Achievement

During her first year of graduate study, IGERT fellow Ariel Ash-Shakoor embraced her project to combine shape memory polymers (SMPs) with layer-by-layer (LbL) polyelectrolyte coatings for the tuning of cell-material interactions. The goal of her project is to examine the influence of SMP actuation on the configuration of the adsorbed coatings, characterized using contact angle goniometry, atomic force microscopy, electron microscopy, and profilometry. Ariel has observed that heat-triggered SMP contraction yields micron-scale patterns in adsorbed LbL coatings, which may be of value in prescribing the motility of adherent cells, an area of near-future investigation.

Although no publications have yet resulted from her research, Ariel presented at our IGERT retreat (March 2013) and participated in the IGERT video poster competition (May 2013). Next year Ariel will be the research mentor for a bioengineering undergraduate, Regina Kuria, who is an underrepresented minority.