July 21, 2022
Greetings! I am excited to have this opportunity to work with all of you as we continue to foster a culture where everyone feels welcome and has the resources they need to develop their faculty career. Looking towards the 22-23 academic year, we are delighted to greet our newest cohort of faculty hires and will begin to welcome them by launching both a college orientation and pilot mentoring program. Additionally, we will continue our faculty development series with a combination of in-person and online offerings on a variety of new topics open to all.
 
Stay tuned for ways you can contribute to our college community, including committee work and faculty mentoring. Please reach out with ideas, questions, or if you would just like to connect!
 
Warm regards,

Jin Wen, PhD 
Associate Dean, Faculty Advancement
News
How to Save the World: Engineers Respond
From making plastic replacements out of food waste to protecting roads from freeze damage with a novel material to helping a tiny Alaskan village find renewable energy sources, Drexel faculty and graduates are engineering change around the globe. Read more.
Expanding Industry Engagement in Engineering Education 
Together with six other universities in the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network, Drexel is helping to build the relationship between engineering academic units and their advisory boards. Read more.
Provost Awards Acknowledge College Faculty
Three engineering faculty members were honored for their teaching and research excellence at this year’s Faculty Award Reception.

Announcements
Sabbatical Proposals for AY 23-24

A non-binding Sabbatical Intention to Apply Form for 2023-2024 should be submitted to Dean Sharon Walker and emailed to sabbaticals@drexel.edu by October 16, 2022. For more information, visit the Provost’s website or contact Dorilona Rose at dr62@drexel.edu.

Cultivating an Inclusive Culture in Drexel Engineering 

Dean Sharon Walker is asking ALL faculty and staff to refresh their implicit bias training annually. To access the training, log in to DrexelOne, click on the "Employee" tab, click on "Career Pathway" under “My Career,” and search for “implicit bias.” Select the online course "Recognizing and Mitigating Implicit Bias.” For most of you, it will show as "Completed." Click on the button below that says "Request" and verify that you would like to re-launch the training. Faculty are asked to send their completed certificates to Dorilona Rose.

BBLearn Resources for Faculty

All CoE faculty have access to CoE Faculty Academic Student Resources in BBLearn. This portal is a one-stop shop for faculty regarding academic policy/procedures, including change of grade and incomplete contracts. It also has links to advisor contact information to reach out to a student’s advisor if there are any concerns, in addition to BBLearn tutorials. There are many more resources including mental health resources and supports for student learning. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Sarit Kunz at sk11@drexel.edu.

Updates to the 21-22 FAR Process 

The Faculty Annual Review (FAR) process evaluating the 2021-2022 academic year will once again use Career Pathway for submission. Some updates have been made based on feedback from last year’s process, including longer lead time, the ability to include creative activity in addition to research and scholarship, and a new field for information that may not be captured elsewhere. The deadline for submission is October 7, 2022. Please see the Office of Faculty Advancement website for more detailed information about the submission process. 

AFEL Book Donation

Staff and faculty can drop off their gently used or new children’s books at Lebow Engineering 239 or can schedule a pick-up by emailing Sherry Levin at sdl56@drexel.edu. The books will be donated to the AFEL Action for Early Learning (AFEL) program at Drexel University. For large donations please coordinate with the AFEL Program Director Maria Walker at mjw356@drexel.edu. To learn more about their projects visit AFEL’s website. AFEL’s offices are located in the EXCITE Center but you can see the bright orange library sites around West Philadelphia. 

Congratulations

Yury Gogotsi’s, PhD, Distinguished University and Charles T. and Ruth M. Bach Professor and Director of the A.J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute, PhD student Sokhna Dieng was awarded the Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future Award in support of Dieng’s studies and work at Drexel. The Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future Award’s long-term goal is to accelerate gender equality in STEM by generating conditions that result in more women pursuing scientific careers through alleviating some of the barriers they encounter when enrolling in STEM disciplines. Sokhna Dieng will be working on the development of 2D carbides and nitrides known as MXenes. She will explore synthesis and potential applications of this quickly expanding family of materials with outstanding electrochemical, optical, mechanical, and other properties. 
 
Karen Miu, PhD, professor of electrical and computer engineering, is the recipient of an award from the Office of Naval Research for her project “Energy Broadcast System: Multi-Rate Analysis for Improved Situational Awareness.” This project will address power electronic power distribution systems (PEPDS) with uncertainty through multi-rate analysis and control. The project seeks to expand classical model predictive control frameworks, which typically utilize fixed time windows within a stated time horizon. A multi-rate environment will allow for supervisory control to be enacted at targeted time grains based on the system’s need.

Jennifer Atchison, PhD, assistant teaching professor in mechanical engineering and mechanics, received the Section Service Achievement award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Philadelphia section "in recognition of her extraordinary efforts as sectional leader, benefitting the ASME Philadelphia section." Atchison recently completed a term as chair of the Philadelphia section, a role that she has filled since 2020. Under her leadership, ASME Philadelphia won the Section Achievement and Section Innovation awards for their virtual programming during the pandemic.
Seen and Heard
The College of Engineering's Eureka! STEM Camp with Girls, Inc. was featured in a July 12 WCAU-TV (NBC-10) news segment, highlighting the participants building and racing solar cars.
 
Research by Michael Waring, PhD, professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering, and Bryan Cummings, PhD, a research scientist, that revealed houseplants do not contribute to improving indoor air quality, was mentioned in a June 28 MSN Lifestyle story about improving indoor air filtration.
 
Matthew Stamm, PhD, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, was quoted in a June 27 USA Today story about an altered image, allegedly of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s husband, that has been circulating on the internet. Stamm, a digital forensics expert, helped the outlet discover that the image had been edited
 
Research by Franco Montalto, PhD, professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering, measuring extreme flooding events in Camden, was mentioned in a June 25 Philadelphia Inquirer story about how climate change is affecting the city.

Upcoming Events
Fridays at noon through August 12 ( Register)

MXene Conference - Addressing Global Challenges With Innovation

CAEE Summer Institute

SWE High School Mentorship Program
Funding Opportunities
Internal Competitions

Pre-Proposal (required) Deadline: August 24, 2022

NSF

Preliminary Proposal (required) Deadline: August 10, 2022

Full Proposal Deadline: August 12, 2022

Full Proposal Deadline: August 18, 2022

Letter of Intent (required) Deadline: September 2, 2022

Full Proposal Deadline: September 6, 2022

Letter of Intent (required) Deadline: September 12, 2022

Preliminary Proposal (required) Deadline: September 14, 2022

Full Proposal Deadline: September 19, 2022

Letter of Intent (required) Deadline: September 21, 2022

Full Proposal Deadline: October 3, 2022

Full Proposal Deadline: October 11, 2022

Full Proposal Deadline: October 11, 2022

Rolling Deadline

Rolling Deadline

See DCL for more details regarding deadlines

See DCL for more details regarding deadlines

See DCL for more details regarding deadlines

See DCL for more details regarding deadlines

See DCL for more details regarding deadlines

See DCL for more details regarding deadlines

Other Federal Agencies

Letter of Intent (required) Deadline: August 3, 2022

Full Proposal Deadline: August 19, 2022

Full Proposal Deadline: August 25, 2022

Full Proposal Deadline: September 1, 2022

Letter of Intent (required) Deadline: September 16, 2022

Other Sponsors

Priority Round Deadline: July 29, 2022

Preliminary Applications (required) Deadline: July 31, 2022

Full Proposal Deadline: August 9, 2022

Online Funding Inquiries (required) Deadline: August 19, 2022

Full Proposal Deadline: August 23, 2022

Full Proposal Deadline: August 25, 2022

Learning & Networking Resources

NSF's Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) is hosting its annual portfolio showcase event, Convergence Accelerator Expo 2022 from July 27-28, 2022. This virtual event is your opportunity to see NSF Convergence Accelerator's portfolio in a live exhibition format. Attendees will be able to connect with more than 45 funded research teams across six convergence research track topics that are focused on national-scale societal challenges. Find more information about the event and how to register.

In the Know

RFI Deadline: August 22, 2022

NIH announced the "Director's Early Independence Awards (DP5 Clinical Trial Optional)" which is specifically for junior scientists to accelerate their entry into an independent research career by forgoing the traditional post-doctoral training period. Drexel faculty are encouraged to share this solicitation with recent doctoral graduates that fit the criteria for this award.
Full Proposal Deadline: September 2, 2022

RFI Deadline: September 6, 2022

DOE Intends to issue a FOA entitled "Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization." Review the announcement for more information.

NSF and the Department of Energy, through its Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), signed a Memorandum of Understanding on March 23, 2022, continuing their longstanding partnership for collaboration on scientific and engineering research to bolster national energy policy. Read the full announcement.