By Divya Abhat, PREM Web Team

Blaine Mauri’s upcoming summer in Hillsboro, Oregon is set to be a memorable one. The rising senior at the University of Central Florida (UCF) has landed an internship at Intel—home to one of the world’s most advanced semiconductor manufacturing facilities—where he’ll be working alongside, as he puts it, “the geniuses that make it tick.”

An Oregon native, Mauri is currently studying thin films at UCF—a widely used technology in the semiconductor industry. Just a couple of years ago, Mauri wasn’t aware of the field or the area of materials research that he would like to pursue. 

He’s not alone. Many undergraduates lack early exposure to materials science and often express a need for more guidance on how to navigate research opportunities and career paths in the field. While outreach efforts are growing, there’s still room for improvement.

Mauri decided to take initiative. “To figure out where to direct myself, I simply perused the materials science and engineering faculty directory to see whose research piqued my interest, and found that Dr. Banerjee’s focus, and the industries to which it’s applicable, appealed to me the most,” says Mauri.

Enter PREM

Parag Banerjee is the Co-PI for the PREM Center for Quantum Materials Innovation and Educational Excellence. Banerjee’s lab in UCF’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering studies how atoms behave to discover new materials for electronics and energy. With a focus on thin films, Banerjee and his team use precise techniques like atomic layer deposition (ALD) and atomic layer etching to build and shape these films one layer at a time—allowing them to design surfaces and interfaces with atomic-level control.

Under Banerjee’s mentorship, Mauri joined the PREM team. Since then, he has helped assemble a powder ALD reactor, run experimental ALD processes, learned key materials characterization techniques, and regularly presented research papers during group meetings.

Last summer Mauri participated in a PREM REU program at the University of Washington—an experience he credits with landing his Intel internship. “Not only was the experience itself fantastic and incredibly fun, but the knowledge I gained and skills I learned while I was there were just what I needed to stand out to the engineers at Intel, who have since offered me an internship that I would only have considered a pipe dream a year ago,” says Mauri.

Now, as he works toward graduation next spring, Mauri is thankful for the PREM program and the community that helped shape his journey.

“PREM opened doors for me that I didn’t even think were possible,” says Mauri. “My journey in research has been so much more fun and engaging than I expected my remaining time as an undergrad to be, and I greatly appreciate everyone who contributed to making this a possibility for myself and others.”