Sponsored Programs
Electronic Medical Records
Initiated and directed $30M program to create the National Institute for Advanced Technology (NIAT) in which health and radiation exposure data on employees of the Department of Energy (DOE) and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) are put into electronic formats. Such data are used within electronic health record systems, and for epidemiological studies and adjudication in legal claims. NIAT was conceptualized as the anchor program under which federal, state and regional projects in electronic record systems would be collocated to benefit from planning and coordination of joint activities. This vision also seeded planning for research and technology parks for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), where public and private sector entities collaborate on programs needed by local, state and federal governmental agencies. Private sector collaborator: QinetiQ North America. Sponsor: US Department of Energy (DOE)
Regional Manufacturing Center: University and Community College Partnership
Initiated the Central Florida Manufacturing Technology Center (CFMTC), one of four regional centers covering the entire State of Florida. The Central Florida Center served twenty counties, and a quarter of the state's small and mid-sized manufacturing companies. CFMTC developed protocols to allow its Field Engineers to provide needs assessments and technical assistance, and was structured with administrative offices at four community colleges with campuses that spanned the region. CFMTC also developed protocols for technology transfer and information sharing across the Central Florida region. The project seeded a statewide award for the Florida Manufacturing Extension Partnership from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Statewide Lead: Enterprise Florida Innovation Partnership, Inc.
Separately funded research programs focused on (1) characterization of the development of plastically deforming subsurface zones in wearing materials, in situ, using laser speckle metrology; (2) investigation of the role of chemo-mechanical effects during sliding wear; (3) analysis of the wear resistance of various types of chromium electrodeposits; (4) development of a theoretical model to predict friction, with debris, in sliding contacts; and (5) experimental studies on the influence of dynamic effects in friction and wear test apparatus and methodology. Co-PIs Vimal Desai, Austin Grogan, and Faisal Moslehy contributed to experimental mechanics and dynamics; and to materials analysis and characterization. Sponsors included the Kamyr Corporation, the AMAX Foundation, the Association of Electroplaters and Surface Finishers (AESF), and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
With NASA technical managers, initiated and developed a Cooperative Agreement to apply university research expertise to targeted projects at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Specific research programs were co-developed and then conducted by University of Central Florida (UCF) faculty and student teams working in many areas of KSC need. Programs included artificial intelligence, visual database management, materials science, continuous process improvement, heat pipe technology, high speed text search and information retrieval, environmentally safe solvents, and nondestructive testing of tile bonds for the Space Shuttle. NASA Lead: Kennedy Space Center.
Program to study wear of materials under conditions of repetitive impulsive loading, with development of a patented apparatus to apply invariant load cycling over periods of time during which wear processes alter the test specimen geometry as experimental cycles accumulate. Later phases of the program involved characterization of the formation of plastically deforming and chemo-mechanically mixed subsurface zones in both impact- and pure-sliding wear. Co-PIs Roman Solecki and Hans Nowotny performed analyses on stress distributions and X-ray crystallography, respectively. Sponsors: Department of Energy (DOE), Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), and the University of Connecticut Research Foundation.
Created instructional modules in kinematics and computer-aided design (CAD) which were implemented by programming staff as educational applications on the then-state-of-the-art PLATO system. Developed expert systems for automating conceptual design processes, and further demonstrated the approach in the design of overhead crane systems. Sponsors: University of Central Florida (UCF); Institute for Simulation and Training (IST); and Control Data Corporation (CDC)
Automation, Robotics and Manufacturing Laboratory (ARMLAB)
Initiated multidisciplinary laboratory (with colleagues B. J. Carey and Y-T Chien in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, in the late 1970’s), for education and research in the automation of manufacturing processes. With students, designed and constructed a six degree of freedom robot, [Smart Automated Manipulator (SAM)], having both vision and tactile sensing systems, operating in a continuous assembly cell. Sponsors, the University of Connecticut, the Unimation Corporation, and the Rogers Corporation.
Wear of Dental Restorative Materials
Developed program to investigate the wear resistance of polymeric, amalgam and composite materials used, or proposed for use, in dental restorations. Co-PIs in Polymer Science (Julian Johnson) and Chemistry (William Bailey) contributed to materials characterization and analysis. Sponsors: Hoyt-Kendall Laboratories, Colgate-Palmolive Corporation, and the National Institute for Dental Research (NIDR)
Policy Development for Institutional Conflict of Interest
Initiated and served as Chair of a National Conference on Developing Policy on Institutional Conflict of Interest, convened to confront issues frequently ignored in higher education. Such issues contrast with those typically found in conflicts of interest which arise with individual faculty and students, and instead are manifest in relationships involving senior institutional officials, governing board members, elected officials, corporate officers, and leaders from other community entities. Characteristically, such institutional-level conflicts are exceedingly difficult to identify, disclose and manage. Sponsors: Office of Research Integrity (ORI), Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS); Council on Research Policy and Graduate Education (CRPGE), later Council on Research (CoR), National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC), later Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU); the Association of American Universities (AAU); the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC); and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Engaging Minority Students in Engineering
Initiated and directed a statewide program in Connecticut to support minority students in pursuing education for careers in engineering and technical fields (this was the first such ‘STEM’ program in the New England states, and one of the first in the nation). Developed teams comprised of complementary networks of school personnel (guidance counselors in elementary and secondary schools, teachers of science and mathematics, and administrative officials) and minority professionals working in disciplines spanning engineering and science fields. Sponsors: Fourteen Connecticut-based industries, and the State of Connecticut.
Industry Partnerships for Engineering Design Education
Initiated program in collaboration with industries spread across Connecticut to support capstone design project education for senior engineering students. Developed protocols for students to work in small groups to (1) formulate alternative solutions for real problems, (2) select the most promising approach, (3) design and (4) construct a functional hardware prototype, all within a single semester. The resulting prototypes were showcased in a major university event where industrial sponsors, and students’ families and friends visited campus. Industry leaders provided (1) problem statements based on real needs, (2) consulting assistance and critiques, and (3) financial support to enable prototype development. Sponsors: Twenty three Connecticut-based industries.