# FABRICATION, CHARACTERIZATION, AND TESTING CORE (FaCT CORE)

> **NIH NIH P20** · BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $529,665

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY – FABRICATION, CHARACTERIZATION, AND TESTING CORE (FACT CORE) 
The FaCT core will provide the biomedical engineering support needed for RPLs and others to fully engage in 
the development, synthesis, and validation of devices, sensors, and systems to be used in foundational or 
applied biomedical research and/or clinical-translational work in the COBRE in Convergent Engineering and 
Biomolecular Science (CEBS). This innovative engineering-focused core will be a consolidation of four existing 
research cores in the College of Engineering, three of which are already recharge centers. The FaCT core will 
merge the Idaho Microfabrication Lab IML), the Boise State Center for Materials Characterization (BSCMC), 
the Engineering Research Support ERS) center, and the Biomedical Engineering Center (BEC). To meet 
CEBS COBRE goals, researchers must be able to fabricate a wide range of devices and structures from 
simple mechanical devices to more sophisticated sensors through machining, printing, or microfabrication. 
After fabrication, researchers will also need to be able to characterize physical, optical, and electrical 
properties of the devices/sensors to assess their performance for the required research. Hence, each research 
effort will require use of a variety of tools, instruments, processes, and expertise supplied by FaCT core 
facilities and personnel. The FaCT core will be overseen by a new Core Director who will consolidate the four 
facilities administratively, enhance the focus to increase biomedical engineering usage, and manage 
personnel, equipment, and facilities. The Core Director will establish the recharge rates for the BEC as it 
becomes a recharge center, and oversee annual assessments of recharge rates across the entire facility. To 
incentivize CEBs responsive research in the FaCT core, a voucher program will be established to pay recharge 
service costs. Finally, the FaCT core will join the ranks of core facilities at BSU, the state of Idaho, and the 
Mountain West that are promoted by the INBRE and RAIN programs for use by biomedical researchers in 
academia, government, and private industry.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10823751
- **Project number:** 5P20GM148321-02
- **Recipient organization:** BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Paul Henry Davis
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $529,665
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-04-06 → 2028-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10823751

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10823751, FABRICATION, CHARACTERIZATION, AND TESTING CORE (FaCT CORE) (5P20GM148321-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10823751. Licensed CC0.

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