Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)

Undergraduate Research at the Nano-Bio Interface

The Undergraduate Research at The Nano-Bio Interface program at Penn’s NBIC is an REU that combines a rich research experience in nanobiotechnology with structured professional development focused on cross-cultural issues.  The focus of the research is molecular interactions at the interface of physical and biological systems organized around themes of molecular motion, opto-electronic function of biomolecules, and single molecule probes.  Faculties from two universities collaborate to provide a rich research experience for undergraduate students.  Our strategy is to constitute a student body that is 50% Hispanic and 50% non Hispanic so that role-playing, communications, ethics, etc can be developed around a specific cultural example.

Application Deadline for 2009: Friday, March 6, 2009

Interested in Applying:

The 10-week REU provides nanoscale research opportunities across a wide range of disciplines from materials science, mechanical engineering, chemistry, physics, bioengineering, physiology, chemical engineering, and electrical engineering.

Download application form: Undergraduate Research Program Application due March 6, 2009

Click here to send your contact information the NBIC database:  « registration form »

Please contact Jim McGonigle, NBIC Program Coordinator for questions regarding these programs at 215-898-5151 or jmcgon@seas.upenn.edu.

Read about the Nano/Bio Interface Center’s REU program in this article from the alumni magazine, Penn Engineering. Information about similar Penn REU program and contact information are included. document to download: PennEngNew_F07_REU.pdf

 

CLASS of 2008
Student	Home university	Lab placement
Ian Clark	University of Oregon	Degrado Group
Orielyz Flores	University of Puerto Rico at Cayey	Santiago Group
Kendrick Hernandez	University of Puerto Rico-Mayaquez	Carpick Group
Matthew Kraeutler	University of Virginia	Composto Group
Brenna Krieger	Rutgers University	Goldman Group
Elliot Nelson	Wheaton College	Chen Group
Laurent Palmatier	University of California, San Diego	Bau Group
Frances Rodriguez	University of Puerto Rico at Cayey	Dmochowski Group
Swarnali Sengupta	Johns Hopkins University	Mauch Group
Serina Woods	Norfolk State University	Yodh Group
Livia Zarnescu	University of Arizona	Bonnell Group

 

Read details of former REU student participants

Class of 2007

Manpreet Sen, George Washington University
Manipulations of the Oxygen Scavenger System for Optimal Fluorophore Activity (read abstract)
worked in Yale Goldman’s group

Ricardo Rivera, University of Puerto Rico, Cayey
Fabrication of Oriented Polyethylene Oxide Microfibers Through Electrospinning (read abstract)
worked in Jorge Santiago-Aviles’ group

Kelisha Kuykendall, University of South Texas
Synthesis of Metal Polypyridyl Based Porphyrin Supermolecule for Non-Linear Optical Studies (read abstract)
worked in Michael Therien’s group

Kelly McCarthy, Pennsylvania State University
Synthesis, Characterization, and Assembly of CdSe Nanorods (read abstract)
worked in Marija Drndic’s group

Evan Reed, The College of New Jersey
FEM Modeling of Contour-Mode RF Piezoelectric Resonators (read abstract)
worked in Gianluca Piazza’s group

Arelys Rosado, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras
Temperature Dependence of Domain Polarization on BaTiO3 Thin Film and Single Crystal (read abstract)
worked in Dawn Bonnell’s group

Class of 2006

Gloriell M. Cardona, Mathematics, University of Puerto Rico at Cayey
Study of the Use of Ferrofluid & Ferro-Wax as a Pumping & Valving Mechanism (read abstract)
worked in Haim Bau’s group

Tyson Moyer, Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University
Forced Unfolding of Actinin Visualized in Embryonic Cardiomyocytes (read abstract)
worked in Dennis Discher’s group

Jessica Ortiz, Chemistry, University of Puerto Rico at Cayey
Crack Free PZT films by Sol-Gel Synthesis (read abstract)
worked in Dawn Bonnell’s group

Josean Paulino Sustache, Physics, University of Puerto Rico at Humacao
Electrostatic Deposition of Nanofibers for Gas Sensors (read abstract)
worked in Jorge Santiago-Aviles’ group

Diana Tomezsko, Chemistry, LaSalle University
Studies toward the Use of PPES and PNES Polymers to Dissolve and Separate Nanotubes (read abstract)
worked in Michael Therien’s group

During the summer of 2006, six students from across the country and Puerto Rico participate in the 10-week research program.  Their research is highlighted in the following sections.  
If you would like to participate in the Summer 2007 program, click here.

NBIC REU, Class of 2007

 

Porphyrins, a large class of deeply colored dyes, provide an interesting research opportunity because of their unique optical properties. Besides their biological significance, porphyrins have also been studied extensively from a materials scientific point of view. A unique class of supermolecular chromophore based on metal polypyridyl complexes and porphyrins have been developed in Therien lab. Completing the syntheses of these chromopores can be challenging. In this report the synthesis of RuPZn chromophore from commercially available reagents is discussed in detail.
 

Controlled alignment of semiconductor nanorods is desired for ongoing work involving individual nanorod luminescence, as well as transport measurements over an array of nanorods.  This paper documents the characterization of CdSe nanorods prepared by several methods of synthesis.  The concentration of solvents from which the nanorods are deposited on TEM grids has an effect on the assembly of nanorods before applying an electric field which has previously been found to influence the order within nanorod films, and to lead to nanorod alignment.  When dropcast on a carbon grid, a dilute solution of CdSe rods assemble relatively randomly, but showing small tracks about five rods.  However for a more concentrated solution of rods, multiple layers appear to form and track length increases to about fifty rods. An applied electric field during the drop-cast is expected to increase the order parameter further. 
 

Polyethylene oxide (PEO) fibers with sub-micron scale diameters were synthesized through electrospinning.  The fibers were deposited in a near-parallel arrangement through the use of a custom-made electrospinning apparatus consisting of a rotating target anode and a linearly translating syringe cathode.  The fibers exhibited diameters ranging from 0.7 microns to 55 microns, and were characterized using optical microscopy and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS).  In addition, PEO fibers containing silver nanoflakes (5 weight percent, mean diameter of 100nm) were synthesized and characterized in the same fashion.  In both cases, the diameters of the fibers varied only with changes in the rate at which the polymer solution was pumped to the syringe cathode.  Samples of both types of fibers were also sintered in a vacuum oven at 200°C for 30 minutes and 180°C for 10 minutes, and were characterized via the aforementioned techniques.  Although the sintered fibers exhibited enhanced signals during SERS, they also fluoresced more than the unsintered samples and were thus less amenable to this type of characterization.
 

Single molecule observations utilizing fluorescent probes are often plagued by short, intermittent light signals.  Fluorophores are essential to biological research, allowing researchers to observe molecular conformational changes and interactions with other molecules. Extended fluorophore lifetime is desirable and is currently achieved with the use of various anti-fade reagents. For each type of fluorescent probe different reagents were tested. Using the FIONA (Fluorescence Imaging with One Nanometer Accuracy) microscope, images of the fluorescent signals were captured under an assortment of conditions. Analysis of the images led to determination of the appropriate reagents and protocols for several types of fluorophores.

Note:  Ms Sen’s paper was recently published in journal of undergraduate research at The George Washington University called Inquiry, volume 5 (Spring 2008)

 

NBIC REU, Class of 2006

 

This research project is focused on studying the feasibility of using ferrofluid and ferro-wax as a pumping and valving mechanism in a microfluidic device.  The material used to create the chip was polycarbonate (PC).  Since it was found that controlling surface properties is necessary to create an effective pumping system, oxygen, and argon plasma treatment in addition to poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) or PVP solution application were used to make PC hydrophilic.  This is reflected by the water contact angle.  It decreased from ~ 45º to ~7º on all the treated samples.  In order to bond treated PC without reversing the plasma treatment, using a temperature less than 140 ºC, different bonding techniques using acetone and PVP were tested.  Dipping the PC in acetone and applying it using a pipe cleaner were the most effective techniques to use before using the thermal bonding press.  For future work, a further study of the use of ferro-wax as pump and valve is also necessary to determine at what parameter are these materials more effective.
 

α-Actinin is a member of the spectrin family and known primarily for cross-linking actin proteins.  It is involved in the formation of the cytoskeleton and connection to the plasma membrane.  The structure of α-Actinin is comprised of four spectrin repeats, EF-hands, and an actin-binding domain.  Previous research has shown that α-Actinin unfolds under force from Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), which leads to the possibility of force-dependent change in cells.  The work described in this paper is a study designed to determine whether the unfolding of α-Actinin occurs under force from within embryonic cardiomyoctes through the exposure of a mutated cysteine inside the protein.  Using mutagenesis, cysteines in the spectrin repeats of α-Actinin are replaced by alanine, without any change to the structure.  Then, one cysteine is mutated into the protein at the inside of one of the three helices in the fourth spectrin repeat, so that a cysteine dye will not fluoresce under normal conditions.  By transfecting the mutated Actinin protein in chicken cardiomyocytes, the presence of a conformation change can be determined.  Under the forces in the beating cardiomyocytes, the α-Actinin undergoes forces strong enough to create a change in conformation.  The change in protein shape can be determined by causing any exposed cysteines to fluoresce, since the cysteine that was previously hidden will become exposed after the protein has unfolded.  Evidence that α-Actinin unfolds can show that it is involved in a force-sensitive pathway within the cell. 
 

Ferroelectric films are the materials of great technological importance.  These films could be used as a storage media (Fe-RAM, for example).  The other reason attractive application of those films is the study of domain specific reaction.  For these applications high quality ferroelectric films are required.  The most common ferroelectric material is Pb(Zr, Ti)O3, a.k.a. PZT. Many groups are synthesizing PZT but procedure varies from group to group as well as film quality (multiphase composition and grain size). In this work we found an optimal condition for the synthesis of crack free PbTiO3 films with grain size smaller then 1 mm.
 

This work addresses the formation of nanofibers of tin oxide (SnO₂) and carbon by using electrospinning aiming at application as gas sensors. The tin oxide (SnO₂) fibers were electrospun from a precursor solution containing 100 mg poly (ethylene oxide) (molecular weight 900 000), 10 ml chloroform (CHCl₃) and 5 ml dimethyldineodecanoate tin (C₂₂H₄₄O₄Sn). After the deposition, the fibers were sintered in a furnace for 1 h at 250, 320 and 600 ◦C, respectively. The scanning electron microscope was used to characterize the sintered fibers. After this analysis we studied the electrical conductivity of a single fiber. The carbon nanofibers used in this work were derived from a polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/N, N-dimethyl formamide (DMF) precursor solution using electrospinning and vacuum furnace techniques. The carbon fibers were observed in the optical microscope and photographed.
 

Single walled nanotubes (SWNTs) are carbon tubes with a wide range of novel thermal, mechanical, and opto-electrical properties that enable them to be such a functional material.  However, for any practical application of these properties, for example in the design of an electronic or optical device, a homogenous sample of SWNTs is needed.  When synthesized, SWNTs are a tangle of sizes, shapes, and chiralities.  In this project, new strategies for obtaining a homogenous sample of SWNTs are explored.
 

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