Thursday, November 13, 2014YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Youngstown State University faculty and staff were awarded more than $7 million in external funding for research projects during fiscal 2013-14, more than double the amount secured a year earlier, officials say.
"It was a good year for external grants, not our best year, but a good year," said Scott Martin, interim associate dean for research at the YSU School of Graduate Studies and Research. "We had about $7.2 million in external grants. In fiscal year 2013, we had $3.5 million."
The university hosted its 17th annual recognition luncheon for faculty and staff successful in obtaining outside funding for research and educational projects in several departments across a wide variety of disciplines.
In all, YSU faculty submitted 106 proposals during the year that totaled $19 million, Martin said. Sixty-seven of those projects were funded, but some are still under review and could be awarded in this fiscal year, he acknowledged.
The luncheon singled out four projects for this year's Dean's Awards based on the amount of the grant awards and the purpose of the research.
"It's always a difficult task because they're all noteworthy in some way," Martin added. "Hopefully, out awards reflect that true diversity that we have."
Allen Hunter and Matt Zeller of the chemistry department received the largest single grant -- a $470,000 award from the National Science Foundation for the acquisition of two updated X-Ray diffractometers. Three other professors – Jesse Rowsell and Catherine Oertel of Oberlin College, and Alexander Norquist of Haverford College, Pa. – helped secure the grant and were included on the Dean's Award.
"The unique thing at YSU is that we have undergraduate students who get to use that type of equipment," Martin said.
Other recipients received recognition for attracting funding for research in additive manufacturing, secondary education for prisoners, and the inaugural clinical drug study sponsored through YSU.
Brett Conner, a professor in the department of mechanical and industrial engineering, was recognized for securing $299,000 from the Ohio Board of Regents to help buy equipment related to additive manufacturing, or 3-D printing.
About half of all the external funding to YSU is related to service-oriented projects, Martin reported. This year, Tim Maher, of YSU's Metro Credit Educational Outreach, secured a $254,000 Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections Advanced Job Training grant that would provide secondary educational opportunities to those in prison.
"That's representative of a lot of the service projects that we do every year at YSU," Martin noted. "It accounts for a pretty good chunk of our external funding."
And, Jane Wetzel, associate professor of physical therapy at YSU, received a Dean's Award for her role in procuring outside funding from Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals to support a clinical drug study and its effect on patients with chronic kidney disease.
YSU Interim Provost Martin Abraham said that faculty and staff research helps create a special environment for advanced study. "Whether it's a funded research project or not, that research that you're doing with your students really provides a unique aspect, a special aspect for all of the things that we do at YSU."
He cited several accomplishments over the last two months, including the new diffractometer lab, the clinical drug study, and the first-ever patent awarded to the university. That patent occurred because of research led by Tom Oder of the physics department. "It was significant for YSU. It was the first, but it's not the last," he said of the patent.
Abraham emphasized that these accomplishments point to a university that is becoming more engaged in research, which ultimately affects the caliber of education YSU offers. "We're doing it because it benefits our students," he said. "It provides the capability they don't get at just any other university."
Even those who don't bring in external dollars play a significant role at YSU, Abraham noted. "We need to recognize all of their achievements."
Pictured: Recognized at the event are Allen D. Hunter, Matt Zeller, Brett Conner, Tim Maher, and Jane Wetzel.
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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