WMU grants top $1.5 million mark in January, February

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Western Michigan University garnered more than $1.5 million in grants in January and February, bringing the year-to-date grant total to more than $22.5 million, WMU trustees learned at their March 25 meeting.

Research grants soar

Grants for research led the way, soaring past $1.3 million, while grants for public service closed in on $200,000. WMU Research Foundation Grants came in at $40,000, and grants for student services hit $6,656. Grants for instruction totaled $1,500.

Notable research grants included a new, $447,616 award from the U.S. Department Of Education, Office of Special Education Programs to Dr. Paula Kohler, vice president of research, to implement evidence-based and promising practices and strategies to ensure students with disabilities, including those with significant disabilities, graduate from high school with the ability to succeed in postsecondary education and employment.

Two other new research grants were from the National Science Foundation. The first, for $200,000, was awarded to Drs. John Patten and Steven Butt, professor and chair, respectively, of industrial and entrepreneurial engineering, and Dr. John Mueller, assistant professor of management, to demonstrate a proof of concept to use diamond drills and lasers to heat and soften materials that are considered difficult to drill. The second, for $171,341, was awarded to Dr. Fahad Saeed, assistant profesor of computer science, to develop and implement high performance computing (HPC) solutions using next generation sequencing (NGS) technology to analyze human and other species' genomic information.

Public service grants

Public service grants were led by a $148,030 renewal grant to Dr. Erika Ann Carr from the State of Michigan Workforce Development Agency to provide educational preparedness and college awareness to over 10,000 low-income, under-represented students in 38 school districts throughout Michigan.

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