RGS awards to improve research capability, graduate education
By Susan Trulove
Spectrum Volume 20 Issue 17 - January 22, 1998
Research and Graduate Studies (RGS) awarded $1.5 million for 63 ASPIRES (A Support Program for Innovative REsearch Strategies) grants, according to Gene Brown, associate provost for RGS program development.
There were 130 proposals submitted by the September 19 deadline for activities, equipment, programs, laboratories, and facilities to enhance an individual's or a team's ability to compete for funds from outside the university. Awards were made to faculty members on a competitive basis in response to proposals that described strategies for improving the university's sponsored-research activities and the quality of graduate education. A strong academic endorsement and offers of cost sharing from the academic unit were required.
Awards ranged from $9,800 to $55,000 from RGS funds designated for research stimulation, the Office of the Provost, and the central capital account. The first round of ASPIRES grants has already earned more than the total of the awards in the form of sponsored research (see related story, page 8). The proposals were evaluated by faculty members representing all disciplines who were nominated by the Office of the Provost, deans, and the vice provost for research. Research and Graduate Studies administrators were also part of the review process.
A list of the principal investigators or team leaders and the titles of the funded proposals follows: David Popham et al, biology and chemistry, Establishment of a Phosphor/Fluorescent Imaging Facility in Derring Hall; William R. Saunder, et al, mechanical engineering (ME), Testbed Combustor Facility for the Active Combustion Control Group; Carole Cramer et al, plant pathology, physiology and weed science (PPWS), Fluorescence Technology for Complex Glycan Analysis; Herve Marand, materials engineering science (MESc), Purchase of an ARES Strain Controlled Rheometer; Stephen M. Boyle, veterinary medicine, Establishment of a University DNA Sequencing Facility; Donald Orth et al, fisheries and wildlife (FIW) and civil engineering (CE), Ecohydraulics: Linking hydraulics and ecology for environmental management.
James R. Heflin Jr., physics, for a Picosecond Laser; Laura Wojcik, engineering science and mechanics (ESM), Postural Balance and Neuromuscular Control in the Elderly; Richey Davis et al, chemical engineering and chemistry, Acquisition of a Reactive Pultruder for Fabricating Advanced Composite Materials; Nancy G. Love, CE, Development of a Collaborative Research Effort in Environmental Biotechnology; Larry T. Taylor, chemistry, Laboratory for Preparative Scale Supercritical Fluid Extraction of Drugs from Natural; Mitzi Nagarkatti et al, veterinary medicine, Development of Innovative Molecular Technology for Immunotherapy of Cancer; Randolph Wynne et al, forestry and arts and sciences, Virginia Tech Center for Environmental Applications of Remote Sensing; Malcolm Potts, biochemistry, Institute of Genomics; John R. Seiler, FIW, Critical Equipment for Strengthening the Plant Stress Physiology Program.
Mark R. Anderson, aerospace and ocean engineering (AOE), Aircraft Accident Visualization Workstation; Robert Jones et al, biology and forestry, Building Excellence in Research of Plant Root Systems; Imad L. Al-Qadi, CE, Superpave(TM) Equipment; Yilu Liu et al, electrical engineering (EE), Power Quality Laboratory Equipment Request; Barbara Davis, human nutrition, foods and exercise (HNFE), Development of a Molecular Nutrition Laboratory in HNFE; Foster Agblevor et al, biological systems engineering (BSE) and veterinary medicine, Integrated Hospital and Municipal Solid Waste Management; Tommy Cousins, CE, Development of an Advanced Loading Facility for Performance and Durability; Saad Ragab et al, ESM/AOE, A System for Computationally Intensive Problems in Mechanics; David Dillard, ESM, Acquisition of Upgraded Thermal Analysis Equipment.
Roe Hoan Yoon et al, mining and minerals engineering and chemical engineering, Upgrading the Surface Forces Laboratory at the Center for Coal and Minerals Processing; Khidir Hilu et al, biology, Establishing a User-operated Automated Sequencing Laboratory for the Biology Department; Harry C. Dorn, chemistry, Fullerene Laboratory at Tech; Dennis Jones et al, architecture and the Center for Public Administration and Policy (CPAP), Research Development Facility Visualization Laboratory; Ruth G. Alscher, PPWS, The Orchestration of Common Molecular Defense Responses to Biotic and Abiotec Stress: Setting the Stage; Warren L. Stutzman, EE, Near Field Antenna Measurement Instrumentation; Michael von Spakovsky et al, ME/EE, A Multidisciplinary Fuel Cell Applications Research Program; Guo-Quan Lu, MSE/ECE, Integrated Approach for Synthesis and Processing of Magnetic Materials and Devices; Sally Paulson, entomology, The Establishment of a Mosquito Rearing and Containment Facility for Arbovirus Research.
Christopher D. Hall, AOE, Space Craft Simulator; Aicha Elshabini-Riad et al, EE and chemistry, Multidisciplinary Microelectronics Packaging Initiative; James Wilson et al, BSE, Auxiliary Equipment for Universal Testing Machine; John Duke Jr., ESM/MSE, Acquisition of Infrared Equipment; Scott Case, ESM, Universal Composite Micro-Environment; William Curtin Jr., MSE/ESM, Enabling Equipment for the Center for Modeling and Simulation in Materials Science; Wing Fai Ng, ME, Gas Turbine Research Facility for Wireless Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems; James Mitchell, CE, New Geotechnical Laboratory; Glenn Buss, crop and soil environmental sciences (CSES), Measurement of Anti-oxidants and Sugars in Plants; Andrew J. Barker, ME, Laser Structural Metrology.
Richard E. Veilleux, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Strengthening graduate programs in horticulture that encompasses cell manipulation; George Simmons et al, biology, The Use of Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis and Restriction Enconuclease Profiles; George Filz, CE, Pilot-Scale Subsurface Barrier Test Facility; Patrick Bender et al, biochemistry, An Interdisciplinary Partnership in Biomedical Informatics; Crandall Shifflett, history, Virtual Jamestown; Mark Crisman et al, veterinary medicine, Center for Immunologic Investigation; Ina Hoeschele, dairy science, Computational Methods for Statistical Analysis of Genetic Data; William A. Ducker, chemistry, Facility for Molecular-Resolution Imaging of Interfacing Molecules.
Mary Beth Oliver, communication studies, Teaching Children Media Literacy Using Computer Technologies; Beth Grabau et al, PPWS, Expanding Plant Transformation Capabilities; Demetrios Telionis et al, ESM/ME, High Resolution CCD Camera for Particle Image Velocimetry; Thomas Truman Capone, history, Enhanced Digital Design Learning in the New Millennium; Ray Reneau Jr., CSES, Purchase of an Ion Chromatograph; William Swecker et al, the colleges of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture and Life Sciences, Bovine/Forage Production Systems for the 21st Century: A Facility for Research; Kriton K. Hatzios, PPWS, Precision Laboratory Sprayer for Research and Graduate Education Programs; David F. Cox, chemical engineering, Renovation of the Randolph Hall Basement.
John Dickey et al, CPAP and urban affairs and planning, Use of the CAVE for Design, Planning, and Policy Research Activities; Bob Leonard et al, theatre arts, Consortium for the Study of Theatre and Community; Steven D. Sheetz, accounting, A Feasibility Study for Representing Individual and Group Perceptions Using 3D Cognitive Maps.