Ph.D. emphasis program that will normalize the curriculum requirements across colleges. Industry will also play a major role through scientific collaborations, student internships and classroom discussion. The IGERT curriculum includes a series of courses that center on research and discovery based learning. Students will solve problems by drawing on an extensive dynamic resource infrastructure that includes both well-equipped instrument facilities, including a new biohybrid fabrication facility, and high level personnel. In addition, the program includes a major educational thrust in science policy, science ethics, and societal impact, culminating in a two week workshop at the Center for Science, Policy and Outcomes in Washington DC. Here students will have the opportunity to consider the impact that research and development in the molecular device area will have on society and to hear the thoughts of scholars who have considered the ethical and political aspects of this expanding area of science. Students will also have the opportunity to participate in research abroad and in the "Preparing Future Faculty" or "Preparing Future Professionals" programs run by the ASU Graduate College. Finally, the three IGERTs on the ASU campus will be coordinated within a superstructure run by the Dean of the Graduate College. This will facilitate common mechanisms for recruiting and evaluation, and provide a formal avenue for information exchange between IGERT faculty and students. This larger scale integration among the ASU IGERTs should result in a practical model of interdisciplinary graduate education that can be used in the future both at ASU and elsewhere.

IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the multidisciplinary backgrounds and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing new, innovative models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries. In the fourth year of the program, awards are being made to twenty-two institutions for programs that collectively span all areas of science and engineering supported by NSF. The intellectual foci of this specific award reside in the Directorates for Biological Sciences; Engineering; Mathematical and Physical Sciences; and Education and Human Resources.

This Nanotechnology in Undergraduate Education (NUE) award to Arizona State University supports Dr. Ray W. Carpenter, Center for Solid State Science, along with colleagues Prof. Marilyn Carlson (applied mathematics and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) teaching methods), Prof. Jeff Drucker (Physics), Prof. Stephan Goodnick (Electrical Engineering), Prof. Vincent Pizziconi (Bioengineering), Dr. Andrew Chizmeshya (Physics), Dr. Michael McKelvy (Chemistry), Prof. B. L. Ramakrishna (Chemistry and Plant Biology), and Dr. Renu Sharma (Chemistry)to teach undergraduates, at three levels, the abstract concepts and properties dependence on length scales of nanoscience and engineering by leveraging existing cutting edge nanoscience and engineering research projects to produce teaching modules for undergraduate classes and opportunities for senior thesis projects. The levels of students who will be targeted in this program are: first year honors students, second year students who have completed calculus, and advanced undergraduates participating in senior projects.

The proposal for this award was received in response to the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Education announcement, NSF 03-44, category NUE and was jointly funded by the Division of Engineering Education and Centers (EEC) in the Directorate for Engineering (ENG), the Division of Materials Research (DMR) and the Division of Mathematical Sciences (DMS) both in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS).

This proposal describes a Track 2 program that involves collaborations between ASU, two Native American tribes, and four inner city or suburban schools. The Track 1 program impacted 38 ASU fellows, 28 veteran teachers, and 38 public schools. The first grant focused on middle and high school earth system science, biology, and related social science courses (notably geography) in six school districts in Arizona with high concentrations of underrepresented populations. The previous program developed an interdisciplinary 3-credit course on inquiry science for Fellows, innovative in its approach to building Fellows' abilities to collaborate to improve their teaching skills and action research strategies. Track 2 is a continuation of this program and attempts to build upon the success and knowledge gleaned through the original proposal.