August 21, 2009 | Nan Cooper, School of Engineering

Engineering School Wins Major Educational Awards

Four research teams in engineering have won federal funding for the support of graduate students.

The School of Engineering has won four U.S. Department of Education grants aimed at enhancing the nation’s technological competitiveness. The three-year grants were made under the agency’s Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) program.

The grant support, paired with additional matching funds from UConn, totals nearly $1 million per year and will support approximately 30 to 35 graduate students annually. Each student will receive two years of support from GAANN funds, with equivalent support from the research programs or departments in subsequent years.

“The GAANN program is an important and prestigious one,” says UConn provost Peter Nicholls, “and we are excited by the prospect of enlarging our engineering graduate programs to address strategic research and education in critical areas of science and technology.”

The GAANN program provides fellowship grants to support U.S. citizens as they pursue their doctoral degrees in fields deemed to be “areas of national need.” Students from traditionally underrepresented populations, including women and minority populations, are a particular focus of the program.

The multidisciplinary teams receiving the awards are:

  • A Storrs-UConn Health Center collaboration headed by Mei Wei, an associate professor in the chemical, materials, and biomolecular engineering department, and professors Jon Goldberg and Liisa Kuhn of the Center for Regenerative Medicine & Skeletal Development at the Health Center, to support students conducting research in the area of biomaterials for tissue regeneration;
  • A team headed by dean of engineering Mun Y. Choi, aimed at engaging graduate students in research involving advanced energy and environmental technologies, including fuel cells, solar power, waste-to-energy conversion, carbon sequestration, and distributed power;
  • An effort headed by Professor Reda Ammar, head of the computer science and engineering department, that will involve students in advanced computing research targeting biomedical informatics and underwater sensor networks;
  • And a team led by John Chandy, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, that will engage graduate students in investigations of advanced computing security to strengthen financial, communications, transportation, and defense systems.

“The GAANN program is essential to providing financial aid to graduate students with impressive academic records,” says U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn). “The receipt of these prestigious awards shows the scope of research and educational excellence residing at the University of Connecticut.”