2022 College of Engineering Awards Announced

March 10, 2022

A Message from the Associate Dean

Congratulations to our colleagues and students who are this year’s recipients of the College of Engineering Awards. Thanks to each of you for the work you do every day in support of the mission of our college.

Please be sure to mark your calendars for a virtual Drexel Engineering Faculty Development workshop on May 4 at 2 pm where you can learn from your colleagues about how to apply for and receive help with external awards and honors, as well as how to nominate your students for accolades.

Caroline Schauer, PhD

Associate Dean, Research and Faculty Affairs

News

2022 College of Engineering Awards Announced

The annual awards recognize individuals for their exceptional performance and outstanding contributions to the college. See the full list.

Adam Fontecchio Elected Director of CIRTL

Fontecchio will lead the national research network preparing future faculty as it transitions from PI-model of project leadership to an organization run on sociocratic principles. Read more.

Gail Rosen Serves on NAIRR Task Force

Rosen provided a perspective on how the national AI resource can benefit computational biology and student training efforts in interdisciplinary fields. Read more.

Announcements

I-Corps Regional Courses

Applications for I-Corps Regional Courses are open. In these 4.5 week virtual courses, researchers working on a deep tech innovation will have the opportunity to “get out of their comfort zone” and talk with customers (virtually) to identify the best product-market fit. Applicants may apply with a team of 1-3 people. You can find more information about the courses and application deadlines online.

Nominate Students for Impact Awards

Nominations for the 2022 Impact Awards are now open. The Impact Awards, presented by Student Life, celebrate and honor positive contributions to our Drexel community. To view the complete list of awards and their descriptions and to nominate deserving candidates, visit the Impact Awards page. Nominations must be received by Monday, April 4. Visit DragonLink to submit a candidate for nomination.

CONGRATULATIONS

Adam Fontecchio, PhD, professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of CASTLE, is the recipient of an award from John Hopkins University to develop infrared and visible wavelength switchable filter assemblies at Drexel to deliver to the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. The assemblies to be developed in this project will integrate electrically switchable wavelength filters as a coating for optical components. The wavelength filters span the visible and infrared spectrum to enhance detection methods.

Kenneth Lau, PhD, professor and associate department head of Chemical and Biological Engineering, is the sub-recipient with the University of Delaware for an award from the National Science Foundation’s Partnerships for Innovation (PFI) program. The PFI Program offers researchers the opportunity to perform translational research and technology development, catalyze partnerships, and accelerate the transition of discoveries from the laboratory to the marketplace for societal benefit. Lau’s project, “Next Generation, Conformable, Hybrid Heterojunction Solar Cells,” focuses on the development of high efficiency, inexpensive, flexible, and conformable solar cells based on the hybrid organic-silicon heterojunction technology.

Nicolas Alvarez, PhD, associate professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, received an award from the Pennsylvania Department of Health as part of the Commonwealth Universal Research Enhancement (CURE) 2021 Formula Grant Program. This program awards health research grants for clinical and health services and biomedical research. Alvarez’s project, “A Peptide-Foam Delivery System for Gut Microbiome Engineering,” aims to provide a novel strategy for peptide deployment directly to the gut, thus enabling microbiome reprogramming.

Andrew Magenau, PhD, assistant professor of Materials Science and Engineering, was appointed as a Fellow in the 2022 Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) Summer Faculty Fellowship Program at AFRL-Materials and Manufacturing. Magenau will be synthesizing a state-of-the-art multifunctional and multiscale MXene covalent-adaptable nanocomposite that is mechanically robust, conductive, and healable at diminished filler loadings, and understanding how critical design parameters control the nanocomposite’s performance through macromolecular, morphological, and interfacial dials.

Trainings and Workshops

New Approaches to Representing Women in Science

March 22, 5 p.m.

Seen and Heard

Christopher Peters, PhD, teaching professor of electrical and computer engineering, was interviewed on a March 4 WTXF-TV (FOX-29) “Good Day” segment about a nuclear power plant in Ukraine that was attacked during Russia's invasion.

Vibha Kalra, PhD, George B. Francis Chair Professor of chemical and biological engineering, was profiled in a March 3 AZO Materials post about her research, which is opening pathways for development of a commercially viable lithium-sulfur battery.

Michel Barsoum, PhD, Distinguished Professor in materials science and engineering, was quoted in a March 1 Materials Today piece about his research on simplifying the process of making two-dimensional materials.

Funding Opportunities

Internal Competitions

NSF Research Traineeship Program (NRT)

April 6, 2022

The Environmental Collaboratory Pilot Research Funds

Full Proposal Deadline: April 8, 2022

NSF

EHR Core Research: Building Capacity in STEM Education Research (ECR: BCSER)

Full Proposal Deadline: March 29, 2022

Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP)

AGEP Catalyst Alliance Full Proposal Deadline: March 29, 2022

Accelerating Innovations in Biomanufacturing Approaches through Collaboration Between NSF and the DOE BETO funded Agile BioFoundry (NSF-DOE/ABF Collaboration)

Full Proposal Deadline: April 4, 2022

Findable Accessible Interoperable Reusable Open Science Research Coordination Networks (FAIROS RCN)

Full Proposal Deadline: April 12, 2022

2022 Signals in the Soil (SitS)

Full Proposal Deadline: April 14, 2022

Semiconductor Synthetic Biology Circuits and Communications for Information Storage (SemiSynBio-III)

Full Proposal Deadline: April 25, 2022

NSF Boosting Research Ideas for Transformative and Equitable Advances in Engineering (BRITE)

Full Proposal Deadline: April 25, 2022

Strengthening American Infrastructure (SAI)

Full Proposal Deadline: May 5, 2022

Civic Innovation Challenge

Stage 1 Full Proposal Deadline: May 5, 2022

Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) Equity Resource Center (AISL-ERC)

Full Proposal Deadline: May 10, 2022

Future Manufacturing (FM)

Full Proposal Deadline: May 10, 2022

Spectrum and Wireless Innovation enabled by Future Technologies (SWIFT)

Full Proposal Deadline: May 11, 2022

Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems (PEOSE)

Phase I Full Proposal Deadline: May 12, 2022

Training-based Workforce Development for Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (CyberTraining)

Full Proposal Deadline: May 16, 2022

Research Security Training for the United States (U.S.) Research Community

Full Proposal Deadline: May 23, 2022

Expanding Capacity in Quantum Information Science and Engineering (ExpandQISE)

Letter of Intent (required) Deadline: April 1, 2022

DCL: Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) and Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Supplemental Funding in Computer and Information Science and Engineering