2024 marked the 20^th anniversary of NSF’s PREM program, established to foster collaboration between minority-serving institutions and leading research institutions in the field of materials science.

According to NSF PREM Program Director Shadi Mamaghani, over the past 20 years, PREM has proven transformative not only by enabling broadening participation in materials research to strengthen American competitiveness in research but also by building pathways to engage early career scientists and students to create qualified workforce for technology-rich industries.

Materials science is a critical field of research that underpins nearly every technological advancement and industry. While cutting-edge research is often concentrated in about 20 metropolitan hubs across the United States, programs like PREM expand opportunities for participation, enabling a broader range of research institutions to contribute. This, in turn, strengthens and accelerates partnerships and collaborations across universities and research organizations.

Tapping Into the Next Generation of Materials Scientists 

The PREM community celebrated this milestone at the NSF PREM Research Scholars Summit, held at the recent Materials Research Society (MRS) meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. The event brought together PREM veterans and alumni who reflected on the program’s early days, alongside NSF leadership, who underscored its significance and impact.

^{PREM members of the community along with program directors prepare to cut a cake to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the PREM program.}

Former PREM students also shared their personal and professional journeys that brought them to the program. Among them was former PREM student, María Abreu Sepúlveda, who was 13 when a professor from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) stopped by her father’s farm in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, and invited her to explore the physics department. Those visits ignited her passion for science, and a few years later, she enrolled as a physics major at UPR, setting the stage for her career in science.

Now at BAE Systems’ FAST labs research and development team, Sepúlveda emphasizes the value of the hands-on, real-world experience she gained through the PREM program. “We take science in school, and we understand the scientific method, but we don’t get a chance to apply it,” says Sepúlveda. “Through PREM I got a chance to do that—understanding and being able to take my science to other audiences and to propel my career.”

PREM students are, in fact, the heart of the program, a point emphasized by PREM Program Director Debasis Majumdar at the Scholars Summit.  “You not only belong in the STEM enterprise, but your talent, hard work, resilience and creativity are critical for US competitiveness.”

Meeting of the Minds

The MRS meeting provided a valuable platform for students, continuing a partnership between PREM and MRS that began in 2013 to bring PREM students to these gatherings. At the recent meeting, PREM students benefited from mentorship and feedback, participated in career-development workshops, and connected with the broader materials science community. They also attended and contributed to sessions showcasing cutting-edge materials science research.

What’s more, PREM students also had the opportunity to present and discuss their research at poster sessions with topics ranging from the impact of heat processing on the nutrient and chemical content of tomatoes to the effects of solar-powered air drying on the amount of vitamin C in cowpea leaves to affordable methods for growing zinc-based thin films using chemical vapor deposition.

“Attending the MRS meeting and having the opportunity to engage with a worldwide network of scientists was an invaluable experience,” says Zachary Naymik, a graduate student at the NSF PREM Center for Intelligent Materials Assembly at Texas State University. “Participating in the NSF PREM Research Scholars Summit poster session was the highlight of the meeting for me.”

^{PREM researchers discuss their work during a poster session at the recent MRS meeting in Boston.}

Naymik won a presentation award for his poster on how adding titanium affects the structure, performance, and stability of yttrium-ruthenium pyrochlore powders. These powders help produce oxygen in acidic conditions during electrochemical water splitting—a process known as Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER). “The goal of this work is to further the understanding of material degradation undergoing OER and contribute to the development of more stable catalysts, effectively lowering the cost of electrolytically produced hydrogen.”

“The NSF PREM Research Scholars Summit provides an invaluable experience to PREM student participants,” says Tania Betancourt, Program Director for the PREM Center for Intelligent Materials Assembly at Texas State University. “Not only does it provide the students the opportunity to network with other PREM students from around the nation who will be their professional peers in the future but also provides the students with professional development and with the opportunity to take part in the fantastic scientific programming of the MRS meeting.”