Colleagues,

Welcome to the March 2021 Research Newsletter.

Events and Workshops

We continue our monthly “Let’s Talk Research” get togethers. We had some excellent presentations by the Research Constellation groups. All the presentations are on our web page at: https://sponsoredprograms.mst.edu/letstalkresearch/
The March 26 and April 30 meetings will be special: our Chancellor’s Distinguished Fellows will be presenting posters of their research. I look forward to learning the excellent work done by our Fellows, and I hope you will all join me.
We continued to host “We Dig Research!” with slight changes to accommodate for the virtual nature of the event: we invite 5-7 presenters, allow questions, and use break out rooms to stimulate conversations between the audience and the individual presenters.
On March 19 we held a NIH Proposal Workshop, organized by Dr. Yue-Wern Huang, Faculty Fellow at the Office of the VCR. I would like to thank the panelists, D r. Nuran Ercal (Chemistry), Dr. Chang-Soo Kim (Electrical and Computer Engineering), Dr. Pericles Stavropoulos (Chemistry), and Dr. Hu Yang (Chemical and Biochemical Engineering), as well Summer Young and Maria Schaub from my office who also attended.
Dr. Nancy Stone, Faculty Fellow at the Office of the VCR, has organized a Workshop for Working with Industry, scheduled for April 23. More information will be forthcoming.

Numbers

The research performance of the S&T faculty continues to set records. In the first 7 months of FY2021 (July 1 - January 31):

Requested funds are $132.89M, up 57% from the previous year ($84.72M).
Awards are also record breaking: they are $32.95M, up 39% from last year ($23.72M).

These and other research statistics since FY2010 are always available at: https://sponsoredprograms.mst.edu/funding/awarded-and-submitted/

Reminders

Dr. Yue-Wern Huang, Faculty Fellow at the Office of the VCR, has put together a mentor panel to assist faculty in submitting or re-submitting NIH proposals, and to provide overall guidance about working with NIH. I would like to thank Dr. Huang for this imitative, and also thank the volunteer mentors: Dr. Nuran Ercal (Chemistry), Dr. Chang-Soo Kim (Electrical and Computer Engineering), Dr. Pericles Stavropoulos (Chemistry), and Dr. Hu Yang (Chemical and Biochemical Engineering). For more information about this effort, please contact Dr. Yue-Wern Huang (huangy@mst.edu).
Please continue to follow the procedures for granting and tracking research laboratory access, as outlined in my message dated 5/22/20 and located both under: https://sponsoredprograms.mst.edu/covid-19/labaccess/ and under the OSP home page: https://sponsoredprograms.mst.edu click on “Guidance for Research"
Please continue to keep your Google Drive Excel sheets up-to-date and have any new students requiring laboratory access sign a “FormtoAffirmProtocolRules” document and send it to my assistant, Abbie Sherman (abigayle@mst.edu). The form can be found on the OSP Covid-19 lab access web site, or my assistant can provide you with a copy. Students can access the research lab once she receives the signed form.
We will continue to forward to you research opportunities as Excel spreadsheets, and any announcements we receive about virtual training workshops, information sessions for proposals and agencies, etc.
Highlights of selected research projects can be read in our newest re:search magazine here: https://research.mst.edu/research-magazine/

With best Miner wishes,
Costas Tsatsoulis
Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies

Recent Awards:

January 2021:

PI: Douglas A. Bristow

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Proposal Title: Advanced Manufacturing Research Support to Missouri Companies

Sponsor: Missouri Enterprise

Award: $50,000

PI: David D. Duvernell

Department: Biological Sciences
Proposal Title: Development and Validation of eDNA Biomonitoring Resources

Sponsor: Missouri Department of Conservation

Award: $35,878

PI: Kelvin T. Erickson

Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Proposal Title: Senior Design: Upgrade the Safety Devices on the MAAS Machine to Ethernet/IP Devices and a ControlLogix Safety Processor

Sponsor: Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company

Award: $2,000

PI: William G. Fahrenholtz

Department: Materials Science and Engineering
Proposal Title: Missouri S&T support of SUper Strong ceramics for Protection in harsh ENvironments and defenCE (SUSPENCE)

Sponsor: Institute of Science and Technology for Ceramics

Award: $97,218

PI: William G. Fahrenholtz

Department: Materials Science and Engineering
Proposal Title: Missouri S&T support of SUper Strong ceramics for Protection in harsh ENvironments and defenCE (SUSPENCE) - Participant Support

Sponsor: Institute of Science and Technology for Ceramics

Award: $7,320

PI: Jie Huang

Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Proposal Title: MOF-SCENT: Metal-organic Frameworks for Screening COVID-19 by Electronic-Nose Technology to Improve Selectivity and Time Response

Sponsor: NIH National Heart Lung and Blood Institute

Award: $351,108

PI: Victor Khilkevich

Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Proposal Title: CEMC: Membership Agreement for Juniper Networks

Sponsor: Cisco Systems Inc

Award: $30,000

PI: DongHyun Kim

Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Proposal Title: CEMC: Membership Agreement for Cisco 4 - EMC

Sponsor: Cisco Systems Inc

Award: $70,000

PI: DongHyun Kim

Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Proposal Title: CEMC: Membership Agreement for Cisco 4 - EMC

Sponsor: Cisco Systems Inc

Award: $80,000

PI: DongHyun Kim

Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Proposal Title: CEMC: Membership Agreement for Google, LLC

Sponsor: Google LLC

Award: $30,000

PI: FueWen Frank Liou

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Proposal Title: MRI Supplement: Development of an Advanced Materials Additive Manufacturing (AM2) System for Research Education--REU Supplement

Sponsor: NSF Division of Civil, Mechanical & Manufacturing Innovation

Award: $16,000

PI: Sanjay Kumar Madria

Department: Computer Science
Proposal Title: Machine Learning for Secure and Resilient Information Management in Combat Cloud

Sponsor: Air Force Research Lab

Award: $500,000

PI: Ronald J. O'Malley

Department: Materials Science and Engineering
Proposal Title: Novel High Resolution High Temperature in-Line Sensors for Steel Manufacturing

Sponsor: American Iron and Steel Institute

Award: $240,000

PI: Kyle A. Perry

Department: Mining and Nuclear Engineering
Proposal Title: Educational Services: Distance Learning Explosives Engineering Courses for the ATF

Sponsor: Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms

Award: $84,511

PI: Fateme Rezaei

Department: Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
Proposal Title: PFI-RP: Low-Pressure Storage and Separation of Carbon Dioxide and Methane in BioGas to Enable the Use of Renewable Energy

Sponsor: NSF Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnership

Award: $319,373

PI: Fateme Rezaei

Department: Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
Proposal Title: PFI-RP: Low-Pressure Storage and Separation of Carbon Dioxide and Methane in BioGas to Enable the Use of Renewable Energy--ICORP Legacy

Sponsor: NSF Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnership

Award: $50,000

PI: Daniel B. Shank

Department: Psychological Science
Proposal Title: Mind Perception and Morality of Artificial Intelligence in Social Interaction

Sponsor: Army Research Office

Award: $59,769

PI: Shoaib Usman

Department: Mining and Nuclear Engineering
Proposal Title: Meteorological Data Mining & Synthesis for Site Data Supplementation

Sponsor: Ameren UE

Award: $30,000

PI: Yang Wang

Department: Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Proposal Title: COVID-19: Filtration performance of a face mask manufactured by the 3 Sketch LLC

Sponsor: 3 Sketch, LLC

Award: $401

PI: Chenglin Wu

Department: Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Proposal Title: GRFP Reinforced Bridge Barriers

Sponsor: Missouri Department of Transportation

Award: $26,734

PI: Chenglin Wu

Department: Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Proposal Title: GRFP Reinforced Bridge Barriers

Sponsor: Missouri Department of Transportation

Award: $48,263

PI: Donald C. Wunsch II

Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Proposal Title: Mixed-Modality Learning for Lifelong Learning Machines (M2L for L2M) - Phase 2

Sponsor: Teledyne Scientific & Imaging LLC

Award: $50,000

PI: Guirong Yan

Department: Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Proposal Title: SCC-CIVIC-PG Track B: Community Resilience Micro-Bonds to Balance Cost and Social Equity among Stakeholders

Sponsor: NSF Division of Computer & Network Systems

Award: $50,000

December 2020:

PI: Baojun Bai
Department: Geosciences & Geological & Petroleum Engineering
Proposal Title: Wells of Opportunity for the First Ever Heavy Oil Polymer Flood Pilot: Milne Point Oilfield - Alaska North Slope
Sponsor: University of Alaska
Award: $173,597

PI: David Michael Borrok
Department: Geosciences & Geological & Petroleum Engineering
Proposal Title: Tuscaloosa Marine Shale Laboratory
Sponsor: University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Award: $55,352

PI: Sajal K. Das
Department: Computer Science
Proposal Title: SCC-IRG Track 2: Smart Integrated Farm Network for Rural Agricultural Communities (SIRAC)
Sponsor: Iowa State University
Award: $252,147

PI: Fatih Dogan
Department: Materials Science and Engineering
Proposal Title: Functional Links between Carbon Additives and Performance of Positive Active Material in Lead-Batteries
Sponsor: EnerSys
Award: $21,567

PI: Mohamed A. ElGawady
Department: Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Proposal Title: Assessment and Repair of Prestressed Bridge Girders Subjected to Over-height Truck Impacts Pooled Fund Project
Sponsor: Missouri Department of Transportation
Award: $287,621

PI: Mina Esmaeelpour
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Proposal Title: 2D Fiber Optic Sensor Array for 3D Head Motion inside Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scanner
Sponsor: Ozark Biomedical Initiative
Award: $9,956

PI: Mehdi Ferdowsi
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Proposal Title: MIC: Ameren UE Membership
Sponsor: Ameren UE
Award: $60,000

PI: Xianbiao Hu
Department: Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Proposal Title: Systematic Documentation for Autonomous Maintenance Technology Promotion and Deployment
Sponsor: Colorado Department of Transportation
Award: $130,000

PI: Chulsoon Hwang
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Proposal Title: CEMC Membership Agreement for Google
Sponsor: Google, Inc
Award: $70,000

PI: Catherine Emily Johnson
Department: Mining and Nuclear Engineering
Proposal Title: Post Blast Forensics Training for Fort Leonard Wood USAMPS
Sponsor: US Department of Army
Award: $16,554

PI: Jonathan William Kimball
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Proposal Title: Enabling Extreme Fast Charging with Energy Storage (Year 2 Incremental Funding)
Sponsor: US Department of Energy
Award: $1,329,318

PI: Ming C. Leu
Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Proposal Title: Skin Bioprinting with Borate Bioactive Glass for Burn Wound Healing
Sponsor: Ozark Biomedical Initiative
Award: $10,000

PI: Wenyan Liu
Department: Chemistry
Proposal Title: Rapid and Ultrasensitive Diagnosis of Traumatic Brain Injury by Using DNA-Nanoparticle-Assisted Novel Electrochemical Biosensor
Sponsor: Ozark Biomedical Initiative
Award: $9,467

PI: Hongyan Ma
Department: Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Proposal Title: Exploring the Potential of MSWI Ash in Construction Materials
Sponsor: York County Solid Waste and Refuse
Award: $13,000

PI: Heath A. Pickerill
Department: Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Proposal Title: Missouri's Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) at Missouri University of Science and Technology (MS&T)
Sponsor: Missouri Department of Transportation
Award: $217,500

PI: Honglan Shi
Department: Chemistry
Proposal Title: Support for Material Characterization and Analysis for Emerging Materials Research
Sponsor: Pegasus Tech Services, Inc.
Award: $23,500

PI: Chenglin Wu
Department: Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Proposal Title: Atomic-Layer Dependent Adhesion of Tow-Dimensional Transitional Metal Carbides (MXenes)
Sponsor: NSF Division of Civil, Arch & Env Eng
Award: $16,000