Morgan State to establish CREST science and tech center with $5M grant

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The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Center of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) program Monday announced a $5 million grant to establish a new research and education hub at Morgan State University.

Operating within the School of Computer, Mathematical & Natural Sciences (SCMNS), the center will bring together neighboring institutions to perform bold and innovative studies in advanced magnets and semiconductors. Funded over the next five years, the CREST Center at Morgan will include new graduate programs, collaborative seminars, symposia, and educational outreach opportunities in the Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) disciplines to produce highly talented graduates and diversify the high-technology workforce.

CREST joins Morgan’s robust list of scientific and interdisciplinary research centers and institutes addressing the needs and challenges of a 21st-century urban environment. The addition of this new center further augments the university’s efforts and aspirations to achieve the highest level of research —R1 Carnegie Classification.

Under the direction of Morgan St. faculty from the departments of physics, chemistry and electrical engineering, three integrated research groups (IRGs) will focus on three emerging areas of fundamental and technological importance in the field of quantum materials: magnetoelectric materials, radiative and radiation-active quantum material heterostructures, and wide bandgap semiconductor quantum devices. The benefits of quantum materials and engineering pose significant potential in revolutionizing the way we live. According to a recent report published by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, the study of quantum materials is an area of great interest, elevating its research to priority status and requiring an interdisciplinary focus on the sciences that rely on the use of sophisticated tools and methods for synthesis and manipulation.

Quantum materials are created from electronic interactions that start at the atomic and subatomic scale where solid matter loses its conventional makeup and takes on wavelike properties which result in unique and unexpected behaviors. To accomplish this, researchers must understand and control the interactions of electrons, and ions with matter. Some examples of quantum materials are superconductors and advanced magnets used to power energy-efficient electrical systems and support faster and more accurate electronic devices.

Recently, Morgan St. received funding to launch the Center for Research and Education in Microelectronics operated within the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. School of Engineering’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Leveraging the interdisciplinary nature of the quantum materials study, the CREST researchers will work with existing centers at Morgan, as well as enlist the participation of postdoctoral students from multiple departments and collaborate with scientists from neighboring institutions.

In addition to physics professor Abdellah Lisfi, Ph.D., the research project will also include administrative, fiscal, and scientific contributions from co-principal investigators (Co-PIs): Hongtao Yu, Ph.D., provost and senior vice president of Academic Affairs, Ramesh Budhani, Ph.D., professor of Physics, Michael Spencer, Ph.D., professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Willie Rockward, Ph.D., chair and professor of Physics and Engineering.

The NSF is an independent federal agency that supports science and engineering through the allocation of grants to entities seeking to perform transformative and revolutionary research. Its investments account for 25% of federal support to America’s colleges and universities.