Browsing by Author "Decca, Ricardo"
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Item Biophysical studies of cholesterol in unsaturated phospholipid model membranes(2013) Williams, Justin A.; Wassall, Stephen R.; Decca, Ricardo; Petrache, Horia; Zhu, Fangqiang; Todd, Brian A.Cellular membranes contain a staggering diversity of lipids. The lipids are heterogeneously distr ibuted to create regions, or domains, whose physical properties differ from the bulk membrane and play an essential role in modulating the function of resident proteins. Many basic questions pertaining to the formation of these lateral assemblies remain. T his research employs model membranes of well - defined composition to focus on the potential role of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and their interaction with cholesterol (chol) in restructuring the membrane environment. Omega - 3 (n - 3) PUFAs are the main bioactive components of fish oil, whose consumption alleviates a variety of health problems by a molecular mechanism that is unclear. We hypothesize that the incorporation of PUFAs into membrane lipids and the effect they have on molecular organization may be, in part, responsible. Chol is a major constituent in the plasma membrane of mammals. It determines the arrangement and collective properties of neighboring lipids, driving the formation of domains via differential affinity for different lipids . T he m olecular organization of 1 -[ 2 H 31 ]palmitoyl -2- eicosapentaenoylphosphatidylcholine (PEPC - d 31 ) and 1 -[ 2 H 31 ]palmitoyl -2- docosahexaenoylphosphatidylcholine (PDPC -d 31 ) in membran es with sphingomyelin (SM) and chol (1:1:1 mol) was compared by solid - state 2 H NMR spectroscopy. Eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids are the two major n - 3 PUFAs found in fish oil, while PEPC -d 31 and PDPC -d 31 are phospholipids containing the respective PUFAs at the sn - 2 position and a perdeuterated palmitic acid a t the sn - 1 position . Analysis of s pectra recorded as a function of temperature indicate s that in both cases, formation of PUFA - rich (less ordered) and SM - rich (more ordered) domains occurred. A surprisingly substantial proportion of PUFA was found to infil trate the more ordered domain. There was almost twice as much DHA (65%) as EPA (30%) . The implication is that n - 3 PUFA s can incorporate into lipid rafts, which are domains enriched in SM and chol in the plasma membrane, and potentially disrupt the activity of signaling proteins that reside therein. DHA, furthermore, may be the more potent component of fish oil. PUFA - chol interactions were also examined through affinity measurements. A novel method utilizing electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) was develope d, to monitor the partitioning of a spin - labeled analog of chol , 3β - doxyl - 5α - cholestane (chlstn), between large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs) and met hyl - β - cyclodextrin (mβCD). The EPR spectra for chlstn in the two environments are distinguishable due to the substantial differences in tumbling rates , allowing the population distribution ratio to be determined by spectral simulation. Advantages of this approach include speed of implementation and a vo idance of potential artifact s associated with physical separation of LUV and mβCD . Additionally, in a check of the method, t he relative partition coefficients between lipids measured for the spin label analog agree with values obtained for chol by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). Results from LUV with different composition confirmed a hierarchy of decreased sterol affinity for phospholipids with increasing acyl chain unsaturation , PDPC possessing half the affinity of the corresponding monounsaturated phospholipid. Taken together, the results of these studies on model membranes demonstrate the potential for PUFA - driven alteration of the architecture of biomembranes, a mechanism through which human health may be impacted.Item Characterization and Measurement of Hybrid Gas Journal Bearings(2012-08-28) Lawrence, Tom Marquis; Kemple, Marvin D.; Decca, Ricardo; Joglekar, Yogesh; Petrache, Horia; Akay, Hassan; Krousgrill, Charles MortonThis thesis concentrates on the study of hybrid gas journal bearings (bearings with externally pressurized mass addition). It differs from most work in that it goes back to “basics” to explore the hydrodynamic phenomena in the bearing gap. The thesis compares geometrically identical bearings with 2 configurations of external pressurization, porous liners where mass-addition compensation is varied by varying the liner’s permeability, and bushings with 2 rows of 6 feedholes where the mass-addition compensation is varied by the feedhole diameter. Experimentally, prototype bearings with mass-addition compensation that spans 2 orders of magnitude with differing clearances are built and their aerostatic properties and mass addition characteristics are thoroughly tested. The fundamental equations for compressible, laminar, Poiseuille flow are used to suggest how the mass flow “compensation” should be mathematically modeled. This is back-checked against the experimental mass flow measurements and is used to determine a mass-addition compensation parameter (called Kmeas) for each prototype bushing. In so doing, the methodology of modeling and measuring the mass addition in a hybrid gas bearing is re-examined and an innovative, practical, and simple method is found that makes it possible to make an “apples-to-apples” comparison between different configurations of external pressurization. This mass addition model is used in conjunction with the Reynolds equation to perform theory-based numerical analysis of virtual hybrid gas journal bearings (CFD experiments). The first CFD experiments performed use virtual bearings modeled to be identical to the experimental prototypes and replicate the experimental work. The results are compared and the CFD model is validated. The ontological significance of appropriate dimensionless similitude parameters is re-examined and a, previously lacking, complete set of similitude factors is found for hybrid bearings. A new practical method is developed to study in unprecedented detail the aerostatic component of the hybrid bearings. It is used to definitively compare the feedhole bearings to the porous liner bearings. The hydrostatic bearing efficiency (HBE) is defined and it is determined that the maximum achievable hydrostatic bearing efficiency (MAHBE) is determined solely by the bearing’s mass addition configuration. The MAHBE of the porous liner bearings is determined to be over 5 times that of the feedhole bearings. The method also presents a means to tune the Kmeas to the clearance to achieve the MAHBE as well as giving a complete mapping of the hitherto misunderstood complex shapes of aerostatic load versus radial deflection curves. This method also rediscovers the obscure phenomenon of static instability which is called in this thesis the “near surface effect” and appears to be the first work to present a practical method to predict the range of static instability and quantify its resultant stiffness fall-off. It determines that porous liner type bearings are not subject to the phenomenon which appears for feedhole type bearings when the clearance exceeds a critical value relative to its mass-addition compensation. The standing pressure waves of hydrostatic and hybrid bearings with the 2 configurations of external pressurization as well as a geometrically identical hydrodynamic bearing are studied in detail under the methodology of the “CFD microscope”. This method is used to characterize and identify the development, growth, and movement of the pressure wave extrema with increased hydrodynamic action (either increasing speed or increasing eccentricity). This method is also used to determine the “cause” of the “near surface effect”. A gedanken experiment is performed based on these results which indicates that a bearing with a “stronger aerostatic strength” component should be more stable than one with a low aerostatic strength component. Numerical instability “speed limits” are found that are also related to the hydrostatic strength of the bearing. The local conditions in the standing waves are characterized in terms of their local Mach number, Knudsen number, Reynolds number, and Taylor Number. It is concluded that low eccentricity bearing whirl can be attributed to the off load-line orientation of the bearing load force caused by the overlay of the hydrodynamic bearing standing wave onto the hydrostatic bearing wave of the hybrid bearing, whereas it is hypothesized that aperiodic and random self-excited vibration which occurs at high eccentricity, as reported in the literature, is probably due to shock waves, turbulence, near surface effect, and slip at local areas of the standing wave.Item Exceptional Points and their Consequences in Open, Minimal Quantum Systems(2022-08) Muldoon, Jacob E.; Joglekar, Yogesh; Decca, Ricardo; Cheng, Rui; Vemuri, Gautam; Cincio, LukaszOpen quantum systems have become a rapidly developing sector for research. Such systems present novel physical phenomena, such as topological chirality, enhanced sensitivity, and unidirectional invisibility resulting from both their non-equilibrium dynamics and the presence of exceptional points. We begin by introducing the core features of open systems governed by non-Hermitian Hamiltonians, providing the PT -dimer as an illustrative example. Proceeding, we introduce the Lindblad master equation which provides a working description of decoherence in quantum systems, and investigate its properties through the Decohering Dimer and periodic potentials. We then detail our preferred experimental apparatus governed by the Lindbladian. Finally, we introduce the Liouvillian, its relation to non-Hermitian Hamiltonians and Lindbladians, and through it investigate multiple properties of open quantum systems.Item Induced magnetoelectric coupling at a ferroelectric-ferromagnetic interface(2013-11-08) Carvell, Jeffrey David; Ruihua, Cheng; Joglekar, Yogesh; Decca, Ricardo; Petrache, Horia; Hu, JiangpingPreparation and characterization of multiferroic materials in which ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism coexist would be a milestone for functionalized materials and devices. First, electric properties of polyvinylidene (PVDF) films fabricated using the Langmuir-Schaefer method have been studied. Films of different thickness were deposited on silicon substrates and analyzed using several techniques. X-ray diffraction (XRD) data showed that PVDF films crystallize at an annealing temperature above 130 °C. Polarization versus electric field (PE) ferroelectric measurements were done for samples prepared with electrodes. PE measurements show that the coercivity of the films increases as the maximum applied electric field increases. The coercivity dependence on the frequency of the applied electric field can be fitted as . The results also show that the coercivity decreases with increasing the thickness of PVDF film due to the pinning effect. Next, we have demonstrated that those PVDF properties can be controlled by applying an external magnetic field. Samples were created in a layered heterostructure, starting with a Fe thin film, PVDF above that, and followed by another thin film of Fe. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy was used to study the interface between PVDF polymer films and ferromagnetic iron thin films. Conventional EXAFS was applied to identify the structure of a Fe film sandwiched between two PVDF layers. An electric signal was then applied to the polymer to study the effects polarizing the polymer has on the Fe atoms at the interface. This shows that the Fe atoms diffuse into the PVDF layer at the interface between the two layers. Polarizing the film causes further diffusion of Fe atoms into the polymer. We also found that as the applied magnetic field is changed, the switching of electric polarization for the PVDF displayed a dependence on the external magnetic field. We also noticed that both the coercivity and polarization for the PVDF polymer display hysteretic features as the applied magnetic field is changed. We also found that the thickness of both the iron layers and the PVDF layer has an effect on the magnetoelectric coupling in our samples. The same strain applied to a thicker PVDF layer becomes tougher to flip the polarization compared to a thinner PVDF layer. As the iron film thickness increases, the strain also increases, and the polarization of the PVDF polymer is more easily flipped. We also found that the magnetoelectric sensitivity increases as both the PVDF and iron layers increase in thickness. We have shown that it is possible to control the ferroelectric properties of a PVDF film by tuning the magnetic field in a heterostructure. Our experiments show a coupling between the electric polarization and applied magnetic field in multiferroic heterostructures much larger than any previously reported values. Previous reports have used inorganic materials for the ferroelectric layer. Organic polymers have an electric dipole originating at the molecular level due to atoms with different electronegativity that are free to rotate. To flip the polarization, the chains must rotate and the position of the atoms must change. This increases the force felt locally by those chains. Using this polymer, we are able to increase the magnetoelectric coupling.Item Integrated Nanosystems Development Institute(Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2011-04-08) El-Mounayri, Hazim; Witzmann, Frank; Agarwal, Mangilal; Naumann, Christoph; Rizkalla, Maher; Decca, RicardoIntegrated Nanosystems Development Institute (INDI) has been recognized and sponsored as a center under the IUPUI Signature Centers Initiative (SCI). INDI is a multidisciplinary institute dedicated to micro/nanoscale systems research, education, and commercialization while providing cluster of analytical equipment and labs serving over 30 faculty members from different departments and schools in support of their research. Specifically, the vision of the INDI is to be a world-class resource for the realization of nanotechnology-based systems that contribute to the economic growth and social advancement of Indiana and the nation and benefit humanity as a whole. The mission of the center is to: 1) Advance nanotechnology research at IUPUI by promoting innovative interdisciplinary research efforts that will lead to external funding; 2) Enhance IUPUI’s research reputation in nanotechnology, nationally and internationally, by providing an identifiable entity that draws in a diverse group of researchers and promotes the combined strength of the group; and 3) Be a leader in translating bionanotechnology and nanoenergy research into innovations that will contribute to the social well being and economic growth of central Indiana and the nation. INDI builds on an excellent research infrastructure at IUPUI. The core facilities of the institute include cleanroom, nano/microfabrication & characterization facilities, and high power simulation and computational resources. Currently, faculty from the Schools of Science, Engineering & Technology, Dentistry, and Medicine, are associated with INDI. The given faculty have expertise in a wide range of fields, including chemistry, physics, biology, material science, electrical and computer engineering, mechanical engineering, orthopaedics, and pathology & laboratory medicine. The research focus of the faculty ranges from nanostructured materials fabrication, study of properties, applications in sensors, energy, and biomedicine, and integration of the devices resulting in realization of nanosystems. As part of the INDI initiatives to developing new undergraduate and graduate track in nanotechnology, center members have been instrumental in the recent development of two interdisciplinary courses, Nanosystems Principles and Integrated Nanosystems Process & Devices which are now being offered by various departments. Moreover, INDI associated faculty members were recently awarded $200,000 from NSF Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education Program for integrating nanotechnology in engineering curricula at IUPUI. To increase the awareness in the community and promote recruitment of future students in nanotechnology, INDI is organizing workshops, offering short courses for industrial employees, and hosting summer camps for high school teachers and students. Summer of 2010 attracted more than 30 high school students for the Nanotechnology Discovery Summer Camp hosted by INDI at IUPUI. Moreover, this program has been extended to include a session for high school teachers in summer of 2011. The poster will summarize the mission, vision, faculty and center collaboration, research projects, achievements, and future plans of INDI.Item An investigation of parity and time-reversal symmetry breaking in tight-binding lattices(2014) Scott, Derek Douglas; Joglekar, Yogesh; Decca, Ricardo; Petrache, Horia; Tarasov, Vitaly; Csathy, GaborMore than a decade ago, it was shown that non-Hermitian Hamiltonians with combined parity (P) and time-reversal (T ) symmetry exhibit real eigenvalues over a range of parameters. Since then, the field of PT symmetry has seen rapid progress on both the theoretical and experimental fronts. These effective Hamiltonians are excellent candidates for describing open quantum systems with balanced gain and loss. Nature seems to be replete with examples of PT -symmetric systems; in fact, recent experimental investigations have observed the effects of PT symmetry breaking in systems as diverse as coupled mechanical pendula, coupled optical waveguides, and coupled electrical circuits. Recently, PT -symmetric Hamiltonians for tight-binding lattice models have been extensively investigated. Lattice models, in general, have been widely used in physics due to their analytical and numerical tractability. Perhaps one of the best systems for experimentally observing the effects of PT symmetry breaking in a one-dimensional lattice with tunable hopping is an array of evanescently-coupled optical waveguides. The tunneling between adjacent waveguides is tuned by adjusting the width of the barrier between them, and the imaginary part of the local refractive index provides the loss or gain in the respective waveguide. Calculating the time evolution of a wave packet on a lattice is relatively straightforward in the tight-binding model, allowing us to make predictions about the behavior of light propagating down an array of PT -symmetric waveguides. In this thesis, I investigate the the strength of the PT -symmetric phase (the region over which the eigenvalues are purely real) in lattices with a variety of PT - symmetric potentials. In Chapter 1, I begin with a brief review of the postulates of quantum mechanics, followed by an outline of the fundamental principles of PT - symmetric systems. Chapter 2 focuses on one-dimensional uniform lattices with a pair of PT -symmetric impurities in the case of open boundary conditions. I find that the PT phase is algebraically fragile except in the case of closest impurities, where the PT phase remains nonzero. In Chapter 3, I examine the case of periodic boundary conditions in uniform lattices, finding that the PT phase is not only nonzero, but also independent of the impurity spacing on the lattice. In addition, I explore the time evolution of a single-particle wave packet initially localized at a site. I find that in the case of periodic boundary conditions, the wave packet undergoes a preferential clockwise or counterclockwise motion around the ring. This behavior is quantified by a discrete momentum operator which assumes a maximum value at the PT -symmetry- breaking threshold. In Chapter 4, I investigate nonuniform lattices where the parity-symmetric hop- ping between neighboring sites can be tuned. I find that the PT phase remains strong in the case of closest impurities and fragile elsewhere. Chapter 5 explores the effects of the competition between localized and extended PT potentials on a lattice. I show that when the short-range impurities are maximally separated on the lattice, the PT phase is strengthened by adding short-range loss in the broad-loss region. Consequently, I predict that a broken PT symmetry can be restored by increasing the strength of the short-range impurities. Lastly, Chapter 6 summarizes my salient results and discusses areas which can be further developed in future research.Item INVESTIGATION OF QUANTUM FLUCTUATIONS IN A NONLINEAR INTERFEROMETER WITH HARMONIC GENERATION AND COHERENT INTERACTION OF LIGHT AND CS ATOMS(2013-08-23) Srinivasan, Prashant; Ou, Zhe-Yu Jeff; Decca, Ricardo; Vemuri, Gautam; Petrache, HoriaIn the first part of this thesis, we investigate the propagation of quantum fluctuations in a nonlinear interferometer comprising under conditions of harmonic generation by computer simulations. This investigation assumes idealized conditions such as lossless and uniform nonlinear media, an ideal cavity and ideal photodetectors. After linearizing wave equations for harmonic generation with a coherent state input, we obtain equations for one dimensional spatial propagation of the mean field and quantum fluctuations for initial conditions set by arbitrary interferometer phase. We discover that fluctuations are de-squeezed in the X and Y quadratures as the interferometer phase is tuned. However, we discover that there is are quadratures P-Q obtained by rotating the X-Y quadratures for which squeezing is improved by factors of 10^9. We present a practical idea to implement rotation of X quadrature fluctuations to the Q quadrature by using an ideal empty optical cavity. Signal-to-Noise ratio of the nonlinear interferometer was calculated and compared with that of a linear interferometer with coherent state input. We calculated a maximum performance improvement of a factor of 60 for a normalized propagation length ζ0 = 3 under ideal conditions. In the second part of this thesis, we investigate experimentalarrangements to transfer atomic coherence from light to cesium atoms. We discuss the experimental arrangement to generate coherence under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). We measure a continuous wave EIT width of 7.18 MHz and present results for pulsed arrangements.Item Lattice and Momentum Space Approach to Bound States and Excitonic Condensation via User Friendly Interfaces(2012-03-20) Jamell, Christopher Ray; Joglekar, Yogesh; Decca, Ricardo; Nageswara Rao, B. D.; Cheng, Ruihua; Hu, JiangpingIn this thesis, we focus on two broad categories of problems, exciton condensation and bound states, and two complimentary approaches, real and momentum space, to solve these problems. In chapter 2 we begin by developing the self-consistent mean field equations, in momentum space, used to calculate exciton condensation in semiconductor heterostructures/double quantum wells and graphene. In the double quantum well case, where we have one layer containing electrons and the other layer with holes separated by a distance $d$, we extend the analytical solution to the two dimensional hydrogen atom in order to provide a semi-quantitative measure of when a system of excitons can be considered dilute. Next we focus on the problem of electron-electron screening, using the random phase approximation, in double layer graphene. The literature contains calculations showing that when screening is not taken into account the temperature at which excitons in double layer graphene condense is approximately room temperature. Also in the literature is a calculation showing that under certain assumptions the transition temperature is approximately \unit{mK}. The essential result is that the condensate is exponentially suppressed by the number of electron species in the system. Our mean field calculations show that the condensate, is in fact, not exponentially suppressed. Next, in chapter 3, we show the use of momentum space to solve the Schr\"{o}dinger equation for a class of potentials that are not usually a part of a quantum mechanics courses. Our approach avoids the typical pitfalls that exist when one tries to discretize the real space Schr\"{o}dinger equation. This technique widens the number of problems that can presented in an introductory quantum mechanics course while at the same time, because of the ease of its implementation, provides a simple introduction to numerical techniques and programming in general to students. We have furthered this idea by creating a modular program that allows students to choose the potential they wish to solve for while abstracting away the details of how the solution is found. In chapter 4 we revisit the single exciton and exciton condensation in double layer graphene problems through the use of real space lattice models. In the first section, we once again develop the equations needed to solve the problem of exciton condensation in a double layer graphene system. In addition to this we show that by using this technique, we find that for a non-interacting system with a finite non-zero tunneling between the layers that the on-site exciton density is proportional to the tunneling amplitude. The second section returns to the single exciton problem. In agreement with our momentum space calculations, we find that as the layer separation distance is increased the bound state wave function broadens. Finally, an interesting consequence of the lattice model is explored briefly. We show that for a system containing an electron in a periodic potential, there exists a bound state for both an attractive as well as repulsive potential. The bound state for the repulsive potential has as its energy $-E_0$ where $E_0$ is the ground state energy of the attractive potential with the same strength.Item Nanotechnology Research, Education, and Outreach by the Integrated Nanosystems Development Institute (INDI)(Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2013-04-05) Naumann, Christoph A.; Rizkalla, Maher; Decca, Ricardo; El-Mounayri, Hazim; Witzmann, Frank; Agarwal, MangilalThrough multidisciplinary research and novel educational programing, the Integrated Nanosystems Development Institute (INDI) is sponsored under IUPUI’s Signature Center Initiative to advance nanotechnology-based systems research and spark student interest in this emerging STEM field. Innovation in the field of nanotechnology arises from interdisciplinary approaches and INDI draws on the expertise of faculty across departments and schools (including the School of Engineering and Technology, School of Science, School of Dentistry, and School of Medicine) in order to fuel research collaborations and offer nanosystems coursework to both science and engineering students. Current research efforts are focused in INDI’s thrust areas of bionanotechnology and sustainable nanoenergy, which build on the existing strengths of participating schools and span a range of critical issues in nanomaterials, nanodevices, nanosystems, energy, physics, and nanomedicine. Examples of research include the development of artificial biomaterials, toxicology of nanomaterials, and the development of nanomanufacturing techniques and educational tools. INDI facilitates research efforts by identifying funding opportunities, establishing research teams, offering seed funding, and providing a cluster of analytical equipment, characterization tools, and lab resources that support the work of faculty and student researchers. Aside from research, INDI plays a vital role in nanotechnology curriculum development on campus, in particular, the design and implementation of coursework offered within IUPUI’s newly developed Nanotechnology Track and Energy Engineering degree program. This academic track provides students with both theory and hands-on experiences involving the fabrication, characterization, and applications of nanomaterials, nanodevices and nanomedicine. Moreover, INDI’s community outreach activities, including its nanotechnology summer camps for K-12 students and teachers, aim to provide early student exposure and educate teachers in applying nanotechnology modules within their classrooms. These student experiences are designed to encourage higher education in an effort to generate the advanced nanotechnology workforce needed by Indiana and the nation.Item Nanotechnology Research, Education, and Outreach by the Integrated Nanosystems Development Institute (INDI)(Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2012-04-13) Naumann, Christoph; Rizkalla, Maher; Decca, Ricardo; El-Mounayri, Hazim; Witzmann, Frank; Agarwal, MangilalAbstract: The Integrated Nanosystems Development Institute (INDI), sponsored under the IUPUI Signature Centers Initiative, with a vision of becoming a world-recognized resource for the realization of nanotechnology-based systems, is advancing both nanotechnology research and education on campus. Innovation in nanotechnology requires multidisciplinary approaches and INDI, a collective group of faculty members across departments and schools (including the School of Engineering and Technology, School of Science, School of Dentistry, and School of Medicine), enables interdisciplinary research collaborations and offers nanosystems coursework to students in science and engineering disciplines. Current research efforts span a range of critical issues in nanomaterials, nanodevices, nanosystems, energy, physics, and nanomedicine, and include projects such as the design and characterization of nanoarchitectures for biomedical applications, advancing fuel cell and energy storage technologies, and investigating nanoparticle toxicology. Several members of INDI have externally funded research and outreach projects. The nanotechnology research capabilities within INDI, including of a cluster of analytical equipment and lab resources for nanosystems development and characterization, support local industry needs as well as the research interests of over 30 faculty members and over 100 students (undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral) on the IUPUI campus. INDI also provides, through the newly developed courses, students with both theory and hands-on experiences involving the fabrication, characterization, and applications of nanosystems. These courses are also part of IUPUI’s newly developed Nanotechnology Track in Mechanical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering degree programs, and the Energy Engineering degree program. In addition, INDI’s active community outreach activities, including its nanotechnology summer camps for K-12 students and teachers, provide early exposure to nanofabrication techniques and research. These classroom and lab-based experiences are designed to encourage higher education and involvement in academic research in an effort to generate the advanced workforce needed by Indiana and the nation.