Award Highlights:

• UTC closed Q4 with $17,573,181 in sponsored awards generated by 74 unique lead PIs.
• FY26 Q4 awards reflect a 5% decrease over the same period in FY25.

Proposal Highlights:

• UTC closed Q4 with $87,183,643 in proposal dollars requested via 226 individual proposals, reflecting the work of 107 unique lead PIs.
• FY26 Q4 proposals reflect a 29% increase over the same period in FY25.

The post ORSP FY 2026 Quarter Four Report appeared first on Campus Updates.

The following UTC Faculty and Staff have attracted $3,878,199 in external grant and contract awards:

Dr. Damitha Bandara (Data and Analytics), Dr. Jennifer Goodrich (Engineering Management and Technology), and Nyssa Hunt (CAGDS) have received $25,000 from the Journey Health Foundation for the project entitled, “Assessing Equity and Optimizing Emergency Response Services Using GIS: A Spatial and Socioeconomic Analysis of Hamilton County, Tennessee.”

Angela Dittmar (Arts-Based Collaborative) and Daniel Mailman (Computer Science and Engineering), in collaboration with the UC Foundation, have requested and received $10,000 from Chattanooga 2.0 for the project entitled, “Synthesizing Sounds & Stories in Digital Time and Space.”

John Freeze (Center for Professional Education) has received $44,422 from the Tennessee Office of Criminal Justice Programs for the project entitled, “SELA SouthEastern Leadership Academy 2026-2027.”

Farron Kilburn, Dr. Priscilla Simms-Roberson, Bethany Weaver, Dr. Amber Roache (Nursing), Dr. Elizabeth O’Brien, and Anna Miller (Counseling) have received $25,000 from the Journey Health Foundation for the project entitled, “Stylists as Community Care Connectors: A Regional Pilot to Bridge Clients to Mental Health, Healthcare, and SafetyResources.”

Dr. Heather Lee (Health & Human Performance) has received $25,000 from the Journey Health Foundation for the project entitled, “The Differential Effect of TN Together on County-level Opioid Overdose Mortality in Tennessee by Physician density and Uninsured rate.”

Dr. David Levine (Physical Therapy), Dr. Caitlin Crews-Stowe (Health & Human Performance), and Charlie Mix (CAGDS) have received $25,000 from the Journey Health Foundation for the project entitled, “Closing the Care Gap: Addressing Social Determinants to Improve Well-Child Visit Adherence.”

Dr. Marissa McElrone (Health & Human Performance) has received $25,000 from the Journey Health Foundation for the project entitled, “Food and nutrition security surveillance pilot across the Chattanooga Area Food Bank network.”

Dr. Erin Melhorn (Occupational Therapy) and Dr. Derek Liuzzo (Physical Therapy) have received $25,000 from the Journey Health Foundation for the project entitled, “BALANCE Hamilton – Building Analytics and Local Networks for Community Empowerment.”

Dr. Jason Peter, Dr. Farron Kilburn, Dr. Amber Roache, Bethany Weaver (Nursing), Harlee Milligan, and April Wilson (Social Work) have received $25,000 from the Journey Health Foundation for the project entitled, “Screenings, Health and Interprofessional Engagement through Library Delivery (SHIELD).”

Dr. Karissa Peyer (Health & Human Performance) has received $25,000 from the Journey Health Foundation for the project entitled, “Project IMPACT: Investigating Mobility Patterns for Access, Connections, and Treatment.”

Dr. Sean Richards, Dr. Dawn Ford (Biology, Geology, and Environmental Science), Nyssa Hunt, and Laura Lee (CAGDS) have requested and received $25,000 from the Journey Health Foundation for the project entitled, “Environmental Health Monitoring in Hamilton County, TN.”

Dr. Mina Sartipi (CUIP) has requested and received $3,400,000 from the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga for the project entitled, “UTC QISE Research and Innovation Hub.”

Dr. Jin Wang (Mathematics) has received $173,777 from the National Science Foundation for the project entitled, “Collaborative Research: Multiscale modeling of viral infections: Dynamics and applications.”

Dr. Guisen Xue and Dr. Monireh Rahmati (Data and Analytics) have received $25,000 from the Journey Health Foundation for the project entitled, “Data-Driven Investigation of Social Determinants of Public Health: Evidence from Key Diseases.”

Good Luck!

The following UTC faculty and staff members submitted proposals for the potential to generate over $11,989,784 in external funding, if awarded:

Dr. Gazi Akgun (CUIP), Hannah Archer, and Claudi Colpo (Research Institute) have requested $50,000 from the Tennessee Department of Transportation for the project entitled, “Develop an AI-Powered Winter Road Condition Intelligence and Resilience Metric Framework Using TDOT Traffic Detectors.”

Sybil Baker (English) has requested $2,876 from the Tennessee Arts Commission for the project entitled, “Paired Community Writing Workshops-Underground and Academic Writers.”

Dr. Brooke Epperson, Maggie Duckworth, Savannah Kelley, Dr. Jason Peter, Dionne Gray, Dr. Jenny Holcombe (Nursing), Dr. Amir Alakaam (Health and Human Performance), and Dr. Cathy Scott (Social Work) have requested $6,197,622 from the Tennessee Department of Health for the project entitled, “MOCS REACH – Reproductive Equity & Access in Community Health.”

Dr. Mohamed Fadul (CUIP) has requested $23,680 from the Tennessee Department of Transportation for the project entitled, “AI-Driven Post-Disaster Infrastructure Impact Estimation and Recovery Prioritization for TDOT Assets.”

Austin Harris (CUIP) has requested $122,703 from the Tennessee Department of Transportation for the project entitled, “AI-Driven Post-Disaster Infrastructure Impact Estimation and Recovery Prioritization for TDOT Assets.”

Dr. Lauren Ingraham (Academic Affairs), Dr. Andrew McCarthy (English), Dr. Kristin Pope (Career Connections), Dr. Allen Pratt (School of Education), and Dr. Jessica Taylor (Learning and Leadership) have requested $2,927,172 from the US Department of Education for the project entitled, “Reduced Credit Degrees: Transforming College Curriculum to Prepare Graduates for the Next Age of American Prosperity.”

Dr. Seong Dae Kim, Dr. Wolday Abrha (Engineering Management and Technology), and Dr. Ignatius Fomunung (Civil and Chemical Engineering) have requested $219,444 from the Tennessee Department of Transportation for the project entitled, “Multi-Objective Asset Investment Optimization Framework for TDOT.”

Dr. Ziwei Ma (Mathematics) has requested $40,835 from the Tennessee Department of Transportation for the project entitled, “Diagnosing Traffic Detectors and Improving Data Reliability Through Septotemporal Cross-Validations.”

Dr. Deborah McAllister and Dr. Jennifer Lynberg (School of Education) have requested $17,430 from Middle Tennessee State University for the project entitled, “Exploring Science and Mathematics with Library of Congress Resources.”

Charlie Mix and Nyssa Hunt (CAGDS) have requested $19,823 from the US Department of Agriculture for the project entitled, “2026 Cherokee National Forest Road Digitization Project – Phase 3.”

Dr. Shaogang Ren, Dr. Yu Liang, and Dr. Zihao Wang (Computer Science and Engineering) have requested $484,076 from the National Institutes of Health for the project entitled, “Causal AI for Early Detection of Alzheimer’s Disease Using Multimodal Data’.”

Dr. Shaogang Ren and Dr. Zihao Wang (Computer Science and Engineering) have requested $236,995 from the Tennessee Department of Transportation for the project entitled, “AI-Enabled Standard Pavement Distress Library and Multimodal QA/QC System for Data-Driven Pavement Asset Management.”

Dr. Shaogang Ren (Computer Science and Engineering) has requested $213,877 from the Tennessee Department of Transportation for the project entitled, “A Diffusion-Guided GeoAI and Time-Series Forecasting Framework for Slope Movement Detection and Corridor Risk Prioritization in Tennessee.”

Dr. Shaogang Ren (Computer Science and Engineering) has requested $199,135 from the Tennessee Department of Transportation for the project entitled, “A Calibrated UAS-Hyperspectral Imaging Framework for Early Bridge Decay Detection and Forensic Condition Assessment.”

Dr. Shahnewaz Karim Sakib (Computer Science and Engineering) has requested $167,312 from the Tennessee Department of Transportation for the project entitled, “A Standardized Pavement Distress Library for Consistent Interpretation of 3D Pavement Condition Data.”

Dr. Zakia Tasnim and Dr. Mbakisya Onyango (Civil and Chemical Engineering) have requested $182,209 from the Tennessee Department of Transportation for the project entitled, “Quantifying Natural Disaster Impacts on Transportation Infrastructure for Asset Management.”

Dr. Serkan Varol, Dr. Edmund Baffoe-Twum (Engineering Management and Technology), and Dr. Ignatius Fomunung (Civil and Chemical Engineering) have requested $240,210 from the Tennessee Department of Transportation for the project entitled, “From Classroom to Career: Preparing Tennessee’s Transportation Workforce.”

Dr. Jin Wang (Mathematics) and Dr. Gregory Heath (Health and Human Performance) have requested $331,092 from the National Institutes of Health for the project entitled, “Medium-grained modeling and simulation for infectious diseases.”

Dr. Weidong Wu, Dr. Ignatius Fomunung, Dr. Mbakisya Onyango, and Dr. Joseph Owino (Civil and Chemical Engineering) have requested $233,052 from the Tennessee Department of Transportation for the project entitled, “TDOT-Specific Standard Pavement Distress Library for Data-Driven Asset Management.”

Dr. Yukun Yuan (Computer Science and Engineering) has requested $80,241 from the Tennessee Department of Transportation for the project entitled, “An AI-Enabled Open-Source Platform Integrating Pavement Distress Data Management with Real-Time Traffic Mobility and Risk Analytics.”

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Psychology

Chair: Dr. Ashley Howell

Co-Chair:

Abstract:

A central problem for many young adults is difficulty regulating emotions, which is linked to stress, poorer mental health, and academic impairment. Interoception, the perception of internal bodily sensations, broadly, may support emotional resilience; however, prior work on interoception often measures only one facet of the construct at a time. This study examined how three interoceptive facets (sensibility, accuracy, and metacognitive awareness) relate to self-reported emotion regulation difficulties in college students (n = 98 survey; n = 73 heartbeat counting task). Emotion regulation difficulties and interoceptive sensibility were assessed with validated self-report measures. Participants completed a laboratory heartbeat counting task in which accuracy was indexed by how closely each participant’s reported heart rate tracked their actual heart rate across 30 trials. Metacognitive awareness was indexed by the correspondence between trial-by-trial confidence ratings and actual counting accuracy. Interoceptive sensibility was significantly and negatively bivariately associated with emotion regulation difficulties (r = -.58, p < .001), accounting for approximately 34% of the variance in total scores. Interoceptive accuracy and metacognitive awareness were not significantly associated with emotion regulation difficulties. Results suggest a divergence across interoceptive dimensions, wherein the subjective quality of one’s relationship with bodily sensations, rather than objective accuracy or metacognitive qualities, relates to difficulties in emotion regulation. Findings indicate the importance of multidimensional interoceptive assessment and point toward sensibility-focused research as a promising direction for supporting emotional resilience in college populations.

The post Notice of Final Defense – William Moore to Present Master’s Research appeared first on Campus Updates.

Leadership and Instructional Practice

Chair: Dr. Jessica N. Taylor

Co-Chair:

Abstract:

Within the last decade, Cleveland State Community College has gone through many changes, including transitioning between five different administrations from 2021 to 2025. With this change in administration, there have been many different philosophies of how professional development should be handled at the college. The priority of professional development has shifted between very high and very low, and the ownership of active initiatives was unclear. Recently, college administrators have implemented a program intended to allow PD at the college to have more structure and visibility within the employee community. Literature in both Higher education and other industries discusses the importance of professional development (Cruz, 2018; Danvila-del-Valle et al., 2019; Maier, 2022). It is imperative that the processes related to adult learning are integrated into any workplace in order to get the most out of the workforce (Brieger et al., 2020; Bui et al., 2021; De Matas & Keegan, 2020; Lee et al., 2022). While higher education is used to working with student learning, it is important to look toward other industries for training processes (Donovan et al., 2023; Reynolds & Dolasinski, 2019). Throughout this research, qualitative and quantitative data were used to determine the effectiveness of the professional development program at Cleveland State. The data indicate that the program is mostly meeting the stated outcomes. Employees are learning, developing, and maintaining positive relationships throughout the course of their work. The evaluation results suggest that while the program is mostly effective, there are areas in which college administrators can focus to continue to improve the program.
 

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Leadership and Instructional Practice

Chair: Dr. Jessica N. Taylor

Co-Chair:

Abstract:

As higher education institutions increasingly compete for students, faculty, funding, and recognition, academic leaders are recognizing the essential role communications and public relations professionals play in maintaining and promoting the value of their institutional brands. Much has been written about the value of communications professionals in brand management in the corporate arena. However, it appears less attention has been paid to their role in higher education. This mixed-methods study was undertaken to examine the best practices for structuring and operating communications and public relations organizations for optimal success in promoting the higher education institutions they represent. Communications and public relations professionals from multiple higher education institutions, including that of the researcher, were surveyed about the structure and operations of the communications organizations at their respective institutions. The responses from the 43 participants indicated organizational structure was not a critical factor in communications success. The respondents did identify operational factors that contribute to well-functioning teams, regardless of organizational structure. These include establishing a culture of trust and collaboration within the team, recognition by institutional leaders of the value of communications and public relations to institutional goals, and strategic alignment with institutional leaders. The findings from this study offer insight for developing operational practices that could improve the success of communications organizations at higher education institutions.

The post Notice of Final Defense – Margaret Reisser to Present Doctoral (EdD) Research appeared first on Campus Updates.

Leadership and Instructional Practice

Chair: Dr. Jessica N. Taylor

Co-Chair:

Abstract:

Student retention remains a central concern in higher education, particularly as the demographic composition of college populations shifts toward a growing number of contemporary students. While extensive research has examined retention strategies for traditional students, there is a notable gap in understanding how institutional resources, such as Campus Recreation, support contemporary student success. This study explores the impact of Campus Recreation participation on student retention, with a specific focus on contemporary students at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Using a convergent mixed-methods design, this research investigates participation trends, perceived benefits, and barriers to engagement in Campus Recreation programs. Quantitative analyses examine differences in participation rates between traditional and contemporary students and assess the relationship between recreation involvement and retention. Qualitative data provides insight into students’ lived experiences, highlighting perceived benefits such as stress reduction, improved mental health, enhanced well-being, and a strengthened sense of belonging, as well as barriers including time constraints and accessibility challenges. Findings suggest that Campus Recreation plays a meaningful role in fostering holistic student development and contributes positively to factors associated with persistence, particularly for contemporary students. However, disparities in participation indicate a need for more flexible, inclusive, and targeted programming. This study underscores the importance of adapting Campus Recreation offerings to better meet the diverse needs of today’s student population. By leveraging recreation as a strategic tool for engagement and well-being, institutions can enhance retention and create a more supportive campus environment.

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The following UTC Faculty and Staff have attracted $1,561,482 in external grant and contract awards:

Dr. Venkateswara Kode (Civil and Chemical Engineering) has received $199,516 from the National Science Foundation for the project entitled, “ERI: Renewable Water Harvesting Using Tunable Solid Bio-Desiccants for Low-Energy Regeneration.”

Charlie Mix, Nyssa Hunt, and Laura Lee (Center for Applied Geospatial Data Science) have received $65,000 from the Tennessee Department of Agriculture for the project entitled, “Spatial Analysis of TN Urban Community Forests.”

Dr. Donald Reising (Electrical Engineering), in collaboration with Purdue University, has requested and received $147,000 from the US Department of the Army for the project entitled, “Radiation-Hard Microelectronics Workforce Development Consortium.”

Dr. Joey Shaw, Dr. Stylianos Chatzimanolis, and Jessica Sanders (Biology, Geology, and Environmental Science) have received $35,892 from the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga for the project entitled, “2026 EPB Bio Survey.”

Dr. Kimberly Wingate and Dr. Stephanie Brennan (School of Education) have received $1,114,074 from the Tennessee Department of Education for the project entitled, “Grow Your Own Apprenticeship (FY2026-FY2027).”

Good Luck!

The following UTC faculty and staff members submitted proposals for the potential to generate over $22,336,063 in external funding, if awarded:

Dr. Tatiana Allen (Physics and Astronomy) has requested $249,996 from the National Science Foundation for the project entitled, “NQNI: SouthEastern Microscopy Cloud for Quantum Research.”

Dr. Damitha Bandara (Data and Analytics), Dr. Jennifer Goodrich (Engineering Management and Technology), and Nyssa Hunt (Center for Applied Geospatial Data Science) have requested $24,924 from the Journey Health Foundation for the project entitled, “Assessing Equity and Optimizing Emergency Response Services Using GIS: A Spatial and   Socioeconomic Analysis of Hamilton County, Tennessee.”

Dr. Keith Bridges (Center for Community Career Education) has requested $1,773,610 from the US Department of Education for the project entitled, “2026 Southern Appalachian Educational Opportunity Center.”

Dr. Keith Bridges (Center for Community Career Education) has requested $1,482,653 from the US Department of Education for the project entitled, “2026 Northwest Georgia Educational Opportunity Center.”

Julia Bursch (UTC Research Institute), Dr. Jejal Reddy Bathi (Civil and Chemical Engineering), Terry Ellis (Nursing), Dr. David Giles (Biology, Geology, and Environmental Science), Dr. Eric Hungenberg (Health & Human Performance), and Dr. Thomas Lyons (Marketing and Entrepreneurship) have requested $3,000,000 from the National Institute of Standards and Technology for the project entitled, “UTC Innovation Commercialization Center for Translational Research and Market Acceleration.”

Dr. Gokhan Erdemir and Dr. Erkan Kaplanoglu (Engineering Management and Technology) have requested $50,000 from Amazon.com Inc for the project entitled, “Design and Control of a Multi-Finger Robot Gripper with Reconfigurable Fingertips.”

Dr. Gokhan Erdemir (Engineering Management and Technology) and Dr. Zihao Wang (Computer Science and Engineering) have requested $604,770 from the Schmidt Sciences for the project entitled, “Detecting and Predicting Strategic Manipulation in Collaborative AI-Driven Robotic Systems.”

John Freeze (Center for Professional Education) has requested $145,623 from the Tennessee Office of Criminal Justice Programs for the project entitled, “CPE Support Responsibilities for SELA Program.”

Dr. Joshua Hamblen (Physics and Astronomy) has requested $722,257 from the US Department of Energy for the project entitled, “Expediting and Optimizing Event Sorting and Analysis for Precision Subatomic Physics Measurements Using Physics-Informed Neural Networks.”

Austin Harris, Dr. Gazi Akgun, Dr. Mohamed Fadul, and Dr. Mina Sartipi (CUIP) have requested $1,175,047 from the National Science Foundation for the project entitled, “AI-Powered Platform for Real-time Intelligence in Shared Mobility.”

Dr. Azad Hossain (Biology, Geology, and Environmental Science) has requested $299,740 from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for the project entitled, “Remote Sensing of Water Quality in the Tennessee River.”

Dr. Abdel Karrar (Electrical Engineering) has requested $1,910,836 from the National Science Foundation for the project entitled, “Nuclear Power Plant Auxiliary Power System Monitoring: Towards Enhanced Safety & Reliability.”

Farron Kilburn, Beth Miller, Dr. Priscilla Simms-Roberson, Bethany Weaver, Dr. Amber Roache (Nursing), and Dr. Elizabeth O’Brien (School of Professional Studies) have requested $25,000 from the Journey Health Foundation for the project entitled, “Stylists as Community Care Connectors: A Regional Pilot to Bridge Clients to Mental Health, Healthcare, and Safety Resources.”

Dr. Heather Lee (Health & Human Performance) has requested $22,851 from the Journey Health Foundation for the project entitled, “The Differential Effect of TN Together on County-level Opioid Overdose Mortality in Tennessee by Physician density and Uninsured rate.”

Dr. David Levine (Physical Therapy), Dr. Caitlin Crews-Stowe (Health & Human Performance), and Charlie Mix (Center for Applied Geospatial Data Science) have requested $24,869 from the Journey Health Foundation for the project entitled, “Closing the Care Gap: Addressing Social Determinants to Improve Well-Child Visit Adherence.”

Dr. Jennifer Lynberg, Dr. Allen Pratt, Dr. Stephanie Brennan, Ashtyn Cornett, and Dr. Jason Gordon (School of Education) have requested $5,924,942 from the US Department of Education for the project entitled, “Tennessee Literacy Apprenticeship.”

Dr. Jennifer Lynberg (School of Education) has requested $86,000 from the Tennessee Department of Education for the project entitled, “2027 TN Governor’s School for Prospective Teachers.”

Dr. Deborah McAllister, Dr. Jason Gordon, and Dr. Jennifer Lynberg (School of Education) have requested $49,984 from the National Science Foundation for the project entitled, “Empowering Children to Thrive in the Digital Era through Collaborative Learning Experiences.”

Dr. Marissa McElrone (Health & Human Performance) has requested $25,000 from the Journey Health Foundation for the project entitled, “Food and nutrition security surveillance pilot across the Chattanooga Area Food Bank network.”

Dr. Erin Melhorn (Occupational Therapy) and Dr. Derek Liuzzo (Physical Therapy) have requested $24,654 from the Journey Health Foundation for the project entitled, “BALANCE Hamilton – Building Analytics and Local Networks for Community Empowerment.”

Dr. Hoang Huu Nguyen and Dr. Mina Sartipi (CUIP) have requested $1,200,000 from the National Science Foundation for the project entitled, “Human-in-the-Loop Multi-Camera Anomaly Detection and Monitoring.”

Dr. Jason Peter, Farron Kilburn, Dr. Amber Roache, Bethany Weaver (Nursing), Harlee Milligan, and April Wilson (Social Work) have requested $24,735 from the Journey Health Foundation for the project entitled, “Screenings, Health and Interprofessional Engagement through Library Delivery.”

Dr. Karissa Peyer (Health & Human Performance) has requested $24,513 from the Journey Health Foundation for the project entitled, “Project IMPACT: Investigating Mobility Patterns for Access, Connections, and Treatment.”

Dr. Reetesh Ranjan (Mechanical Engineering) has requested $416,709 from the US Department of Energy for the project entitled, “Accelerating Automotive CFD with Non-Intrusive Hierarchical ML-Enhanced Reduced Order Models.”

Dr. Shahnewaz Karim Sakib (Computer Science and Engineering) has requested $500,303 from Schmidt Sciences for the project entitled, “Enhancing Truthfulness in Human AI Teaming.”

Dr. Shahnewaz Karim Sakib (Computer Science and Engineering) has requested $500,307 from Schmidt Sciences for the project entitled, “Towards Reliable and Trustworthy Multi-agent Communications.”

Dr. Mina Sartipi, Dr. Gazi Akgun, Dr. Mohamed Fadul, and Austin Harris (CUIP), in collaboration with the City of Chattanooga, have requested $2,002,840 from the US Department of Transportation for the project entitled, “Detection, Protection, and Survivability: High-Injury to High-Safety Transformation in Chattanooga, Tennessee.”

Dr. Guisen Xue and Dr. Monireh Rahmati Bongisouei (Data and Analytics) have requested $24,999 from the Journey Health Foundation for the project entitled, “Data-Driven Investigation of Social Determinants of Public Health: Evidence from Key Diseases.”

Dr. Ryan Zwart, Dr. Andrew Bailey, Dr. Eric Hungenberg (Health & Human Performance), and Charlie Mix (Center for Applied Geospatial Data Science) have requested $18,901 from the Beacon Foundation Inc for the project entitled, “Beacon Park Annual Impact Report (2026-27) – Year 1.”

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The following UTC Faculty and Staff have attracted $525,520 in external grant and contract awards:

Dr. Bento Lobo (Finance & Economics) has requested and received $25,000 from the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga for the project entitled, “2026 EPB Contract for CRER Scholars.”

Catherine Quinlan and Dr. Lucy Schultz (Environmental Studies) have received $14,450 from the Alliance of Women Philanthropists – Giving Circle for the project entitled, “Urban Farm at Alton Park with Wild Violet Permaculture.”

Dr. Deborah McAllister and Dr. Jennifer Lynberg (School of Education), in collaboration with Vanderbilt University, have received $10,350 from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for the project entitled, “STEM Topics for Pre-service Teachers.”

Dr. Joey Shaw (Biology, Geology, and Environmental Science), in collaboration with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, has requested and received $10,750 from the US Fish and Wildlife Service for the project entitled, “National Wetland Condition Assessment 2026, West Tennessee Region.”

Dr. Yingfeng Wang (Computer Science and Engineering) and Dr. Jannatul Ferdoush (Biology, Geology, and Environmental Science), in collaboration with a cross-disciplinary team of faculty mentors, have received $464,970 from the National Science Foundation for the project entitled, “REU Site: Interdisciplinary Computational Biology (iCompBio).”

Good Luck!

The following UTC faculty and staff members submitted proposals for the potential to generate over $7,276,675 in external funding, if awarded:

Charlie Mix, Nyssa Hunt, and Laura Lee (Center for Applied Geospatial Data Science-CAGDS) have requested $65,000 from the Tennessee Department of Agriculture for the project entitled, “2026-2027 Extension to US Division of Forestry project.”

Dr. Deborah McAllister, Dr. Jason Gordon, and Dr. Jennifer Lynberg (School of Education) have requested $863,935 from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for the project entitled, “Science Simulations.”

Dr. Donald Reising (Electrical Engineering) has requested $125,000 from Purdue University for the project entitled, “SCALE: A Microelectronic Workforce Development Production Project.”

Dr. Erkan Kaplanoglu, Dr. Gazi Akgun (Engineering Management and Technology), and Dr. David Levine (Physical Therapy) have requested $99,759 from Hanger Prosthetics & Orthotics for the project entitled, “Adaptive Smart Interface Liner for Residual Limb Health Monitoring and Pressure Offloading.”

Dr. Imran Hossen and Dr. Mengjun Xie (Computer Science and Engineering) have requested $500,000 from the National Science Foundation for the project entitled, “CyberAI Innovation: Closing the CyberAI Skills Gap Through Low-Barrier, Portable Laboratory Modules for AI-Augmented Security Operations and the Security of AI Systems.”

Dr. Joey Shaw, Dr. Stylianos Chatzimanolis, and Jessica Sanders (Biology, Geology, and Environmental Science) have requested $35,892 from the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga for the project entitled, “2026 EPB Bio Survey.”

Dr. Joshua Hamblen (Physics and Astronomy), in collaboration with Georgia Tech Research Institute, has requested $38,594 from the US Department of Energy for the project entitled, “Edge Intelligence for Enhanced Dataset Curation in Fundamental Neutron Physics.”

Dr. Joshua Hamblen (Physics and Astronomy), in collaboration with Eastern Kentucky University, has requested $76,513 from the US Department of Energy for the project entitled, “Expediting and Optimizing Precision Electromagnetic Field Mapping and Simulations for Precision Subatomic Physics Measurements Using Physics-Informed AI Models.”

Karen Vann (Center for Community Career Education) has requested $1,557,007 from the US Department of Education for the project entitled, “UTC Talent Search.”

Megan McKnight (Center for Wellbeing) and Steven Oberheim (Counseling) have requested $1,143,799 from the Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council for the project entitled, “Expanding Recovery Support on UT Campuses in Response to the Opioid Crisis.”

Dr. Mengjun Xie (National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense) has requested $150,000 from the National Science Foundation for the project entitled, “Collaborative Research: CyberAI Innovation: Agentic AI-driven Adaptive Refinement and Customization of Cybersecurity Learning Materials.”

Dr. Mengjun Xie (National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense) has requested $89,076 from the US Department of Defense for the project entitled, “2026 DOW CSA – Returning Scholar.”

Dr. Mina Sartipi and Dr. Huu Hoang Nguyen (CUIP) have requested $250,000 from DENSO International America, Inc for the project entitled, “LinkedEyes: AI-Powered Multi-Target Multi-Camera Tracking with Infrastructure Communication.”

Dr. Mina Sartipi, Dr. Mohamed Fadul, Austin Harris, Yasir Hassan, Dr. Huu Hoang Nguyen (CUIP), and Dr. Gazi Akgun (Engineering Management and Technology have requested $283,016 from the US Department of Transportation for the project entitled, “PRISM: AI-Powered Dynamic Real-Time Mapping System for Safer AV Operation.”

Dr. Rick Mukherjee (Quantum Center) has requested $506,729 from the US Department of Energy for the project entitled, “Efficient Approximate Ground-State Search of Glassy Spin Systems.”

Dr. Venkateswara Kode, Dr. Jejal Reddy Bathi (Civil and Chemical Engineering), and Dr. Shahnewaz Karim Sakib (Computer Science and Engineering) have requested $1,492,355 from Google Inc. for the project entitled, “AI-Driven Co-Capture of Atmospheric Carbon and Water for Climate Resilience.”

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