Undergraduate Research Opportunities (APPL 395)

	Participating Faculty
	Al Banes    Maurice Brookhart    Joseph Desimone    Dorothy Erie    Henry S. Hsiao    Timothy A. Johnson    Laurie E. McNeil    Royce W. Murray    Nalin Parikh    Lu-Chang Qin    Michael Rubinstein    Edward T. Samulski    Richard Superfine    Russ Taylor    Jeffrey Thompson    Frank Tsui    Sean Washburn    Otto Zhou

Most students begin research in the spring semester of their junior year. Many research advisors require a minimum commitment of two or three semesters of research. There is no limit to the number of times that APPL 395 may be taken or counted as an elective. Permission to register must be obtained from the Curriculum office, and the actual registration is done by Carolyn Newman.

If you are interested in taking APPL 395, please contact the professor of interest to arrange a meeting. The following is a list of faculty and the research projects they have listed for interested and capable Applied Sciences students. After you have made arrangements to work with someone, please have them sign the acceptance form and return it to the Curriculum office.

Note: Any professor at UNC can be chosen as an APPL395 advisor as long as they are willing to accept you and the research pertains to your field of study.

Al Banes , Professor and Acting Director - Department of Orthopaedics

CB #7055, Burnett-Womack Building
(919)962-6637x2

Homepage

Development of instrumentation to mechanically load cells and tissues, study of cellular responses to strain (exercising cells in culture), cytomechanics, gap junction biochemistry, cell-cell signaling, and growth factors

 

 

Maurice Brookhart, Kenan Professor - Department of Chemistry

CB #3209 A-404 Kenan

(919) 962-0362

Homepage

 

Synthetic, mechanistic, and structural organometallic chemistry, and use of transition metal complexes for C-H bond activation, polymer synthesis via transition metal catalysis.

New methods of synthesis of engineering thermoplastics and fibers, in particular by using supercritical carbon dioxide, polymeric materials synthesis.

 

Dorothy Erie, Associate Professor - Department of Chemistry

CB #3290 B 830 Kenan Labs

(919) 962-6370

Homepage

Physical and biological chemistry-structure and function of transcription processes

 

 

Henry Hsiao, Professor - Biomedical Engineering

CB# 7575 444 Macnider Bldg.

(919)-966-2188
Homepage

Dr. Hsiao's research interests are in the areas of biomedical instrument design and in human and telemedicine and microcomputer interfaces. He has designed a number of medical instruments that are in clinical use. Among these are: monitor for the Operating Room, computer based audiometer, high frequency audiometer, arterial blood oxygen sensor, pulmonary compliance measurement instrument, telecommunication system between the neonatal ICUs in N. C., and telehealth workstations. He is the author of a book on the attraction of moths to light and infrared radiation. He also has developed a system to measure the audience response to video presentations. This was the method used to evaluate the winner of the Presidential Debates and the winner of the USAToday Super Bowl Ad Meter.

 

 

Laurie E. McNeil, Professor and Chair - Department of Physics and Astronomy
Phillips Hall
962-7204
Homepage

Structural transformations in irradiated semiconductors. We use Brillouin scattering and atomic force microscopy (AFM) to study structural transformations in semiconductors which have been irradiated with high doses of heavy ions. These materials develop a "spongy" structure on the microscopic scale, and we want to understand how the transformation takes place. The student would prepare samples (working with Prof. W. Ussler of the Geology Dept.), make Raman scattering measurements of samples (working with Dr. Julie Lorentzen), and use AFM to measure their surface topography before and after irradiation. The possibility exists to extend the work into a summer internship at Argonne National Laboratory (in Illinois), doing Brillouin scattering measurements and possibly some TEM.

Semiconductor quantum wells. We use photoluminescence to study multiple GaAs/InAlAs quantum wells for optoelectronic applications. The structures are grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) at Duke Univ. We are manipulating the optical properties of the structures to modify their polarization sensitivity. A student choosing this project would learn about photoluminescence, cryogenics, MBE, optoelectronics, and scientific computation.

Carbon nanotubes. As part of the North Carolina Center for Nanoscale Materials (NCCNM), we use Raman spectroscopy to study the structure and properties of nanotubes ("buckytubes"). A student would work closely with the synthesis and functionalization groups in Physics and Chemistry to study how changes in processing modify the properties of the materials. Opportunities also exist to work on more applications-oriented aspects of the project, including properties of composites.

 

Royce W. Murray, Professor - Department of Chemistry
Kenan Labs, C-344
962-6296
Homepage

1. Synthesis and/or properties of polymer-like materials modify combinations of polyethylene oxide and structural units like metal complexes, organometallic compounds, flurophores, etc.

1. Nanoparticles, properties of monolayer protected metal clusters.

 

 

 

Nalin Parikh, Research Associate Professor- Department of Physics and Astronomy

162 Philips

(919) 962-7160

Homepage

 

 

Ion beam analysis to study doping of high-band-gap materials such as diamond and GaN for use in electronic devices, ion beam modifications and analysis.

 

 

Michael Rubinstein Professor - Department of Chemistry
CB #3290 Caudill 159
962-3544
Homepage

Polymers can be linear or branched, flexible or stiff, neutral or charged, homogeneous or heterogeneous. The unique properties of polymeric systems are due to the size, topology and interactions of the molecules they are made of.

The projects will be to understand these properties by building and solving corresponding molecular models. We are currently working on:

1. Charged Polymers
2. Polymers at Interfaces
3. Polymer Networks
4. Dynamics of Structured Fluids

 

Edward Samulski, Professor and Chair - Department of Chemistry
Caudill Hall 161
962-1561
Homepage

Synthesis and characterization of liquid crystals and polymers. (Requires synthetic organic chemistry background.)

 

Richard Superfine, Professor - Department of Physics and Astronomy

168 Phillips

(919) 962-1185

Homepage

The interfacial ordering and properties of molecules, polymers, nanometer-sized metal and semiconductor clusters, viruses and cells, and the nanomanipulator.

 

Russell Taylor, Research Associative Professor - Dept. of Computer Science

CB# 3175 238 Sitterson Hall

(919) 962-1701

Homepage

Computer graphics advanced, data rendering, novel microscopy instrumentation

 

Jeff Thompson, Professor and Director UTSA/UTHSCSA, Joint Doctoral Program in Biomedical Engineering

((210) 458-5146

Homepage

Development and testing of biomaterials for dental and orthopedic applications, including tough ceramics and bioactive coatings.

 

Frank Tsui, Associate Professor - Department of Physics and Astronomy
160 Phillips Hall, CB# 3255
(919)962-0305
Homepage

1. Synthesis of transition metal ultrathin films and superlattices using molecular beam epitaxy.
2. Synthesis of carbon nanostructures on substrates.
3. Structural, electrical, and magnetic characterization using scanning probe microscopy, SQUID magnetometry, electron diffraction and spectroscopy, electron microscopy, etc.
4. Instrumentation and computer interfaces.

 

Sean Washburn Professor - Department of Physics and Astronomy
170 Phillips Hall
CB #3255
962-9382
Homepage

1. small-scale RF plasma experiments in anticipation of inexpensive simpler semiconductor device etching and oxidation.
2. electrical studies of ion-bombarded conducting polymer films.
3. mechanical and electrical studies of carbon nanotubes.

 

Otto Zhou, Professor - Department of Physics and Astronomy 

CB# 3255 158 Phillips

(919) 962-3297

Homepage

 

New methods of synthesis of carbon nanotubes and related materials, synthesis and properties of novel solid-state materials.