FUNDED PROPOSALS: (6/1/2012 – 6/30/2012)
CONGRATULATIONS!
The following UTC faculty and staff recently attracted $323,800 in external grant and contract awards:
Mr. Andy Carroll, Geographic Information Systems Manager of Academic and Research Computing Services, secured $25,000 from the Lyndhurst Foundation to purchase and deploy Decision Support Software. The software will be used on UTC’s Geographic Information System (GIS) infrastructure as a means to enhance scenario modeling for the regional growth planning process and other related applications.
Dr. Jonathan Mies, Professor of Geology, acquired $2,500 from Chattem Chemicals, Inc. to continue Chemical Analyses using X-Ray Diffraction. This partnership brings UTC’s research capacity to bear on research and development activities for Chattem, one of Chattanooga’s flagship businesses.
Dr. Valerie Rutledge, Director of the School of Education, attracted $5,000 from the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga to offer Hamilton County Schools the opportunity to participate in a one-day intensive institute focusing on “Positive Strategies for Classroom Management: Mentoring for Success.” This event will provide teachers with strategies, examples, and practice in developing and then using effective techniques for dealing with a range of behaviors in the classroom.
Dr. Miriam Zwitter, Assistant Professor of Nursing, acquired $291,300 from the Health Resources and Services Administration for the Get Healthy Project. This project will support service learning activities for School of Nursing undergraduate and graduate students to provide supervised, integrated health promotion services in collaboration with community based agencies that serve individuals with severe, persistent mental illnesses (SPMI).
SUBMITTED PROPOSALS: (6/1/2012 – 6/30/2012)
GOOD LUCK!
The following UTC faculty and staff members submitted proposals with the potential to generate over $5,242,894 in external funding, if awarded:
Dr. Ron Bailey (Mechanical Engineering; Center for Energy, Transportation and the Environment) requested $200,000 from the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA) to apply energy saving technology to 30-foot shuttle buses. With support from the Federal Transit Administration, UTC and CARTA have already demonstrated the efficacy of wayside inductive power transfer as a means of extending the useful range of 22-foot electric shuttle buses through wireless charging.
Drs. Jose Barbosa and Ethan Carver (Biology, Geology and Environmental Sciences) requested $137,012 from the National Science Foundation to change the laboratory curriculum and format to increase opportunities for students to engage in active experiential learning. If funded, this project will acquire instrumentation to improve the Cell, Developmental, and Molecular Biosciences curriculum. The project will also create capstone teaching and research experiences for biology majors to reinforce UTC’s goal of preparing students to face difficult challenges and requirements imposed by industries, many professional programs, or other advanced degree programs.
Dr. Amy Casey (School of Education) requested $387,853 from the National Institutes of Health to research the efficacy of the Routines-Based Interview (RBI) for children with disabilities and their families. The RBI is a semi-structured, clinical interview designed to elicit a description of family and child functioning in daily routines. The goal of this study is to improve the families’ quality of life and the quality of interventions that infants and toddlers with disabilities receive.
Dr. Barry Dale (Physical Therapy) requested $60,954 from Chattem, Inc. to test Icy Hot and low-frequency Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) as effective post-surgical interventions for Arthrogenic Muscular Inhibition (AMI). The study will test quadriceps muscle activation (AMI measurement) after knee surgery with subsequent Icy Hot or TENS application.
Mr. Matt Greenwell (Art) requested $44,345 from the Hunter Museum of American Art to engage a faculty member to serve as the Museum’s Contemporary Curator during the 2012-2013 academic year. As the Contemporary Curator, Nandini Makrandi, Clinical Assistant Professor of Art History at UTC, will manage the museum’s permanent collection of contemporary art and organize exhibitions.
Dr. Zibin Guo (Anthropology) requested $38,508 from the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation’s Quality of Life grant program. The proposed project will make wheelchair/seated Tai Chi Chuan exercise routines more accessible to people living with spinal cord injury or disease.
Dr. David Levine (Physical Therapy) requested $1,320,000 from the Health Resources and Services Administration to provide scholarships for disadvantaged students enrolled in the UTC Doctor of Physical Therapy program. The Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students (SDS) program provides financial assistance for full-time students enrolled in health professions and nursing programs.
Dr. Kay Lindgren (Nursing) requested $2,580,000 from the Health Resources and Services Administration to provide scholarships for disadvantaged students enrolled in the nursing program at UTC. These funds allow UTC to recruit and retain gifted nursing students who might not otherwise have the financial means to complete the baccalaureate and graduate programs.
Drs. Mbakisya Onyango and Joseph Owino (Civil Engineering) requested $123,813 from the National Science Foundation to develop an undergraduate upper level civil engineering course on “green roads.” Some of the technologies used in flexible pavements will be incorporated in the course which will train undergraduate students to respond to technological changes as well as industry and societal needs.
Dr. Manuel Santiago (Chemistry), Dr. Kristin Whitson (Physics, Geology, and Astronomy), Dr. Stefanie Whitson (Chemistry), and Dr. Nicky Ozbek (Psychology) requested $150,000 from Dialysis Clinics, Inc. for an interdisciplinary project that will correlate the neuropsychology of odor detection in end-stage renal disease patients with interference in normal functions of odorant binding proteins by specific uremic toxins such as p-cresol.
Drs. Joey Shaw and Jennifer Boyd (Biology, Geology and Environmental Sciences) requested $680 from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to study the influence of light and soil moisture availability on the flowering of Platanthera integrilabia (white fringeless orchid). This species of flower is native to North American and is currently listed as a candidate for protection under the United States Endangered Species Act.
Dr. Kristin Whitson (Physics, Geology, and Astronomy), Dr. Manuel Santiago (Chemistry), and Dr. Stefanie Whitson (Chemistry) requested $199,729 from the National Science Foundation to create an interdisciplinary undergraduate program in biophysics. The new curriculum will engage student populations who have drifted away from study in traditional physics programs, offering flexibility and versatility for student interests and training.