7 Result(s)

Cell culture and metabolic products analysis, solid surface engineering and thin film material deposition

This interdisciplinary project aims to explore a new concept of using biological process (cell culture) to enable metal thin film deposition and device fabrication. It comprises three aspects, 1) study of biological process to see how the cell culture condition controls the cell growth and metabolic products formation; and 2) study of the metal film deposition process to see how we can modify the substrate to control the film growth; 3) combine the above two aspects using the bio-metabolism products to enable and control the metal thin film growth. This research position focuses the 2nd aspect, studying the metal deposition in relation to substrate and process. Strong interest is required, and some related background are preferred...

Required Availability
Spring 2024 | Summer 2024 | Fall 2024
Course Credit?
Yes - CHE 491 / 498
Paid Position?
Yes - $10/hr

Machine Learning-based Materials Design

Designing new environmentally friendly and cheap materials for practical applications is one of the main challenges of our century. This process is however very slow because synthesizing and testing new materials take time and have considerable cost. Computational methods provide an alternative method to screen materials faster and circumvent the costly and slow experimental trial-and-error approach. In this research area, machine learning-based methods have emerged as flexible tools recently to predict the properties of hitherto unknown materials based on previously known information. The Szilvasi group is working on developing databases and machine learning-based workflows to design new materials in the area of catalysis, energy storage, ...

Required Availability
The End of Time
Course Credit?
Yes - CHE 498
Paid Position?
No

Computational Catalysis

Catalysis is used to produce most chemicals worldwide. Thus, optimization of catalysts is relevant for both economic and environmental reasons. The ever-increasing computational power has led to the rise of computational research in catalysis that has been one of the main developments of the previous decades in the field. Computations have helped understanding chemical bonding, assign spectroscopic features, and explore reaction mechanisms among others. Regarding this latter, identifying rate-determining steps and analyzing critical chemical interactions have become standard tools to understand catalytic reactions and design more active, selective, and/or stable catalysts. As such, the Szilvasi group is interested in using computational met...

Required Availability
The End of Time
Course Credit?
Yes - CHE 498
Paid Position?
No

biomedical and environmental sensors

Dr. Cheng is looking for motivated undergraduate students to join his group. The students will participate in several projects funded by NSF, GLPF and UA. As an example, his group is developing new implantable material, sensors and machine learning algorithms in order to remotely monitor people with disabilities. The students should be familiar with engineering principles, programming and problem solving....

Required Availability
The End of Time
Course Credit?
No
Paid Position?
Yes - $10/hr

computational catalysis

The control of chemical transformation via catalysis is both an exceptional intellectual challenge and critically important to the Nation. Catalysis is central to energy production and utilization, to chemical manufacturing, to the minimization of environmental impact, and it has been arguably the single most important agent for sustainable development in the developing world. The revolutions in nanotechnology and high performance computing provide unprecedented new opportunities to elucidate the fundamental principles governing the control of chemical transformation by catalysts. Indeed, the coupling of theory, modeling and simulation with experiment will provide the most profound insights into catalyst behavior and thus enable the design ...

Required Availability
The End of Time
Course Credit?
Yes - CH396:398
Paid Position?
No

Computational peptide chemistry

Advanced computational electronic structure methods will be used to calculate the geometries, vibrational frequencies, energetics, and excited state properties of important compounds of biological interest. Both correlated molecular orbital theory and density functional theory will be used. The focus of the work is on charging of peptides for explaining mass spectrometry results for both cationic and anionic peptides. The cationic work will focus on transition metal ion charging. Both types of studies are relevant to the study of the Human proteome....

Required Availability
The End of Time
Course Credit?
Yes - CH396:398
Paid Position?
No

Computational heavy element chemsitry

We are interested in developing a fundamental and predictive understanding of actinide chemistry in aqueous solution under conditions relevant to nuclear-waste storage and reprocessing of spent fuel to address aggregate and colloid formation. Intractable, small aggregates in nuclear-waste streams can impair clean-up, forcing a low-level waste stream to be treated as high-level waste, thereby increasing treatment costs. Metal oligomers, aggregates, clusters, nanophases and colloids are ubiquitous in aqueous chemistry. Thought to form via the condensation reactions of hydrolyzed metal ions, intrinsic dissolved aggregates or colloids are generally described as poly-dispersed hydroxides or hydrous oxides with varying stoichiometry and no well-d...

Required Availability
The End of Time
Course Credit?
Yes - CH396:398
Paid Position?
No