Drs. 
Neal 
K. 
Bangerter and 
Brian 
A. 
Mazzeo, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Summary

The 
aim 
of 
the 
awarded 
MEG 
grant
 was 
to
 provide
 seed 
funding 
to 
establish
 a
 mentorship 
program 
for
 undergraduate 
students 
wishing
 to
 prepare 
for 
careers 
or 
graduate
 work 
in 
biological
 or 
biomedical
 applications 
of 
electrical
 engineering. 

Such
 a 
program
 has 
been
notably 
absent
in
 the
 College 
of
 Engineering 
at
 BYU.

Since funding in January 2009, Dr. Mazzeo and Dr. Bangerter have used the MEG funds to expand the highly successful IMMERSE program, which formerly focused on micro‐electronics research, to include opportunities in biological and biomedical electrical engineering. MEG funds were used in conjunction with research funds provided by both the College of Engineering and Technology and the Micron Foundation to support eight undergraduates in the new biological and biomedical engineering branch of the IMMERSE program. These students have been fully integrated into the Mazzeo and Bangerter research groups, and five participated in the supplemental lectures, mentorship activities, and presentations of the IMMERSE program over the summers of 2009 and 2010. The expansion of IMMERSE has been a success, broadening the scope of the program and providing students with a richer mentored research experience.

To date, Dr. Mazzeo’s and Dr. Bangerter’s mentoring activities relative to this MEG grant have resulted in:

• 10 conference presentations (8 by the undergraduate students themselves);
• 3 journal articles accepted for publication in leading journals with student co‐authors;
• 2 journal articles currently under review with student co‐authors;
• 3 additional journal articles with student co‐authors under preparation;
• Best Undergraduate Student Paper Award given to Paul Bartholomew at the Four Corners APS Conference in October 2010;
• 2 provisional patent filings with student co‐inventors;
• Undergraduate students supported by our MEG grant being accepted to Stanford University, University of Michigan, Georgia Tech, USC, UCLA, UC San Diego, and University of Washington.

A list of publications resulting from the MEG grant (produced with student co‐authors) follows:

Peer‐reviewed Journal Articles (2009 and 2010)

1. Mazzeo, B. A., Chandra, S., Mellor, B., and Arellano, J. Temperature‐stable parallel‐plate dielectric cell for broadband liquid impedance measurements. Review of Scientific Instruments, Accepted October, 2010. To Appear.
2. Allen SP, Morrell GR, Peterson B, Park D, Gold GE, Kaggie JD, Bangerter NK. Phase Sensitive Sodium B1 Mapping. Magn Reson Med (in press) Awarded: January 2009 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, 459 Clyde Building Dr. Neal K. Bangerter, Dr. Brian A. Mazzeo nealb@ee.byu.edu, bmazzeo@ee.byu.edu 
3. Shang, T., Teng, E., Woolley, A. T., Mazzeo, B. A., Schultz, S. M., and Hawkins, A. R. Contactless Conductivity Detection of Small Ions in Surface Micro‐Machined CE Chip. Electrophoresis 31, 2596 (2010).

Conference papers (abstract reviewed, 2009 and 2010)

1. Bartholomew, P., Sumsion, E., Guthrie, W. S., Mazzeo, B. A. Measurement of steel corrosion in concrete by impedance spectroscopy. Four Corners Section Meeting of the American Physical Society, Ogden, UT. 16 October 2010.
2. Mellor, B., Cruz Cortes, E., Busath, D., Mazzeo, B. A. Estimation of the internal dielectric constant of proteins using measured and simulated charge moments. Four Corners Section Meeting of the American Physical Society, Ogden, UT. 15 October 2010.
3. Getz, P., Mazzeo, B. A. Measurement of liquid permittivity by solenoid self‐resonance. Four Corners Section Meeting of the American Physical Society, Ogden, UT. 15 October 2010.
4. Kellis, N., Mazzeo, B. A. On the use of liquid‐metal electrodes for liquid impedance spectroscopy measurements. Four Corners Section Meeting of the American Physical Society, Ogden, UT. 15 October 2010.
5. Allen SP, Morrell GR, Peterson B, Gold GE, Park D, Kaggie J, Staroswiecki E, Bangerter NK. 3D Phase Sensitive Sodium B1 Mapping. 18th ISMRM Meeting, May 2010.
6. Quist B, Hargreaves BA, Morrell GR, Gold GE, Bangerter NK. Region‐Growing Reconstruction for Large‐Angle Multiple‐Acquisition bSSFP. 18th ISMRM Meeting, May 2010.
7. Peterson B, Watkins R, Morrell GR, Allen SP, Park D, Kaggie J, Gold GE, Bangerter NK. Performance Comparison of a Hybrid Dual‐Tuned 23Na/1H Birdcage to a Single‐Tuned 23Na Birdcage with Identical Geometry. 18th ISMRM Meeting, May 2010.
8. Mazzeo, B. A. and Getz, P. Overcoming electrode polarization by magnetic induction spectroscopy. 6th International Conference on Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy and its Applications, Madrid, Spain. 10 September 2010.
9. Kellis, N., Mazzeo, A. D., Mazzeo, B. A. Liquid “Wires” for Microfluidics. Four Corners Section Meeting of the American Physical Society, Golden, CO. 24 October 2009.
10. Chandra, S., Arellano, J., and Mazzeo, B. A. Broadband Liquid Dielectric Spectrometer. Four Corners Section Meeting of the American Physical Society, Golden, CO. 23 October 2009.

Dr. Mazzeo and Dr. Bangerter have begun to reach out to potential corporate sponsors of the new biological and biomedical arm of the IMMERSE program, including General Electric, Siemens, and Varian. We are optimistic that the traction gained using MEG funds will ultimately lead to external sponsorship of this important program, but hope to see continued internal support for our efforts as well. A more detailed progress summary is provided below.

Final Report on Mentoring Activities

Primary Academic Objectives:

The primary academic objectives of the project are to provide undergraduate students with meaningful mentored research experiences in significant and high impact  areas of biological and biomedical electrical engineering. The primary metric to judge success is the production of peer‐reviewed literature (journal articles and conference proceedings/presentations) in respected journals with student primary authors and co‐authors. The program exceeded our expectations on this front, as further detailed below.

Evaluation of the Mentoring Environment:

We are fortunate to be building on the work of Dr. Aaron Hawkins and Dr. Stephen Schultz by expanding the IMMERSE program. The IMMERSE mentorship model has been refined and vetted since the inception of the program six years ago. We are taking pains to learn from their experiences, and are ourselves being mentored in the process of student mentoring. Student feedback in our groups has been overwhelmingly positive.

Use of Funds:

MEG funds have been used predominantly for undergraduate student salary support, with relatively small allocations for supplies (e.g., MRI scan time for experiments at the University of Utah, purchase of proteins and other buffer solutions, etc.) and travel.

Student Involvement and Results:

Four of the eight students were mentored in the Mazzeo Group, and four in the Bangerter group. In the Mazzeo group, the four students were Satyan Chandra, Jesus Arellano, Nathan Kellis, and Bashudev Poudyal. Satyan and Jesus participated successfully in the IMMERSE summer program. Students in the Bangerter group are Steven Allen, Brady Quist, Brock Peterson, and Danny Park (who became a graduate research assistant in the Bangerter group in fall of 2009). Steven, Brady, and Brock all participated in the summer IMMERSE program. Drs. Mazzeo and Bangerter participated actively in the supervision and teaching of students in the IMMERSE program.

The Mazzeo group filed two provisional patents, one on an improved design for a broadband dielectric spectrometer and one on impedance spectroscopy of bridge decks. MEG funds allowed the students to attend the Four Corners Section Meeting of the American Physical Society in both 2009 and 2010. All four of the Mazzeo students presented.

The Bangerter group presented at both the 2009 and 2010 Annual Meetings of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, as detailed above. Undergraduates Steven Allen and Brock Peterson have an article in press in Magnetic Resonance in Medicine entitled “Phase Sensitive Sodium B1 Mapping”. Undergraduate Brady Quist (now a graduate student at Stanford) has an article under review in the same journal. An additional article with undergraduate Brady Quist and graduate student Danny Park is under review in Magnetic Resonance Imaging.