Grant Abstracts 2012   California State University, East Bay James Murray Hayward, CA $250,000 June 2012 A team of faculty will acquire a confocal laser scanning microscope for use in undergraduate student research and teaching.  This instrument will strengthen the existing BioCore facility and programs in biotechnology, and support and enhance a wide range of extant research projects as well as encourage the development of new projects, particularly in understanding cell and subcellular biology.  Availability of this instrumentation at CSUEB will increase faculty research, engagement with local biotech firms, and opportunities for student hands-on engagement in cutting edge research in a supportive teaching environment.  In the context of the university’s commitment to STEM education, the confocal will be key to ensuring access to higher level learning experiences for the largely underrepresented student population, promoting scientific literacy and career opportunities in the biotech field.   Loyola Marymount University Eric Strauss, Curtis Bennett Los Angeles, CA $250,000 June 2012 In order to better support interdisciplinary teaching and research at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs), a team at LMU will design and implement an interdisciplinary training model that enhances professional development for faculty and postdoctoral fellows, and enriches undergraduate science education.  The program will specifically support: (1) training for postdoctoral fellows, focusing on their professional development as teacher-scholars in an interdisciplinary environment; (2) a series of collaborative workshops for postdocs and faculty, fostering interdisciplinary teaching and novel undergraduate research collaborations; and (3) the creation of a suite of collaboratively taught interdisciplinary courses that unite the natural sciences, engineering and mathematics.   St. Mary's University Winston Erevelles San Antonio, TX $250,000 June 2012 The goal of this project is to improve the quality of undergraduate engineering education and research at St. Mary’s University by upgrading the Automated Manufacturing and Robotics Laboratory (AMRL).  The improved AMRL will significantly strengthen key courses in the industrial engineering, engineering management, and engineering science programs and support the development of new courses in advanced manufacturing technologies.  In addition, the AMRL will support the emerging mechanical engineering program and offer capstone design experience support and undergraduate research opportunities to all 6 of the existing undergraduate engineering programs.  This will better prepare students for careers in industry or graduate education.  The new laboratory, along with the implementation of the educational system known as MARRS (Manufacturability, Assemblability, Reproducibility and Repeatability Synergy) will engage students in the conceive-design-build engineering process and synthesize theoretical and practical knowledge.  The new AMRL and related curriculum enhancements will allow St. Mary’s University to serve as a benchmark for professional engineering education within the context of a liberal arts university.   Trinity University Jennifer Steele San Antonio, TX $250,000 June 2012 The ability to see the structure of materials on a nanometer scale is visually stunning and plays an increasingly important role in many areas of scientific research.  With this grant, a team at Trinity will acquire state of the art equipment that will allow their students to both image and analyze materials at the nanoscale, illuminating how the structure of these materials informs their function, and telling the story of how these materials were formed.  They will purchase a scanning electron microscope with elemental analysis and cathodoluminescence, and two dynamic mode atomic force microscopes.  These tools will provide powerful imaging and analytical capabilities for both the curriculum and faculty-led student research projects in physics and astronomy, chemistry, biology, geosciences and engineering science.  One new course on nanotechnology fabrication methods will be developed, along with nanoscience lab modules for at least 14 existing courses across the STEM curriculum.  The target audience for these curricular enhancements is not only science majors, but also non-science majors enrolled in general education classes.  This project will also provide a structure, through faculty workshops and a select number of student research fellowships, for interactions that will spark further interdepartmental collaborations.