New NSF Materials Innovation Platforms Program A new, innovative materials innovation platforms (MIPs) program that aims to significantly accelerate materials research and development has made its first awards to Penn State University and Cornell University. The two institutions will serve as “platforms” to develop new bulk and thin film crystalline hard materials through state-of-the-art instrumentation. The Cornell award is a multi-institution effort in collaboration with Johns Hopkins, Clark Atlanta, and Princeton universities. “Our inclusion in the prestigious collaborative is yet another affirmation that we are effectively mobilizing for the future, focusing on IDEAS that matter,” said President Johnson. The platforms will foster an environment available to all that is the convergence of multidisciplinary expertise with the best tools available, providing access to the instrumentation, data and the new materials created. Clark Atlanta will lead the theory user facility and work in tandem with theorists at Cornell to provide modeling and simulation support to these crystal growers (thin film at Cornell and bulk at Princeton). Princeton University will participate in the in-house research program alongside Cornell, lending additional expertise in crystal growth as well. Johns Hopkins will collaborate with CAU in theory (in tandem with Cornell University). Princeton University will participate in the inhouse research program and offer additional expertise in crystal growth. The National Science Foundation will fund platforms a maximum of $25 million over the next five years, with eligibility for a one-time five-year renewal. These platforms, which add to NSF’s portfolio of funding mid-scale infrastructure and instrumentation, will advance a focused research area of national importance and
expand access beyond a traditional user facility. “We see the platforms as pushing the frontiers in materials research,” said Fleming Crim, NSF assistant director for mathematical and physical sciences. “In its first call for proposals, NSF is focusing on crystal growth because the U.S. has fallen behind in this area of science after having been a global leader in material synthesis, which is essential for advancing basic materials research and will add to the important investment the foundation is making in mid-scale instrumentation.”
The awardees will act as a “nexus of activity” for a focused research theme, where platforms are equipped with a user facility and researchers from across the nation who also engage in this research area will have access to these resources to accelerate their own work. This access to a national user facility is free to academic users, which includes not just instrumentation, but also expertise in synthesis, characterization, and theory/modeling/ simulation. Additionally, the platforms will enable researchers to work in new ways, fostering new approaches to multidisciplinary education and training.
CAU’s Phone-a-Thon Team Wins White House Visit As American voters pondered who will be in the White House next January, CAU was there in February 2016! CAU’s HBCU Phone-A-Thon Call-to-Action Team was the winner of the 2016 Enroll America National HBCU Phone-A-Thon Call-to-Action Challenge. Originally, the winning team’s participants were to receive a phone call from the White House in appreciation of their ten-day effort reminding citizens to enroll in a health care plan under the Affordable Care Act. Then, on February 11, Linda Olsen, regional director for Enroll America – Georgia, arrived at CAU with a framed certificate and a very special invitation for the top Challenge callers and the group’s adviser to join the Enroll America Georgia team on February 24 at the White House. Not only has the team enlivened CAU’s motto, “Culture for Service,” but they have demonstrated what can become of a few hours of volunteer service well put to use.
From Left to Right: Amethyst St. Thomas, Marcus Neither, Morehouse College, Diamonique Bryant, Dean Ernita Hemmitt, Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett, Lanisha Hall, Ariel Delegol, Breeahna Gresham, Sherace Calder.
CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY
SPRING 2016
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