Skip to main content

News

Explore PREM News and Highlights

Three Texas State PREM Students Receive Undergraduate Research Fellowships
News · Oct 20, 2026
Texas State University

Three Texas State PREM Students Receive Undergraduate Research Fellowships

Three undergraduate researchers at Texas State University's NSF PREM Center for Intelligent Materials Assembly (CIMA) have received Undergraduate Research Fellowships to support projects exploring potential applications in nerve regeneration, cancer treatment, and quantum technologies.

PREM PIs gather during a PREM meeting held in conjunction with the 2026 MRS Spring Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. From left: Cheng-Yu Lai, Daniela Radu, Alan Mejia (rear), JiYeong Gu (rear), Thiagarajan Soundappan, Michele Feder, Victoria Padilla, and Dhananjay Kumar. Photo courtesy of Thiagarajan Soundappan.
News · Sep 15, 2026

PREM Community Builds Connections at the 2026 MRS Spring Meeting

By Victoria Padilla, PREM PI, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

PREM students, faculty, and PIs came together at the 2026 MRS Spring Meeting in Honolulu to share research, strengthen connections, and explore new opportunities for collaboration across the network. Those conversations are now helping shape an expanded PREM student presence at the MRS Fall Meeting in Boston.

A panel of materials scientists and researchers share career tips with attendees at the recent CAMPS 2026 event. Image courtesy of Texas State University.
News · Sep 15, 2026

CAMPS 2026 Connects Materials Researchers Across Institutions

Students from across the MRSEC and PREM communities came together at the University of Michigan for CAMPS 2026, a student-led conference featuring research presentations, poster sessions, career conversations, lab tours and opportunities to build connections across institutions.

The materials science community from Texas State University, Northern Arizona University/Pasadena City College, and The University of Texas at Austin recently came together for PREM Day, held at Texas State and UT Austin. Image courtesy of Texas State University.
News · Aug 28, 2026

PREM Day Connects Students, Science and Career Paths

By PREM Web Team

PREM Day brought students and faculty from Texas State, UT Austin, NAU, and Pasadena City College together for lab tours, research exchange, career conversations, and connections across the PREM community.

STEM Field Trips: Inspiring the Next Generation of Materials Scientists
Highlight · Jul 7, 2026
Texas State University

STEM Field Trips: Inspiring the Next Generation of Materials Scientists

The Texas State PREM Center for Intelligent Materials Assembly (CIMA) hosted students from regional elementary, middle and high schools in several STEM tours to our campus.
PREM Full Circle – PREM Impact in Materials Science Workforce
Highlight · Jul 7, 2026
Texas State University

PREM Full Circle – PREM Impact in Materials Science Workforce

Tania Betancourt and William Brittain, Texas State University
The National Science Foundation (NSF)-sponsored Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) fosters long-term collaborations between universities and NSF’s Division of Materials Research (DMR)-supported centers. It enhances research opportunities through faculty and student exchanges, student mentoring and professional development.
Million-fold Rate Acceleration of Azobenzene Isomerization
Highlight · Jul 7, 2026
Texas State University

Million-fold Rate Acceleration of Azobenzene Isomerization

William Brittain, Texas State University
This work introduces a hybrid molecular photoswitch that combines tetra-ortho-fluoroazobenzene (TFA) with spiropyran (SP) to overcome one of the principal limitations of fluorinated azobenzene photoswitches: their intrinsically slow thermal Z → E isomerization. The work demonstrates that transient formation of a phenolate intermediate, generated through the spiropyran–merocyanine (SP⇌MC) equilibrium, dramatically accelerates relaxation of the metastable Z isomer.
CAST Med School students recently spent a day at Texas State University participating in STEM-related activities and learning about college pathways. Image of Texas State University.
News · Jun 4, 2026
Texas State University

PREM CIMA Hosts CAST Med Students for STEM Field Trip at Texas State

On Tuesday, May 26, PREM CIMA welcomed 51 eighth- and ninth-grade students from CAST Med High School to Texas State University for a day of hands-on STEM exploration and college pathway learning.

Launch of on demand career development resources
Highlight · May 28, 2026
Fort Lewis College

Launch of on demand career development resources

One of the most useful and successful activities for the student in PEAQS has been working one-on-one with PEAQS staff on their career preparation. To create a sustainable version of this, Dr. Schreiner developed an on-demand online training platform for PEAQS students.
Develop a functional, synthetic biomembrane for the integration into a lung-on-a-chip (LoaC) platform
Highlight · May 28, 2026
Fort Lewis College

Develop a functional, synthetic biomembrane for the integration into a lung-on-a-chip (LoaC) platform

Jeff Jessing, Fort Lewis College
To better study diseases, scientists are turning to organ-on-a-chip models that allow them to create multiple bio-accurate disease models without needing animal or human subjects. FLC undergraduates Sally Thompson, Hunter Goggin, Natalia Lambos from the Jessing group at FLC have been working to create a lung-on-a-chip platform for this purpose.

Showing 1 to 10 of 271

U.S. National Science Foundation
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed on this website are those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation or the participating institutions. This site is maintained collaboratively by principal investigators with Partnership for Research and Education in Materials awards, independent of the NSF.