1. Research Experience in Polymer Science & Engineering at Case Western Reserve UniversityDavid A. Schiraldi, Case Western Reserve University, DMR 0851620 The Department of Macromolecular Science & Engineering at Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland OH) hosted an REU program in the field of Polymer Science & Engineering for the 8th consecutive year. This program emphasizes providing an R1 research university experience to undergraduates drawn from primarily undergraduate and minority serving schools, with the intent of increasing the pool of American students who will go on to receive Ph.D. degrees in the STEM fields. In addition to 10 weeks of intensive research within leading faculty groups, working closely with Ph.D. students, the participants received training in polymers, ethics, reading the scientific literature and in presentation skills. 2011 CWRU Summer REU Group The 8th annual NE Ohio Undergraduate Research Symposium, held at the NASA Glenn Research Center, was the culmination of the summer program. In addition to students working at CWRU, 3 students also conducted collaborative research projects in Spain and Switzerland.

2. Research Experience in Polymer Science & Engineering at Case Western Reserve UniversityDavid A. Schiraldi, Case Western Reserve University, DMR 0851620 This year’s CWRU REU class included 10 students directly supported by the grant, 8 supported by the NSF Center for Layered Polymer Systems (CLiPS) and 6 supported by Departmental and external funds. 9 of the 18 NSF-supported students were women, 3 students belonged to under-represented minority groups, and one student was disabled. All of the students were American citizens; of the 19 students from schools other than CWRU, 15 regularly attend minority serving and primarily undergraduate institutions, giving these students an opportunity to explore research in an R1 research university environment. Summer REU student carrying out thermal analysis of a polymer composite sample. Research projects for the 24 students included polymer synthesis, rheology, composite production and mechanical properties, and applications in optics, energy storage and photovoltaic devices.