News

In late September, members of the NSF-funded Partnership for Research and Education in Advanced Materials (PREM) Center, Collaborative Research and Education in Advanced Materials (CREAM), and the DOE-funded Center for Electrochemical Dynamics and Reactions on Surfaces (CEDARS) attended the 71st American Vacuum Society International Symposium and Exhibition in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they presented their research.

A team of researchers from the U.S. and India has developed a powerful new sensor that can identify dangerous levels of iron in water faster, cheaper, and with far greater accuracy than existing methods. The project was led by Fei Yan, professor at North Carolina Central University (NCCU). Yan is also part of the NSF PREM for Hybrid Nanoscale Systems.

In a paper titled Enhanced active matter photocatalysis via Gold Nanoclusters, researchers show that atomically precise gold nanoclusters can act as motility catalysts for active-matter microswimmers. By exploiting the nanoclusters’ tiny size and controllable optical activity, they achieve nearly fivefold higher mean-square displacement under UV light than conventional TiO2-based microswimmers. The work opens a path to add new functionalities to microswimmers by using the diverse properties of gold nanoclusters.

During UT-Austin’s STEM Girl Day on Feb 22, 2025, the SparCS team from NAU ¡MIRA!-PREM highlighted its outreach work. Joined by the Center for Dynamics and Control of Materials, students, faculty, and staff introduced SparCS to the Austin community. They led hands-on activities for hundreds of middle-school girls and their families to spark interest in materials science, quantum tech, and photonics, making STEM fun and accessible.

A Texas State University undergraduate student has been awarded a Barry Goldwater Scholarship, one of the nation’s most prestigious awards for future scientists, mathematicians, and engineers.

Texas State University hosted the 2025 Conference Across MRSEC and PREM Schools (CAMPS), bringing together 94 students from over 30 universities. The event featured a speaker series with faculty and industry presenters, rapid-fire oral presentations, and poster sessions. Attendees also participated in a career panel, networking lunch, and toured research labs to learn about materials characterization equipment, including electron microscopy tools. The conference aimed to foster collaboration and networking among students and professionals in the field.

In May, close to 100 students from 26 institutions across the United States came together in San Marcos, Texas for the CAMPS 2025 conference. More than just a scientific meeting, CAMPS—short for Conference Across MRSEC and PREM Schools—has carved out a unique identify as a conference organized by students, for students.

This spring, the Materials Research and Education Consortium (MRE-C), based at the University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa, hosted their research and education collaborative partners from the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at the University of Washington (UW). The consortium engages in interdisciplinary research that fosters key breakthroughs in materials research and education important for sustainability on remote island communities. 

PREM researchers at North Carolina A&T State University (NCAT) and the University of California at San Diego recently created thin films of titanium oxynitride (TiNO)—a material with excellent optical and light-manipulating (plasmonic) properties—using a method where a laser pulses to deposit the material in a vacuum.