Mechanical Engineering Faculty Receive over $2.0 Million Dollars in New Grants
Mechanical Engineering Faculty Receive over $2.0 Million Dollars in New Grants to Support Research Commencing in FY 2009-2010
September 16, 2009
The department is very pleased to announce that a large number of our faculty are recipients of new grants from federal, state, and industrial sources for the 2009-2010 fiscal year. The cumulative value of these new grants exceeds $2 million. In addition, several of our faculty members have received increments on existing contracts and agreements. A list of the PI's including a brief description of their funded projects is given below:
NEW GRANTS
Professor Chris Dames is the lead Principal Investigator (PI) on a National Science Foundation grant for a project titled "Measuring Thermal Conductivity of Graphene," in collaboration with co-PI Professor Jeanie Lau in Physics. This project commenced officially on July 1, 2009. His award is for $314,730 for a period of 3 years.
Professor Thomas Stahovich is the lead PI on a National Science Foundation grant for a project titled "Transforming Statics Instruction through the Creation and Evaluation of Efficient and Effective Practice Experiences," in collaboration with co-PI Professor Bob Calfee in the School of Education. Their work officially gets underway on October 1, 2009. The award is for $399,695 for a period of 3 years.
Professor Akula Venkatram is the PI for a new grant titled "Improving understanding of regional and near-source air quality impacts of distributed generation sources," funded by the California Energy Commission. The award is for a total of $650,000 for the period July 15, 2009 through March 1, 2013. One of the principals is Professor Marko Princevac who will be working with Professor Venkatram on the plume rise component of this project.
Professor Marko Princevac is the lead PI on a project titled "Superfog formation: laboratory experiments and model development" that is funded by the Joint Fire Sciences Program and administered by the USDAFS. This project runs from July 2009 through June 2012 and is for a total of $247,436. Professor Princevac's Co-Investigators on this project are Professors Shankar Mahalingam and Akula Venkatram.
Professor Javier Garay is the PI for a new equipment grant titled "Increasing the Capabilities of the Spark Plasma Sintering System: Adding gas Process Control and Glove Box Features," funded by the Army Research Office. The award is for $55,070 for the period July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010.
Professor Guillermo Aguilar is the PI for a new grant titled "Experimental Assessment of Laser-Assisted Cryosurgery: Ex-vivo and In-vivo Studies," funded by the UC Cancer Research Coordinating Committee. The award is for $43,660 for the period July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010.
Professor Guillermo Aguilar is the PI for a new grant titled "Model for Performance Assessment of LS Duet ET and HS," funded by the Lumenis Ltd (INCL COHERENT, ESC MEDICAL GROUP). The award is for $42,845, effective July 27, 2009. This contract represents the 1st phase of a project that will be funded in three phases. This phase is focused on the development of a mathematical/numerical model to simulate 810 nm pulsed laser irradiation and distribution within human skin. The purpose is to assess and optimize the performance of a medical laser device which is primarily used for laser epilation. This device combines auxiliary parallel contact cooling and skin suction procedures in current treatment protocols, which has been one of the subjects of study in Guillermo's lab over the past few years. Subsequent phases will focus on model validation and effectiveness through clinical studies, respectively.
Professor Shankar Mahalingam is the PI on a project titled "Collaborative Research: A Fundamental Investigation of Fire Initiation and Fire Behavior in Sparse Vegetation," funded by the National Science Foundation. Professor Mahalingam will collaborate with Professor Thomas Fletcher at BYU's Chemical Engineering Department. They will work closely with scientists at the USDA Forest Service laboratories in Riverside and Montana. The award period is October 1, 2009 through August 31, 2012. UCR as the lead organization will receive $297,333.
Professor Guanshui Xu is the PI of a subaward from USC (Prime Sponsor: National Science Foundation) for a project titled "Realistic Initial Conditions for Large Scale Earthquake Rupture Simulations.". The award is for $20,000. Co-PI's on this project are Professors Deterich and Oglesby from the Department of Earth Sciences.
RENEWALS
Renewal's on existing contracts for the new fiscal year are:
Professor Qing Jiang as PI for an ongoing project titled "Development of Low-Power Piezoelectric Acoustic Wave Pressure Sensors with Automated Calibration," received an increment of $24,000 from 3E Technologies International, Inc.
Professor Shankar Mahalingam as PI of a cooperative agreement for a project titled "Experimental and Numerical Modeling of Wildland Fire Spread Transitions," received an increment of $42,568 from USDA Forest Service.
Professor Cengiz Ozkan as PI for an ongoing grant titled "DNA Assembly Integration to Block Co-Polymers," received a continuation award to the tune of $55,000 from the University of Massachusetts (Prime Sponsor: National Science Foundation). His co-PI on this grant is Professor Mihri Ozkan from the Electrical Engineering Department.
Professor Chris Dames as PI for an ongoing grant titled "nanostructured Materials for Power-Thermoelectrics," received a continuation award to the tune of $37,763 from the Research Triangle Institute.