FUNDED PROPOSALS: (3/1/2012 – 3/31/2012)
CONGRATULATIONS!
The following UTC faculty and staff recently attracted $521,892 in external grant and contract awards:
Mr. Joel Baxley, Director of Visual Art Education at UTC’s Southeast Center for Education in the Arts, secured $1,650 from the Hamilton County Department of Education for a graphic design residency with fifth grade students as well as a bookmaking residency with third grade students at Battle Academy.
Ms. Susanne Burgess, Director of Music Education at UTC’s Southeast Center for Education in the Arts, acquired $600 from the Hamilton County Department of Education for a kindergarten music residency at Battle Academy for Teaching and Learning in 2012. Ms. Burgess met with all kindergarten teachers in March and will teach lessons to kindergarten students in April.
Dr. Yu Cao, Assistant Professor, Dr. Li Yang, Associate Professor, Dr. Joseph Kizza, Professor and Department Head, and Dr. Claire McCullough, Professor, all faculty members of Computer Science and Engineering, attracted $360,923 from the National Science Foundation for a three year research program on biomedical informatics – a collaboration between UTC, the UT College of Medicine, Chattanooga, and Erlanger Health System. The program is designed to provide a diverse group of talented undergraduate students an intensive and meaningful research experience and to encourage them to consider a career in Computer Science.
Dr. Mark Schorr, Professor of Environmental Science, secured $42,079 from the City of Chattanooga to assess ecological conditions in Citico Creek and Friar Branch following stream restoration work. Dr. Schorr and his team will perform this assessment by collecting data on stream water quality, habitat, macroinvertebrates and fishes at three sites in Friar Branch as well as analyzing historical stream data from Friar Branch and Citico Creek.
Dr. Valerie Rutledge, Director of the School of Education, attracted $116,640 from Tennessee State University to continue the work of the Strengthening Tennessee Elementary Schools – Focus on Mathematics (SITES-M) program with a summer institute. The goal of the summer institute is to build the mathematics skills of in-service and pre-service teachers.
SUBMITTED PROPOSALS: (3/1/2012 – 3/31/2012)
GOOD LUCK!
The following UTC faculty and staff members submitted proposals with the potential to generate over $3,191,130 in external funding, if awarded:
Dr. Ron Bailey (Mechanical Engineering; Center for Energy, Transportation and the Environment) requested $100,000 from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation for the demonstration of an Energy Plus Building at UTC. The purpose of this project is to demonstrate how to convert a conventional commercial building into an Energy Plus Building by installing solar panels and replacing an outdated HVAC system with a modern Geothermal HVAC system.
Dr. Yu Cao (Computer Science and Engineering) and Dr. Gregory Heath (Assistant Provost for Research and Engagement) requested $213,497 from the National Science Foundation to conduct collaborative research with colleagues from California State University-Fresno. The project will focus on self-adaptive and reliable data collection, transmission, and analysis in body sensor networks (BSNs). The researchers propose a break-through cyber-physical systems framework to improve BSNs, which are used in the real-time monitoring of health conditions.
Ms. Lisa Darger (Facilities Planning and Management) requested $230,000 from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation to upgrade current lighting at the 5th Street Parking Garage with a cutting edge, high-efficiency wireless fluorescent lighting system. The goal of this initiative is to achieve the highest level of campus energy efficiency.
Dr. Gregory Heath (Assistant Provost for Research and Engagement), in collaboration with Purdue, Indiana, and Kent State Universities, requested $283,806 from the National Institutes of Health for a project that will evaluate the impact of trail construction on physical activity. This project represents an opportunity to examine the effects of natural experiments on physical activity among youth and adults, with particular attention to reducing obesity.
Dr. Lauren Ingraham (English), Dr. Jennifer Ellis (School of Education), and Dr. Ethan Carver (Biology, Geology and Environmental Sciences) requested $197,109 from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission for a project that will focus on using writing to improve scientific knowledge and literacy. Using “Writing to Learn” strategies, this project seeks to enhance science teachers’ content knowledge and develop their ability to offer direct instruction in learning scientific vocabulary, synthesizing scientific data in writing, and composing scientific arguments.
Drs. Kay Lindgren and Chris Smith (Nursing) requested $514,732 from the Health Resources and Services Administration for a program that will enhance and increase the preparation of nurses and interprofessional care providers that provide safe, effective, and patient-centered geriatric care. The program will enhance the experience, competency, and skills of nursing students, health and other care professionals, as well as community members caring for seniors.
Dr. Bob Marlowe (Physics) and Dr. Manuel Santiago (Chemistry) requested $1,226,048 from the National Science Foundation for a collaborative redesign of high school science in Tennessee. This project is a partnership between virtually all public institutes of higher education and 31 school districts geographically distributed across Tennessee. The goals are to improve STEM-literacy, seal the leaks in the STEM pipeline at the high school level, and train transformative teachers who will challenge and encourage high school students to succeed in STEM courses.
Dr. Deborah McAllister (School of Education) and Dr. Aniekan Ebiefung (Mathematics) requested $200,000 from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission for a project focused on improving the mathematics skills and connections to other content areas for K-2 teachers. The project will center on the topic of interdisciplinary learning, with a clear focus on geometry, measurement, and problem solving as related to science, engineering, and technology.
Dr. Nicky Ozbek (Psychology) in collaboration with the UT College of Medicine – Chattanooga requested $55,205 from the Dialysis Clinic, Inc. to conduct testing as part of a larger research project on the association of Melatonin deficiency in end stage renal disease patients. The project investigators hope to address complaints of chronic depression and impaired sense of smell common among patients with advanced renal failure or end stage renal disease.
Dr. Will Sutton (Engineering and Computer Science) submitted a letter of intent to apply for an Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. The mission of ARPA-E is to identify and fund research to translate science into breakthrough energy technologies that, if developed, will create the foundation for new industries.
Dr. Raziq Yaqub (Electrical Engineering) requested $20,000 from TN-SCORE (via a National Science Foundation EPSCORE grant to the state) to conduct research on electricity generation in electric vehicles (EVs) using newly designed tires that produce an electric charge. The new tire design will generate electricity that can be stored in a battery to run an EV for an extra 60% of the total miles.
Dr. Raziq Yaqub (Electrical Engineering), Dr. Hinsdale Bernard (Learning and Leadership Doctoral Program), Dr. Nurhidajat Sisworahardjo (Electrical Engineering) and Dr. Tricia Thomas (Chemical Engineering) requested $150,733 from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission for a project that will increase K-12 teacher knowledge of engineering concepts, application, and pedagogy, with special focus on Physics and Chemistry of Energy. One of the motivations of this proposed project is to introduce the new area “Chemistry of Energy” which is strongly related to renewable energies.