REU: Site for Polymer Science and Engineering Gustavo Carri , University of Akron, DMR 1004747

1. REU: Site for Polymer Science and Engineering Gustavo Carri, University of Akron, DMR 1004747 • Twelve NSF-supported undergraduate students participated in a 12-week summer internship program in 2011 where they gained practical, hands-on research experience in Polymer Physics, Chemistry, Engineering or Biomaterials. • Some Research Topics from 2011 • Effect of Paracrine Signaling on Primary Chondrocyte Phenotypes in RGD Derivatized PEG Hydrogels (R. Boettcher) • Detection of Defects in Polymer Films Using Nano-Particles (S. Chari) • Synthesis and Characterization of Low Molecular Weight Polymers For Drug Delivery (R. Kaiser) • Synthesis and Characterization of Ionomers Prepared from Renewable Monomers (A. Roy) • Construction of MetallomacrocyclicSupramolecular Architectures (J. Wax) • “Grafting-to” Synthesis of Fluorinated Polyhedral OligomericSilsesquioxane-EncappedPolycaprolactone (K. Wilson)

2. REU: Site for Polymer Science and Engineering Gustavo Carri, University of Akron, DMR 1004747 • The interns also participated in many educational activities. • Some Educational Activities 2011 • 2-hour lectures in Biomaterials, Polymer Engineering, Chemistry, and Physics • Safety Training,2 lectures on Ethics • 4 visits to companies, local hospitals and government labs • 4 faculty research presentations • 5 panel discussions about careers in industry, academia, government and others • Poster presentation at the Northeast Ohio Undergraduate Research Conference (OAI) • 1 lecture about how to prepare a technical presentation/paper • Departmental Seminars