UAH’s New Faculty Research Program awards over $100,000 to 11 faculty members

Dr. Shannon Mathis is one of 11 new tenure-track faculty members to receive funding through the New Faculty Research Program, which is sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development. Dr. Mathis’ research focuses on reducing fall risk and improving mobility in lower limb amputees.

Michael Mercier | UAH

Eleven new tenure-track faculty members at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) will share $107,059 in 2017/2018 New Faculty Research awards from UAH’s Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development (OVPRED).

"Scholarly research is ingrained in the educational culture at UAH and the New Faculty Research Program provides seed funding to germinate innovative research ideas from our new faculty," says Dr. Robert Lindquist, who serves as the Associate Vice President for Contracts and Grants and as a professor in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering. "With the recent growth of the university and a large influx of new faculty, this year’s proposals were both diverse in subject matter and fiercely competitive. I am excited to see how the faculty research develops."

The New Faculty Research (NFR) Program, which is sponsored by the OVPRED, is intended to assist UAH’s new tenure-track faculty in securing external funds in support of their scholarly interests. Those eligible must have been at UAH for less than three years and must not have previously won an NFR award, which is limited to a maximum of $10,000. Funds received must also be expended within one year of the award date.

This year’s award winners, along their proposal title and their department and/or college, are as follows:

• Dylan Baun, "Winning Lebanon: Popular Politics, Youth Cultures and the Emergence of Sectarian Violence in the Middle East, 1920-1958," History/AHS
• Joshua Burel, "Grażyna Bacewicz: Analysis Showcasing Contributions of Female Composers," Music/AHS
• John Harfouch, "Orientalist Pain: Beyond the Poles of Life and Death," Philosophy/AHS
• Kavan Hazeli, "Mechanical Behavior of Additively Manufactured Lattice Structure," Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering/ENG
• Surangi Jayawardena, "Development of Portable and Affordable Field Kit to Detect Mycobacterium Tuberculosis in Individuals Suspected of Tuberculosis," Chemistry/SCI
• Thuy Lynch, "The Effects of Psychological Stress and Depressive Symptoms on Body Mass, Central Adiposity, and Blood Pressure as Mediated by Cortisol and C-Reactive Protein in 10-12 Year-Old-Children: A Feasibility Study," Nursing
• Shannon Mathis, "Reducing Fall Risk and Improving Mobility in Lower Limb Amputees," Kinesiology/EDU
• Matthew Niemiller, "Is Out of Sight, Out of Mind? The Use of Environmental DNA as a Tool for the Discovery and Monitoring of Rare Groundwater Organisms," Biological Sciences/SCI
• Biswajit Ray, "Security Primitives Using Flash Memory," Electrical and Computer Engineering/ENG
• Sharifa Love-Rutledge, "Metabolic Profiling of B cells to Characterize the Regulatory Role of the Type 1 Diabetes Susceptibility Gene, FAT10," Chemistry/SCI
• Guangsheng Zhang, "Effects of Temperature Distribution on Degradation of Large-Format Li-ion Battery Cells," Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering/ENG