A new approach for developing fundamental design rules for material-liquid-nanoparticulate interfaces that optimize control of friction, adhesion and wear will be developed that combines theory, simulation, statistics, material synthesis and characterization. This effort brings together chemistry, physics, engineering and statistics to develop a new class of lubricants composed of exceedingly-fine particles in different liquids that will improve upon the friction and wear reduction properties of traditional oil lubricants while significantly reducing their environmental impact. Effective control of friction, wear and adhesion has a vast range of applications that impact energy efficiency, national security, manufacturing, and the environment. Total frictional losses in a typical diesel engine, for example, exceed 10% of the total fuel energy. Reducing the losses to 1% would save roughly a billion gallons of diesel fuel in the U.S. alone. Furthermore, today's lubricants were developed in an era that focused on wear elimination over energy losses from friction, and did not consider environmental consequences. This effort also includes two public outreach activities, the first of which targets middle school students through job shadow opportunities and the second of which targets the general public through an entertaining citizen science learning module.