UAB students in Liberec

International Research Experience for Students (IRES): Nanofibrous Materials

 NSF
High-rate free-surface nanofiber fabrication.

This project started in 2013 and is now in its 3rd cycle. The program provides undergraduate and graduate students with unique hands-on experience in nanofibers and nanofibrous materials fabrication, structure analysis, properties testing, and applications.
Students obtain in-depth pre-trip training followed by intense summer research at the Technical University of Liberec (TUL), Czech Republic, Lodz University of Technology (UT-Lodz), Poland, and at Aalto University, Espoo, Finland (new research site in cycle III). Many opportunities exist for international cultural enrichment through unforgetable weekend adventures.
IRES participants are expected to and do present their work at various conferences and symposia and publish in refereed journals.

Click here for the participants' feedback

Latest updates (names of IRES students are in bold):
 
  • April, 2021: Courtney Severino won NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
  • April, 2021: Haas Blacksher presented at NCUR 2021, April 12–14 (Virtual event due to covid).
  • February, 2021: IRES'20 and '19 participants (Sarah Nealy, Courtney Severino, Rachel Day, Riley Yager, Micah Armstrong) authored and co-authored three presentations made at the 45th Int. Conf. ICACC 2021 (Virtual event due to covid), 8 - 12 February, 2021.
  • September, 2020: IRES'20 and '19 participants (Sarah Nealy, Courtney Severino, Rebecca Bivins, Haas Blacksher, Nicholas Johnson, Riley Yager, Hrithik Praveen, Olivia Shivers, Rachel Day, Micah Armstrong, Jessica Lewis) authored and co-authored four presentations made at the 14th International Conference NANOSMAT (Virtual event due to covid), 8 - 10 September, 2020.
  • June-July, 2020: IRES'20 participants worked on their projects remotely due to coronavirus pandemic and travel restrictions.
  • June, 2020: Paper published: M. Armstrong, S. Nealy, C. Severino, W. Maniukiewicz, M. Modelska, M. Binczarski, I. Witonska, K. Chawla, A. Stanishevsky, Synthesis and characterization of glass microballoons/ceramic nanofibers composite syntactic foams for use as catalysts and catalyst support, J. Mater. Sci. 55, 12940 (2020).
  • April, 2020: Riley Yager received Fulbright Sholarship and will do a research project at UT-Lodz in 2021.
  • March, 2020: Sarah Nealy has been named 2020 Goldwater Scholar.
  • February, 2020: Paper published: S.L. Nealy, C. Severino, W.A. Brayer, A. Stanishevsky, Nanofibrous TiO2 produced using alternating field electrospinning of titanium alkoxide precursors: crystallization and phase development, RSC Advances 10, 6840 (2020).
  • November, 2019: Abi Jernigan presented her IRES research findings at 2019 Annual AIChE Student Conf., November 8-11, 2019, Orlando, FL, USA.
  • September, 2019: Paper published: A. Stanishevsky, J. Tchernov, Mechanical and transport properties of fibrous amorphous silica meshes and membranes fabricated from compressed electrospun precursor fibers, J. Non-Cryst. Sol. 525, 119653 (2019).
  • August, 2019: Paper published: A. Stanishevsky, R. Yager, J. Tomaszewska, M. Binczarski, W. Maniukiewicz, I. Witońska, D. Lukas, Structure and mechanical properties of nanofibrous ZrO2 derived from alternating field electrospun precursors, Ceram. Int. 45, 18672 (2019).
  • July 2019: Rashid Bowles presented his IRES research findings at the National McNair Conf. at UCLA 2019, July 31–August 2, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
  • June, 2019: IRES’19 team organized The 2nd Workshop on Mechanics of Nanomaterials held on June 12–13, 2019, in Hejnice, Czech Republic.
  • May-July, 2019: New team of ten students worked on their research projects at TU-Liberec and UT-Lodz.
  • April, 2019: Isaac Crouch (team'18) presented the results of his IRES research at UAB 2019 Spring EXPO.
  • March, 2019: National Science Foundation (NSF) funded the proposal to continue this IRES project in 2020 – 2022. New teams will work at three research sites in Czech Republic, Poland, and Finland
  • March, 2019: Paper published: K.M. Hatch, J. Hlavatá, K. Paulett, T. Liavitskaya, S. Vyazovkin, A.V. Stanishevsky, Nanocrystalline cellulose/polyvinylpyrrolidone fibrous composites prepared by electrospinning and thermal crosslinking, Int. J. Polymer Sci. 2019 Art. ID 7103936 (2019).
  • October, 2018: IRES participants (Courtney Severino, Riley Yager, Justin Tchernov, Anthony Brayer) authored and co-authored five presentations made at the 4th International Conference NANOSMAT-USA, Isla Grand Beach Resort, South Padre Island, TX, USA. October 29 – November 1, 2018.
  • October, 2018: Anna Krum and Hannah Lacy presented talks on their IRES research at BMES Annual Meeting, October 17–20, 2018, Atlanta, GA.
  • June, 2018: IRES’18 team organized The 1st Workshop on Mechanics of Nanomaterials, June 14–15, 2018, Liberec, Czech Republic. Anna Krum, Cosby Burnet, Hannah Lacy, Riley Yager and Justin Tchernov presented oral talks at the event.
  • May-July, 2018: IRES'18 team (seven students) worked on new challenging projects at TU-Liberec and UT-Lodz.
  • April, 2018: Riley Yager won the 2nd place for her IRES research presentation in oral talks category at UAB Spring 2018 EXPO.
  • April, 2018: Justin Tchernov presented at 32nd NCUR, April 4–6, 2018.
  • February, 2018: Riley Yager and Justin Tchernov receive ERASMUS scholarships for their second IRES research trip in summer 2018.
  • October, 2017: IRES participants hosted a hands-on Workshop for Pell City High School students in Dr. Stan’s lab.
  • September, 2017: Paper published: Katie Paulett, Anthony Brayer, Katrina Hatch, T. Kalous, J. Sewell, T. Liavitskaya, S. Vyazovkin, F. Liu, D. Lukáš, A. Stanishevsky, Effect of nanocrystalline cellulose addition on needleless alternating current electrospinning and properties of nanofibrous polyacrylonitrile meshes, J. Appl. Polymer Sci., 135, 45772 (2018).
  • May-July, 2017: IRES'17 team worked on new challenging projects at TUL and UT-Lodz.
  • April, 2017: Dr. Stanishevsky receives Provost’s Award for Faculty Excellence in Education Abroad.
  • November, 2016: Katrina Hatch won the 1st place at the Fall UAB EXPO for the poster presentation on electrospun nanocellulose-based nanofibers.
  • August, 2016: Paper published: A. Stanishevsky, Anthony Brayer, P. Pokorny, T. Kalous, D. Lukas, Nanofibrous alumina structures fabricated using high-yield alternating current electrospinning, Ceram. Int. 42, 17154 (2016)
  • May-July, 2016: IRES'16 team worked on new challenging projects at TUL and UT-Lodz.
  • May, 2016: IRES 2015 results presented at NANOSMAT-USA: Katie Paulett, Caitlin Lawson, A. Saman, A. Stanishevsky, D. Lukas, Polysaccharide nanofibers by needleless electrospinning, 3rd NANOSMAT-USA, Arlington, TX, May 18-20, 2016.
  • April, 2016: National Science Foundation (NSF) funded the proposal to continue this IRES project.
  • March, 2016: Paper published: Caitlin Lawson, A. Stanishevsky, M. Sivan, P. Pokorny, D. Lukas, Rapid fabrication of poly(e-caprolactone) fibers using needleless alternating current electrospinning, J. Appl. Polymer Sci. 133, 43232 (2016).
    		•  IRES'19 team in catalysis lab and at the workshop

    IRES'19 team with Dr. Stanishevsky

    Riley Yager, UAB EXPO Spring 2018

    Stanishevsky lab Pell City High School visit

    Stanishevsky Provost Award 2017

    AC electrospinning Stanishevsky