UTSA moves closer to coveted research funding status
San Antonio Business Journal
The National Science Foundation awarded $2 million in new faculty early career development funding to four researchers at the University of Texas at San Antonio, moving UTSA closer to National Research University Fund, or NRUF, eligibility.
Bing Dong, assistant professor of mechanical engineering; Nikolaos Gatsis, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering; Teja Guda, assistant professor of biomedical engineering; and Xiaoyin Wang, assistant professor of computer science, received the funding.
Dong’s award will support his efforts to develop a new method of energy planning and management for smart communities and cities. The funding Gatis is receiving will further his smart cities research on electricity distribution networks and water distribution systems.
The early career awards will also help fund Guda’s research on how blood vessels grow, while Wang’s funding will go toward his work on developing techniques that can better detect and repair software bugs.
Bernard Arulanandam — UTSA's interim vice president for research, economic development and knowledge enterprise — told me last year that the “major trigger” for NRUF eligibility is securing at least $45 million in restricted research annually. The university must also meet certain other qualitative and quantitative targets, including awarding enough doctoral degrees annually.
“Through our various research excellence initiatives, the research culture on campus is evolving. The NSF early career award is a success marker in the research world and is an amazing accomplishment by our esteemed faculty members,” Arulanandam said. “Their achievement elevates and promotes the quality of our faculty and the research conducted at UTSA to prospective students and peers.”
The NSF awards support early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education. UTSA now has eight faculty members who have received the faculty early career development funding.
