Retaining Engineers Through Research Entrepreneurship and Advanced-materials Training (RETREAT)

REU RETREAT
funding provided by the NSF
through Grant Award: 1950500

Program Announcement

The High Performance Materials Institute (HPMI) is now accepting applications from undergraduates in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) disciplines for the NSF REU Summer RETREAT. The 10-week RETREAT program offers a stipend of $6,200 for each participant, plus travel allowances, lodging, and a modest amount for meals. Successful applicants will have the opportunity to work with leading experts and be trained on the utilization, manufacture, and characterization of multiscale and multifunctional advanced composites. They will also learn how to successfully commercialize technological innovations by participating in seminars on entrepreneurship and an EngiPreneur Competition (an entrepreneurship-based student project competition) to be coordinated by experts from the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship of the Florida State University.

This program will be held at FSU's Material Research Building, a new 45,000 sq. ft. facility, which is the home of HPMI.

US citizenship or permanent residency required
Selection will be based on academic performance and faculty recommendation
Women and underrepresented minority students are encouraged to apply
Tentative dates: May 23, 2022 - July 29, 2022

Please contact for more info:

Primary Contact:

Dr. Okenwa Okoli (RETREAT Program Director)
Dr. Tarik J. Dickens (UREx Program Director/CREST-RISE Deputy Director)

Secondary Contacts:

Ms. Kiaira McCoy (RETREAT Program Assistant Coordinator)
Dr. Vincent O. Eze (RETREAT Program Assistant Coordinator)

NNSA/DOE MSIPP

The Minority Serving Institution Partnership Program (MSIPP) is designed to build a sustainable pipeline between the Department of Energy's (DOE) sites/labs and minority-serving institutions in STEM disciplines, and bring a heightened awareness of NNSA plants and laboratories to institutions with a common interest in STEM research fields.

Currently, MSIPP supports 24 consortium-based teams consisting of participants from select institutions. These teams bring together institutions that share interests in STEM research areas and who can utilize the facilities and technology available at DOE/NNSA’s labs and sites.

Informed Consent to Participate Form

Research Projects

The RETREAT research projects will provide students with an opportunity to participate in ongoing research programs in the areas of composite materials, smart sensors and materials manufacturing. Students will work closely with faculty and graduate students and gain hands on experience with advanced techniques in demand in the field today. The following are summer 2016 projects and similar project topics will be proposed for summer 2022.

Title	Faculty	Mentor(s)	REU Fellow
Improving Energy Mitigation of Thermoplastic Composites Through Novel Architecture	Dr. Okenwa Okoli	Yourri Dessureault	Brandon Johnson
Autonomous - Additive Manufacturing for Printing Scale-Up	Dr. Tarik Dickens	Jolie Frketic	Seam Psulkowski
Quantification of Pain Relief by Smart Prosthesis	Dr. Changchun Zeng	Xiaolin Wang	Pramith Devulapalli
Microstructure and Failure Mode Analysis of CNT/CF Hybrid Composites	Dr. Ayou Hao	Songlin Zhang	Mary Kate Holleran
Laser Processing for Carbon Fiber Manufacturing	Dr. Mei Zhang	Esther Daniels	Alayna Huckleby
Gait Data Modeling for Personalized Manufacturing of Lower-limb Orthoses	Dr. Hui Wang	Jie Ren	Isabella Martinez
Roll to Roll Construction Device of Flexible Solar Cell Units	Dr. Okenwa Okoli	Ryan Adams	Derek Guillen
Design and Analysis of Bioengineering Systems	Dr. Hui Wang Dr. Abhishek Shrivastava	Zhengqian Jiang	Kristi Folds
Manufacturing of Large Area, Flexible LED Panels Based on Halide Perovskites	Dr. Zhibin Yu	Ganesh Bade	Melissa Davis
Transport Property Characterization and Modeling of CNT/CF Hybrid Composites	Dr. Richard Liang	Nam Nguyen	Melissa Vahid

How to Apply

Eligibility

U.S. citizenship or permanent residency
STEM disciplines (undergraduate students)
Application Deadline: February 5th, 2022 for priority consideration and February 26th, 2022 to meet extended deadline.
Student cannot have attended two (2) other NSF REUs in the past

Application Checklist

All of the following items must be completed and submitted before your application package will be considered.

Resume
Current transcript
Submission form
Two letters of reference (preferably from your professors)

Apply Now

Application Instructions

Prepare resume and electronic version of unofficial transcript documents prior to beginning the submission form.
When you are ready to submit your resume and transcript. Here is the link: https://tinyurl.com/22FAMUFSUREU.
*Note: The submission form does not have a SAVE feature. It must be completed in one sitting. Have all documents prepared prior to starting the submission form.
The two letters of reference can be submitted via to retreat@eng.famu.fsu.edu or crest@eng.famu.fsu.edu.
If you have any questions, please contact the RETREAT Assistant Coordinators, Ms. Kiaira McCoy or Dr. Vincent O. Eze.

Program Overview

An overview of the various activities that would be embarked upon during the retreat is illustrated below. All activities and collaborations are geared at equipping the students with knowledge and skills in advanced materials and entrepreneurship. The students will also have the opportunity to present that work during the EngiPreneurship competition.

REU Program Overview