Sept. 30, 2009 – Dr. Jyoti Shah, associate professor of biology, recently received more than $1 million in two grants from the National Science Foundation to improve the understanding of plant responses to stress. Read more.
Aug. 20, 2009 – Saraju Mohanty, an assistant professor in computer science and engineering at the University of North Texas, is working to make the production and operation of electronic chips more energy efficient, which would increase battery life, reduce power consumption and lead to lower costs for consumers. Read more.
Aug. 1, 2009 – The UNT department of chemistry has been awarded $498,525 from the National Science Foundation to upgrade its Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) facilities by purchasing a Varian Inova 400 MHz NMR system and upgrading its existing 500 MHz spectrometer. The proposal, “Upgrading the NMR Facilities with Enabled Cyberinfrastructure,” was coordinated by Mohammad Omary, associate professor chemistry. The UNT NMR laboratory provides services to a broad range of researchers from chemistry, materials science and engineering, physics, and biology. Research in the Omary and Justin Youngblood groups (chemistry) targets stacking interactions in metal-organic and organic molecules, respectively, in relation to their optoelectronic properties. The Rick Reidy group (materials science) uses NMR to understand the mechanism of formation of silicon-oxygen molecular electronic materials. The Michael Richmond and Robby Petros groups (chemistry) bring new understanding to metal cluster chemistry of transition metal complexes and homogeneous catalysts. Research in the Teresa Golden and Nandika D’Souza groups (chemistry and materials science) focuses on using NMR spectroscopy to study polymers intercalated into clay matrices to form nanocomposites. The state-of-the-art NMR facility modernized by this award will be managed by Hongjun Pan, who will work with the senior faculty to solve research problems and also train graduate and undergraduate students on NMR techniques. The “cyberinfrastructure” portion of the grant will allow online students secured, remote access to the data in the UNT NMR lab, incorporate interactive NMR experiences into new and existing online courses at UNT, and develop new course materials to teach the theory and application of NMR spectroscopy. The investigators will also work with two UNT research clusters, especially the bio/nano-photonics cluster, to enhance graduate and postdoctoral, cross-disciplinary training, as well as to involve local undergraduate and K-12 institutions in modern research.
July 15, 2009 – Srinivasan Srivilliputhur has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award, which is the most prestigious offered by the NSF for young researchers. The $430,000 grant supports early career development activities of educators who effectively integrate research and education within the context of the missions of their organizations. Read more.
July 10, 2009 – A professor at the University of North Texas is among the 100 university researchers nationwide to earn recognition from the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor a beginning scientist or engineer can receive in the United States. Rada Mihalcea, associate professor of computer science and engineering, was honored by the White House for her groundbreaking research on understanding the meaning of text, a critical capability for many important natural language and information processing applications, and for her exemplary commitments to education and community service. Read more.
July 10, 2009 –Thomas Cundari, UNT professor of chemistry, will receive $750,000 from the Department of Energy for his portion of a research project titled “Center for Catalytic Hydrocarbon Functionalization” (“CHF”). Part of a larger, five-year, $15 million project, CHF is the name of a proposed institute based at the University of Virginia. This nationwide research effort, teaming UNT with investigators from the University of Virginia, the University of California, Berkeley, Yale and Princeton, to name a few, will look at ways to improve the catalytic conversion of methane to methanol, an alternative fuel derived primarily from natural gas. Researchers hope not only to improve the burn-rate of methane (increased MPH for cars), but also to better understand the oxidation process, leading to reduced waste and carbon emissions. Cundari, in collaboration with Profs. Jincheng Du and Srinivasan Srivilliputhur, all members of UNT’s Center for Advanced Scientific Computing and Modeling (CASCaM) and the materials modeling research cluster, will use highly accurate computer models and simulations to better understand fundamental chemical interactions and develop improved catalysts.
June 21, 2009 – Dr. Mitty C. Plummer, UNT associate professor of engineering technology, has been awarded $80,000 from the Texas Workforce Development Commission for his portion of a research project titled “Texas Nuclear Workforce Development Initiative.” UNT’s contribution to this project, lead by Texas A&M, will result in completion of four web-based nuclear courses to be used in the technical core of the Nuclear Power Technology degree program. UNT has the only undergraduate Nuclear Engineering Technology Program in Texas to be accredited by the Technology Accreditation Commission of ABET, Inc. (TAC of ABET). Plummer’s main area of research includes alternative energy, including coordination of the Nuclear Engineering Technology program, which has been in existence for 18 years and is currently delivered to off-site locations via distance technology.
The Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) has awarded Dr. Guido Verbeck and Dr. Thomas Scharf $244,516 to purchase a Varian 820 Inductively-coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS) with Cetac Laser Ablation System. This instrument is “well suited to support both synthetic chemistry and new materials, which is the strength of the Material Science and Chemistry departments.” This acquisition will greatly enhance the support instrumentation available to students and researchers at UNT and surrounding educational institutions.
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has awarded $399,790 to Cathy Hartman, Assistant Dean of Libraries, and Mark Phillips, Head of The Portal to Texas History Digital Products Unit, to continue their efforts, which began in 2007, to digitize newspaper pages. The University of North Texas will work closely with the Center for American History at the University of Texas to digitize newspaper pages that “reflect the political and economic history of the state; provide coverage for major regions of the state, including most major population areas; and have a broad chronological span” as part of the National Digital Newspaper Program sponsored by NEH.
Dr. Idean Salehyan, Assistant Professor of Political Science, has been awarded $10,357 by the US Army War College to study “External Support for Insurgencies and the Escalation of Regional Conflict.” This research will analyze cases in which civil wars have escalated into international crises (e.g. Israel, Rwanda), and contrasts them with cases of successful regional cooperation to contain transnational insurgences (e.g. Central America, North-east India). Dr. Salehyan will outline “best-practices,” drawing from past successes, and will develop policy recommendations for dealing with current crises. This information will be vital in dealing with the current civil wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, Sudan, and Colombia, among others, which all share the common feature of transnationally organized rebel groups that span national boundaries and make counterinsurgency operations difficult.
Oct. 22, 2008 – The Air Force Research Laboratory has presented UNT with almost $2.2 million to develop the Institute for Science and Engineering Simulation (ISES). The primary purpose of this project is to perform modeling and simulation on fatigue cracking in structurally significant aircraft components with the goal of extending the flight life of current and future military aircraft, and ensuring the safety and success for the US military and personnel. With the increased demand for support requirements on overseas missions, including Iraq and Afganistan, the material stress on US Air Force aircrafts has been amplified.
The ISES, a leading-edge facility for research and education on simulation techniques and tools, will be run by Dr. Raj Banerjee (Associate Professor, Materials Science and Engineering), Dr. Alan Needleman (Visiting Professor, Materials Science and Engineering), Dr. Angela Wilson (Associate Professor, Chemistry) and Dr. Thomas Scharf (Assistant Professor, Materials Science and Engineering). ISES will also serve as a hub to connect experimental, characterization and simulation activities on collaborative projects, and to provide short courses and workshops throughout North Texas and beyond.
Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Dr. Stephen A. Cooke, has been awarded the prestigious Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities for Instrument Development award from the National Science Foundation totaling $320,758. Dr. Cooke will be working to build a Pulsed Nozzle, Fourier Transform Rotational Spectrometer operable below 1000 MHz. This machine will be able to observe and research molecules at a higher resolution than ever possible and it may be the only one of its kind in the world. The new instrument will greatly enhance UNT’s research infrastructure and will provide an important and unique educational experience for students.
Dr. Angela Wilson, Associate Professor of Chemistry, has been awarded $717,000 by the US Department of Energy for a two year research project to model fundamental carbon dioxide chemistry relevant to its utilization and storage. High level quantum mechanics simulations will be utilized to accurately quantify the thermodynamics and kinetics of carbon dioxide reactions with baseline materials relevant to the increased catalytic usage of this material and also to chemical interactions of significance in environmental chemistry and sequestering technology scenarios. This research could have vital societal and environmental impact on strategies to reduce the atmospheric concentration of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. Dr. Wilson will be joined in her research by Co-PI Dr. Thomas Cundari, Professor of Chemistry. (09032008)
Dr. Smita Mehta, Associate Professor of Educational Psychology, has been awarded $799,430 from the US Department of Education for a four year research project. This project, called Project DART: Distributed Education for Autism Personnel in Rural Texas, will recruit, prepare, retain, evaluate, mentor and graduate highly qualified personnel from rural communities of Texas in the area of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Project DART intends to extend UNT’s Master’s Degree Program in Autism Intervention to reach the vast number of special education teachers and parents who live in rural parts of Texas and currently don’t have access to high quality, comprehensive autism training. This goal will be accomplished by utilizing distributed educational technologies and instructional formats, such as blogging, journaling, and simulations. (09032008)
Dr. Herman Totten, Dean of the School of Library and Information Sciences, has been awarded $448,000 for a project entitled “Recruiting and Educating Librarians for the Digital Age: Diversifying Librarianship in the South” from Emory University. Dean Totten “will be actively involved in curriculum design and recruiting students.” He will also teach the first core course in the program. (09032008)
PI: Acevedo, Miguel (Electrical Engineering)
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Project Title: “CI-TEAM Demonstration Project: Engaging Local Governments, Teachers, and Students in CI for Environmental Monitoring and Modeling”
Project Period: 6/29/09 – 9/30/09
Project Award Amount: $12,225
PI: Ruggiere, Paul (Survey Research Center)
Sponsor: Center for Disease Control
Project Title: “Midlothian Interview Recruitment”
Project Period: 6/22/09 – 8/31/09
Project Award Amount: $21,500
PI: Salehyan, Idean (Political Science)
Sponsor: University of Texas at Austin & Department of Defense
Project Title: “Program on Climate Change, State Stability, and Political Risk in Africa”
Project Period: 6/1/09 – 5/31/14
Project Award Amount: $22,117.80
PI: Harris, Mary
Sponsor: SFA
Project Title: “Texas Educational Research Center for Educator Preparation”
Project Period: 4/1/09 – 8/31/09
Project Award Amount: $19,000
PI: Ruggiere, Paul (Survey Research Center)
Sponsor: Parkland Hospital
Project Title: “Parkland Study of Family Planning for African American Women”
Project Period: 3/17/09 – 8/31/09
Project Award Amount: $49,000
For a list of past awards please visit Awards Report page
Last Updated: July, 2009
Click here to see Previous Awards