Note to Editors: To schedule photos of students working in the labs, contact Mary Wymer at 205/348-6444 or mwymer@coe.eng.ua.edu

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Nine local high school students are taking the leap into the field of “nanoscience” as they work with leading faculty at The University of Alabama as part of summer research program funded by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy.

Nanoscience is the study of objects that are measured on the nanometer scale. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter.

The students have joined UA’s nanoparticles teams and are learning basic research methods in the synthesis, characterization and application of nanoparticles. They are working on projects including ultrahigh density magnetic recording, catalysts for fuel cells, multi-functional nanomedicine platforms for cancer therapy, and bio-inspired materials. This multidisciplinary project consists of faculty and graduate students from chemical engineering, chemistry, physics and metallurgical engineering.

A major feature of this summer program is high school students working side-by-side with UA faculty on leading-edge equipment in the various laboratories. One of the many student experiments will be on UA’s new transmission electron microscope, which was purchased earlier this year through Dr. Gregory Thompson’s leading a group of faculty from the Colleges of Engineering and Arts and Sciences that received a $1.3 million NSF major research instrumentation award. This microscope can image materials at a magnification of more than one million times.

Students participating in the nanoscience program include

• A’Lester Allen from Bryant High School
• Jamie Bell from Brookwood High School
• Kaitlin Cauchon from Tuscaloosa County High School
• Richard Cockrum from Bryant High School
• Brian Flowers from Bryant High School
• Keith Henry from Tuscaloosa Central High School
• Janice Kim from Northridge High School
• Greg Poole from Brookwood High School
• Andy Sherrill from Hillcrest High School

The high school interns, on campus through mid-August, are sponsored by a National Science Foundation award, a Department of Energy/EPSCoR award, and the Multicultural Engineering Program in The University of Alabama College of Engineering.