(April 11, 2019) – Four UTSA researchers have each been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, totaling $2 million in new research funding for San Antonio’s largest public research university. CAREER Awards, one of the NSF’s most prestigious programs, helps UTSA advance closer to National Research University Fund (NRUF) eligibility.
UTSA’s 2019 CAREER Award recipients include:
To earn NRUF eligibility, UTSA must meet qualitative and quantitative targets such as restricted research expenditures, the quality of an institution’s faculty and its annual rate of doctoral degrees awarded. To evaluate the quality of an institution’s faculty for NRUF eligibility, Texas considers only the most prestigious professional achievements. NSF CAREER Awards are among those highly recognized honors.
“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. Their achievement elevates and promotes the quality of our faculty and the research conducted at UTSA to prospective students and peers alike,” said Bernard Arulanandam, UTSA interim vice president for research, economic development, and knowledge enterprise.
Dong’s NSF CAREER Award of $500,181 will support his project, “Holistic Assessment of the Impacts of Connected Buildings and People on Community Energy Planning and Management.” The funding will allow Dong to develop a new method of energy planning and management for smart communities and cities.
“This CAREER award will help me achieve my long-term career goal of advancing interdisciplinary research on sustainable and smart cities, where smart communities, people, grid, transportation, water systems and others interplay and to make a real world impact on energy efficiency and environmental sustainability,” said Dong.
Gatsis will further his research on electricity distribution networks and water distribution systems as part of his project, “Optimal Interdependent Operation of Electricity Distribution Grids and Water Distribution Systems in Smart Cities.” His $500,000 CAREER award will support the development of more reliable and cost-effective electricity and water delivery.
“It’s an honor to receive this award,” said Gatsis. “It will enable me to explore an exciting and timely research direction. This project also supports education through enhancement of the power engineering curriculum at UTSA.”
Guda was awarded $530,688 for his project, “Programming Vascularization by Design in Porous Composites,” which will generate new discoveries about how blood vessels grow.
“What we learn about how these vessels grow will allow us to design new biomaterials solutions for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine,” said Guda. “Understanding the underlying science could also potentially help us understand what goes wrong with vessel formation during cancer, when competent, structured networks of vessels are not formed.”
Wang will use his $492,358 CAREER award to develop techniques for better detection and repair of software bugs in his project, “Analysis and Repair of Build Scripts for DevOps Software Practice.” His research interests include enhancing software productivity and quality using more robust software build systems.
“By reducing the bugs in software build systems, my research will lead to more timely software release and software products of higher quality, which will benefit people who directly use or are involved in activities supported by the software,” said Wang.
The NSF CAREER Award supports early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization. Unlike most research grants, this award requires both strong scholarly research and a significant plan for education and mentorship.
Eleven UTSA faculty have won CAREER Awards over the last five years.
Learn more about the NSF CAREER Award.
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UTSA invites you to participate in our community altar by RSVP to this event. You can also use this link to learn more about Día de Los Muertos:https://anendlessconnection.weebly.com/the-project.html.
Student Union Window Lounge, Main CampusUTSA students, faculty, and staff are invited to the Health Fair on Wednesday. Health and wellbeing information booths and health screenings will be available.
HEB Student Union Paseo, Main CampusThe South Texas Blood and Tissue Center will on campus Wednesday, October 27th from 10am - 3pm in the H-E-B Student Union Ballroom 1 for an additional day this month. Participants will receive a $10 gift card by email from hundreds of retailers and restaurants through your donor portal.
HEB Student Union Ballroom I, 1.104, Main CampusThe second of two recitals featuring the tuba and euphonium students of Gary Poffenbarger and John Caputo. More details to come. The Fall 2021 concert schedule is subject to change. Please continue to monitor our website and social media for updates. This concert will be live-streamed via the UTSA Music Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/UTSAMusic
UTSA Recital Hall, Main CampusOctober 28th celebrates National Immigrants Day. On this day, we gather to explore the diverse heritage of our nation’s social fabric. We dedicate this day to understanding how our nation was founded and built by immigrants. Our goal is for the UTSA family to recognize and celebrate how all immigrants, regardless of their citizenship status, contribute to our community through their resiliency and ingenuity.
Multicultural Student Lounge, HSU 2.207, Main CampusThe COLFA Advanced Career Pathways Workshops are focused on connecting your education with your career aspirations and exploring your pathways to reach your goal.
Mesquite Room, Student Union, 2.01.24, Main CampusThe Westside Community Center will be creating an altar or "ofrenda" as many do within San Antonio and the Westside for "Dia de los Muertos." If you would like to participate, we invite you to send in a photo of a loved one that will be placed in this space. You are welcome to join us on October 28th at 3:00 pm to set up the space and come see us at the Westside Community Center.
UTSA Westside Community Center, 1310 Guadalupe St., San Antonio, TX 78207The University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education.
The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to ending generations of discrimination and inequity. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.
