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A proposal for over $500,000 to research exploration of novel nanomaterials: synthesis, characterization, and engineering by College of Engineering faculty has won a portion of the TTU Vice President of Research grant competition for FY07.  Out of seventy-five proposals submitted requesting almost $29 million in funding, only three were funded.  Faculty from the Mechanical Engineering department are PI Dr. Yanzhang Ma, Co-PIs Drs. Jharna Chaudhuri, Zhaoming He, and Alan Jankowski, and Dr. Guigen Li from the Chemistry and Biochemistry department.  Congratulations for this excellent effort and the recognition to the college!

 

Texas Tech University is launching an initiative in applied nanophotonics to expand the already successful optoelectronics research in the Nano Tech Center into the cutting-edge field of nanophotonics. The university will receive $2 million from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund that will be matched by $2 million from Texas Tech University and $2 raised from private funds. The $6 million total package will allow Texas Tech to attract three world-class researchers in nanophotonics. This initiative in nanophotonics will establish unique research capabilities, along with commensurate commercialization opportunities, within the state of Texas. More details will be forthcoming.
http://www.governor.state.tx.us/divisions/ecodev/etf/

 

The Office of Naval Research funded the proposal, "Fundamental Understanding and Improvement of Energetic Reactions of Aluminum Particles with Oxidizers and Metals" with Dr. Valery Levitas as PI and Drs. Alexander Idesman and Michelle Pantoya as Co-PIs.

 

The National Science Foundation is continuing to support Dr. Kishor Mehta's research titled, "IGERT-Multidisciplinary Program in Wind Science & Engineering."

 

The National Storm Shelter Association will support Dr. Ernst Kiesling's work in civil and environmental engineering.

 

Electrical and computer engineering associate professors Drs. James Dickens and Andreas Neuber were awarded a grant by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research for "Switching for Explosive Driven Pulsed Power."

 

Dr. Clifford Fedler of the Civil and Environmental Engineering department was awarded a grant by the Texas On-Site Wastewater Treatment Research Council for the project, "Design and Operation of Land Application Systems from a Water, Nitrogen, and Salt Balance Approach."

 

Chemical engineering faculty Drs. Greg McKenna and Brandon Weeks have been funded by the Office of Naval Research for research on "Nanoscale Features in the Mechano-Chemistry of Energetic Materials: Novel Thermal and Force Scanning Probe Measurements.

 

The Department of Defense has funded "Phase IX - Continuation of an Integrated Field and Laboratory Investigation with Wildlife: Ecological Risk Assessment of Military Energetics Residues Associated with Life Fire Training Ranges." Faculty include Civil and Environmental Engineering Drs. Andrew Jackson and Ken Rainwater.

 

 

Computer Science's Dr. Eric Sinzinger's proposal, "Infrared and Laser Analysis," was funded by Spicola Tool.

 

The Texas Department of Transportation funded Dr. David B. Thompson's (Civil and Environmental Engineering department) proposal to develop "Statewide Regression Equations for Improved Flood Peak Estimation."

 

"Depth from Stereo Disparity, Phase II-SBIR," was funded by National Institutes of Health/Kestrel Corp. Principal investigators are Drs. Sunanda Mitra, Brian S. Nutter, and Shu-Yu Yang from the Electrical and Computer Engineering department.

 

EarthCo Building Systems has funded Drs. Atila Ertas, Timothy T. Maxwell, and Derrick E. Tate's proposal for "Compressed Earth Block (CEB) Building System," on behalf of the Mechanical Engineering department.

 

NASA made a three-year award for "Novel Nanoparticle-Filled Matrices for Thermal Stress Reduction in Polymer Matrix Composites: Multiscale Modeling and Experimental Validation."   TTU chemical engineering professor Dr. Sindee Simon is the PI.  Co-PIs are Drs. Greg McKenna, Raj Khare, and Jeremy Leggoe, along with Igor Sevostianov, a theoretician from New Mexico State University.