NDnano Undergraduate Research Fellowships (NURF)
Summer 2011 Project Summaries

Undergrad students gain invaluable research experience, publish project recaps

Are you familiar with particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collisions? Do you have the know-how to perform electrophoretic deposition or reactive ion etching? Have you grown bilayer graphene? Or used quantum dots in solar cell production?

NDnano’s undergraduate summer researchers developed these skills and more during their 10-week NURF fellowship. At the same time, the students' work helps to advance Notre Dame's research efforts in areas like computing, medicine, and energy harvesting, to name a few.

Each student applied, was selected, and received a $5,000 fellowship to work as part of a faculty-led research team. The fellowship experience included time and learning opportunities inside and outside the lab. From safety and equipment training, to simulations and experiments, to a session on creating effective research posters – even a tour of the football stadium and a day at King’s Island – the NDnano students were able to meet and interact with faculty, post-doctoral researchers, graduate students, and the other 200-plus undergrad researchers who spent their summer at Notre Dame. At summer’s end, many NURF students presented their research in two poster sessions held on campus in August (related story).

The students, pictured below, have each prepared a summary of their research project. The thirty-two 2011 NURF students represent eight colleges and universities, including top-notch technical schools in India and China.

For undergraduates interested in gaining the same cutting-edge research experience, the application process for the 2012 NURF program will open in mid-January. For more information, contact Heidi Deethardt.

Also: 2010 NURF project summaries

NANO-BIOELECTRONICS

Project: Constituent analysis of panadol via paper analytical devices (PADs)

NURF recipient: Diana Vega Pantoja
School: Saint Mary's College
Major: Chemistry and Chemical Engineering | Class of 2013
Faculty mentors: Profs. Marya Lieberman, Toni Barstis, and Holly Goodson
Project summary [pdf]

Project: Detection of counterfeit pharmaceuticals with paper analytical devices

NURF recipient: Kelsey Weaver
School: University of Texas-Austin
Major: Biomedical Engineering | Class of 2013
Faculty mentors: Profs. Marya Lieberman, Toni Barstis, and Holly Goodson
Project summary [pdf]

Project: Arsenic detection biosensor

NURF recipient: Hun-Young Yang
School: Ivy Tech Community College
Major: Biotechnology
Faculty mentors: Profs. Marya Lieberman, Toni Barstis,
and Holly Goodson
Project summary [pdf]

NURF recipient: Joseph Hull
Major: Biotechnology and Chemistry
Faculty mentors: Prof. Marya Lieberman, Toni Barstis, and Holly Goodson
Project summary [pdf]

NURF recipient: Irene Fahrberger
School: Ivy Tech Community College
Major: Biotechnology and Nanotechnology | Class of 2012
Faculty mentors: Prof. Marya Lieberman, Prof. Toni Barstis, and Prof. Holly Goodson
Project summary [pdf]

NURF recipient: Dylan Garvey
School: Ivy Tech Community College and IUSB
Major: Biology | Class of 2013
Faculty mentors: Prof. Marya Lieberman, Prof. Toni Barstis, and Prof. Holly Goodson
Project summary [pdf]

Project: Visualization of DC microplasma particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collision simulations

NURF recipient: Benjamin Rollin
School: University of Notre Dame
Major: Aerospace Engineering | Class of 2012
Faculty mentor: Prof. David Go
Project summary [pdf]

Project: Bone-inspired bionanocomposite scaffold for tissue regeneration and
bone grafting technologies

NURF recipient: Matthew Labriola
School: University of Notre Dame
Major: Science-Business | Class of 2012
Faculty mentors: Profs. Abhijit Biswas, Gyorgy Csaba and Tao Wang
Project summary [pdf]

Project: Development of laser transmission spectroscopy as a PCR free
DNA detection device

NURF recipient: Adrienne Chabot
School: University of Notre Dame
Major: Science Pre-Professional and Philosophy | Class of 2013
Faculty mentors: Prof. Steve Ruggiero and Prof. Carol Tanner
Project summary [pdf]

Project: Mapping microfluidic chemical reactions with terahertz spectroscopy and imaging

NURF recipient: Rahul Pathak
School: Inst. of Technology, Banaras Hindu Univ.
Major: Ceramic Engineering | Class of 2012
Faculty mentors: Prof. Tao Wang and Prof. Lei Liu
Project summary [pdf]

Project: Terahertz probing of carbon nanofiber composite coating for electromagnetic shielding and attenuation

NURF recipient: Subhali Subhechha
School: Indian Institute of Technology
Major: Electrical Engineering | Class of 2013
Faculty mentors: Prof. Lei Liu , Prof. Tao Wang and Prof. Abhijit Biswas
Project summary [pdf]

Project: Engineering multifunctional nanoparticles to overcome drug resistance in multiple myeloma

NURF recipient: William Cusick
School: University of Notre Dame
Major: Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering | Class of 2013
Faculty mentor: Prof. Basar Bilgicer
Project summary [pdf]

Project: Integrated nanobiofluidics for next-generation chemical sensors

NURF recipient: Angela Willson
School: Saint Mary's College
Major: Chemistry | Class of 2012
Faculty mentor: Prof. Paul Bohn

PHYSICAL LIMITS TO COMPUTATION

Project: Minimum energy for computation

NURF recipient: Brian Appleton
School: University of Notre Dame
Major: Electrical Engineering | Class of 2013
Faculty mentor: Prof. Gregory Snider
Project summary [pdf]

Project: Scanning electron microscope

NURF recipient: Sebastian Ortega
School: University of Notre Dame
Major: Aerospace Engineering | Class of 2014
Faculty mentor: Prof. Gary Bernstein
Project summary [pdf]

Project: Pattern recognition using on-chip waves

NURF recipient: Matthew Clary
School: University of Notre Dame
Major: Electrical Engineering | Class of 2013
Faculty mentors: Prof. Wolfgang Porod and Prof. György Csaba
Project summary [pdf]

Project: Design of nanomagnet logic devices

NURF recipient: Dan Cole
School: Purdue College of Technology
Major: Electrical Engineering Technology | Class of 2013
Faculty mentors: Prof. Wolfgang Porod and Prof. György Csaba
Project summary [pdf]

Project: Design of nanomagnet logic devices

NURF recipient: Ross Harnish
School: Purdue College of Technology
Major: Electrical Engineering Technology | Class of 2012
Faculty mentors: Prof. Wolfgang Porod and Prof. György Csaba
Project summary [pdf]

Project: Study of power/performance characteristics of nanomagnet-based circuits

NURF recipient: Kobena Ampofo
School: University of Notre Dame
Major: Computer Engineering | Class of 2012
Faculty mentor: Prof. Sharon Hu
Project summary [pdf]

Project: Photoluminescence

NURF recipient: Kuijun Liang
School: University of Notre Dame
Major: Chemical Engineering | Class of 2013
Faculty mentor: Prof. Mark Wistey
Project summary [pdf]

NEW MATERIALS AND NANOSTRUCTURES

Project: Micromagnetic simulations of GaAs/Fe core-shell nanowires

NURF recipient: Vu Nguyen
School: University of Notre Dame
Major: Physics | Class of 2013
Faculty mentors: Profs. Jacek Furdyna and Margaret Dobrowolska
Project summary [pdf]

Project: Uranyl peroxide nanoclusters

NURF recipient: Nicolas Martinez
School: University of Notre Dame
Major: Mechanical Engineering | Class of 2014
Faculty mentor: Prof. Peter Burns
Project summary [pdf]

Project: Chemical vapor deposition growth of bilayer graphene

NURF recipient: Kevin Burke
School: University of Notre Dame
Major: Environmental Geosciences | Class of 2012
Faculty mentors: Prof. Michelle Kelly and Prof. Grace Xing
Project summary [pdf]

Project: Calculation of dislocation densities in GaN-based heterostructures using high resolution x-ray diffraction

NURF recipient: Andrew Setter
School: University of Notre Dame
Major: Electrical Engineering | Class of 2011 (December)
Faculty mentors: Prof. Michelle Kelly and Prof. Debdeep Jena
Project summary [pdf]

Project: Direct bandgap dilute carbides

NURF recipient: Steven Cress
School: University of Notre Dame
Major: Electrical Engineering | Class of 2012
Faculty mentor: Prof. Mark Wistey
Project summary [pdf]

ENERGY-HARVESTING TECHNOLOGIES

Project: Effect of Cu2S on solar cell performance

NURF recipient: Nevin Peeples
School: University of Notre Dame
Major: Chemical Engineering | Class of 2013
Faculty mentor: Prof. Prashant V. Kamat
Project summary [pdf]

Project: Graphene-based electrodes in Li-ion storage battery

NURF recipient: Lisa Edwards
School: University of Notre Dame
Major: Science-Business | Class of 2013
Faculty mentor: Prof. Prashant V. Kamat
Project summary [pdf]

Project: Sprayable nanocomposite coatings for large-area carbon capture and storage

NURF recipient: Michael Ashley
School: University of Notre Dame
Major: Chemical Engineering | Class of 2013
Faculty mentors: Prof. Abhijit Biswas and Prof. Tao Wang
Project summary [pdf]

Project: Design of nanocatalysts for efficient energy conversion

NURF recipient: Gang Huang
School: Univ. of Science and Technology (China)
Major: Chemistry | Class of 2011
Faculty mentor: Prof. Franklin Tao
Project summary [pdf]

Project: Aligning conductive pathways in solid polymer electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries

NURF recipient: Dean Schaetzl
School: Purdue College of Technology
Major: Electrical Engineering Technology | Class of 2013
Faculty mentors: Prof. Susan Fullerton and Prof. Alan Seabaugh
Project summary [pdf]

Project: Solid polymer electrolytes for rechargeable batteries

NURF recipient: Suong Do
School: Saint Mary's College
Major: Math and Electrical Engineering | Class of 2012
Faculty mentors: Prof. Susan Fullerton and Prof. Alan Seabaugh
Project summary [pdf]

Project: High-performance solar cells

NURF recipient: Joseph Altura
School: University of Notre Dame
Major: Electrical Engineering | Class of 2013
Faculty mentor: Prof. Patrick Fay
Project summary [pdf]

Also: 2010 NURF project summaries

11.14.11