The NSF-PREM: Center for Interfacial Electrochemistry of Energy Materials
(CIE2M) rests on the partnership of four institutions that complete the PREM pathway,
Universidad Metropolitana (UMET) and Universidad del Turabo (UT), the University of
Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus (UPR-RP), all Hispanic-serving institutions, and the
Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS) at Cornell University, which is a Division
of Materials Research-supported center. CIE2M brings together a diverse and talented
scientific community with experience and expertise in electrochemistry, solid-state
chemistry, inorganic chemistry, and synchrotron-based techniques for characterization
and innovation of energy materials in operando conditions at CHESS. The partnership
will help develop a fundamental understanding of charge transfer mechanisms and
electrochemical processes across surfaces, subsurfaces, and interfaces in
nanostructured materials that will motivate and prepare undergraduate and graduate
students to pursue interdisciplinary careers using synchrotron-based techniques.

The NSF PREM CiE2M partnership aims to (1) enhance the participant’s research
capacity, scientific productivity, and training in the field of materials characterization
using synchrotron-based techniques, (2) promote recruitment, retention, and degree
attainment of minority students involved in STEM, and (3) increase the number of
Hispanic users at CHESS by providing opportunities to expose undergraduate, graduate
and postdoctoral students for the utilization of synchrotron-based techniques to
complete their research projects. CIE 2 M expects to provide the broad scientific
community with unique results, not attainable anywhere else, that would lead to the
better understanding of interfacial electrochemistry and the development of new
energy materials.