FAMU
FAMU Research grant
Professors Ramakrishnan, Dickens and Sachdeva (left to right) in front of the high-resolution 3D printer that will be used to manufacture novel materials and devices.
A grant worth $4.9 million has been provided to Florida A&M University (FAMU) and FAMU-FSU College of Engineering by the National Science Foundation to kick-start research in novel materials, devices and additive manufacturing.
The Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology grant will be distributed to the schools over a five-year period. Researchers from the Center for Complex Materials Design for Multidimensional Additive Processing (CoManD Center) will explore advancements in manufacturing technology at the micrometre scale as a result of this financial backing.
Composed of an interdisciplinary team of professors and researchers from a number of different faculties and departments, the centre will oversee biological and agricultural systems engineering, chemistry, pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences and physics, as well as chemical, biomedical and industrial engineering.
Those set to conduct the research in these areas believe the research will be important to a number of applications, such as in vitro 3D tumour models for biological applications, electromagnetic radiation shielding materials for aerospace applications, and nanostructured photovoltaic devices for energy applications.
“This grant will give us a chance to make a bigger footprint in materials and biological research at FAMU and to create a pipeline of new science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) professionals to address the challenges of the future,” said the centre’s director Subramanian Ramakrishnan, Ph.D., an associate professor of chemical and biomedical engineering the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering.
The grant should also result in novel methods of drug delivery to treat cancer, produce better aircraft and space shuttle wings – that will not be affected by radiation – and highly portable electronic devices with longer lasting batteries. A key similarity between many of these technologies is the patterning of multiple materials in 3D, make possible with the use of high-precision 3D printing platforms.
Three separate sub-projects have been launched, as well as an educational project, off the back of the grant’s sanction. The first of these sub-projects will be directed by Ramakrishnan, in collaboration with FSU’s National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, and will focus on the development of nanostructured lightweight materials for shielding and sensing applications. The second will be directed by Tarik Dickens, Ph.D., FAMU-FSU College of Engineering Industrial Engineering Assistant Professor, and will concentrate on materials and devices for energy applications in association with the High-performance Materials Institute. The third sub-project will focus on biological applications, like a 3D printed tumour biosystem on a chip, and see FAMU Pharmaceutics Professor Madip Singh Sachdeva, Ph.D. directing the development of materials and devices.
“The uniqueness of this award is the synergy between universities, national labs and defence abs,” Ramakrishnan added. “This award is a new milestone for FAMU. It will help establish FAMU as a pioneer in additive manufacturing research in the Southeast and garner attention from regional industries. It creates strong collaborations between the engineering, pharmaceutical sciences, agriculture, and science and technology colleges and schools at FAMU. This project also opens avenues for students and faculty to work with some of the top scientists in the world at our collaborator institutions like MIT and Harvard.”
In addition to the research set to get underway, the grant will support undergraduate courses based on the fundamentals of self-assembly, nanoparticle synthesis and characterisation, additive manufacturing, nanomaterials in biology, and nanoparticles in medicine. These courses will be offered to FAMU students once fully developed. Furthermore, a laboratory course in materials will be made available to graduate and undergraduate students involved in materials research. The centre aims to produce 15 doctorate students, directly impact 40 undergraduates, and influence 100 graduate students and 300 additional undergraduates through collaborations and coursework.
