CETA Faculty Win Grants and Awards

Among the many grants and awards won by University of Hartford faculty last spring are the following won by CETA faculty.

Dr. Saeid Moslehpour, assistant professor of computer and electrical engineering, won a Greenberg Junior Faculty Grant that he will use to develop a simulation model for a microprocessor. The grant, an internal award to promote high-quality scholarship by faculty members just beginning their careers, provides for course release time and funding for a research assistant.

Dr. Moslehpour also won a Coffin Grant from the University to develop a translator of VHDL (Very High Speed Integrated Circuit Hardware Description Language) to SPICE (Simulation Program for Integrated Circuits Emphasis). His goal is to simulate analog/digital circuitry in one software environment.

In addition, Dr. Moslehpour received a $3,000 sub-award from NASA to work on Connecticut Space Grant College Consortium curriculum development.

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Dr. Akram Abu-aisheh, assistant professor of computer and electrical engineering, won a Coffin Grant to develop a low-cost fiber optics communications and sensors laboratory for teaching and developing new experiments in fiber optics. Coffin Grants are awarded to full-time faculty for a variety of scholarly and creative projects and for activities that enhance teaching or contribute to professional development.

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Dr. Robert Celmer, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, received a $25,000 grant from the Paul S. Veneklasen Research Foundation that funded research into footfall noise characterization carried out by two of Dr. Celmer’s students under his supervision. Samantha “Sammi" Rawlings and Josh McGee won the Best Student Paper Award at the recent Acoustical Society of America held in New Orleans with their report on the results of this research.

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Dr. M. Saleh Keshawarz, associate professor of civil, environmental, and biomedical engineering, Dr. Hisham Alnajjar, associate professor of electrical, computer, and biomedical engineering, and Dr. Ivana Milanovic, Associate Professor of mechanical engineering, received a grant from the Ministry of Higher Education in Afghanistan for work they are doing to improve engineering education at Herat University in Herat, Afghanistan.

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Dr. Thomas Filburn, the director of the Connecticut Space Grant Consortium, and Dr. Ivana Milanovic, chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department, received a total of $403,385 from NASA for three years of programs and projects in the Consortium, which comprises the University of Hartford, Bridgeport University, Central Connecticut State University, Connecticut College of Technology, Eastern Connecticut State University, Fairfield University, Southern Connecticut State University, Trinity College, University of Connecticut, UConn Health Center, University of New Haven, and Wesleyan University. The projects are carried out by students working with faculty.

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Dr. Filburn also received grants for various projects being performed by students under his direction as follows:

• ATCO Catalyst Study, funded by Jacobs Sverdrup, $29,975
• Bed Depth and Ammonia Capacity Testing, funded by NASA, $23,35
• Connecticut Space Grant Consortium–OWC, funded by the State of Connecticut Office for Worksforce Competitiveness, $78,000
• Development of Ion Flow Control Techniques, funded by Pratt & Whitney, $1,600
• Low-Cost Solar Concentrators, funded by Connecticut Innovations, $280,416
• Novel CO2 Removal Technologies for Use on Mars, funded by NASA, $114, 933

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James Fuller, associate professor of architecture in CETA; Associate Professor Terri Albert, associate professor of management and marketing in the Barney School of Business; Jeffrey Cohen, associate professor of economics, finance and insurance in the Barney School of Business; Associate Professor David Pines, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering in CETA; and Nancy Wynn, assistant professor in visual communication design in the Hartford Art School received a $25,000 grant from the Capitol Region Council of Governments for an Assessment of Current Resources in the Capitol Region for Livable Community Design Support and Building Livable Community Design Capacity.

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Dr. Pines also received a grant of $10,000 from Pratt & Whitney to support the work of the student chapter of Engineers Without Borders. That chapter recently built a solar-powered well in the village of Abheypur in India, providing a sustainable solution to the problem of how to more easily access water for the villagers.

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Frank Lahey, professor emeritus of mechanical engineering, who serves as advisor to the fSAE (Formula Society of Automotive Engineers) club and team, received a $15,000 grant from the Newman’s Own Foundation in support of the team’s efforts to build a car and compete in the national fSAE competition.

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Dr. Louis Manzione, Dean of CETA, received $30,000 from the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology in support of his Nanotechnology Curriculum Initiative. Dean Manzione chairs the
Connecticut Department of Higher Education Consortium on Nanotechnology, which to develop new course curriculum with an emphasis on nanotechnology and the twenty-first century workforce.

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Dr. Chittaranjan Sahay, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, received a grant for $63,990 from Jacobs Vehicle Systems, Inc., for New Product Development of Machine Layout. Professor Sahay also received a grant of $9,900 from Pratt & Whitney to work on Thermo-Mechanical Fatigue Studies in Single Crystals Under Low Cycle Fatigue.