Seven projects have been awarded funding through the new UI-CAES Seed Funding Program that began in February. The program provides up to $10K to University of Idaho-led projects with the potential to garner additional, external funding. Its funding comes from the UI Office of Research and Economic Development, where 25% of Facilities & Administration (F&A) funds from sponsored projects are returned to UI research institutes, including UI-CAES, to incentivize competitive research awards. In launching the program, CAES Associate Director for UI John Russell said its priorities are to:
- Support novel, energy-related research, aligned with CAES focus areas
- Support innovative outreach activities focused on energy-related issues
- Provide seed funding for subsequent research proposal development
- Fund graduate student (principally PhD student) energy research
- Support pre-tenure faculty
- Enhance collaboration with CAES institutions
The following awards were announced in late February:
- Assistant Professor Amin Mirkouei’s proposal, Collaborative Research: CyberTraining: Implementation: Medium: CyberTraining of Construction (CyCon) Research Workforce Through an Educational and Community Engagement Platform, received a $10K seed grant.
- Professor Indrajit Charit’s project, Microstructural and Nanomechanical Characterization of Ion Irradiated Molybdenum Based Materials Joined via Pressure Resistance Welding, received a seed grant of $9,999.Professor Krishnan Raja’s proposal, Additive Manufacturing of Self-healing and Irradiation Resistant Components by High Pressure Cold Spray Technology, was awarded a $10K seed grant.
- Assistant Professor Min Xian received a $10K seed grant for his proposal, Building Capabilities in Uncertainty Quantification (UQ) for Computational Models in Nuclear Materials Characterization.
- Xian also was awarded a $4K micro grant for Summer Projects on AI-Enhanced Materials Characterization for Recruiting Graduate Students.
- Assistant Professor Aleksandar Vakanski’s project, Active Learning Method for Predicting Creep-Fatigue Behavior of Nuclear Structural Materials, was awarded a $10K seed grant.
- Associate Professor Haiyan Zhao’s proposal, Enhancing Advanced Materials and Chemistry Characterization via Acquisition of Mass Spectrometer, received a $10K seed grant.
