Research Awards
It is UTSA’s vision to be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders in the global environment. We are proud of all of our faculty and students who are striving to reach research excellence in UTSA’s path to becoming a leading research institution. Listed here are the projects awarded between May 1, 2017 and Dec. 1, 2017.
Appleford, Mark (PI)
Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
Proposal Title: Your World - Dual Enrollment COE
Funding Agency: University of Texas at Austin 721
Amount: $28,000
Benavidez, Patrick (PI) Jamshidi, Mohammad (Co-PI)
Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Proposal Title: Loitering Alert System for Automated Teller Machine (ATM) Vestibules
Funding Agency: Bank of America N.A.
Amount:$131,825
Bhalla, Amar (PI) Guo, Ruyan (Co-PI)
Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Proposal Title: Conference Support for the Fourteenth International Meeting on Ferroelectricity
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation
Amount: $6,000
Cao, Yongcan (PI)
Center for Excellence in Engineering Education
Proposal Title: Human-Inspired Decision Making for Swarm Robots
Funding Agency: U.S. Dept. of the Navy
Amount: $507,388
Castillo Villar, Krystel (PI)
Open Cloud Institute (OCI)
Proposal Title: Cloud-based Data Analytics To Support Sustainable Clean Energy Production
Funding Agency: University of Texas at San Antonio Open Cloud Institute
Amount: $30,000
Chen, Fengshan (PI) Wan, Hung-Da (Co-PI)
Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Lean Systems (CAMLS)
Proposal Title: Support of Process Improvement Program in Air Force 149th Mission Support Group
Funding Agency: U.S. Dept. of the Air Force
Amount: $22,000
Chen, Qian (PI)
Center for Excellence in Engineering Education
Proposal Title: RIA:Towards Realizing a Self-Protecting Healthcare Information System for the Internet of Medical Things
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation
Amount: $280,221
Choo, Kim-Kwang (PI) Najafirad, Peyman (Co-PI)
Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute
Proposal Title: Smart Grid Security and Attack Resiliency: A Forensics-driven Approach
Funding Agency: City Public Service
Amount: $399,218
Dessouky, Samer (PI)
Department of Civil Engineering
Proposal Title: Simplified Approach for Structural Evaluation of Flexible Pavements at the Network Level
Funding Agency: Louisiana State University
Amount: $17,000
Dessouky, Samer (PI) Guo, Ruyan; Binzaid, Shuza; Papagiannakis, Athanassios; Montoya Rodriguez, Arturo; Bhalla, Amar; Sharif, Hatim (Co-PIs)
Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute
Proposal Title: A Hybrid Integrated Sensing and Energy Conversion (HISEC) System For Harvesting Mechanical and Thermal Energy from Roadways
Funding Agency: City Public Service
Amount: $596,986
Dessouky, Samer (PI) Ahmed, Sara (Co-PI)
Department of Civil Engineering; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Proposal Title: CONNECT: Promoting Sustainability and Safety for Texas Rural Roadways Through Self-Powered Sensing And Detection Systems
Funding Agency: UTSA VPR Office
Amount: $50,000
Dessouky, Samer (PI) Sharif, Hatim (Co-PI)
Department of Civil Engineering
Proposal Title: Technical Assistance Agreement Between UTSA and City of San Antonio-Traffic Study
Funding Agency: City of San Antonio
Amount: $50,000
Dessouky, Samer (PI) Papagiannakis, Athanassios (Co-PI)
Department of Civil Engineering
Proposal Title: Development of a Self-Powered Structural Health Monitoring System ror Transportation Infrastructure
Funding Agency: Louisiana State University
Amount: $69,000
Dong, Bing (PI)
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Proposal Title: Marriott Strategic Data Analysis and Management Project
Funding Agency: Marriott International Inc.
Amount: $48,957
Dong, Bing (PI)
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Proposal Title: An Open Source Proactive Energy Management System (PEMS) for Integrated Control of Energy Storage and Solar Powered Buildings
Funding Agency: Leaptran Inc.
Amount: $45,000
Dong, Bing (PI) Castillo Villar, Krystel; Xu, Jeff Qiang (Co-PIs)
Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute
Proposal Title: An Open Source-based Proactive Energy Management System (PEMS) for Integrated Control of Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) and Solar-Powered Buildings
Funding Agency: City Public Service
Amount: $701,288
Duan, Lide (PI)
Open Cloud Institute (OCI)
Proposal Title: Designing Power Efficient Data Centers With High Quality Cloud Services
Funding Agency: University of Texas at San Antonio Open Cloud Institute
Amount: $30,000
Gao, Wei (PI)
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Proposal Title: GREAT: Advanced Materials Based on Two-dimensional Building Blocks - Computational Design Based on Chemistry and Topology
Funding Agency: UTSA VPR Office
Amount: $20,000
Gatsis, Nikolaos (PI) Akopian, David; Taha, Ahmad (Co-PIs)
Center for Excellence in Engineering Education; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Proposal Title: CIF: Small: Integrated Framework for Detection and Mitigation of GPS Spoofing Attacks in Smart Grids
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation
Amount: $399,934
Ghannoum, Wassim (PI) Matamoros, Adolfo (Co-PI)
Department of Civil Engineering
Proposal Title: Decision-oriented Column Simulation Capabilities for Enhancing Disaster Resilience of Reinforced Concrete Buildings
Funding Agency: National Institute of Standards and Technology
Amount: $798,892
Ghannoum, Wassim (PI) Diaz, Manuel (Co-PI)
Department of Civil Engineering
Proposal Title: (PS 18-28) Evaluating Bridge Behavior Using Ultra-High Resolution, Next-Generation Digital Image Correlation (DIC): Applications in Bridge Inspection and Damage Assessment
Funding Agency: Texas Department of Transportation 601
Amount: $419,432
Giacomoni, Marcio (PI) Shipley, Heather (Co-PI)
Department of Civil Engineering
Proposal Title: Implementation of a Low Impact Development Test Bed on The University of Texas at San Antonio Main Campus
Funding Agency: San Antonio River Authority
Amount: $1,069,113
Guda, Teja (PI)
Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
Proposal Title: GREAT: Scaffolds with Soft Zones for Bone Regeneration
Funding Agency: UTSA VPR Office
Amount: $20,000
Hallam, Cory (PI)
Center for Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CITE)
Proposal Title: NovoThelium: Nipple Regeneration for Breast Cancer Survivors
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation
Amount: $50,000
Hallam, Cory (PI)
Center for Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CITE)
Proposal Title: IC2 Interagency Cooperation Contract - SEAL 2017
Funding Agency: University of Texas at Austin 721
Amount: $3,000
Hallam, Cory (PI)
Center for Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CITE)
Proposal Title: UT-UTSA MOU - Faculty Engagement
Funding Agency: University of Texas System 720
Amount: $7,444
Hallam, Cory (PI) Guda, Teja (Co-PI)
Department of Information Systems and Cyber Security; Department of Biomedical Engineering
Proposal Title: NSF I-Corps Site Renewal Grant
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation
Amount: $299,820
Hood, Robert (PI)
Center for Simulation, Visualization and Real Time Prediction (SiViRT)
Proposal Title: An Improved Cystoscopic Approach for 3D Imaging of Intrabladder Cancers
Funding Agency: UTSA VPR Office
Amount: $20,000
Kapoor, Vikram (PI)
Department of Civil Engineering
Proposal Title: RAPID: Mobilization and Transport of Microbial Contaminants Along Texas Waterways Following Hurricane Harvey
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation
Amount: $79,277
Kapoor, Vikram (PI) Johnson, Drew (Co-PI)
Department of Civil Engineering
Proposal Title: Tracking the Primary Sources of Fecal Pollution in the Recharge and Contributing Zones of Edwards Aquifer in Bexar County, Texas, using Molecular Tools
Funding Agency: San Antonio River Authority
Amount: $692,452
Lee, Wonjun (PI)
Open Cloud Institute (OCI)
Proposal Title: The Machine Learning-based Immune System for Containerized Cloud Computing
Funding Agency: University of Texas at San Antonio Open Cloud Institute
Amount: $30,000
Matamoros, Adolfo (PI) Testik, Firat (Co-PI)
Department of Civil Engineering
Proposal Title: Coastal Bridges Under Hurricane Stresses Along the Texas and Louisiana Coast
Funding Agency: Louisiana State University
Amount: $60,000
Mayer, Kathryn (PI)
Center for Simulation, Visualization and Real-Time Prediction (SiViRT)
Proposal Title: Gold Nanoparticles for Radiation Therapy Enhancement and CT Image Contrast
Funding Agency: San Antonio Medical Foundation
Amount: $103,750
Millwater, Harry (PI)
Open Cloud Institute (OCI)
Proposal Title: Fleet Management and Efficiency Improvements - Extensions to the SMART|DT Software
Funding Agency: U.S. DOT Federal Aviation Administration
Amount: $480,000
Millwater, Harry (PI)
Open Cloud Institute (OCI)
Proposal Title: Digital Twin Big Data and High-performance Computing in the Cloud
Funding Agency: University of Texas at San Antonio Open Cloud Institute
Amount: $30,000
Montoya Rodriguez, Arturo (PI) Rincon Troconis, Brendy; Millwater, Harry; Shipley, Heather (Co-PIs)
Department of Civil Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Proposal Title: Faculty Development Program at the University of Texas at San Antonio: Probabilistic Risk Assessment of Stress Corrosion Cracking in Nuclear Facilities
Funding Agency: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Amount: $450,000
Najafirad, Peyman (PI)
Open Cloud Institute (OCI)
Proposal Title: Cyber Physical Threat Hunting Using Crowd IoTs and Advanced Data Analytics
Funding Agency: University of Texas at San Antonio Open Cloud Institute
Amount: $30,000
Papagiannakis, Athanassios (PI)
Department of Civil Engineering
Proposal Title: Evaluation Of Comparative Damaging Effects Of Multiple Truck Axles For Flexible Pavements
Funding Agency: Louisiana State University
Amount: $60,000
Prevost, John (PI)
Open Cloud Institute (OCI)
Proposal Title: Technical Application: Cloud-based IoT Edge Framework for Real-time Control of Remote Agents
Funding Agency: University of Texas at San Antonio Open Cloud Institute
Amount: $30,000
Qian, Chunjiang (PI)
Center for Excellence in Engineering Education
Proposal Title: Network Control for Nonlinear Systems in Smart Energy Applications
Funding Agency: TaiHuai Smart Industry Co.
Amount: $14,700
Rao, Hejamadi (PI) Krishnan, Ramnarayan (Co-PI)
Department of Information Systems and Cyber Security; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Proposal Title: NSF Student Travel Grant for 2017 Secure Knowledge Management Workshop (SKM)
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation
Amount: $12,142
Rashed-Ali, Hazem (PI) Sharif, Hatim; Tillyer, Robert; Romero, Francine; Enriquez, Roger; Merrifield, John; Muhlestein, Keith (Co-PIs)
Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute
Proposal Title: City of San Antonio Climate Action and Adaptation Plan
Funding Agency: City Public Service
Amount: $500,000
Richardson, Walter (PI) Shephard, Les (Co-PI)
Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute
Proposal Title: Using Machine Learning to Improve Intra-Hour Prediction of Solar Irradiance and Ramp Events in the CPS Microgrid At JBSA
Funding Agency: City Public Service
Amount: $216,633
Rincon Troconis, Brendy (PI)
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Proposal Title: Effect of Passive Film Composition on the Electrochemical Behavior and Cracking of Corrosion Resistant Alloys Utilizing Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy
Funding Agency: NACE International
Amount: $30,000
Rincon Troconis, Brendy (PI)
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Proposal Title: CONNECT: Effects of Triazine-based H2S Scavenger Byproducts on the Film Composition and Cracking of Carbon Steel in Oilfield Applications
Funding Agency: UTSA VPR Office
Amount: $50,000
Sandhu, Ravinderpal (PI) Krishnan, Ramnarayan; Carmona-Dominguez, Guadalupe; Beebe, Nicole; Prevost, John (Co-PIs)
Institute for Cyber Security (ICS); Cyber Center for Security and Analytics (CCSA) Open Cloud Institute (OCI)
Proposal Title: Center for Security and Privacy Enhanced Cloud Computing (C-SPECC)
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation
Amount: $5,000,000
Saygin, Can (PI) Wan, Hung-Da (Co-PI)
Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Lean Systems (CAMLS)
Proposal Title: Incorporating Lean-Six Sigma Methodologies into the Institute for Integration of Medicine and Science - Phase 2
Funding Agency: University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio 745
Amount: $50,000
Shadaram, Mehdi (PI)
Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Proposal Title: Summer Engineering Camp for High School Students
Funding Agency: Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board 781
Amount: $11,727
Sharif, Hatim (PI)
Open Cloud Institute (OCI)
Proposal Title: Prediction of Crash Incidence and Severity on Texas Roadway
Funding Agency: University of Texas at San Antonio Open Cloud Institute
Amount: $30,000
Sharif, Hatim (PI) Dessouky, Samer; Weissmann, Jose (Co-PIs)
Department of Civil Engineering
Proposal Title: Reducing Traffic Crashes at Road Construction Access Points
Funding Agency: Texas Department of Transportation 601
Amount: $298,509
Sharif, Hatim (PI) Dessouky, Samer (Co-PI)
Department of Civil Engineering
Proposal Title: Relationship between Road Network Characteristics and Traffic Safety
Funding Agency: Louisiana State University
Amount: $50,000
Shipley, Heather (PI) Montoya Rodriguez, Arturo (Co-PI)
Department of Civil Engineering
Proposal Title: Graduate Fellowship Program in Nuclear Safety: Critical Thinking, Research Skills and Professional Development
Funding Agency: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Amount: $399,351
Taha, Ahmad (PI) Giacomoni, Marcio; Gatsis, Nikolaos (Co-PIs)
Department of Electrical Engineering; Department of Civil Engineering
Proposal Title: Collaborative Research: Cherry-Picking Sensors and Actuators for Topologically Evolving Networked Dynamical Systems: Battling Contamination in Water Networks
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation
Amount: $299,974
Taha, Ahmad (PI) Qian, Chunjiang; Bhounsule, Pranav (Co-PIs)
Department of Electrical Engineering; Department of Mechanical Engineering
Proposal Title: Control Systems Education and Outreach to Low-Income High-school Students in San Antonio
Funding Agency: Arizona State University
Amount: $10,000
Testik, Firat (PI)
Department of Civil Engineering
Proposal Title: RAPID: Hurricane-driven Beach Sand Sorting from Dune to Shoreline: The Case of Hurricane Harvey
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation
Amount: $38,662
Wang, Xiaodu (PI)
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Proposal Title: Supplement to Multiscale Modeling of Ultrastructural Origins of Bone Fragility
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation
Amount: $8,000
Ye, JingYong (PI)
Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
Proposal Title: Noninvasive Detection of Prostate Cancer with a Label-Free Imaging System
Funding Agency: National Institutes of Health
Amount: $354,617
Ye, JingYong (PI) Nash, Kelly (Co-PI)
Department of Biomedical Engineering; Department of Physics and Astronomy
Proposal Title: Establish Advanced Photoacoustic Imaging Facility at UTSA
Funding Agency: U.S. Department of Defense
Amount: $312,356