Grant List
Represents Grant table in the DB
GET /v1/grants?page%5Bnumber%5D=1383&sort=funder_divisions
{ "links": { "first": "https://cic-apps.datascience.columbia.edu/v1/grants?page%5Bnumber%5D=1&sort=funder_divisions", "last": "https://cic-apps.datascience.columbia.edu/v1/grants?page%5Bnumber%5D=1397&sort=funder_divisions", "next": "https://cic-apps.datascience.columbia.edu/v1/grants?page%5Bnumber%5D=1384&sort=funder_divisions", "prev": "https://cic-apps.datascience.columbia.edu/v1/grants?page%5Bnumber%5D=1382&sort=funder_divisions" }, "data": [ { "type": "Grant", "id": "3365", "attributes": { "award_id": "1849079", "title": "EFRI-2DARE and NewLAW Grantees Meeting Workshop, San Diego, October 17-19, 2018", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Unknown", "EFRI Research Projects" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [], "start_date": "2018-09-01", "end_date": "2019-08-31", "award_amount": 49000, "principal_investigator": { "id": 10692, "first_name": "Yuanxun", "last_name": "Wang", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [ { "id": 151, "ror": "", "name": "University of California-Los Angeles", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "CA", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true } ] }, "other_investigators": [], "awardee_organization": { "id": 151, "ror": "", "name": "University of California-Los Angeles", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "CA", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "The proposed project seeks financial support to support a workshop to be held October 17-19, 2018 at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina CA. The Workshop will bring together the NSF EFRI Two- Dimensional Atomic-Layer Research and Engineering (2-DARE), as well as New Light, EM (Electronic) and Acoustic Wave Propagation: Breaking Reciprocity and Time Reversal Symmetry (NewLAW) supported researchers working on materials and devices in these areas to help promote future collaborations and address common challenges. This includes faculty, postdoctoral researcher and graduate students from the institutions supported by the 2-DARE and NewLAW programs. The Workshop is expected to play a key role in addressing in detail currently faced bottlenecks in material and device research and identifying new directions for research. The research discussed at the Workshop is expected to lead to technological breakthroughs and disruptive technologies that can have great societal impact in the future in many areas such as sensing, communications and health.\n\nThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } }, { "type": "Grant", "id": "15644", "attributes": { "award_id": "2504217", "title": "EAGER: LGBTQI+ DCL:Exploring the influence of community cultural wealth on nonbinary engineering students professional formation", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Unknown", "EngEd-Engineering Education" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [ { "id": 31129, "first_name": "Matthew A.", "last_name": "Verleger", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] } ], "start_date": "2025-06-01", "end_date": null, "award_amount": 292815, "principal_investigator": { "id": 32148, "first_name": "Kerrie", "last_name": "Douglas", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] }, "other_investigators": [], "awardee_organization": { "id": 252, "ror": "", "name": "Purdue University", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "IN", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "Current and future US engineering workforce demands require research to better understand how to support the professional formation of all engineering students. The number of enrolled engineering students nation-wide had the sharpest decline in a generation. Further complicating the problem is the decreased math and reading scores across the US since the pandemic, adding an additional filter of who can enter into engineering. Projected national shortages of engineers are in the tens and hundreds of thousands of workers in some sectors. Simultaneously, fewer young people are entering into four-year degrees. Once a student has enrolled in an undergraduate engineering program, they become a valuable asset for meeting the workforce demands and need support to continue in their professional formation. However, researchers have found that some subgroups of students are at a particularly high-risk of leaving engineering. Among those subgroups of at-risk learners are nonbinary engineering students. Researchers know very little about factors supporting or hindering nonbinary students engineering professional formation. This project serves to help understand how these students leverage identity-specific strengths from their communities, known as community cultural wealth, to succeed in their academic careers. This novel, transformational EAGER proposal will explore their community cultural wealth—that is, for example, how these students sustain hopes and goals, successfully navigate their majors, receive support from family-style relationships, leverage their social network, transgress expectations and resist negative stereotypes and microaggressions—as a means to thrive in engineering. We will interview twenty nonbinary engineering students at various stages of their academic careers using narrative inquiry. Through this project, we aim to raise awareness of the unique assets of the nonbinary engineering community so that engineering students feel affirmed and heard, and engineering educators may design inclusive education practices and advocate on behalf of the nonbinary community in engineering. This project outcomes will result in the development of resources that can be shared to support the professional formation of nonbinary students, as well as the broader engineering student population. The purpose of this asset-based qualitative study is to investigate how nonbinary engineering students leverage their community cultural wealth to support their wellbeing, belonging, and persistence during their professional formation. We are guided by two research questions: 1) How do nonbinary engineering students access community cultural wealth within engineering and queer communities, and 2) how do nonbinary engineering students mobilize their cultural capital to support their wellbeing, sense of belonging and persistence? We will interview 20 engineering students at various stages of their professional formation using composite narrative inquiry and critical incident technique. By interviewing students at various stages of professional formation, we will explore how capital is accrued and how different forms of capital impact students’ persistence at differing stages of their identity development. Our findings will generate new knowledge about how nonbinary students draw upon their personal assets and those of the LGBTQ+ and ally communities during their professional formation. Nonbinary participants will benefit from being heard, affirmed, and seen throughout the interview process, and from reading the narratives of other nonbinary engineering students leveraging their assets to persist, belong and thrive in engineering. To reach students outside of the study, we will disseminate the composite narratives to LGBTQ+ STEM focused social media and professional organizations. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } }, { "type": "Grant", "id": "15717", "attributes": { "award_id": "2514067", "title": "CAREER: Advancing academic cultures of well-being by understanding professional experiences of engineering faculty", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Unknown", "EngEd-Engineering Education" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [ { "id": 32596, "first_name": "Alice", "last_name": "Pawley", "orcid": "", "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] } ], "start_date": "2025-02-15", "end_date": null, "award_amount": 575430, "principal_investigator": { "id": 13160, "first_name": "James", "last_name": "Huff", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] }, "other_investigators": [], "awardee_organization": { "id": 160, "ror": "", "name": "University of Georgia Research Foundation Inc", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "GA", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "In the COVID-19 pandemic, we have all come to recognize the importance of promoting well-being in every facet of life, including and especially in higher education. We recognize that promoting well-being among faculty and students must be a central focus rather than an afterthought of professional education. Accordingly, this project will advance cultures of well-being in engineering education by understanding faculty members’ personal experiences of coping with negative emotions and failure within their professional context. Engineering faculty members are highly influential to students who seek their guidance to understand what it means to become an engineer. Faculty are best positioned to influence equitable, inclusive, and healthy cultures of engineering education when their own emotional needs are met. Therefore, this project will examine how faculty members meet their well-being needs and how they use their influence to nurture or inhibit cultures that allow for engineering students to experience well-being. This project aims to transform how faculty relationally connect with students and other faculty and staff by transforming the ways that they understand themselves. In addition to the research plan, which includes intensive interviews with engineering faculty at multiple institutions, this project will also provide direct training to faculty on coping with failures and preserving a positive professional identity. In line with the PI’s career mission, this project will develop and define a scholarship of care within engineering education research that influences national and local policies of well-being through research-informed insights. Specifically, this project will address two significant gaps in extant literature: 1) the role of failure and negative emotions in facilitating or mitigating cultural patterns of well-being; 2) the complex, dynamic nature of the lived emotional experiences of engineering faculty. This project is organized around the following objectives: Objective 1: Examine social and individual experiences of failure and negative emotions in engineering faculty. Objective 2: Characterize the link between faculty’s emotional experience and their surrounding cultures of well-being. Objective 3: Establish a framework to provide training for engineering programs to establish cultures that support healthy strategies for coping with professional failure. This project will use a qualitative mixed-methods approach that embeds an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) study that examines the lived experiences of professional failure and negative emotions in engineering faculty (Objective 1) within a constructivist grounded theory (CGT) analysis that generates a theoretical model of the relationships between faculty emotional regulation and cultures of well-being (Objective 2). The education plan to develop faculty training on regulating emotions related to professional failure (Objective 3) will be interwoven with the research focus to change cultures of well-being (Objective 2). This study will occur at three purposefully selected institutions and involve 10-12 faculty participants for the IPA study, 18-22 participants that are interviewed twice for the CGT study (36-44 total interviews), and a three-module training series to be delivered at four institutions. This project is jointly funded by Broadening Participation in Engineering (BPE) in the Engineering Education and Centers (EEC) Division of Engineering (ENG), and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } }, { "type": "Grant", "id": "4814", "attributes": { "award_id": "1243464", "title": "Early-Career Participants at the 4th International Conference on NeuroProsthetic Devices on November 19-20, 2012 at the University of Freiburg, Germany", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Unknown", "Engineering of Biomed Systems" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [], "start_date": "2012-08-01", "end_date": "2013-07-31", "award_amount": 10000, "principal_investigator": { "id": 16699, "first_name": "Victor", "last_name": "Pikov", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [ { "id": 1340, "ror": "https://ror.org/05p1phv38", "name": "Huntington Medical Research Institutes", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "CA", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true } ] }, "other_investigators": [], "awardee_organization": { "id": 1340, "ror": "https://ror.org/05p1phv38", "name": "Huntington Medical Research Institutes", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "CA", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "1243464\nVictor Pikov\n\nThe ICNPD-2012 conference will bring together international investigators of all levels to\nFreiburg, Germany to discuss recent research findings and to establish new collaborations in the new and exciting field of neural prosthetic devices. The conference will take place on November 19-20, 2012 at the University of Freiburg, Germany. It will be preceded by a series of online discussions by the Scientific Advisory Committee, resulting in selection of several key innovation challenges that will be addressed at the conference. Main support for the conference will be provided by the University of Freiburg, commercial sponsors and exhibitors, and the conference registration fees, with the proposed supplementary support for the United States-based speakers by the National Science Foundation. This proposal aims to expand the participation of junior US researchers at the conference by subsidizing their travel costs.\nThe overall conference theme will be the technological and scientific challenges for translating neural prosthetics into clinical use. There are multiple research groups worldwide involved in development and evaluation of neuroprosthetic implants for a variety of neurological disorders, and similar difficulties often arise in selecting biocompatible encapsulation materials, in applying modern wireless communication technology, in better understanding of clinical and user needs, etc. Several discussion panels will be held at the conference to stimulate the interaction of participants in seeking solutions for the identified challenges, rather than simply reporting on the progress from their laboratories. Additional emphasis at the conference will be placed on identifying the areas of possible collaborations between the US and European scientists and finding the mechanisms for jump-starting these collaborations. The online resources, including the poster abstract review system and the blog, will operate at the conference website\n(www.neurotechzone.com) to promote the worldwide dialog among the participants prior to the conference.\n\nIntellectual Merit\n\nThe ICNPD-2012 conference will be convened for the fourth time, following the first three meetings in Hsinchu, Taiwan in 2009, in Beijing, China in 2010, and in Sydney, Australia in 2011. Foundation of the series of international conferences on neuroprosthetic devices was necessitated by an explosive growth of this discipline in the international research arena.\n\nThe ICNPD conferences have already attracted a significant number of participants and demonstrated the need and will of scientists throughout the world to combine their voices in discussing the existing challenges and future direction of the discipline, and particularly, the development of global standards on fabrication of the neuroprosthetic probes and their data and power telemetry. One of the accomplishments of the ICNPD conferences was the formation of the Alliance for Innovations in Neural Technology, which includes many renowned experts as its founding members.\n\nAnother accomplishment was a publication of a special issue of the Frontiers in Neuroscience with five full-length articles (http://www.frontiersin.org/Neuroprosthetics/researchtopics/Neuroprosthetic_devices/56)\nas well as an online publication and DOI registration of all conference abstracts at a searchable neuroscience-related depository, the Frontiers Conferences (http://www.frontiersin.org/Community/EventDetails.aspx?eid Several important topics for discussion have emerged during the conferences, ranging from the governmental oversight and support of the clinical trials of the neuroprosthetic devices to a lack of dedicated international journal. The ICNPD-2012 conference will continue the exploration of key technological and biological challenges and breakthrough innovations that can overcome them. There are multiple opportunities for the researchers to initiate productive collaborative projects in the development and testing of devices for the hearing and vision loss, muscle paralysis, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, and other neurological disorders. The conference described in this proposal is one that will bring together established investigators and early-career researchers just entering this field. To enable a focused exchange at the discussion panels during the two-day meeting, there will be a series of brainstorming online discussions preceding the conference.\n\nBroader Impact Statement\n\nThe conference can inform the NSF and other US federal agencies about new developments in the rapidly growing neural prosthetics field. A specific goal of the NSF that will be aided by the conference is the establishment of new programs which emphasize integration of neural technology research and medical device industry. The conference will provide a good opportunity to highlight best practices in this area and to bring lessons from this experience to the NSF initiatives. The conference participants will be selected to represent a broad spectrum of interested participants from academia, national laboratories, government, and industry. Recruitment of participants representing researchers at all stages in their careers from well established to new researchers just starting their career will be actively pursued. A special effort will be made to increase the representation of women and underrepresented minorities at the conference. The conference program, poster abstracts, and talk abstracts will be permanently posted on the conference website (www.neurotechzone.com) as well as on the Frontiers Conferences, a premier online depository for the conference proceedings in the neuroscience-related fields (http://www.frontiersin.org/events/all_events) to serve as a practical educational tool.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } }, { "type": "Grant", "id": "4035", "attributes": { "award_id": "1566060", "title": "2016 Regenerative Medicine Workshop at Hilton Head", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Unknown", "Engineering of Biomed Systems" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [ { "id": 13525, "first_name": "Michele", "last_name": "Grimm", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] } ], "start_date": "2016-04-01", "end_date": "2017-03-31", "award_amount": 24755, "principal_investigator": { "id": 13527, "first_name": "Robert", "last_name": "Guldberg", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [ { "id": 294, "ror": "", "name": "Georgia Tech Research Corporation", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "GA", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true } ] }, "other_investigators": [], "awardee_organization": { "id": 294, "ror": "", "name": "Georgia Tech Research Corporation", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "GA", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "1566060 \nGuldberg, Robert E. \n\nNSF has made an award to support travel costs and registration fees for 6 workshop speakers and registration fees for 24 trainees and 5 young faculty members who will attend the three-day Regenerative Medicine Workshop at Hilton Head being held March 16-19, 2016, on Hilton Head Island, SC. The workshop, part of a series that began in 1996, brings together national and international regenerative medicine experts from a variety of engineering and scientific disciplines in a small conference setting to effectively convey knowledge, stimulate new ideas critical to advancing the development of regenerative medicine applications and therapies and promote research collaborations. This year's workshop will focus on the theme of regenerative medicine discoveries, technologies and translation. Conference session topics include: Translation of cellular therapies, Immunoengineering, Controlling stem cell fate, Regeneration of cardiovascular tissues, Synthetic biomaterials, Arthritis and tissue regeneration and Tissue engineering and personalized medicine.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } }, { "type": "Grant", "id": "4041", "attributes": { "award_id": "1510461", "title": "UNS: Dynamics of Microbial Agents in Sewer Systems and Wet Weather Flow", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Unknown", "EnvE-Environmental Engineering" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [ { "id": 13550, "first_name": "Karl", "last_name": "Rockne", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] } ], "start_date": "2016-03-15", "end_date": "2021-02-28", "award_amount": 332441, "principal_investigator": { "id": 13551, "first_name": "NICOLE", "last_name": "FAHRENFELD", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [ { "id": 218, "ror": "", "name": "Rutgers University New Brunswick", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "NJ", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true } ] }, "other_investigators": [], "awardee_organization": { "id": 218, "ror": "", "name": "Rutgers University New Brunswick", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "NJ", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "1510461\nFahrenfeld\n\nSince wastewater treatment systems are designed to inactivate infectious agents, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) allows urine and fecal matter from patients with infectious diseases to enter sanitary sewers. However, sewer overflows during wet weather flow are a widespread issue in the US. Sewer solids are a major contributor to pollution during urban wet weather flows. Therefore, sewers are not merely a conduit for wastewater, but rather, complex bioreactors: microorganisms can decay, grow, and have their transport attenuated during conveyance. Surprisingly little is known about the biological processes which occur the sewer deposits and their effect on the fate of microbial agents (i.e., pathogens and antibiotic resistant bacteria) and that is the objective of this proposed project. \n\nTo perform Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment for overflow events, optimize sewer maintenance plans, and design wet weather flow treatment, it is necessary to understand the processes affecting the survival of microbial agents (here defined as pathogens and antibiotic resistant bacteria) in sewer solids and biofilms. This is especially true in the case of sewer overflows, but is also important in order to use sewer samples for tracking the incidence of human disease. Sewer surveillance is a useful tool for epidemiology that would benefit from improved understanding of the fate of microbial agents during conveyance in sewer systems. A field survey will be performed to determine the biochemical factors driving the microbial quality of sewer deposits and the relative loading of microbial agents in wastewater and sewer deposits. Next, a controlled simulated sewer experiment will be performed to determine the fate of microbial agents in sewer deposits to provide kinetic data in sewer sediments and biofilm. Finally, a combined sewer overflow (CSO) event will be sampled to characterize the flux of the microbial agents during wet weather flow events. This field study will use the microbial signatures of sewer sediments developed to differentiate between the flux of microbial agents from sewer solids and wastewater. High-throughput, viability-based molecular assays will be applied in this study and allow for sensitive detection of pathogens and the determination of the dynamics of the viable and non-viable antibiotic resistance gene loads. This understanding is essential for determining the risk posed by antibiotic resistant genes in sewer sediments upon release in the environment. Overall, the proposed project will provide critical insight into the fate of microbial agents in sewers and during wet weather flow. The research approach extends biomolecular analytical methods for understanding the fate of microbial agents in sewer deposits. The quantitative data gathered on the environmental factors driving the proliferation of pathogen and antibiotic resistance in sewers will inform quantitative microbial risk assessment, improve models of wet weather pollution events, and aid in the development of mitigation strategies. Of particular interest is the potential application of the knowledge gained here on in-sewer biological processes for improved implementation of sewer surveillance for tracking infectious disease. Sewer epidemiological methods are currently limited by our lack of understanding of critical environmental factors and biochemical processes driving the fate of microbial agents in sewers. Therefore, this work has the potential to transform not only our ability to protect public health during wet weather flow, but also our ability to perform public health surveillance in the sewer matrix. The project targets: (1) recruiting and retaining undergraduate women students in engineering; and, (2) improving scientific literacy. Educational materials and learning modules will be developed and presented biannually in STEM outreach to Girl Scouts (grades 6-12) and at Rutgers Day. A project website will be created to improve public scientific literacy and broaden public knowledge of CSO issues.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } }, { "type": "Grant", "id": "4048", "attributes": { "award_id": "1636104", "title": "UNS Collaborative Research: Optimizing Microfilter Productivity During Water Treatment: Modeling and Experimental Verification", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Unknown", "EnvE-Environmental Engineering" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [ { "id": 13574, "first_name": "Karl", "last_name": "Rockne", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] } ], "start_date": "2015-08-15", "end_date": "2020-12-31", "award_amount": 179415, "principal_investigator": { "id": 13575, "first_name": "Shankar", "last_name": "Chellam", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [ { "id": 282, "ror": "", "name": "Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "TX", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true } ] }, "other_investigators": [], "awardee_organization": { "id": 282, "ror": "", "name": "Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "TX", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "1510743 \nCogan \n\n1510526 \nChellam \n\nThis collaborative project results from the excellent filtered water quality of microfiltration membranes which are increasingly implemented for environmental and industrial water/wastewater separations. Tremendous effort has been spent studying fouling mechanisms during microfiltration; however, membrane fouling control by backwashing and air scouring remain largely unexplored topics. This work builds upon the PIs significant past collaborations to develop models of membrane processes. The proposed research will yield a rigorous mathematical framework along with systematic experimental validation to maximize microfiltration water productivity by maintaining high flux with periodic regeneration and electrocoagulation/flocculation pretreatment. This project provides a unique perspective to train students at all levels in multidisciplinary studies and broadening participation in science and engineering. \n\nThe proposed research represents a synergistic collaboration between an experimentalist with expertise in membrane filtration and a mathematician with long-term expertise in modeling, fluid dynamics, and optimal control to make potentially transformative contributions to fouling control. The PIs tackle the problem of maximizing the cumulative volume of surface water filtered by hollow-fiber microfiltration incorporating periodic regeneration using optimal control theory. This study also includes sensitivity analysis and data assimilation, complementary mathematical processes used to quantify aspects of variability that arise in both theoretical and experimental studies due to underlying stochastic processes, uncertainty in measurements, or errors in approximations. Complementary laboratory measurements are aimed at generating necessary data for model validation as well as novel interfacial chemical characterization, to discern the sequence of mechanisms that lead to (ir)reversible fouling. Additionally, experiments and modeling will encompass Lake Houston water pretreated using an innovative electrochemical process, namely electrocoagulation with sacrificial aluminum electrodes. The underlying mathematical approach requires specific experimental measurements to determine sensitivity rankings for parameters (and hence physical quantities), statistical likelihood estimates for parameter distributions, and advanced optimal control analysis. Similarly, the experimental approach requires predictions such as key parameter regimes to explore, specific areas of uncertainty that can be reduced, and validation experiments to consolidate the real-world behavior with the mathematical predictions. This is facilitated by seamless collaboration, established over the past seven years or so, that brings together substantial experience on experimental and theoretical aspects to the project. Input will also be obtained from external stakeholders including a membrane manufacturer (Pall Corporation) and a water purveyor (Orange County Water District) who will provide hollow fibers as well as operational data from their long-term pilot-studies. They will also evaluate our methods and results to attempt to increase the productivity during low-pressure membrane filtration.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } }, { "type": "Grant", "id": "4242", "attributes": { "award_id": "1604820", "title": "An overlooked source of N-nitrosamine precursors: Examining the role of biofilm in chloraminated drinking water distribution systems", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Unknown", "EnvE-Environmental Engineering" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [ { "id": 14316, "first_name": "Karl", "last_name": "Rockne", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] } ], "start_date": "2016-08-01", "end_date": "2020-07-31", "award_amount": 331806, "principal_investigator": { "id": 14318, "first_name": "Wen", "last_name": "Zhang", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [ { "id": 586, "ror": "", "name": "University of Arkansas", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "AR", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true } ] }, "other_investigators": [ { "id": 14317, "first_name": "Julian L", "last_name": "Fairey", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] } ], "awardee_organization": { "id": 586, "ror": "", "name": "University of Arkansas", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "AR", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "Disinfection by-products are chemicals which are formed during drinking water treatment and are usually associated with the process of disinfection. Disinfection by-products have been a major focus of research in the US and around the world for the past 40 years. This research project is significant because it will demonstrate that biofilms which coat the water distribution pipes are an important source of a particular class of disinfection by products known as N-nitrosamines. This family of disinfection by products, at least some of them, are known human carcinogens. A novel N-nitrosamine formation pathway will be investigated involving a previously unidentified intermediates in water treatment systems which use chloramine disinfection. Further, strategies to control biofilm growth and facilitate biofilm detachment will be systematically evaluated to determine the conditions required to achieve bacterial stable water, while controlling formation of N-nitrosamines. \n\nThe research objective of this proposal is to test the hypothesis that biofilm extracellular polymeric substances (biofilms) in chloraminated drinking water distribution systems are important N-nitrosamine precursors. N-nitrosamines are a highly toxic, non-halogenated group of disinfection by-products formed primarily in drinking water distribution systems which use chloramine, a common secondary disinfectant used to curb formation of regulated disinfection by products. A recent study using EPA Method 521, which can quantitatively determine seven different N-nitrosamines, were shown to comprise only approximately 5% of the total N-nitrosamines formed in drinking water distribution systems. This result implies that other important N-nitrosamines may have been overlooked. Biofilm extracellular polymeric substances contains functional groups such as secondary amines, known to react with chloramines to form N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), the most prevalent of the EPA Method 521 species. This study will utilize a total N-nitrosamines assay to assess the contribution of biofilm-derived materials to the overall precursor pool. Preliminary data demonstrate that chloramination of exopolysaccharide isolates yielded total N-nitrosamines with a direct dose-response relationship. Pure and mixed culture biofilms, relevant to drinking water distribution systems, will be characterized using a combination of traditional methodologies and next generation sequencing methodology. These systems will then be chloraminated to elucidate the role of extracellular polymeric substances in the formation of an expanded list of formation products in the N-nitrosamine family. The proposed research will evaluate the following three objectives: 1.) Characterize biofilm dynamics in simulated drinking water distribution systems. Pure and mixed culture biofilm will be grown in batch and annular reactors, respectively. The biofilm EPS composition (e.g., exopolysaccharides and extra-cellular proteins) and bacteria species will be characterized. 2.) Measure N-nitrosamine yields from chloramination of biofilm-derived materials and precursor isolates. Attached and detached pure and mixed culture biofilm will be chloraminated to assess the formation of the EPA Method 521 species and total N-nitrosamines. Biofilm isolates and known NDMA precursors will be assessed similarly and a series of abiotic experiments will be completed to help reveal the underlying reaction mechanism. 3.) Assess the impact of free chlorine on biofilm characteristics and formation of N-nitrosamines. Free chlorine burns will be simulated in biofilm annular reactors at different disinfectant concentrations, durations, and temperatures. Biofilm characteristics and N-nitrosamine precursors will be assessed before, during, and after the free chlorine addition. This research marks the first investigation into the role of biofilm, ubiquitous in all drinking water distribution systems, as N-nitrosamine precursors. Results from this study will form a scientific basis to justify a nationwide occurrence survey of total N-nitrosamines in chloraminated drinking water distribution systems. The objective of the education and outreach plan is to engage graduate students and high-performing engineering undergraduates from underrepresented groups in the research activities, create scientifically accurate animations of the elucidated reaction mechanisms, and disseminate the research findings to a wide range of stakeholders.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } }, { "type": "Grant", "id": "4256", "attributes": { "award_id": "1645287", "title": "EAGER- Developing Technologies in Air-Quality Monitoring for Environmentally Engaged and Empowered Communities", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Unknown", "EnvE-Environmental Engineering" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [ { "id": 14383, "first_name": "Karl", "last_name": "Rockne", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] } ], "start_date": "2016-08-15", "end_date": "2020-07-31", "award_amount": 99793, "principal_investigator": { "id": 14384, "first_name": "Mohammad", "last_name": "Khan", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [ { "id": 1165, "ror": "https://ror.org/03g35dg18", "name": "Delaware State University", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "DE", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true } ] }, "other_investigators": [], "awardee_organization": { "id": 1165, "ror": "https://ror.org/03g35dg18", "name": "Delaware State University", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "DE", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "1645287\nKhan\n\nThe development and applications of low-cost, portable air-quality sensors to measure gases and particulate pollutants has grown significantly in the past several years. This need is further elevated by poor and deteriorating air quality and related health concerns experienced in urban regions throughout the world, in both the developed and developing countries. This EAGER proposal aims at developing a citizen science program to study the impact of air-pollution, and, a basic understating of factors that influence local and regional air-quality by broad dissemination of sensor technology to the local communities and to the general public. A novel aspect of this air monitoring citizens science program is that it brings together various organizations, communities with diverse background of participants and volunteers.\n\nAtmospheric carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor are the three of the most important greenhouse gases with impact on the radiative forcing on earth with diverse sources of emissions. Among several of the anthropogenic sources of emissions, a few are: fossil fuel combustion, agricultural soil management, landfills, and fugitive emissions from natural gas. Therefore, as a part of technological development part of this project the PI will design and develop a low-cost, portable, highly precise and user-friendly sensor porotypes to simultaneously measure carbon dioxide, methane, carbon monoxide and water vapor. There are two goals of this program: 1. design and develop technologies that enable low-cost and user-friendly operation of air-quality monitoring sensors, and, 2. develop a comprehensive program to enhance environmental awareness by infusing these technologies to key stakeholders by partnering with local schools, environmental agencies and organizations in the state of Delaware. This air monitoring citizen science program involves several stakeholders and participants from local environmental agencies, local organizations, schools, hospitals and health services in the state of Delaware. The program will empower communities towards better understanding of tools and technologies of monitoring systems, basis understanding of air quality and pollution, and its local and global impact. Several components of citizens air monitoring program will integrate into current programs from partner organizations which includes school rain garden project, green buildings, vehicle ant-idling campaigns and awareness campaigns of impact of air quality on children?s health. Finally, the program will greatly enhance capacity and capabilities of Delaware State University, an HBCU institution, by developing innovative sensing technologies for low-cost, portable next-generation air monitoring sensors.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } }, { "type": "Grant", "id": "5303", "attributes": { "award_id": "0828699", "title": "Use of Chiral Tracers to Determine Cycling of POPs in Stream Ecosystems", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Unknown", "EnvE-Environmental Engineering" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [], "start_date": "2008-08-15", "end_date": "2012-07-31", "award_amount": 356350, "principal_investigator": { "id": 18650, "first_name": "Cindy", "last_name": "Lee", "orcid": null, "emails": "[email protected]", "private_emails": null, "keywords": "[]", "approved": true, "websites": "[]", "desired_collaboration": "", "comments": "", "affiliations": [ { "id": 290, "ror": "https://ror.org/037s24f05", "name": "Clemson University", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "SC", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true } ] }, "other_investigators": [], "awardee_organization": { "id": 290, "ror": "https://ror.org/037s24f05", "name": "Clemson University", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "SC", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "CBET- 0828699\nLee, Cindy M.\nClemson University\n\nUse of Chiral Tracers to Determine Cycling of POPs in Stream Ecosystems\n\nAlthough the manufacture and use of many persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) have been banned for decades, many US aquatic systems have fish advisories due to continuing body burdens considered dangerous to human health. Environmental scientists and engineers have proposed and investigated various hypotheses such as continuing inputs or ineffective remediation methods, yet there is still an inadequate understanding of the cycling of POPs in ecosystems, especially the role of biota. Using POPs that are chiral offers an innovative technique for the studying food webs. There are 19 chiral PCBs congeners due to restricted rotation around the biphenyl bond that makes them asymmetric. The resulting atropisomers or enantiomers have the same chemical and physical properties such as solubility and volatility but can have different reaction rates in asymmetric environments. Therefore, biotransformation can result in one enantiomer enriched over the other. The enrichment can be measured as the enantiomeric fraction (EF) by chromatography due to recent developments in technology. We propose to exploit chiral analysis of PCBs to improve understanding of their movement through food webs in a stream ecosystem. The combination of chiral, congener specific and stable isotope analyses will elucidate important questions such as the transfer from contaminated sediment to basal resources such as periphyton (biofilm) and decaying leaves, which serve as food sources for invertebrates, which in turn are prey for fish. We present preliminary data that shows the utility of chiral analysis. To test the working hypothesis that chiral analysis provides significant insight we will conduct field work in a river contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and a laboratory study over a three year period. The field study (initiated in Year 1) consists of achiral and chiral analysis of extracts from samples collected over two years (2003-2004) and the targeted collection of a comprehensive set of sediment samples. The laboratory study (initiated in Year 2) will be a controlled feeding study based on the field results.\n\nThe results can be applied to other POPS which are chiral (eg. DDT, chlordane, toxaphene) as well as many pesticides and pharmaceuticals that are of emerging concern. Our understanding is largely incomplete of the various pathways for POPs as they move from contaminated sediment to fish, which are a major pathway for human exposure to POPs. Risk reduction strategies would benefit from the fundamental knowledge gained from this work. The knowledge will also advance fundamental concepts in ecology through improved understanding of complex food webs. Two graduate students will be supported by the project. They will benefit from the collaboration between Clemson University and the EPA that will expand their perspective of research opportunities. Clemson has a reputation for recruiting and retaining students from under-represented groups. Outreach will include presentations to citizen groups involved in the Superfund and NRDA processes for the study site. A middle school teacher will participate in the research through a supplement.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } } ], "meta": { "pagination": { "page": 1383, "pages": 1397, "count": 13961 } } }