The National Science Foundation awarded a 3.8-million-dollar grant to New Mexico Highlands University and CNSI / BioPACIFIC MIP partner institutions the University of California Los Angeles and the University of California Santa Barbara. The grant will fund a Partnership for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) among the three institutions, which will advance the creation of high-performance plastics made from biomaterials and expand access to research, labs, and equipment for underrepresented students in the field.

NSF LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate Fellow is awarded University Award of Distinction! Congratulations to Marcela Areyano, a sixth-year mechanical engineering PhD student and an NSF LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate Fellow, was awarded a University Award of Distinction for outstanding contributions to advancing underrepresented communities in STEM fields at UCSB. The Center for Science and Engineering Partnerships (CSEP) is proud to have collaborated with her to establish the graduate chapter of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS).

Congratulations to Angela Pitenis, Assistant Professor of Materials on receiving the National Science Foundation's (NSF) most prestigious award for early career faculty: the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award. The CAREER program supports exceptional early-career faculty in integrating their research and education activities. Angela's project, titled “Dynamics of Fragile Interfaces”, will support her efforts on understanding lubricity in soft aqueous gels and biotribology while broadening participation and retention of women and English-learning minorities in STEM.