2007 — 2010 |
Nicholson, Donald Keffer, David Edwards, Brian (co-PI) [⬀] Fuentes-Cabrera, Miguel |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Exp-La: Collaborative Research: Exploiting Geometry and Chemistry At the Nanoscale to Selectively Preconcentrate Explosive Molecules @ University of Tennessee Knoxville
The primary objective of the proposed work is to develop second-generation explosive pre-concentrators using Smart Nanoporous Preconcentrators (SNPs) based on molecularly tailored Metal Organic Frameworks, which have the capability to adsorb selectively different types of explosives.
The intellectual merit of this proposal is that it describes a computational procedure, involving three overlapping length scales, which can be synergistically organized to provide a simultaneously fundamental and practical description of the adsorptive and diffusive behavior of explosive compounds in trace quantities through nanoporous media. This project is a collaborative program among three universities (The university of Tennessee, Jackson State university, and West Virginia University) and focuses on tailoring MOF structure for specificity with a given explosive molecule.
The broader impacts of the work include (i) more selective and more sensitive explosive sensors, which will enhance the security of the United States, (ii) a contribution to the ability of the computational community to form a ?rapid response? team for sensor development tailored to explosives associated with emerging threats, (iii) the integration of computational research into the educational mission of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (UTK), Jackson State University (JSU), and West Virginia University (WVU), and (iv) the involvement of researchers of diverse backgrounds at each institution.
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0.988 |
2007 — 2009 |
Shaqfeh, Eric Stefan Schieber, Jay Edwards, Brian [⬀] Khomami, Bamin Keffer, David |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
From Nanoscale Simulation to Process Engineering: Building a Network For Understanding Polymer Dynamics @ University of Tennessee Knoxville
CBET - 0742679 Brian Edwards, University of Tennessee Knoxville
Engineering of systems or processes, in which the properties of the final product depend on phenomena that occur at different length and time scales, has emerged as a grand challenge for research aimed at the development of high performance materials. Polymer and polymer matrix composite industries account for 15% of the manufacturing segment of the Gross Domestic Product and can greatly benefit from multiscale computational models integrating information from the molecular, mesoscopic, and continuum length scales. To date, such models have been based on macroscopic conservation laws incapable of accurately predicting the necessary structure-property-performance relationships. This research will initiate and catalyze this much-needed multiscale process model transformation to a computer-based product development through the establishment of a prototype virtual engineering organization for facilitation of collaborations between domestic and international partners. This will lead to rapid new discoveries and the virtually instantaneous dissemination of new developments in this field. The intellectual merits of the virtual organization is the development of a prototype network of international collaborators, connected virtually through a primary server/distribution site dedicated to the project. This site will serve as a hub for passing simulation codes and simulation/experimental data, visualization of data intensive systems, ensuring compatibility of codes and software among various platforms, and allow for a pooling of computational resources at the allied institutions for shared usage. It will create and disseminate multiscale engineering tools to enrich engineering curricula and to aid industrial process engineers. In the broader impacts context, such an organization can resolve and test management and organizational structures, cyber-infrastructure effectiveness, and middleware application/development for full implementation and replication in other areas of engineering practice. Prototype virtual organizations can thus have a profound effect on the future direction, structure, and the strategic implementation of universally accessible large-scale virtual engineering networks.
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0.988 |
2007 — 2011 |
Odom, Walter Edwards, Brian [⬀] Jackson, Denise (co-PI) [⬀] Wu, Jie Keffer, David |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Scholarships For Engineering Students From Underrepresented Groups in the East Tennessee Region @ University of Tennessee Knoxville
This project is awarding scholarships to academically talented students and is supporting the scholars through a variety of structures and programs already in place on campus. Students from underrepresented groups are being especially targeted for support. To augment scholarship funds, students are being encouraged to pursue either undergraduate research experiences or co-ops or internships with local industries. Through the combination of scholarship and employment opportunities, students can cover up to 88% of the total cost of their education. Students are targeted for participation in three departments: chemical engineering, electrical engineering and computer science, and industrial and information engineering. The disciplines targeted through this program are well represented within the industry needs of the Southeastern region of the U.S. Retaining at least 95% of the student scholars and placing at least 25% of the participants in graduate programs are project goals.
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0.988 |
2008 — 2014 |
Khomami, Bamin Bruce, Barry (co-PI) [⬀] Frymier, Paul (co-PI) [⬀] Keffer, David Rawn, Claudia |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Igert: Stair: Sustainable Technology Through Advanced Interdisciplinary Research @ University of Tennessee Knoxville
Given the impending global energy/climate crisis, engineering practice must undergo a paradigm shift from a traditional design process that had little regard to energy and/or environmental costs to a new process that must address a broader set of parameters that include the ultimate sustainability of the design alternatives. This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program will provide the resources for the University of Tennessee to become a national curriculum and research leader in sustainable energy technologies by developing the technological, scientific, and engineering expertise required. The training of scientists and engineers must now change in two important ways. First, engineers must now learn to work within the context of sustainable production processes. Second, engineers must now learn to work regularly on complex innovative production processes that require advanced interdisciplinary expertise and collaboration of materials, computational and biological sciences and engineering. This IGERT provides a highly integrated engineering curriculum and training program with a coherent sequence of steps toward the proficiency required to work effectively in the sustainable energy arena. The program fosters the development of technological, scientific, and engineering expertise required in exploring new, sustainable energy technologies. The diverse trainees will have expertise in either biomolecular engineering or materials science and engineering relevant to sustainable production of energy; breadth in both the biomolecular and materials disciplines; pervasive exposure to research performed within the context of sustainability; and a commitment to outreach through workshops at the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge and Knoxville ASM Summer Materials Camp. IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the interdisciplinary background, deep knowledge in a chosen discipline, and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries.
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0.988 |
2017 — 2022 |
Griffin, Travis (co-PI) [⬀] Mccord, Rachel Wetteland, Christopher Keffer, David Retherford, Jennifer |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Transfer Success Co-Design in Engineering Disciplines (Transcend) @ University of Tennessee Knoxville
This project, "Transfer Success Co-Design in Engineering Disciplines," or TranSCEnD, aims at increasing retention and degree completion of community college students transferring to the Tickle College of Engineering (TCE) at the University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK). Pellissippi State Community College (PSCC) is the single largest source of engineering transfer students to UTK. TranSCEnD will recruit and support with scholarships at least 36 academically talented, low-income (i.e. Pell Grant eligible) transfer students for a total of at least 104 annual scholarships over the life of the award. TranSCEnD scholars will also participate in a comprehensive program encompassing a series of activities which span a five-year process (two years at PSCC, a summer bridge program, and three years at UTK). At UTK, engineering transfer students statistically represent a different demographic population than the student body entering the university as freshmen (i.e., transfer students are more likely to be first generation college students). Currently the fraction of engineering transfer students who do not graduate within 5 years at TCE is nearly double that of traditional engineering students. At the same time, the average unmet annual financial need of engineering transfer students is more than double that of TCE students who enter UTK as freshmen. Thus, TranSCEnD will focus on the development and leveraging of financial and socio-academic support services offered at both the PSCC and UTK campuses. This program is timely in the state of Tennessee as the Tennessee Promise program has become a nationwide model for providing two years of free community college education. In its inaugural 2015 class, about 90% of Tennessee's senior class applied for Tennessee Promise. Transfer students' applications to engineering alone have greatly increased in the last few years. Thus the faculty and administration at UTK's TCE anticipate that transfer students will become an increasingly important fraction of the student body in the years to come, and increasing the success of low-income talented transfer students is of great significance.
TranSCEnD builds on evidence-based strategies for mitigating many of the pre-transfer and post-transfer barriers faced by transfer students. These challenges are both academic (adapting to university coursework and culture) and social (lacking a well-defined peer-cohort with whom the adjustment to university life can be shared). The UTK's Materials Science and Engineering and Civil and Environmental Engineering departments are the main engineering partners in TranSCEnD. To execute the project, a multidisciplinary leadership team has been assembled, which includes faculty, staff and administration from UTK, and faculty from PSCC. The TranSCEnD research team will investigate the impact of multiple retention strategies including early academic and social integration on pre-transfer retention, post-transfer retention, and graduation rate for transfer students interested in engineering. The principle of co-design, namely the explicit inclusion of input from all constituents, has been invoked in the creation of the TranSCEnD program. The individual elements of the program have been chosen to balance two influences: (1) a theoretical framework of best pedagogy practices and (2) a practical acknowledgment of demonstrated success at UTK. One novel element is the proposed summer research experience for TranSCEnD students. The summer projects aim to explore fundamental engineering concepts, build a cohort of students with similar academic preparation, and provide them with hands-on engineering design experience while they investigate alternative energy systems. The outcomes of TranSCEnD will be widely disseminated to other institutions of higher learning and in academic publications.
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0.988 |