10 proposals split over $550,000 in UAH internal research funds

Dr. Ray Vaughn, UAH’s vice president for research and economic development, has announced over $550,000 in Research Infrastructure Fund awards.

Michael Mercier | UAH

Ten proposals have been chosen for Research Infrastructure Fund (RIF) awards by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH).

"This year my office invested over $550,000 in this initiative,” says Dr. Ray Vaughn, vice president for Research and economic development. "This is the largest investment I make in internal awards, and this year's proposals were very good.”

The investment is designed to create infrastructure that can enhance UAH’s overall research program and boost the competitiveness of the university’s faculty and research staff.

"A panel of faculty and research staff evaluated the proposals and made selection recommendations to me,” Vaughn said. "I wish we could have funded more.”

Proposals receiving awards, their principal investigators and departments:

• "Prototyping Gamma-ray Detectors for a TGF Instrument,” Dr. Michael Briggs, Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research;
• "Ultra-Stable Optical Metrology with Frequency Comb-Disciplined Multi-wavelength interferometry,” Dr. Lingze Duan, Physics Dept.;
• "Towards High-fidelity Modeling and Analysis of 3D Anisotropic, Flapping Insect Wings,” Dr. Chang-kwon Kang, Dept. of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering;
• "Spectroscopic Ellipsometry for Thin Film Lithium-Oxygen Batteries Cathode Architecture,” Dr. Yu Lei, Chemical & Materials Engineering Dept.;
• "High Fidelity Multi-Man Rotorcraft Simulation Environment,” Dr. Bryan Mesmer, Industrial & Systems Engineering;
• "X-Ray Diffraction System for Characterization of Energy Materials,” Dr. George Nelson, Dept. of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering;
• "Infrastructure Development for the next Phase of UAH Leadership in the Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network: The UAH Mobile,” Dr. Michael Newchurch, Atmospheric Science Dept.;
• "Building a Mobile Cloud Computing Environment to Support Big Data Research,” Dr. David Pan, Electrical & Computer Engineering Dept.;
• "Time-correlated single-photon counting: Investigation of ultrafast dynamics and fluorescence lifetime imaging of nanostructures and molecules using single photons,” Dr. Seyed Sadeghi, Physics Dept.;
• "Dielectric Barrier Discharge Equipment for CO2 Decomposition and Plasma Biomedical Research,” Dr. Kunning Xu, Propulsion Research Center.