NOVEMBER 2025 AWARDS AND PROPOSALS

Congratulations!
The following UTC Faculty and Staff have attracted $1,223,575 in external grant and contract awards:

• Dr. Belinda Lee (Center for Community Career Education) has received $339,217 from the US Department of Education for the project entitled, “University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Upward Bound Program.”
• Karen Vann (Center for Community Career Education) has received $288,470 from the US Department of Education for the project entitled, “UTC Talent Search.”
• Dr. Keith Bridges (Center for Community Career Education) has received $325,656 from the US Department of Education for the project entitled, “Southern Appalachian Educational Opportunity Center (SAEOC).”
• Dr. Keith Bridges (Center for Community Career Education) has received $241,332 from the US Department of Education for the project entitled, “Northwest Georgia Educational Opportunity Center (NWGEOC).”
• Sybil Baker (English) has received $2,000 from South Arts for the project entitled, “Stove Works Meacham Fellow Visiting Writer Residency.”
• Carolyn Runyon and Molly Copeland (Library) have received $1,900 from the Tennessee State Library and Archives for the project entitled, “United Hosiery Mills Records Digitization Project.”
• Dr. Caitlin Crews-Stowe (Health & Human Performance) and Dr. David Levine (Physical Therapy) have received $25,000 from Weldon F. Osborne Foundation Inc. for the project entitled, “From Bench to Bedside to Community: Enhancing Microbiologic Identification Capacity.”

Good Luck! 
The following UTC faculty and staff members submitted proposals for the potential to generate over $1,912,601 in external funding, if awarded: 

• Charles Mix, Nyssa Hunt, and Laura Lee (Center for Applied Geospatial Data Science (CAGDS)) have requested $37,931 from Austin Peay State University (APSU) for the project entitled, “Research and Development of Southeastern Grasslands Institute Southeast Native Seed Network Hub & GIS Web Tools – Austin Peay’s Southeastern Grasslands Institute (NFWF Prime).”
• Dr. Tian Li (Physics and Astronomy) has requested $249,223 from DENSO International America, Inc for the project entitled, “DV-CV Hybrid Quantum LiDAR Using Fock-Like Twin Beams.”
• Dr. Caitlin Crews-Stowe (Health & Human Performance), Dr. David Giles (Biology, Geology, and Environmental Science), and Dr. David Levine (Physical Therapy) have requested $44,715 from Sodexo for the project entitled, “Quantifying the Clean: A Comparative Analysis of Microbial Burden in Full Service EVS and Standard Hospitals.”
• Charles Mix and Nyssa Hunt (Center for Applied Geospatial Data Science) have requested $79,556 from South Central Tennessee Development District for the project entitled, “Developing a GIS Conservation Priority Model of the Duck River Watershed Planning Partnership.”
• Dr. Mina Sartipi and Dr. Huu Hoang Nguyen (CUIP) have requested $270,000 from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development for the project entitled, “LinkedEyes: AI-Powered Multi-Target Multi-Camera Tracking with Infrastructure Communication.”
• Austin Harris, Yasir Hassan, Dr. Mina Sartipi (CUIP), and Dr. Mohamed Fadul (Computer Science and Engineering) have requested $20,000 from the University of Tennessee Research Foundation (UTRF) for the project entitled, “Network-V2X Enabled Cloud-Based Digital Twin.”
• Dr. Huu Hoang Nguyen and Dr. Mina Sartipi (CUIP) have requested $20,000 from the University of Tennessee Research Foundation (UTRF) for the project entitled, “iCityGuardian – Human-Interactive Multi-Camera Tracking for Smart Cities.”
• Dr. Brian Choi (Mathematics) has requested $137,980 from the National Science Foundation for the project entitled, “Continuum limits and rigorous numerics for dispersive waves with memory.”
• Dr. Deborah McAllister, Dr. Jason Gordon, Dr. Jennifer Lynberg (School of Education), and Dr. Aniekan Ebiefung (Mathematics) have requested $25,000 from the National Science Foundation for the project entitled, “Graduate Yearlong Experience and Residency for Acquiring STEM Teaching Competencies.”
• Dr. Lakmali Weerasena (Mathematics), Dr. Damitha Bandara (Business), Dr. Joey Shaw (Biology, Geology, and Environmental Science), and Nyssa Hunt (Center for Applied Geospatial Data Science) have requested $737,781 from the National Science Foundation for the project entitled, “Mathematical and Learning-Based Frameworks for Enhancing Ecological Resilience in Invasive Plant Management.”
• Dr. Lingju Kong (Mathematics) has requested $271,880 from the National Science Foundation for the project entitled, “Collaborative Research: Stochastic Modeling in Theme Parks: Enhancing Visitor Experience through Applied Mathematics.”
• Dr. James Burgess and Dr. Keenan Dungey (Chemistry) have requested $18,535 from Volkswagen Group of America for the project entitled, “Arbor Battery anode materials analysis.”