$1.8M In Grants Help OU Faculty Pursue Science Research
Faculty at Oakland University are taking advantage of nearly $1.8 million in recently approved grants to support science-related projects in explosives detection, microwave signal processing and development of summer research programs.
Associate Professor Xiangqun Zeng received a $1,054,638 grant from the U.S. Office of Naval Research to develop sensors to detect explosives from a safe distance. These devices will be highly sensitive and selective, suitable for use in a noisy environment and designed at a low-cost and to use low power.
In related research, Professor LianXiang Yang will use a $219,980 grant from the National Center for Physical Acoustics at the University of Mississippi to develop a new and sensitive optical laser inspection system that uses vibration analysis.
Andrei Slavin, professor and chair of OU's Department of Physics, has received a $91,065 installment from an ongoing grant from the National Science Foundation to develop new microwave signal processing devices. The work is targeting new nano-sized signal processing devices utilizing spin-torque nano-oscillators.
Two science-related grants Oakland faculty have won involve creating summer research programs for students.
Associate professors Laila Guessous and Qian Zou will use a three-year, $114,075 grant from the NSF and the U.S. Department of Defense to address the nationwide issue of attracting and retaining students -- particularly women -- in the field of mechanical engineering.
The Automotive and Energy Research and Industrial Mentorship (AERIM) Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program was set up in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at OU to each year provide meaningful, hands-on, paid 10-week summer research experiences to 10 talented and motivated undergraduate engineering students from across the United States.
Another summer research program has been developed by Assistant Professor Osamah Rawashdeh with a $299,995 NSF grant.
In the Interdisciplinary Research Experience in Electrical and Computer Engineering (IREECE) program, undergraduates from around the country work full-time for 10 weeks with faculty and staff on cutting-edge research projects. A primary goal is to increase interest in advanced research and academic careers, especially among women and minorities.
This year, OU faculty and staff submitted a record number of proposals to various funding agencies and secured a total of nearly $19 million in external funding -- an all-time high for Oakland.
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