News

A Texas State University undergraduate student has been awarded a Barry Goldwater Scholarship, one of the nation’s most prestigious awards for future scientists, mathematicians, and engineers.

Texas State University hosted the 2025 Conference Across MRSEC and PREM Schools (CAMPS), bringing together 94 students from over 30 universities. The event featured a speaker series with faculty and industry presenters, rapid-fire oral presentations, and poster sessions. Attendees also participated in a career panel, networking lunch, and toured research labs to learn about materials characterization equipment, including electron microscopy tools. The conference aimed to foster collaboration and networking among students and professionals in the field.

In May, close to 100 students from 26 institutions across the United States came together in San Marcos, Texas for the CAMPS 2025 conference. More than just a scientific meeting, CAMPS—short for Conference Across MRSEC and PREM Schools—has carved out a unique identify as a conference organized by students, for students.

This spring, the Materials Research and Education Consortium (MRE-C), based at the University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa, hosted their research and education collaborative partners from the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at the University of Washington (UW). The consortium engages in interdisciplinary research that fosters key breakthroughs in materials research and education important for sustainability on remote island communities. 

PREM researchers at North Carolina A&T State University (NCAT) and the University of California at San Diego recently created thin films of titanium oxynitride (TiNO)—a material with excellent optical and light-manipulating (plasmonic) properties—using a method where a laser pulses to deposit the material in a vacuum.

Each year, nearly 8,000 school-age kids watch PREM researchers at the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) deliver awe-inspiring performances: a race between two people to lift a one-ton weight, gummy bears that burst loudly into flames, giant pendulums or wrecking balls swinging dangerously close to the face, and dance—so much dance.

On April 5, TXST PREM took part in the 2025 San Marcos S.T.E.A.M. Fair. The PREM team of 13 student volunteers hosted interactive STEM activities that brought hands-on science to life for hundreds of kids and families at San Marcos High School.

In early March, Texas State University PREM CIMA took part in the 2025 MRSEC Annual Meeting & Industry Day. Fourteen TXST PREM CIMA students delivered exciting research in one-minute pitches and poster presentations—a valuable opportunity for center researchers to share their work and connect with students, postdocs, and industry professionals from both UT Austin and the Northern Arizona University PREM.

2024 marked the 20^th anniversary of NSF’s PREM program. The PREM community celebrated this milestone at the NSF PREM Research Scholars Summit, held at the recent Materials Research Society meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.