Boyd Edwards - US grants

OISE-0824860 (Lewis, J.P. - West Virginia University) IRES: Supramolecular Structure and Materials in Nanoscience at Jilin University. Six teams of students (one graduate student and one undergraduate student per team) will work with researchers at the State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials located at Jilin University (Changchun, P.R. China). In an eight-week program, students will work in five key research areas: Magnetic Nanostructures, DNA - Carbon Nanotube Combing during Layer-by-Layer Assembly, Multi-Pore Nanoparticles, Artificial Enzyme Mimics, and DNA Conformation for Nano-Material Applications. Students from underrepresented minorities will comprise over half of the participants as we use this opportunity to retain and recruit these students. Each year, symposia at both Jilin University and WVU will be run with participation of faculty and students from each institution. Students participating in the IRES program will use these symposia as an opportunity to present their findings; other non-IRES students will also be encouraged to participate in these symposia.

This Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education (NUE) in Engineering program entitled, NUE: The Nanosystems Emphasis-Valuing Disciplinary Depth and Differences in Nanoscale Science and Engineering Teams at West Virginia University (WVU), under the direction of Dr. Lawrence A. Hornak, is a creative, broadly applicable, and interdisciplinary approach to achieving the challenging objective of preparing students for the nanoscale science and engineering workplace. This is an objective shared by the State of West Virginia for the development of its workforce which will be achieved through this project of WVNano, West Virginia's statewide NSEE initiative. The Nanosystems Emphasis bridges the traditional stovepipes of undergraduate programs in engineering and the sciences through a nine credit hour backbone of seminar and nanosystems research experiences spanning from the freshman to the senior year. Through this crosscutting, research oriented approach, students will be offered the opportunity to develop a Nanosystems Emphasis compatible with their own, often congested, schedule for their engineering or science major.

The proposal for this award was received in response to the Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education (NUE) in Engineering Program Solicitation (NSF 07-554).

Abstract


Proposal Number: OISE-0936670

Principal Investigator: Boyd Edwards

Institution: West Virginia University

Title: US-Israel DDEP: Asymptotic Methods at Nano/Microfluidic Interfaces in Electrokinetically Driven Systems

This Doctoral Dissertation Enhancement Project (DDEP) project involves collaboration between two research groups working on different technological applications of a common phenomenology. While at the Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research, which is part of the Ben Gurion University, the student will undertake a focused study of a mathematical analysis of electrokinetic problems related to a study of transport phenomena at the interface between an ion exchange membrane and a two-species bulk electrolyte. This work is to be done by the student with the host research group acting in a mentorship capacity, introducing student to methods, and providing an opportunity for discussions and feedback. The student has corresponded with the lead professor in Israel, Isaak Rubinstein, and will be working with him and his group for one month while abroad. The Rubinstein group has expertise in theoretical approaches to electro-diffusion and electro-convection near ion exchange membranes. In terms of the broader impacts, the opportunities presented by this work are valuable to the improvement of the infrastructure for nanoscale science and engineering research and education at the student?s home institution. Beyond aiding in graduate student training, the activity will provide basic knowledge essential to the development of an integrated microfluidic sample concentrators. Such a device would be beneficial for applications involving complex chemical and biochemical analyses like proteomics, genomics or chemical analyses in remote environments. Environmental applications such as water desalination and biomedical applications like electrodialysis, which depend on electrokinetic transport through nanoporous membranes, may benefit from this work as well.

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Proposed is the additional development of a new technique for microfluidic separations called traveling-wave electrophoresis (TWE). This technique employs an electric field wave produced by interdigitated electrode arrays to transport charged species through a microchannel. To investigate approaches for efficient separations of complex mixtures of peptides and other biomolecular systems, the proposed research will focus on two aims: (a) establishing the dependence of band dispersion on molecular concentration, electrophoretic mobility, and molecular diffusion in TWE, and (b) demonstrating TWE separations of complex mixtures of peptides using novel separation modes accessible through TWE. These experimental aims will synergistically interact with theoretical modeling of the TWE system to understand the fundamental capabilities and limits of the process. The proposed goals will be accomplished through experiments and modeling stemming from preliminary models and experiments that have unequivocally demonstrated the feasibility of the technique.

The proposed research addresses the critical need for robust, controllable, on-demand separation techniques for high-resolution, high-throughput characterization of complex biomolecular samples. TWE separations distinguish themselves from other electrophoretic microfluidic separation techniques by the use of an electric wave to transport species whose mobilities exceed a tunable threshold. TWE holds promise for separations with minimal dispersion and separations of infinite length achieved via real-time switching between separative and non-separative transport, allowing extremely high resolution separations of closely migrating analytes. The impact of this work will be felt in proteomics, molecular biology, cell biology, genetics, materials synthesis, and nanoscience. The system has the potential to make particularly strong contributions to proteomics and molecular biology based on its capability to separate closely related molecular species present in vastly different concentrations. The ability to independently control the velocities of separated bands in a single channel based on their local position without sacrificing separation efficiency will prove to be revolutionary if realized.

The broader impacts of this work consist of five major areas. Of particular importance in the state of West Virginia is the incorporation of a Research Experience for Teachers. We will incorporate secondary school teachers into the research program, providing opportunities for professional development credits, and developing curricular elements meeting state guidelines for incorporation into their classrooms. The program will extend beyond the summer with the PIs interacting with the teachers and their students in the classroom, and providing opportunities for participating teachers to present their research and curricular efforts in both local and national settings. The PIs are actively involved in the development of undergraduate and graduate course work that emphasizes the importance of nanoscience and nanotechnology, both in science and in society at large. These courses reach students across different disciplines in the physical sciences, engineering, biomedicine, and the humanities and provide a common forum to facilitate cross-pollination of ideas within the university. The project will provide funding for two graduate students, one theoretical and one experimental. Work on this project will promote interdisciplinary interactions between developing physicists and chemists during their training, a very important benefit in this era of multi-disciplinary research. Outreach to underrepresented groups will be accomplished in summer research experiences for undergraduates through existing SURE, REU, and LSAMP programs. In addition, ongoing relationships with a local company, Protea, Inc. will allow immediate incorporation of research innovations in the development of commercial products for protein analysis.